The Fred Smith Group - Digital Marketing Guide

Fred Smith

205.368.2280 SoldbyFred@gmail.com FredSmithGroup.com

Comprehensive Marketing Plan Steve Billitz 1067 Washington Drive Moody, AL

THE SALE OF YOUR HOME CAN BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS OF YOUR LIFE When thinking about selling your home, one of the most important decisions is choosing which Real Estate Group will represent you. Who you select determines how quickly your home sells and the proceeds you receive at the closing table. I would love for my team, The Fred Smith Group, to have an opportunity to work for you.

Within this handbook I have included the following to help you understand the value behind my team. What we provide is support and marketing beyond just placing a sign in your front yard. We guide you through every step of selling your home. We strategically select an abundance of marketing that reaches hundreds of other agents and numerous potential buyers searching online housing websites. Our full assistance through the closing process from helping schedule appointments, title work, and other details, lead to a successful closing.

This booklet outlines the importance of using knowledgeable professionals and presents recent statistics of how quickly your home will be sold and for what price. I am also including the latest sales in your neighborhood for you to review as well.

Please call me if I may assist you with this important transaction.

Thank you,

Fred Smith, REALTOR® The Fred Smith Group RealtySouth – Crestline (205) 368-2280 SoldbyFred@gmail.com

Fred's Seller Testimonials Fred handled the sale of our property perfectly. He guided us for everything from how to prepare our house for sale, through pricing, negotiations, contract execution, all the way to closing. With Fred's help, we were able to sell our house at a price that far exceeded our expectations.

We were absolutely thrilled.

Fred also helped us find and buy a house at the last minute. We had thought we would be moving out of town but wound up staying in town and only having about a month to buy. That process went perfectly as well.

I recommend Fred Smith as highly as possible. You cannot go wrong with him.

He knows the over the mountain market in Birmingham better than anyone else. ~klasing- sold home in Mountain Brook, AL

I knew Fred socially for a while before I needed his services professionally. And I can promise he is a genuine guy, and highly skilled at getting houses sold. He was helpful in getting everything prepared for the sale, his team helped me repick the perfect color to remain my door and shutters, he consistently had people viewing out house, and got us a great offer and had it sold before I honestly thought possible. I would, and do, highly recommend Fred and his team no question about it. ~ConorDavis- sold home in Homewood, AL

We could not have had a better realtor than Fred Smith to sell our first home. He came highly recommended by our colleagues and he exceeded expectations. Fred was very professional and patient with us throughout the whole processes. He and his team are easy to reach, and they guided us every step of the way. Highly recommend Fred Smith and his group to any future buyers or sellers! ~scampb43- sold home in Birmingham, AL

Our Team Fred Smith REALTOR ® (205) 368-2280

David Crane REALTOR ® (205) 410-5253

Brandy Herschbach Cindy Hodges REALTOR ® (205) 253-5244

Danza Paulovich Closing Coordinator (205) 879-6330 x3409

REALTOR ® (205) 566-3553

Liza Roitman REALTOR ® (205) 427-2247

Amanda Dabbs REALTOR ® (205) 746-8820

Stephanie Knight Accounting (205) 908-1712

Donna Savage REALTOR ® (205) 540-2777

Langston Hereford REALTOR ® (205) 368-2280

Ashley Lewis REALTOR ® (205) 907-7622

Jen Stinson REALTOR ® (404) 402-5440

Our Main Focus Design and Staging Analysis Price your home competitively Market your home to qualified buyers Sell your home within a specific time frame

Our Goal... " Is to sell your home for the highest amount of money in the shortest amount of time."

The Fred Smith Group Marketing Mission Statement

Why Hire an Agent Money- FSBOs receive about 30% less for their properties than agent listed properties. The average $200,000 home could sell for approximately $80,000 more.

Negotiating Skills- We help you purchase your dream home at the best possible price.

Professional Networking- We may already know a buyer or another agent that has someone looking in your neighborhood.

Professional Home Design Analysis- We have agents certified in staging your home “show” ready. From design recommendations to a punch list- we will help you make your home look its best.

Marketing Gurus- We have access to market your home on hundreds of home sites and social media outlets.

Experience and Expertise- Selling a home usually requires dozens of forms, reports, disclosures and other technical documents. An agent will help you prepare the best deals and avoid delays or costly mistakes.

Time Saver- We handle all scheduling appointments to view your home, so you may relax even if you are out of town.

Timeline for Selling LISTING APPOINTMENT

PREPARE HOME FOR SHOWING

Review Marketing Plan Compare Properties to Determine Price Sign Listing Agreement

Design Analysis Preparation Plan Clean & Staging if needed

NEGOTIATION

MARKETING YOUR HOME

Receive Offer Negotiate Offer to Contract

BUYER INSPECTIONS Home Inspection, Termite, Septic and others Survey Repair Negotiation

Professional Photography Coming Soon Protocol Online & Print Marketing (ie.

FredSmithGroup.com, Flyers, Zillow, Realtor.com... per marketing plan) Brochures

CLOSING Schedule Movers Change Utilities Mortgage Payoff

MOVING DAY!!!

Preparing Your Listing STRATEGIC PRICING Once your home is market ready, we review market trends that include past sales data, current listings, and expired (usually overpriced). Our research insures it is priced properly and positioned to attract the highest possible offer.

PREPARE A DESIGN ANALYSIS Design recommendations- Improvements that will position your house to maximize your return. The majority of homebuyers will pay a premium of 5 - 7% for a home that is upgraded or recently remodeled.

