The Importance Of Real Estate Marketing
"Terry, you're always talking about marketing. What's so darn important about marketing anyway? Don't all real estate people do marketing?"
These are good questions that were asked of me by a man in St. Petersburg who was in the process of selecting a real estate agent to sell his house. He's right, I am always talking and writing about marketing and its use in real estate. It rarely occurs to me that some people don't know what marketing is, what we mean when we are talking about marketing, and what marketing's impact is on a real estate transaction.
Essentially, the best definition of marketing that I have ever heard is that marketing is selling what you make rather than merely making something you can sell. That definition has remained firmly fixed in my head for well over thirty years since it was told to me by Bill Lusher, a very knowledgeable advertising agency executive from Pittsburgh who it was my privilege to work with for several years when I was a young man in the advertising agency field.
Lusher is telling us that virtually anybody can sell something that is in high demand. About all you have to do is put it out there and the public will come along and buy it. But suppose you make something for which demand has slipped or is on a downward spiral? Now you need to do a lot more to find buyers for your product. You need to be more aggressive in letting potential buyers know you have the product for sale. That's the job of a marketing plan.
So, let's look at real estate today. For the past few years you didn't need a whole lot of marketing expertise to sell property. There was unbelievable demand from people wanting to invest their hard-earned dollars in property. Just put a sign in the ground and in a few days you'd have an offer -- maybe several offers. That's why there were so many unrepresented sellers in the marketplace, popularly known as FSBO's (short for For Sale By Owner).
Today, it appears that interest in buying real estate has peaked. There are few buyers and many sellers. Investors are leaving the real estate market in favor of other investing opportunities. Properties are sitting unsold for months, prices are dropping or are flat. In this kind of situation, you need the benefits of marketing to let the remaining buyers know that you have property for sale and to give them a reason to come over and look at it.
In Bill Lusher's words, right now you need a program that allows you to sell what you make (real estate) rather than merely making something you can sell (another kind of investment).
Here's something that unrepresented sellers have often failed to consider when they put that little red and white FSBO sign in the front yard.
All sellers are competing for the same buyers. This is an accurate observation that was disclosed to me recently by John Ringlespaugh, or Ringo as his friends call him. Ringo is the head of new agent instruction for Tourtelot Brothers Real Estate in St. Petersburg, Florida. What Ringo is saying is that if you are trying to sell your house on your own, you are competing with all other people trying to sell their houses, and all of you are competing for the same limited number of buyers and dollars. Very astute. Of course, you are right when you make the observation that the competition is based on the price being asked by the seller and is limited only to those potential buyers who have pre-qualified for a mortgage within the property's price range. But sellers are all competing within that price framework for those same limited number of buyers. Within that price framework, it is the seller with the best marketing plan who will attract the most qualified buyers and ultimately sell his property. In fact, I'll add to Ringo's observation that sellers are competing for the buyer's attention, their acceptance, their approval and ultimately, their money.
The seller with the best marketing plan is the seller who will get their attention first -- and first is the only place to be when selling real estate. What you say in the marketing and advertising materials must have a positive impact on gaining buyer acceptance and approval. It is only with acceptance and approval that a buyer will make an offer on your property and pay you the money for the house.
Now, as to the second question from the top of this article, "Don't all real estate people do marketing?"
No, they most certainly do not.
I think in actuality few real estate people do marketing. The reason? They simply don't know how.
Many real estate agents came into the field during the last few years when properties were easy to sell and they did not have to do any marketing to speak of. As a consequence, these "newbies" as they are called in the business, have never had to learn how to do a comprehensive marketing program on behalf of a seller. Nor have they ever experienced a down market like we have today. They followed, and still do follow in many instances, the 4-P's of real estate marketing: Put a sign in the yard, Put an ad in the paper, Put it in the MLS, and Pray that somebody comes along and buys the house. It's sad to say, but for many real estate agents that is the sum total of their marketing abilities.
A real marketing program is an in-depth plan of action designed to call attention to your house from among two key market segments: potential buyers and people who influence the purchasing decisions of potential buyers. As a seller, you must evaluate the written marketing plans of various real estate agents (I suggest talking to three from good companies). Have each of them make a presentation to you about how they intend to sell your house for the most money in today's market, and how their plan will have a positive impact on the two key market segements outlined above. Those that do not have a written plan reflecting the most up-to-date technology and advertising components should be eliminated immediatley. Choose the agent with the most complete plan for selling your house. If your home will sell in excess of $1-million, the agent needs to include an international marketing component in the plan for your house so as to take advantage of the growing demand for U.S. property among foreign investors -- it's a great market!
The question today is not "who has the lowest selling commission", but is "who can sell my house for the highest possible price in a falling market". The answer is most likely going to be the agent who has the best marketing plan.
