What Sellers Want in A Real Estate Agent

According to data collected by the NAR, the top five things sellers want in a real estate agent is help:

1. marketing their home to potential buyers (20%)
2. pricing home competitively (20%)
3. selling the home within a specific time frame (19%)
4. finding a buyer for home (14%)
5. finding ways to fix up home to sell it for more (14%)

Help marketing their home to potential buyers (20%) 

There are two services that sellers want most in a real estate agent. They are marketing a seller’s home and pricing their home for sale. According to the NAR, 20% of sellers most want a real estate agent who will market their home to buyers.

Listing agents who want to get more clients should focus on creating a stellar marketing plan. The best way to do this is by answering the questions home sellers will most often ask. These include:

• What online channels will me home be shared on (Zillow, MLS, Social Media, etc.)?
• How will the real estate agent make my home stand out from the thousands of listings online (Single Property Sites, media used, target ads, etc.)?
• Which forms of media will be used to promote my home (Professional photos, floor plans, virtual tours, etc.)?
• How will my home be promoted locally (open house, sign riders, etc.)?
• How will the real estate agent’s professional network be leveraged to promote my home?

Since marketing skills are the most important thing sellers want in a real estate agent, making a stellar marketing plan should be #1 priority.

Help Price Home Competitively (20%) 

Pricing homes competitively is just as important to sellers (20%) as having a solid marketing plan. Sellers want an agent who will list their home at the right price. But, giving sellers the best listing price possible isn’t good enough. Sellers want a real estate agent who will show them exactly how they decided on the listing price.

In a world of inaccurate Zestimates, real estate agents need to be incredibly honest and open about how comps are acquired and how listing prices are decided on. Sellers love printouts and explanations of detailed comps. 

Real estate agents should view themselves as educators. Home sellers need agents to teach them about the best price for their home and how that price is determined.

Help Selling a Home Within a Specific Time Frame (19%) 

Real estate agents have a great opportunity to help calm a seller’s anxiety and get new clients, by emphasizing a commitment to selling homes within a specific time frame. With job changes, expanding families, and other relocation needs, many sellers become nervous and frustrated when thinking about their time frame needs.

A seller’s fear and frustration are a huge opportunity for real estate agents. Presenting a track record of previous sales, past client testimonials, and emphasizing how the marketing plan and listing price are important to selling quickly are important.

Help Find a Buyer for Home (14%)

Fourteen percent of sellers most want an agent that will help them find a buyer. This need ties directly into a real estate agent’s marketing plan. And, highlighting the real estate agent’s professional network is a must.

The listing agent should also highlight their ability to find the right buyer for a seller’s home. Talking about qualifying buyer leads is important. Not only will the real estate agent find a buyer, but one who is financially secure, is going to make it to closing,  and who is not asking for an outrageous price cut.

Help Find Ways to Fix Up Home to Sell it For More (14%) 

It’s not a surprise that many home sellers want to increase the asking price of their home. And while this can cause headaches for agents, what many sellers actually want is help and guidance fixing up their homes to sell for more.

When presenting a fair listing price and comps, part of the conversation often turns to increase the listing price. No surprises here! But agents should be ready with a list of data-backed home improvement options to increase the sales price. Having the name of a few good contractors on hand is also a great idea.

What Sellers Want in a Real Estate Agent

While many real estate agents focus on their negotiating skills, their brokerage’s reputation, or other strengths, the truth is, we have data on what sellers want in a real estate agent. A strong marketing plan, a competitive listing price, help selling their home quickly, finding a buyer, and advice on home improvements is what sellers actually want most. Above all, agents who focus on these needs and marketing toward those needs will see the highest pay-offs.

The post What Sellers Want in A Real Estate Agent appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Traveling back to chilly Denver was tough after a great weekend in sunny Orlando, but we came away from this year’s National Association of REALTORs convention with a lot of observations and insights into the state of real estate at the moment. We’ll be putting together some comprehensive posts in the coming days, but we wanted to give you our zeitgeist, so to speak, of the real estate world, gathered from our time on the Orlando expo floor.

Here’s some trends we picked up on. Anything that you heard or saw? Leave a comment — we’d be interested to hear.

The economy is hurting the industry. This sounds like a trite observation, but it’s one we heard again and again. There were fewer people at NAR, the vendor booths were smaller and less elaborate, and agents were constantly talking about the state of the housing market. In fact, it served as an introduction on the buses to and from the hotel: “Hi, my name is Joe Realtor. What’s the market like where you’re from?”

And while the economy dominated the conversation, we got the impression agents were hopeful about the future. Many said the economy in their market wasn’t as bad as it might seem and thought a turnaround was coming soon.

Mobile has arrived. It was amazing how many vendors were at the show for the first time, offering solutions for text message flyers and mobile Web sites to REALTORs.  And, largely, agents were receptive to the new technology. It’s more proof that we’re right on the edge of an explosion in mobile marketing – next year in San Diego should have even more mobile vendors and mobile technologies.

But, we heard from agents that it’s not something they’re really excited to invest in at the moment, especially with winter approaching and the economy in the shape it’s in. Many of these vendors were charging huge monthly fees and per-message charges that turned a lot of Agents off from the concept. We didn’t hesitate to point out, of course, that SPS includes mobile marketing for free.

Twitter is everywhere. There’s no more receptive group to the idea of Twittering than REALTORs. Everywhere you went, you’d hear about it at the conference — a giant map displaying live Twitters was the centerpiece of the NAR Blogger’s Lounge, agents wrote their Twitter IDs on their name tags and submitted Tweets from their Blackberries as they walked around the conference.  And coaches were extolling the virtues of the service to any agent that listened.

Still, most agents said that while the service was addicting and fun, they still weren’t sure of the benefits of Twitter. It will be interesting to see whether the industry can start turning this tool into something that builds their business. Certainly some agents are finding leads with Twitter; they’re just in the minority.

The post Our Observations from NAR – Orlando appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.