How to Sell a Home today is a dramatically different process than it used to be, especially in this Internet age. If you are going to sell your home in California, Colorado, Florida, Alaska, or wherever you are now, so that you can buy a home in Sequim, be very cautious about how you go about selling your home. If you use 20 year old methods, you may be sitting on your home for a long time, and then you may not get the highest price. The vast majority of Realtors around the U.S. are not tapped into the new world of marketing. I know, it’s crazy, but it’s true. So today I will share the tip of the iceberg on what works and what does not work to get your home sold for the highest price in the least amount of time. How to sell a home today is not what it used to be.
How to Sell a Home
When I started in real estate 40 years ago (I’m 61 today), my broker in Fairbanks told me exactly how to sell a home and what to do with a new listing. He said, “Run your listing in the Sunday issue of the print newspaper once every 90 days, hold an open house, put up a sign, and send out ‘Just Sold’ postal cards to the neighbors.” That was the sum total of how Realtors marketed their listings for decades. Now are you ready for some shocking news?
Roughly 90% of all Realtors across the U.S. are still doing what I was doing 40 years ago. I know. It’s nuts. I ask my colleagues periodically why they are running their listings in the Sunday paper when it’s so expensive, and when the buyers are not searching the print newspaper classifieds for their next home–they’re using the Internet. They all answer the same way, “Well, my client expects me to do something.” In other words, many Realtors are just using smoke and mirrors to make their clients think they are effectively marketing their home. That is just plain crazy. Of all people who should know how to sell a home, you would think Realtors would know.
How to Sell a Home in the Internet Age
Here’s one of my biggest frustrations. Sellers don’t seem to have the knowledge or discernment to realize that their listing Realtor is just blowing smoke and not marketing their home to the most qualified buyers. I can’t blame sellers. How would they know? They haven’t spent a lifetime in real estate or marketing or sales.
Here is what does not work today like it used to. Running an listing in the print newspaper is so outdated and so ineffective, it is just a total waste of time. Holding an open house is a waste of time. Even the NAR (the National Association of Realtors) national survey showed that less than 2% of homes actually sold at an open house. That’s a 98% failure rate. Unless you’re in a unique hot market where people are looking at homes at open houses, it is a total waste of time and effort. The truth is, Realtors like to hold open houses so they can pick up new buyer leads.
A for sale sign is still important, but again almost 100% of buyers are using the Internet now to find their ideal home. They’re not driving around and around forever until they see a sign. But a for sale sign is till good–it’s just not the way buyers find their home today. Sending out postal cards to a neighborhood is okay, but it’s old school and not nearly as effective as using the Internet to market to highly qualified buyers.
Do you know what the number one complaint across the U.S. is after people have listed their home with a Realtor? “I listed my home with a Realtor, and [he/she] put it in the MLS, but I haven’t heard anything and they are not even showing it. Other Realtors show it more than my own Realtor, and I don’t know what’s going on? There was a pretty listing presentations, and they made a lot of promises, but all they did was throw it in the MLS, and that’s it.” How can it be that even Realtors don’t know how to sell a home today?
The keys to effective marketing a home today is a whole new world of marketing, and few Realtors around the country are tapping into Internet marketing. I’m not making this stuff up. Want some proof? I’ve built the largest Internet marketing system on the Olympic Peninsula, and for the past 7 plus years (since Jan 1 of 2009), I have personally sold more homes by myself than any other Realtor or team of Realtors in this market. I’ve written books on the subject of how to sell a home (The Seven Myths of Selling Your Home, The New World of Marketing for Real Estate Agents), but I don’t think other Realtors are reading books any more. (Okay, I’m being sarcastic. That’s my effort at humor, but my kids tell me I’m not very funny!)
The point is this. If you want to sell your home in another state so you can buy a home and retire in Sequim, make darn sure you connect with a listing Realtor in your market who knows how to market your home using the most powerful marketing available today so they can real the most qualified buyers and get you the highest price in the least amount of time. Do not use “old school” Realtors. Find one who knows how to sell a home today. In Seven Myths I share insider secrets you won’t know if you haven’t spent a lifetime in the industry, including gimmicks, the misuse of statistics, and all kinds of sales games that are played just to get you to list. Do not get caught up in nonsense, and definitely don’t end up listing your home for a year with someone who doesn’t know how to sell a home today.
Last Updated on September 6, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
