What Expectations to Place on a Realtor Selling a Property

Question

What expectations do you place on a realtor when you are selling a property?

Open houses?  Color flyers?  Anything else?

Russell Brazil · Answer

@Thomas Martin The expectations have a lot to do with the price of the property and what the market dictates needs to be done to sell the property.  How I handle as an agent selling a home at the $100k, $500k, $750k price points, and where they are located in my local market is going to drastically change what I do to market the property for sale. On a typical property in my market which is between the $400k to $500k range I typically will have professional photography, a color 4 page flyer on heavy stock cardboard like paper, a minimum of one open house, and as many as three depending on the time of year.  A house in the $600k plus range I will usually in addition to the previous, have a broker open house with lunch as well as additionally advertise on a neighborhood specific blog (DC has many blogs for the individual neighborhoods.) and typically two open houses.

The amount of open houses is sort of neighborhood specific too, as well as is influenced by the amount of inventory on the market.  If there is a ton of inventory....there will just be too many houses for a buyer to see on a single Sunday afternoon. If that is the case I will add in a Saturday open house.  If it is close to a major commuting route, I will sometimes add in a Thursday open house so the people coming home from work see the open house signs and stop in. This has been surprisingly successful in certain neighborhoods.

But so much is dictated by the market.  Open houses in hot neighborhoods really helps create a sense of competition amongst buyers when they see how many other people are interested.  In other nieghborhoods that are slower and in less demand an open house may have zero affect. Does the market demand professional photography? In pretty much my whole metro area that seems to be a yes.  Does the market demand staging? That varies from neighborhood to neighborhood.

Talk with your agent not just about what they will do to market your property, but why they are going to do it. A good agent will know what it takes to get your house sold, in that neighborhood, in that market.

Russell Brazil · Answer

Yes getting something on the MLS is the most important aspect to selling, but there is a lot more that goes into it.  Do open houses work on all properties? No....but if you forgo an open house in a very competitive market, you are likely going to sell your home for less than competing properties. Does a flyer sell a house? Of course on it's own it doesnt.  But when a couple gets home on a Sunday afternoon after going to 7 or 8 open houses....having 5 flyers printed off a computer in their hand, and the 1 or 2 professionally done pamphlets in their hands...they are going to subconciously look at all those and remember the professional flyer/pamplet houses better than they remember the ones with no flyer or a one page bad looking printout.

Going even deeper what clothes a Realtor wears to an open house can make a difference. I will actually dress differently depending on the neighborhood, or if I am passing off the open house to a colleague, ask them to dress in a particular way for the open house.  If it is a hip and trendy neighborhood, I dress a little younger.  If it is an upscale high income neighborhood I wear a suit.

It isnt so much each little detail that makes a difference, it is the totality of it all put together.  It is why great agents are able to sell a property at the high end of a range, while the average agent sells things at the bottom end of the range.

Thomas Martin · Answer

Russell, thank you very much for your detailed response.  The information was very helpful.

Stephen Haynes · Answer

Sorry I did't reply to Russell Brazil properly.

Stephen Haynes · Answer

@Russell Brazil\

Yes getting something on the MLS is the most important aspect to selling, but there is a lot more that goes into it.  Do open houses work on all properties? No....but if you forgo an open house in a very competitive market, you are likely going to sell your home for less than competing properties. Does a flyer sell a house? Of course on it's own it doesnt.  But when a couple gets home on a Sunday afternoon after going to 7 or 8 open houses....having 5 flyers printed off a computer in their hand, and the 1 or 2 professionally done pamphlets in their hands...they are going to subconciously look at all those and remember the professional flyer/pamplet houses better than they remember the ones with no flyer or a one page bad looking printout.

Going even deeper what clothes a Realtor wears to an open house can make a difference. I will actually dress differently depending on the neighborhood, or if I am passing off the open house to a colleague, ask them to dress in a particular way for the open house.  If it is a hip and trendy neighborhood, I dress a little younger.  If it is an upscale high income neighborhood I wear a suit.

It isnt so much each little detail that makes a difference, it is the totality of it all put together.  It is why great agents are able to sell a property at the high end of a range, while the average agent sells things at the bottom end of the range.

I couldn't agree with you more Myself and my wife will go to five open house's a weekend when looking for our next personal residence and those Item's make all the difference. Also if the realtor parks their car in the driveway I will not submit an offer on the home it is just one of my pet peeves. I have access to the MLS and that is how we decide what open houses we are going to see.

Mindy Jensen · Answer

@Thomas Martin I think it all depends on the local market conditions. I live in a super hot market. Open houses aren't necessary - the home is usually sold within days of being listed. If the market is geared more toward buyers, you'll need to do more to make your property stand out.

@Dawn Rodgers is 100% right - in this digital age, you NEED quality pictures of the property.

I think flyers are important to have in the house. Quality images for the internet, listed on the MLS, lockbox on the door. My local market has a showing service you can "hire" for something like $5 a listing. You set it up with them and they take the phone calls and schedule the showings for you. You never have to worry about missing a sale because your agent missed a call.

Chris Purcell · Answer

let's be real .. Listing on the MLS is 99% of the battle. How many deals are done via open house/flyers??

Dawn Rodgers · Answer

I always expect/require really great pictures for the listing.  When I'm looking at houses online, good photos make such a difference so I expect it with my listings as well.

What Expectations to Place on a Realtor Selling a Property

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