US real estate equity builder Kansas City - Marketing Your Real Estate Services During boom times in real estate, agents don't have to work very hard at marketing in order to make a living. Those who do a good job of marketing themselves and their listings do make the most money, but almost everyone can get by. But now that the boom times have ended (for the time being, at least), if you want to stay in the business you have to do a good job of marketing. If you don't, you won't be in business long. If you want to be a listing agent, the first step is to market yourself to homeowners. You have to create a message that makes you stand out from the rest as the agent who will get those homes sold. Part of that is proving that you have the ability to market their home effectively. So before you can present yourself as the agent to choose, you have to learn how to get your listings spread around the Internet in all the right places. Since over 80% of all home buyers now begin their search on line, that's an important first step. Next is learning to take spectacular photos, or putting money in your budget to hire someone who can. Then, along with the photos, you need words that put your readers in the house. You need to make people feel how wonderful it will be to live in that house and create an urgency for them to get there first before someone else snaps it up.
How do you do that? By describing the benefits as well as the features. It's no simple task, because the ADA and the Fair Housing laws put restrictions on what you can say. So stick with verbs that don't discriminate. I think you can still use words like "enjoy," "relax," and "appreciate." Just stay away from words like "see, hear, and walk." Of course marketing is not the only benefit you bring to your listing clients, so you need to market your other skills as well. One of the most important is the ability to help them determine the correct selling price in today's market. So you have to emphasize your market knowledge while you're offering that free market analysis. Two more attributes that are of prime importance to listing clients are communication and negotiations. They want to know that you are not one of those agents who will "list it and forget it. What if you want to be a buyer's agent? Then you need to emphasize your commitment to finding your clients the perfect home, staying in touch regularly, and negotiating on their behalf. Those buyers want to know that you will be a trusted guide through the real estate jungle. Today, whether you work with buyers or with sellers, you need something more. Because so many sales today are either foreclosures or short sales, you need to market your skills in getting the proper paperwork together and in persistently following up with bank personnel to get transactions all the way to closing.
Real estate practice has changed dramatically since the mortgage crisis hit. Your marketing needs to show that you have kept up with the changes and can represent your clients well. What else is new? We're living in an age where relationships count. We don't know who to trust any more because the news is filled with stories of people we trusted who turned out to be unworthy. We're no longer willing to trust until we're shown a reason not to. Instead we want to see reasons why we should trust. Your website, and especially your agent bio, can help. By sharing something of your personality and your personal life, you can give prospects a way to see you as being somehow "like them." So put a little less emphasis on your professional accomplishments and share a little of your hobbies, your past experiences, and your community involvement. Let them see who you are when you aren't wearing your real estate hat.