Effective Marketing?
By Jim Palmer Jr.

 A common remark concerning a consumer’s negative critique of their broker is that the broker’s marketing efforts seem anemic.  After all, the problem must be a lack of effort by the listing broker, or poor quality advertising, or anything besides how the property was priced or presented by the seller.  Presumably they hired a broker, expecting them to be a slick salesperson who could sell bikinis to Eskimos.  When that quick sale didn’t happen, the blame game started.

These types of thoughts usually fester after a listing has languished on the market for longer than the seller (or their know-it-all friend) thought it should have.  The irony of that type of reasoning is that it doesn’t consider the seller’s role in that perceived failure.  After all, ideally that partnership means both have a role to play where communication can make all the difference.

I’ve heard hot-shot-brokers brag about how they can sell a property faster and for more money than other brokers, when the truth really isn’t as simple as that.  In a hot market, poor advertising efforts or even a non-existing advertising scheme can result in a quick sale. Conversely, in a poor market even the most expensive and exhaustive marketing efforts may not yield the desired outcome.

If you really care about how your brokers marketing scheme might affect the timing of your sale, consider that correct pricing is the most important thing you can do to maximize your chance of selling quickly.

Other things to consider;  Is your broker a member of a Multiple Listing Service where your listing is available for thousands of brokers and their buyers to see?  Did you have any input into the remarks that will become public?  Is your broker willing to change those public remarks upon request?  Will your listing be syndicated to popular real estate sites such as Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and others?  Do they have their own website?  Does the company they work for have a company website where they offer IDX (internet data exchange) with other brokerages?

In addition to those ideas, is your broker willing to pay for print advertising, professional photography or aerial shots of the property?  Do they maximize use of social media outlets such as Facebook or even Craigslist?  After all it probably is a combination of all of those things and even the little things like placing a clean, straight sign on your property!