The Top Five Reasons Your House Hasn’t Sold! -
Marketing Plan
Aggressive Marketing Plan
If your house won’t sell but you feel the house is priced right, in good condition, in a good location,
and your agent is easy to work with, the marketing plan is probably the problem. Gone are the days
when all the agent had to do was put a sign in your yard, place your house on the multiple listing
service, run an ad, and wait for the offers to come in.
Today’s agent must have an aggressive written marketing plan that is made as an addendum to your
listing agreement, allowing you to cancel should the agent fail to perform as promised. Your agent
must make effective use of the latest technologies and must be attuned to the new information age.
A good agent will spend thousands of dollars marketing their listings.
Lock-Box & Ease of Showing
That brings us to ease of showing. If you don’t allow your agent to put a lock box on your door you
will miss out on a huge part of the showing market. Let me explain why and a step-by-step process
of a typical showing agent.
Here’s how that agents works: when an agent has a couple coming in from out of town to buy a
house, the agent will prepare a list of possible properties to show the couple. The properties are
based on a previous in-depth interview to determine the couple’s needs. After searching the MLS
computer, the agent will print a list of possible properties.
The first thing a highly organized agent will do is check out the showing instructions, separating the
possible showings into two piles: properties with lock boxes and properties for which the agent
must make an appointment or pick up a key. Because most agents and buyers are on a very tight
schedule, the agent will place all the easy-to-show properties on the "A" List with a showing
schedule in 30- to 45-minute increments.
Your House May Be on the "B" List
If the agent must make an appointment to show your house, you’re going to miss the first few
rounds of showings because your house is going to be placed on the "B" pile. If the buyers don’t
find a house that meets their needs in the first few days, the agent goes back to the second pile of
properties and starts showing the ones without lock boxes or houses whose instructions demand
an appointment by calling the listing agent.
Suppose this couple falls in love with a house on the first few rounds of showings. Even if you have
the best house in the city in the best condition -- you’ve lost that sale. So for every showing you do
get, just think of how many you’ve missed. Allow your agent to put a lock box on your house and
never require an appointment to show. You’ll get much better traffic and a quicker sale that way.
Marketing Plan
Aggressive Marketing Plan
If your house won’t sell but you feel the house is priced right, in good condition, in a good location,
and your agent is easy to work with, the marketing plan is probably the problem. Gone are the days
when all the agent had to do was put a sign in your yard, place your house on the multiple listing
service, run an ad, and wait for the offers to come in.
Today’s agent must have an aggressive written marketing plan that is made as an addendum to your
listing agreement, allowing you to cancel should the agent fail to perform as promised. Your agent
must make effective use of the latest technologies and must be attuned to the new information age.
A good agent will spend thousands of dollars marketing their listings.
Lock-Box & Ease of Showing
That brings us to ease of showing. If you don’t allow your agent to put a lock box on your door you
will miss out on a huge part of the showing market. Let me explain why and a step-by-step process
of a typical showing agent.
Here’s how that agents works: when an agent has a couple coming in from out of town to buy a
house, the agent will prepare a list of possible properties to show the couple. The properties are
based on a previous in-depth interview to determine the couple’s needs. After searching the MLS
computer, the agent will print a list of possible properties.
The first thing a highly organized agent will do is check out the showing instructions, separating the
possible showings into two piles: properties with lock boxes and properties for which the agent
must make an appointment or pick up a key. Because most agents and buyers are on a very tight
schedule, the agent will place all the easy-to-show properties on the "A" List with a showing
schedule in 30- to 45-minute increments.
Your House May Be on the "B" List
If the agent must make an appointment to show your house, you’re going to miss the first few
rounds of showings because your house is going to be placed on the "B" pile. If the buyers don’t
find a house that meets their needs in the first few days, the agent goes back to the second pile of
properties and starts showing the ones without lock boxes or houses whose instructions demand
an appointment by calling the listing agent.
Suppose this couple falls in love with a house on the first few rounds of showings. Even if you have
the best house in the city in the best condition -- you’ve lost that sale. So for every showing you do
get, just think of how many you’ve missed. Allow your agent to put a lock box on your house and
never require an appointment to show. You’ll get much better traffic and a quicker sale that way.
Doug Baird
Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors
Office 616-975-0595
Fax 616-940-2954
Cel 616-490-8529
Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors
Office 616-975-0595
Fax 616-940-2954
Cel 616-490-8529