Tag Archives: Marketing

If History Plays Hob with a Sapphire House for Sale

access_timeMarch 25, 2015personDorothy Swearingen

3-18-history Would you buy a house where someone died? Would it make a difference if the death was peaceful or…otherwise?

You might never have considered such questions, but the answers can become a serious issue for a Sapphire house for sale—especially if it has a history that could be right out of a CSI episode. And what if you are the owner of a Sapphire house for sale with this kind of issue? It may be labeled as stigmatized—the unpleasant term that can attach to a house for sale which buyers or tenants may shun for reasons unrelated to its physical condition.
It’s a good thing that the list of potentially disturbing events isn’t a long one: death; murder; suicide; scary illness; being haunted (rather, the belief that it’s haunted—let’s not get into that discussion!). An owner might have known of a sketchy history when he or she purchased the property, or perhaps found out later on. The information may not have made a difference before, but it could impact the number of prospects who will make offers on a house for sale—in Sapphire (or anywhere, for that matter). What to do?

Selling for the Right Price

What of happenings that are simply gruesome? Another property in California’s Bay Area had a grisly past involving drugs, murder and other heinous activities. This was a stylish home in an affluent neighborhood which sat empty while other comparable homes for sale came and went. Then one day a young businesswoman made an offer well below the asking price. The bank that owned the property had a list price of $335,000, already below values in the area. After negotiation, the buyer bought the home for $261,000. She saw past the horrific story to the potential that it offered to someone not affected by the drama of days gone by. And probably counted on the fact that her remodeling efforts—plus the many years she planned on living there—would make future buyers much less likely to worry about what would gradually turn into a distant past.

Telling the Right Story

One otherwise quaint home in a western small town was widely reputed to host paranormal activity. The stories of what previous owners had faced from ghosts of the past were widespread enough that even non-believers might think twice about taking it on. For some properties, it is just a matter of putting the right spin on the story. Events that took place decades ago often bring allure to a property—while more recent activities may cause buyers to hesitate. The Realtor® took the ‘problem’ head-on by making the most of it, figuring that a good ghost story could add to the appeal if it was marketed correctly. It sold at a premium.

The takeaway: if you have a Sapphire house for sale that’s connected to a sad, tragic or paranormal history, don’t assume the worst. Some ‘stigmas’ may mean a sale takes more careful handling (but that’s just one more reason why a call to my office is a good first step).

With the right story and the right price, you’re pretty certain to find the right buyer—one who either overlooks the past, or is fascinated by it!

Today’s Brave New World of Highlands Real Estate Marketing

access_timeMarch 5, 2015personDorothy Swearingen

In Highlands real estate as in many other businesses, successfully drawing the public’s attention, then communicating value, are what separate can-do practitioners from the pack. It’s pigeonholed under “marketing” instead of “selling” because the latter sounds more like a one-on-one activity, whereas “marketing” depicts the kind of effort that goes out to the world at large.

The past couple of decades have produced sea changes in the way Highlands real estate brokers and agents need to approach their marketing approach. It’s not just the way all the advertising and communications media have been transformed; it’s also the expectations of the people they are intended to reach—the buyers. When a homeowner intends to put his home up for sale, one way to insure success is to be aware of the elements that make up any marketing plan designed to take advantage of today’s 2015 Highlands real estate marketplace.

Technology is at the forefront of good marketing, and today’s Realtors® can choose to put it to their clients’ advantage. A responsive website, striking visuals, good content, and specific details to accompany their business cards, brochures, and other traditional marketing materials build more than their own brand—they launch every client’s Highlands real estate listing across the virtual Universe!
Today’s real estate market rewards creativity more than was hitherto the norm. Because the web has made so much information so accessible, having a knack for standing apart from the crowd is more important than ever. Using techniques to attract attention is the first step in guaranteeing marketing success, so understanding search engine optimization (and using that knowledge regularly) is vital. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I make sure to post this blog regularly!
A social media presence is a must for anyone conducting real estate in Highlands —and it just so happens that it’s the perfect venue for Realtors® to shine. It’s a very personal (well, not quite an in-the-flesh handshake—but as personal as electronics allow!) way to expand networks and engage people in a diverse cross section of prospective audiences.
Using electronic and social media is part of the story, but monitoring their effectiveness (“the metrics”) is a necessity to track how well they are working. By tracking this information and using the results to take advantage of what works best, every Highlands real estate client shares in maximizing their listing’s exposure.