In today's real estate world, MARKETING RULES!
For more information on real estate, visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
These are good questions that were asked of me by a man in St. Petersburg who was in the process of selecting a real estate agent to sell his house. He's right, I am always talking and writing about marketing and its use in real estate. It rarely occurs to me that some people don't know what marketing is, what we mean when we are talking about marketing, and what marketing's impact is on a real estate transaction.
Essentially, the best definition of marketing that I have ever heard is that marketing is selling what you make rather than merely making something you can sell. That definition has remained firmly fixed in my head for well over thirty years since it was told to me by Bill Lusher, a very knowledgeable advertising agency executive from Pittsburgh who it was my privilege to work with for several years when I was a young man in the advertising agency field.
Lusher is telling us that virtually anybody can sell something that is in high demand. About all you have to do is put it out there and the public will come along and buy it. But suppose you make something for which demand has slipped or is on a downward spiral? Now you need to do a lot more to find buyers for your product. You need to be more aggressive in letting potential buyers know you have the product for sale. That's the job of a marketing plan.
So, let's look at real estate today. For the past few years you didn't need a whole lot of marketing expertise to sell property. There was unbelievable demand from people wanting to invest their hard-earned dollars in property. Just put a sign in the ground and in a few days you'd have an offer -- maybe several offers. That's why there were so many unrepresented sellers in the marketplace, popularly known as FSBO's (short for For Sale By Owner).
Today, it appears that interest in buying real estate has peaked. There are few buyers and many sellers. Investors are leaving the real estate market in favor of other investing opportunities. Properties are sitting unsold for months, prices are dropping or are flat. In this kind of situation, you need the benefits of marketing to let the remaining buyers know that you have property for sale and to give them a reason to come over and look at it.
In Bill Lusher's words, right now you need a program that allows you to sell what you make (real estate) rather than merely making something you can sell (another kind of investment).
Here's something that unrepresented sellers have often failed to consider when they put that little red and white FSBO sign in the front yard.
All sellers are competing for the same buyers. This is an accurate observation that was disclosed to me recently by John Ringlespaugh, or Ringo as his friends call him. Ringo is the head of new agent instruction for Tourtelot Brothers Real Estate in St. Petersburg, Florida. What Ringo is saying is that if you are trying to sell your house on your own, you are competing with all other people trying to sell their houses, and all of you are competing for the same limited number of buyers and dollars. Very astute. Of course, you are right when you make the observation that the competition is based on the price being asked by the seller and is limited only to those potential buyers who have pre-qualified for a mortgage within the property's price range. But sellers are all competing within that price framework for those same limited number of buyers. Within that price framework, it is the seller with the best marketing plan who will attract the most qualified buyers and ultimately sell his property. In fact, I'll add to Ringo's observation that sellers are competing for the buyer's attention, their acceptance, their approval and ultimately, their money.
The seller with the best marketing plan is the seller who will get their attention first -- and first is the only place to be when selling real estate. What you say in the marketing and advertising materials must have a positive impact on gaining buyer acceptance and approval. It is only with acceptance and approval that a buyer will make an offer on your property and pay you the money for the house.
Now, as to the second question from the top of this article, "Don't all real estate people do marketing?"
No, they most certainly do not.
I think in actuality few real estate people do marketing. The reason? They simply don't know how.
Many real estate agents came into the field during the last few years when properties were easy to sell and they did not have to do any marketing to speak of. As a consequence, these "newbies" as they are called in the business, have never had to learn how to do a comprehensive marketing program on behalf of a seller. Nor have they ever experienced a down market like we have today. They followed, and still do follow in many instances, the 4-P's of real estate marketing: Put a sign in the yard, Put an ad in the paper, Put it in the MLS, and Pray that somebody comes along and buys the house. It's sad to say, but for many real estate agents that is the sum total of their marketing abilities.
A real marketing program is an in-depth plan of action designed to call attention to your house from among two key market segments: potential buyers and people who influence the purchasing decisions of potential buyers. As a seller, you must evaluate the written marketing plans of various real estate agents (I suggest talking to three from good companies). Have each of them make a presentation to you about how they intend to sell your house for the most money in today's market, and how their plan will have a positive impact on the two key market segements outlined above. Those that do not have a written plan reflecting the most up-to-date technology and advertising components should be eliminated immediatley. Choose the agent with the most complete plan for selling your house. If your home will sell in excess of $1-million, the agent needs to include an international marketing component in the plan for your house so as to take advantage of the growing demand for U.S. property among foreign investors -- it's a great market!
The question today is not "who has the lowest selling commission", but is "who can sell my house for the highest possible price in a falling market". The answer is most likely going to be the agent who has the best marketing plan.
In today's real estate world, MARKETING RULES!
For more information on real estate, visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 5:44 AM
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