Prepare Your House to Sell:
Staging your home is strategic for sellers to achieve top dollar by creating a space that is light, bright and inviting. You want to show off the space, not what’s in it. Just because knickknacks are of interest to you, it is likely that a prospective buyer will not enjoy looking at your collectables from over the years. Keeping a few items on display is good, keep in mind collections of three or five are best. You want potential home buyers to imagine themselves there. It may appear overwhelming at first to stage your home but set small goals for yourself each week. Start by tackling the most important rooms first. (i.e. kitchen, living room and bathrooms) Arrange your furniture in groupings. Think of it as a conversational space. Make sure that traffic flow makes sense for the room. PRO TIP: Do not push your furniture against the walls. This makes the room appear like there is not enough space to entertain comfortably.
Quality Photography:
This is a must if you are wanting to list your home to sell. Photography is crucial in today’s market. Hire a professional photographer to come in and produce quality pictures for you. It may seem expensive at the time, but you will be thanking them in the long run. Plus, you will want proof of your hard work from staging the place. PRO TIP:Put down the toilet lids.
Signage is Key:
Directional signage helps a potential buyer find you. Time and time again people get lost, especially in subdivisions. Think about it, if people can’t locate you, then they definitely won’t be able to buy the house. Signage shows the buyer that you are serious about listing your home and establishes a professional presence. PRO TIP:Agents that go that extra mile and offer open houses are much more likely to gain interest in the home.
Property Flyers:
This is another great touch point in the market. It may appear to be an “old school” method of marketing, but it gets the job done. Consider placing these in prominent areas that buyers will stumble upon. Also mail the flyers to neighbors in the area. Odds are one of them will want to at least see their neighbor’s house and then could help spread the word. Your neighbors would rather help you then end up with a less desirable neighbor. PRO TIP: You can print on both sides! Consider three to five shots showing the best features of the home.
Pre-Market Your Home:
WOW- this is huge! In the current market, homes are selling faster than they can be listed. Take advantage of the opportunity to market your home as “coming soon!” Coming soon status can be added to websites and shared on social media, so be sure to ask. Agents can post in private agents-only Facebook groups. You can also like and share public posts, which opens the conversation up with your sphere of influence. Buyers want to be the first in the door! If you provide this exclusive viewing, you will sell faster than you can say, “RealtySouth!” PRO TIP: Consider posting a note on your social media letting them know you are about to list your home for sale – get the buzz going!
Digital Marketing:
RealtySouth provides endless opportunities digitally for your home to be seen! We even provide virtual tours just in case you can’t be there in person. Our website receives over 400,000 views per month! Active listings are updated in real time on our website, with the help from our MLS system.
Social Media Marketing:
With over 37,800 followers and growing, we are serious about selling your home across our social channels. Exposure is the name of the game. We have the technology and tools at our finger tips to ensure that your home gets noticed! We spend a lot of resources selling the RealtySouth brand, so you can bet we are a household trusted name. PRO TIP: Be sure to share the posts when your home is open for a tour.
Caravan Home Tours:
Our agents team up to provide exceptional services in today’s hot market. Weekly, our team is out there networking and showing your home to real estate agents across the state. It is essential to think outside of the box. Our experienced team knows how to turn that sign to sold!
Sell My Home Feature:
This tool allows you to see the activity on your home including the number of times a listing appears in search results. Also, it shares the number of times your home is shown by an agent and so much more! Reporting provides an understanding of how your home is doing in the market. This gives us an idea of what is working and what’s not. Once we understand that, we can make adjustments as needed.
Open Houses:
Nobody does it like RealtySouth! We send weekly open house emails to all licensed REALTORS” across Alabama – that’s more than 15,000 people! We then share the open houses on our social media channels for all of the world to see. Expect to receive feedback on all of your home tours. This tool allows your agent to be strategic in positioning your home to sell.
Home Warranty:
Everyone wants peace of mind knowing their home is covered by a warranty – especially when funds can be tight as you prep the home for sale. Our agents offer sellers a free home warranty during an active listing period. PRO TIP: Check the items that you think may send up a red flag. For example, you may need to opt for a new water heater if yours is showing poor performance.
Electronic Contracts:
We are saving the planet one contract at a time with our user-friendly paperless contracts. It’s a simple process designed with you in mind!
In-House Marketing Team:
We are local! Not only as a seller do you have the support of your individual agent, but you also have the support of an in-house marketing team. Let us help take some of the burden off of you and allow our professional team to attract local and global buyers!
*As of May 2019 and includes Facebook followers for office locations and Family of Services.