Oyster Realty - Step 4 - Marketing Your Home

Step 4 - Marketing Your Home

Marketing and Advertising

Getting the word out that your home is for sale is critical to your success. If home shoppers don’t know about it then nothing else really matters. The challenge for home owners is marketing in those places where home shoppers are searching. Every year the National Association of Realtors® publishes their Profile of Buyers and Sellers Report which incorporates the latest sales information and market statistics. According to the 2005 report, over 77% of all home shoppers are using the internet. Of the actual home buyers, 24% found the home they purchased directly on the internet, 15% saw the yard sale sign, and another 36% were first introduced by their REALTOR® who found the listing on the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database. That means 75% of all buyers in 2005 came from one of these three marketing sources.

Smart sellers should focus their marketing campaign on attracting online shoppers through Realtor.com®, the MLS, and through other select websites where the majority of shoppers are searching. This can be effectively backed and supported by more traditional forms of marketing such as flyers and mailings, through print publications, and with a professional "For Sale" yard sign.

Oyster Realty's client focus is designed for one thing – getting top dollar offers and maximizing your financial return. Our targeted selling system puts your listing where the majority of buyers are searching for the most affordable price on the market. The following is an overview of our core marketing process:

Multiple Listing Service

Oyster Realty is a full member of the Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS® (GCAAR), the Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® (GBBR), the Maryland Association of REALTORS® (MAR), and the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS® (NVAR). We will properly submit your home to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) complete with a comprehensive listing of your home’s primary selling points. Oyster Realty will also assist you to make your MLS listing as effective as possible through the use of multiple digital photos, virtual tours, and granting opt-in permission to all of our competitor’s websites.

Our Field Sales Agents will guide you in offering a competitive commission rate to regional buyer agents that will match your selling goals, reflect the condition of your property, compete with any local listings from comparable properties, and remain in accordance with the general market conditions at the time of sale. Buyer agent commissions typically follow the laws of supply and demand. That is, homes that are located in highly desirable neighborhoods can typically offer lower buyer commissions than homes where fewer buyers are shopping.

Internet Advertising

As a member of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), all of Oyster’s MLS listings will also appear on the nationally recognized Realtor.com® website. This site was used by more than 54% of all 2005 home buyers nationwide due to its excellent brand recognition and large inventory of available properties. The actual number of home shoppers using the site is probably quite higher. Having your listing appear on Realtor.com® allows for a maximum of exposure to internet shoppers, many of whom will decide to contact us directly to schedule showing appointments. Should an independent buyer see your property and desire to make an offer on your home, Oyster Realty’s 1.5% buyer price cap ensures you get the all the benefits of professional REALTOR® coverage at drastically reduced prices.

Oyster Realty’s Account Managers and marketing staff will also see that your home is listed on various reputable third-party listing sites when appropriate. This will increase your exposure to possible niche shoppers, many of whom prefer to work independent of a broker. With powerful market information like this, one thing is for certain - without an effective internet listing you will miss the majority of your possible buyers without ever even knowing it!

Yard Sales Signage

Of the more traditional ways to sell homes, yard sales signs are by far the most effective. A full 15% of all home buyers find the home of choice by simply driving around and looking for our company sign. Each Oyster Realty client gets an easily identifiable sale sign complete with contact information for both agents and independent home shoppers. Smart clients often choose to add a flyer box stocked with professionally designed flyers for maximum on-site marketability.

Open Houses

According to NAR less than 1% of all homes are purchased by people who first viewed that home through an Open House. This method of selling is still extremely popular because it remains a great source of client leads for your listing agent (to find unrepresented home buyers) and for local residents to “see the Jones’s place”. Because of the low probability of finding a qualified buyer via this method, Oyster Realty recommends holding Open Houses only in select cases where there is significant local foot traffic, special property considerations, or when holding a Broker’s Open House will help to increase demand among the local buyer agents.

Printed Advertising

Oyster Realty's base services are designed to maximize the most effective forms of electronic and on-site mediums first and foremost. Statistically speaking this is where your buyer is most likely to find your home. However, clients who own properties that might require more traditional forms of advertising can be accommodated. Any and all print advertising can be handled in-house by our marketing staff; however, it is done so in addition to the pricing for our base service packages and is paid directly by the client. Print advertising is not included in our base packages because of Oyster Realty's NO-RISK listing agreement which allows all clients to leave without obligation at any time.