listing presentation

Who wants to stand apart from the competition and increase their chances of getting a new listing?  You do.

More and more agents are going after expired listings every day.  Some call. Other’s mail. And then you have the doorknockers. The competition is swift.

If you are fortunate enough to get a listing appointment, you’re halfway there. Now you have to win the homeowner over and land the listing. The average seller interviews three agents before choosing who they want to hire, so you’re probably not the only one going in for an appointment.

Remember, they have already experienced an agent, so how you prepare for your appointment will make all the difference. This is your chance to go above and beyond and impress the heck out of them.

I will show you how to package their home prior to the listing appointment so they can see how you will present their property to the market rather than just hearing about it.

But first, aside from what their home is worth, what’s the one thing the seller wants to know?

What you will do to sell it in the shortest amount of time.

If you are dealing with an emotionally attached seller, they want to feel confident that their baby is in good hands.

Prior to your appointment, go into the MLS and analyze the previous listing.  Check out the quality of the photos, marketing remarks, and see if you can identify reasons the home didn’t sell.  Often it’s improper pricing or poor presentation.

Re-write the remarks as you would if you already got the listing.  How would you tell the home’s story? That’s the key here. Show the seller how you will showcase the benefits and functionality of their house.  If the previous listing remarks are great, then put your spin on them.

The marketing remarks are your opportunity to sell the lifestyle and benefits to your prospective buyer, not a ramble of features and fragment sentences.

I know it’s tricky to write remarks without a visual inspection of the property so piece the story together the best you can. Reference the previous agents remarks, photos, and do a Google search of the neighborhood.  Often you will find some interesting facts or history that will spice up your version.

In two recent cases, I discovered that the neighborhood surrounding a listing was developed by one builder of Macys Herald Square in NYC.  He wanted to create an enclave for the rich City folk to vacation during the summer. Leading with this information hooks the reader into your story.  It’s interesting and would make most people want to read more.

The second listing was in the 7th wealthiest zip code according to a recent Bloomberg study.  That will definitely get some people’s attention.

Now for the visuals.  If you break your listing appointment into two parts, snap some interior and exterior photos during your first meeting. Create a slide show with text overlay highlighting the functionality and benefits of the house.  

Animoto is a great tool for creating eye-catching home tours and you can export them in high definition.  For this to have maximum effect, the seller needs to see their house in the video.

The key is to show them what you will do rather than just hearing about it.

You may think this is a lot of work to do before you get a commitment.  You’re right. And your efforts will impress the seller. If you put this much thought and work into securing the listing, they’ll be interested to find out what you’ll do to keep it.

Even if you don’t get the listing, you’re practicing for the next.