Contractor recommendations- We can supply you with a list of recommended contractors and handymen upon request.

PRESENTING YOUR HOME Punch List- We believe the difference is in the details. We provide you with a punch list to make sure every detail is covered.

Once your property is prepared to sell, we schedule a home stager when appropriate and help with strategic furniture placement.

Coming Soon Plan COMING SOON PROTOCOL Once your home is prepared, a coming soon sign is ordered. This will consist of a large white post sign in the front yard as well as arrow signs that lead traffic to the listing (where allowed).

We hire a Professional Photographer. The first home showing takes place on the internet. Our goal is the make a prospective buyer immediately excited by your home and want to see it in person.

MARKETING COMING SOON LISTINGS We market your property on our website (FredSmithGroup.com) ad well as on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and the RealtySouth website.

We also market the coming soon property on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media areas.

We design marketing materials such as flyers to pass out to the neighborhood as well as send out a coming soon postcard to your neighborhood and surrounding area.

"Marketing Beyond the Sign" SIGNS AND SHOWING INSTRUCTIONS Once your home is officially active in MLS, we enter the listing information into “Showing Desk” at RealtySouth so that the Agent On Duty will have all the proper information on the house to schedule the showings. We checkout a Lockbox from the Board of Realtors and place it on or near the front door of the home.

We install a large recognizable “Fred Smith Group/RealtySouth” sign (our signs really stand out from the rest). We place directional signs where allowed (some cities do not allow arrow signs). We are in charge of collecting and replacing all signs on the weekends and for the areas that we need permitting, we complete all the necessary paperwork.

PRINT AND SOCIAL MEDIA We create full color, professionally designed flyers and booklets to be placed in your home and distribute to other real estate offices so that every agent knows about your home. We also market on numerous social media sites. We are Premier Zillow Agents, but we also market to other Real Estate websites such as Trulia, Realtor.com, FredSmithGroup.com etc. We also send out “Just Listed” postcards to 50-100 of your closest neighbors to create an initial impact in your neighborhood.

REALTOR CARAVAN AND OPEN HOUSES We enter the property into the RealtySouth Caravan Sheet for the entire office to preview the home and review their feedback. Other RealtySouth offices are invited as well.

We hold an Open House approximately every 3 weeks on Sundays from 2-4pm, and we will hold Agent Open Houses. These are usually held on Tuesdays from 11am to 1:30 pm and we provide lunch and invite other REALTORS to preview your home.

FEEDBACK We set up a feedback service through Supra (lockbox) and ShowingDesk Service We call other agents for feedback and will contact you, the seller, when feedback is received.

Contract to Close OFFERS AND CONTINGENCY PERIOD Present, negotiate, finalize all offers. As well as obtaining an approval letter from the purchaser’s lender or proof of funds if the buyer is paying cash.

We make sure the buyers do their inspections in a timely manner. We open the house for inspectors if need be and once inspections are done we will negotiate repairs if any, During the contingency period, we continue to market the property.

During this contingency time the buyer will order the termite bond transfer, wood infestation report, survey, and if needed the home warranty and septic tank inspection.

Once all inspections are completed and agreed upon, the lender orders the appraisal.

We set up the closing with the closing attorney and lender, as well as send the clear title to the attorney. We work with the co-op agent to ensure all documents are ordered, checked and received by the closing attorney.

PRE-CLOSING The closing attorney contacts you to order your mortgage pay-off as we near closing. They also coordinate with the purchaser to make sure all their financing is in place to close. We monitor to make sure this is completed.

A couple days before closing, the closing attorney sends out a settlement statement and closing package. We check the settlement statement for errors but it’s always important for you double check and make sure there are no errors as well.

POST CLOSING We change the listing status in the MLS to sold, remove the signs and arrows from the home and neighborhood, lockbox from the home, and give the keys to the new homeowner.

We keep a copy of the settlement statement in our file and we will send you a copy of it in February for tax purposes.

Featured Sites

Why Hire The Fred Smith Group Fred Smith Group is #1 Group in Birmingham with RealtySouth Our success is unmatched.

RealtySouth is #1 in Name Recognition The market leaders since 1955.

RealtySouth is #1 in Market Share Consistently selling more homes than any company, therefore attracting more buyers.

RealtySouth is #1 in Number of Agents Nearly 900 agents to network your property. We may already have a buyer in our office.

RealtySouth is #1 in Buyer Pool Representing more buyers in the market place than any other brokerage.

RealtySouth is #1 in Relocation Business Largest relocation volume in Alabama providing you with a huge pool of buyers.

Smooth Transaction We provide a Listing Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator, and Closing Coordinator to insure you a smooth transaction from listing date to closing.

Complementary Home Warranty Complimentary coverage during listing period through American Home Shield or 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty.

Professional Home Design Analysis Our certified design team will help you get your home “show” ready. We will prepare a design recommendation so you receive the most money from your home.

Additional Features Kitchen:______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bedrooms/Bathrooms:__________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Living/Den:___________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Basement/Other:_______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Exterior:______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ HVAC/How Many Systems:______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Roof Age:_____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Water Heater Age:_____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Additional Features Security System:_______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________

What’s you/your family’s favorite thing(s) about the house, street & neighborhood: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Additional features/upgrades your home has that others in the area typically don’t have: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Monthly Utilities:

** Please include the following: Survey, HOA Documents or any additional paperwork**