Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

I remember when the phone would start ringing off the hook as soon as the property hit the MLS.  Sometimes offers were submitted before the Broker Tour or first open house.  We are now in a Buyer’s Market, yet some sellers think that waiting it out will change buyer behavior.  Waiting doesn’t change it, buyers change it.  In other words, buyers determine the market - not real estate professionals and not sellers, and certainly not the well-intentioned neighbors or relatives.

Listings agents need to think like long distance runners and act like sprinters.  If a house does not sell within the first 30, 60, 90 days, (determine what your re-assess date is, maybe it’s 10 days), we maintain focus and come up with new ideas to generate interest and exposure.

The skill set is a combination of communication skills, the 3 P’s (price, presentation, place/location) and exposure.

Understand your clients’ goals and financial needs and create a plan to address those priorities.

Help your client understand the real value in their property and then know how to communicate that value to the target audience of propective buyers.

Counsel your clients on how the new online world of syndication, blogs, social networking, and other sophisticated internet marketing approaches will help them.  Having a property website is no longer enough, it’s what you do with that website.

As Jason Steele of Better Homes and Gardens highlights in a Clean Slate blog post, houses can be sold in this market. 

Don’t give up, but do have a plan.