One of my broker associates
asked me to list all the things I do when I put a new listing on the market, so
I decided to make that the topic of this week’s column.
1) After completing the listing agreement and the different disclosure forms, I consult with the seller to make sure the MLS data entry is complete and accurate. I don’t leave any data fields blank. Before shooting the pictures, I arrange for one of my broker associates, Karon Hesse, to provide a staging consultation. (She’s really good at this.) This helps the house to show its best.
2) I shoot the still photos
myself (with a Nikon D3100), and then the video tour (with a wide-angle Sony HD
digital Handycam). I then create the virtual tour (a slideshow with music) from
the stills, and edit the video for uploading to YouTube. I upload two versions of the video tour — the
unbranded one required by the MLS, and one in which I provide my contact
information for other websites. (In exchange for her staging consultation on my
listings, I also shoot the pix and video tours for Karon’s listings.)
3) I create a web page for
the new listing under “Our Listings” at www.GoldenRealEstate.com. In addition to a lengthy description of the
listing, I provide links to the YouTube video tour, the virtual tour, and to a
printable PDF of the 2-sided flyer. On that web page I also promote the free use of
our moving truck, even when the buyer has his own agent. If the buyer doesn’t
have an agent, we promise free labor and gas, too, which has helped us
“double-end” many of our listings. Since I discount my commission if I don’t
have to pay a buyer’s agent, this is a win/win for the seller, the buyer and
me.
4) I purchase a web URL
from godaddy.com especially for each listing (for example, www.NorthGoldenHome.com), or I use
one I already own, and I order the decal for a sign rider with that URL on it. (Golden Real Estate currently owns over 60
URLs.) The URL can’t be displayed on the
MLS, but I can and do promote it on other websites. I link the URL to the branded YouTube video
tour and create a sub-domain (for example, http://details.NorthGoldenHome.com)
that forwards to the listing’s web page on www.GoldenRealEstate.com.
5) I only enter the listing
on the MLS when I have all the pictures to upload, and I write captions for all
photos and put them in a logical order. If the seller has agreed to it, I order
the home warranty from Colorado Home Warranty, and I promote it on the MLS and
other websites, as well as on the listing flyer. When the home goes under contract, I alert
the warranty company so they can provide the warranty policy to the buyer after
closing.
6) I enter the showing
instructions on the Centralized Showing Service website. I arrange for the
seller to receive showing feedbacks as soon as I get them, and I provide the
seller with a login on the showing service website so he/she can change showing
instructions and review feedback. When an agent has not supplied feedback despite three email requests for feedback, I email or call the agent personally and obtain that feedback, which I then forward to the seller.
7) From the virtual tour
software I create a flyer. On the back of each flyer, I provide the full MLS print-out. I
print 30 or more two-sided color copies for the brochure box.
8) From the same software I
create an html craigslist posting. I adapt that html code into an eflyer which
I send to 7,000 other agents using eflyermarketing.com. .
9) I put a lockbox on the
house and a sign in the ground, using a wooden yard-arm post (which my handyman Mark and I personally build) with a solar
powered light fixture atop it. Instead of digging a post hole in the yard for this wooden post, I use a 24-inch spike which leaves no mark in the grass when the sign is removed after closing. Below the main sign, I hang a "sign rider" promoting the
URL for the listing’s YouTube video -- for example, "Tour This Home Online At www.NorthGoldenHome.com -- and another rider promoting the free moving
truck and free moving boxes. When appropriate, a third sign-rider promotes the open
house. I also mount a
brochure box for the 2-sided flyer I have created. When appropriate, I also put
one or two “Home for Sale
10) I enhance the listing
on realtor.com, trulia.com and zillow.com. It costs Golden Real Estate about $1,500 per year to enhance all our listings on realtor.com, but it's well worth it. It costs less on Trulia and Zillow.
On realtor.com I have to upload the video tour. On other websites, I simply link to the
branded video tour on YouTube.
11) I order a jumbo “Just
Listed” postcard mailed to 100 neighbors by Top Marketer.
12) I promote the listing
in my weekly YourHub column, usually noting that the listing will be open on
Saturday, 1-4 pm. I then post that column on this blog, and I archive a PDF of the column to www.JimSmithColumns.com.
13) I hold that featured
open house myself, or enlist a broker associate or unlicensed person, such as
mortgage broker Daniel Raffield. I
promote each open house on the listing’s webpage, realtor.com, recolorado.com,
trulia.com and zillow.com.
14) For many listings, when appropriate, I print up several "wall notes" -- like Post-Its that I stick around the house, alerting visitors to special features that may not be obvious to the casual observer.
__________
What you have read above is
just the list of tasks related to putting a home on the market. Once a contract is received
from a buyer or buyer’s agent, there’s a whole new list of tasks to be
performed by the listing agent to produce a successful closing. If there is no
closing, the agent gets no payment for the tasks performed, many of which
required an outlay of money.
I have heard sellers
complain that agents are overpaid because they put their listing on the MLS and
do little else. Perhaps there are some
agents like that, but I hope, dear reader, that this list of tasks performed
gives you an appreciation of the fact that this Realtor, at least, earns the
commission which he is paid at closing.
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