Central Ohio Real Estate Market News

Since Realtors® work with each other to facillitate buying and selling homes, we know best what certain agents do or don’t do to market a seller’s home. We also know what marketing strategies are the most important to selling a home. This post continues to give you an “insiders” view of what Realtors® know and do.

I addressed the #1 question in an earlier blog. That question dealt with the agent’s use of photography, their ability/willingness to take high quality photos, and the number of photos they will take and put on the internet. Photography is critical because with the internet, you have a nano-second to capture the buyer’s attention and interest in your home. It’s too easy to click “NEXT“!

The #2 question you should ask a Realtor® when considering hiring them is about their use and knowledge of the internet. I posted a blog about the results of the 2006 NAR survey that strongly indicated that 80% of the buyers use the internet when they begin their search for a home. Therefore, having your home be on multiple web sites - with high quality photos - is extremely important in today’s technological world.

First, the agent’s broker should have a high-traffic web site where buyers can search through all the local listings - not just the broker’s listings. And buyers prefer if they can search by school district or by subdivision, so make sure the broker’s web site offers that capability. Being able to search for open houses is also important, but not as critical as searching by school district or subdivision.

The second feature to look for is the number of photos that can be uploaded to the broker’s site - AND ask how many photos the agent typically loads. (HER Real Living allows us the ability to upload 26 photos.) Buyers like to view lots of photos to make sure the home meets their wants/needs. While Buyers may use these extra photos to eliminate homes, it does save Sellers the effort of preparing for a showing needlessly. An example might be a Buyer with children where having a swing set is very important to them. If the Seller’s home sits on a steep ravine, then both parties have just saved time by not having that futile showing.

The third feature to check on is whether the agent has their own personal web site. Some agents will say they do, but in reality, what they have is a site that is a subset of another site. For instance, Realtor.com allows agents to have their own web pages as part of Realtor.com’s site. Several brokers offer the same thing for their agents. These “sub-sites” seldom get picked up by search engines, so Sellers don’t receive maximum exposure. You’ll want to select an agent that “owns” their site, advertises it extensively, and has taken the technological steps necessary to optimize it for search engine crawlers (spiders). Ask the agent what they’ve done with their “meta tags”, their keywords, and their “alt tags” to improve the spiders ability to read the web site. You don’t need to know what all this means, but the agent should. If they don’t, select another agent because their web site - and your listing - will be missed. 

While you’re visiting the agent’s web site, consider whether the agent’s focus is advertising themselves or their listings. How hard or easy is it to view their listings? Do you have to enter your name/phone/e-mail address in order to get the information? Most web site research indicates that buyers won’t give that information and will merely move on to another site.

The fourth feature to inquire about is whether the agent subscribes to Realtor.com’s Showcase Listing, evidenced by a yellow banner. Agents who pay the fee to have this enhancement to their listings, will be able to post up to 6 photos of the home, be able to add additional copy to describe the home, and be able to advertise any open houses. If the agent does not subscribe to this enhancement, there will be only one photo and the description copy underneath will be the same abbreviated version that is downloaded from the MLS system. Again, if buyers can’t see the inside of the home, they “move on” and you’ve lost them.

Lastly, some top brokers are now uploading their listings to Google Base, Trulia and Oogle. And they’re using Google Maps to aid buyers searches. Selecting a broker that does this (HER Real Living does), just increases the opportunity for buyers to find YOUR home. As a Seller, the internet is ”the place to be” and be wary of agents who try to convince you otherwise. It costs lots of money for agents to have their listings maximized on the internet, so it’s not uncommon for agents to avoid this expense.

You can be a smart consumer, however, if you know what you are or aren’t getting when you hire an agent.

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