WHY LIST HOME WITH REAL ESTATE AGENT - EXPOSURE (PART II)

Some think that when an agent lists a property for sale, it is simply put in MLS (Multiple Listing Service).  But there's so much more to getting maximum exposure than just inputting the listing into MLS.  Promoting a listing and marketing it to other agents is just as important as marketing to the consumer.  It is very likely another agent will show and sell that listing, and it is my job to keep that listing in the forefront of an agent's mind.  The individual property domain site (as in www.1348LakeshoreCircle.com) allows me, with the 'Email this Listing'  tab to email agents info with a live link to the website.  Lockbox technology sends me an email each time an agent shows one of my listings displaying their contact information and the time the property was accessed.  I use that to contact the agent for feedback.   How do I find the agent who will likely show and maybe sell the listing?  I  market to agents  by maintaining databases of agents that will most likely have the opportunity to show the listing.  I have a database of all agents who have sold lake properties within the last year; I market lake listings primarily to those agents.  I have a data base of Habersham/White/Stephens County agents and promote my listings in those counties to agents there.  For a listing in Hiawassee at Lake Chatuge, I promote listings to all agents in the Northeast Georgia board and to Lake Lanier agents as well.

I also send this same type email to the several hundred contacts in my sphere of influence data base in hopes of a word of mouth referral.  In one instance recently, a company president received one of these emails promoting a listing and had a new hire employee out the next day seeing the home.

Social media has had a tremendous influence as to how I market properties.  I'm often reminded, 'It's not about ability; it's visability that counts."  Posting property website links on Facebook and Twitter has exponentially increased my ability to quickly broadcast new listings and price reductions.  Recently, I received an inquiry from a Facebook post promoting a new listing that led to a full price offer on that listing the very next day.  I offer those who 'Like' my Facebook page the opportunity to see new listings even before they hit MLS.  Please visit www.facebook.com/KimWatersRealEstateAgent and 'Like' my page to follow happenings in North Georgia and in North Georgia Real Estate.

Video and YouTube are also increasingly important as to exposure.  YouTube is the second largest search engine (second only to Google).  A videographer filmed me earlier today at a North Hall neighborhood that we are marketing, Highland Gates.  The video should be up soon on the neighborhood website , my website and my YouTube channel as well.   

Even though print advertising is said to be going to the wayside, our firm, The Norton Agency is the only firm in North Georgia that advertises weekly still in The Gainesville Times, with a full page ad.  We also produce a publication called Homes for Life, inserted in seven area North Georgia newspapers and available at retail spots in yellow boxes throughout the region (65,000 printed monthly).  My featured listings cover the two center pages and feature listings with photos and websites to get the buyer prospect to the property's website.

I am sometimes asked about how our firm, The Norton Agency,  keeps such an edge and remains a leader in the market in comparison to national brand companies.   Some sellers mistakenly think that a national firm is best for exposure,  especially in the high end market. The real estate business is largely local in nature, which explains why independent, locally branded firms such as The Norton Agency continue to dominate.  The entity that connects all the country's top locally branded real estate firms, like The Norton Agency, is Leading Edge Real Estate Companies of the World, whose affiliate companies (over 600 firms with 5,000 offices and 150,000 sales associates in 35 countries worldwide) sell nearly $300 billion annually in the U.S., more than any national franchise brand.  We are also the NUMBER ONE companies in terms of sales volume in more of the top 88 US markets than any other national organization, as seen in the graph below.

In the next couple of blogs, I'll discuss other reasons to list with a broker - Pricing Your Home Right and Negotiating the Sale of Your Home.  And as always, visit www.KimWaters.com to search listings and learn more about me and our firm, The Norton Agency.