Effective real estate marketing uses ongoing research—and the strategy and energetic tactics that reach out to take advantage of the whole spectrum of today’s communication resources.

If you are thinking of listing your own home, I hope you’ll give me a call to see all that I can do for you!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: When to Publish Sapphire Listings

access_timeFebruary 12, 2015personDorothy Swearingen

2-4-whentolist It is a good bet that the first place the public will spot your house for sale will be the Sapphire listings. If 90% of those who actually do buy a home go to the web during their search (researchers at the National Association of Realtors® say so), they will either go directly to the Sapphire listings or find them through a Realtor’s site.

If you think like an advertising director, you might wonder when, exactly, the best time would be for your new listing’s premier? Is it in the dead of winter? Springtime? Summer? And is there a perfect day of the month, or (come to think of it) day of the week?

The NAR® has weighed in with some concrete answers. Well, actually, not really answers per se—more like information to help satisfy our curiosity. It turns out there really is no single best time for Sapphire listings to debut, for a couple of reasons; nonetheless, in case you’re curious (I was) about the findings, here they are:

The most popular home listing debut last year was Thursday, May 1, 2014. Second, April Fools’ Day. April and May were sprinkled liberally through the Top 25; but June, and March were all up there, too. But although the 20th was one of the top days of the month for listings launches (as well as the 24th through 30th), the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked often enough to tilt the overall results toward early in the month.

As for the most favored day of the week, there really wasn’t a clear winner—though there were definitely a couple of losers. Saturday and Sunday were all but ignored as days anyone first listed their homes, possibly because most real estate professionals are out in the field most weekends. Launching listings is a job best performed at an office desk.

Closings—the days that home sales are signed and sealed—had the same unpopular pair of days: weekend closings were predictably rare, as were Federal holidays. Two strange exceptions did pop up last year: Sunday, November 30, and Sunday, August 31. That has to be because of the natural inclination for people to pick the end of a month when they need to come up with a deadline. Often enough, we have to scramble to meet any deadline…if it happens to fall on a Sunday, too bad!

But although we have all this information about what the most common days to inaugurate a listing or finalize a home’s sale, that really doesn’t answer what’s the best time to do either. After all, just because more people pick similar dates, that doesn’t mean it is necessarily advantageous. You might even argue that the best day to begin Sapphire listings would be the least popular one, since your listing would be more likely to stand out when it’s the newest. Lonely, but brave!

There is one good answer to when is the best time to list your home: it’s whenever you’re ready. There are plenty of prospective buyers at all times—and as has been well-documented, a lot of them start looking in the dead of winter, when outdoors activities are at a minimum. As for when is the best time to give me a call? Anytime!

One Key Element that Distinguishes a True Glenville Luxury Home

access_timeDecember 9, 2014personDorothy Swearingen

12-3-luxury homes When you are selling your Glenville luxury home, you are marketing to a narrow niche of the home-buying public. They’re high-end customers, certain to be very smart, business-savvy—and they will know their own mind. They will be hunting for value, of course, because the asking price warrants it. But they will also be looking for a property that has elements that are unique—that appeal to buyers who hope to find a residence not duplicated elsewhere.

Because of that characteristic of the market, there can be no one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach that will be uniformly effective as a sales approach. There are, however, a few hallmarks that the most successful Realtors® have discovered are shared by the most appealing luxury homes. They boil down to value, exclusivity…and to story-telling.

