What’s the first thing you do to promote a new listing?
You put the information in MLS, of course. Then you probably put it on your web page. Then you add it to all the real estate portals, and perhaps to your social media sites.
What should you do next?
Send a “just listed” card, of course.
Right after you get the internet chores done, mail a notice of your new listing to the people in surrounding homes.You can get the most complete information from Cole Information, but you can also get names and addresses by searching County records, or from your title company.
Choose 20 or more people in the immediate vicinity. (As your success grows to allow for a larger mailing budget, expand that list until you are marketing to a wide audience around each of your listings.) Then prepare a “just listed” card, complete with photo. You don’t need to state the price, just the address.
Your card could read something like:
“Your neighbors at 123 Main Street have
entrusted me with the marketing of their home.
If you have friends or family who would like
to live near you, please have them contact me at
XXX-XXX for full details.”
Your card will be seen as a service to the community, while positioning you as a Realtor who is on the ball, doing the best job possible for your listing clients.
When the house goes under contract, write them again.
If it happened quickly, be sure to note that fact!
This card might say:
123 Main Street is now under contract, just X days
after the owners chose (your name) to bring it to market.
If you’d like to see a “Pending Sale” sign in front of
your home, call today!
And then, keep selling your services after the house is sold.
After the house is sold, send another card. Use the photo again, but this time with a “Just sold” banner across it. This card can read something like:
“You have new neighbors!
The house at 123 Main just
sold, and it stirred up a lot of
interest in your neighborhood.
If you are considering selling soon,
please contact me at XXX-XXXX, so I
can contact all those buyers who missed
out on 123 Main.”
Do be prepared if there is a misunderstanding.
During my 19 years in real estate I used this method religiously. Despite creating cards with a photo of the house on the front, there were two instances when I had to do some heavy explaining when people saw the card and believed I was advertising their house.
One lady, after finally being convinced that the photo was of the house across the street from her, forgot to toss the card, so called me again a couple of weeks later. At the end of the second call I asked her please to put that card in the trash!
One gentleman went on and on telling me that just because his wife had died and he was living out of state didn’t mean I could sell his house. (It seems his neighbors had told him about the just listed card.) He absolutely wouldn’t listen until I told him I couldn’t sell his house if I wanted to – because I didn’t have a door key.
