The very first thing members of my team do when they get a listing is work on staging the home with the seller. We make sure the seller knows what projects need to be done, including repairs and packing up excess belongings—no one’s home is perfectly ready for the market if they’re not staging it first.
Once we’ve established a list of projects for the seller to complete, we’ll have an idea of how long it will take to finish that list, which then allows us to make a plan for the agent’s side of things. While the seller is working inside the house, we’re outside pre-marketing the property to make sure that when the house goes on the MLS, it’s not the first time people have heard about it.
“If you start your marketing only when the house goes on the MLS, you’re already behind.”
On our side, we first look for agents who we believe have buyers who would be interested in our seller’s home. That means we’ll call other agents who have had listings in the neighborhood in the last one to three months, since that means they’ll likely have buyers. If the agents operate in one of our farm areas, we’ll make sure that neighborhood is aware of that listing. Additionally, we’ll put signs and “coming soon” pointers in the seller’s yard about two weeks before it goes live on the market so that passersby know it’s for sale.
We do all this because we’ve found that if you start your marketing only when the house goes on the MLS, you’re already behind and the house will have a greater chance of stagnating on the market, which won’t net your seller any more money.
Once the seller has finished with their list of things to do, we then execute our traditional marketing, which includes putting the home on the MLS, getting professional photos taken, creating internet ads, and more.
If you have any questions about what to do after you land a listing, feel free to reach out to me. I’d love to speak with you.