The exposure element is the more straightforward. It used to be that the only important element was to be had in print media: magazine, newspaper, brochure and flyer. Still important, today the much wider reach is had through internet and social media. Like all Glenville real estate prospects, buyers interested in the current crop of luxury homes are most likely to investigate using at least some online research before scheduling an in-person visit. And what they experience on the web will be influential in how eager they will be to make time for that visit.

It goes without saying that for every Glenville luxury home web presentation, the quality of the imagery has to be first-rate—Professional real estate photographers do more than highlight key room features shot from eye-pleasing angles. The best know how to paint with light—to shape viewer experience by selecting the time of day and color of light and shadow that will convey mood. Sometimes a true online video tour, complete with well-produced music and narration tracks, can also be the most effective tool—as long as the online viewing experience is brief, intuitive and easy to navigate. But no matter which medium and format is pressed into service, the goal is always to create a viewer experience that is unique and memorable.

And it should have a story.

That ‘story’ could be anything from an interesting history to a setting or view that is, literally, unique. It can be an overpowering constellation of luxury home features, or a history of owners that includes prominent community or cultural luminaries. It can be standout architectural innovations, landscaping worthy of a Homes and Gardens centerfold, or a layout that just happens to be perfectly well-matched to a particular client’s family—any and all can qualify. The single indispensable part of the mix is that the property’s unique character comprises a story worth retelling. It’s human nature, after all every Glenville luxury home buyer, whether they realize it or not, would like to be able to tell friends and colleagues about their new luxury home!

If you have a Glenville home with its own luxury story waiting to be told—or if you’re in the hunt for one—I hope you will give me a call!

Creating Highlands Listings That Stand Out from the Pack

access_timeNovember 28, 2014personDorothy Swearingen

11-26-listing-smallsize If you had to come up with a single characteristic that the most effective Highlands home listings have in common, there are several good candidates:

A really well-crafted listing catches your eye with superior photography, for sure. But that’s not possible with every property. Good photographers know how to select the best angles, use light effectively, and eliminate distracting details (or at least downplay them). But since all homes aren’t equally photogenic, there are built-in limits to how even the most skillful listing creator can count on visuals to make a listing stand out.

Careful attention to detail is common in superior listings. The best Highlands listings don’t skimp on the details, or on brief adjectives that further enhance them—especially when they serve to differentiate a home from the pack. You can test this for yourself by scanning through some of today’s listings in Highlands. The best ones often have one or two relatively insignificant details that give a property character; that make it memorable. “Spacious walk-in closet” may not be nearly as important as “completely remodeled kitchen,” but for a certain number of prospective buyers, that can turn out to be the one detail that strikes a responsive chord (and creates a mental note to check this one out!).

Descriptions that employ proven advertising principles almost always make superior Highlands listings. One standby: arouse curiosity (headline writers are experts at this). An example might be “Brick barbecue center.” ‘What the heck is that?’ prospective buyers will ask themselves. Even if outdoor cooking isn’t even on their list of priorities, they might not be able to resist scheduling a home tour to find out…and sometimes a buyer is created!

But if I had to pick the one single characteristic most likely to be found in truly effective local listings, it would be this: The best Highlands listings in some way tell a story—add character to the cold facts. They stand out from other listings by engaging more of the reader’s imagination than others which are merely an illustrated bunch of data.

The ‘story’ may be a phrase that hints at a property’s interesting past: its historical origin or that of the neighborhood; a prominent previous owner; or an unusual construction history. For a fixer-upper, the story might be an expansive invitation to imagine how a creative Do-It-Yourselfer will be able to transform the property. For a luxury listing, the story might be an appeal to experience the full array of lavish trappings as the suitable reward for the accomplishments of a lifetime. The story may be fleshed out or merely hinted at by a well-worded phrase—but when listings contain the elements of a story, they add memorability.

Creating a stand-out listing is only one of the many elements that go into a successful Highlands home-selling campaign. I hope you will give me a call when it comes time to get your own home into the hands of a new owner!