Selling your Carlsbad home is a challenge. And you want to know that the REALTOR you hire will get the job done. Of course I am assuming that you have priced the home to sell, since we know that no matter how much marketing you do, an overpriced home will not sell.

Read: What’s Important to You as a Seller?

This is not so much about how to go about finding the right agent, but more about what will the listing agent do for you.

Read: What do You Want to Know About Your Agent?

Also: What Kind of Agent do You Want?

There are many strategies a listing agent can employ in order to help you find the right buyer for your home. The operative word here is CAN: some agents take the easy (or lazy) way and do the minimal work needed to get a home sold, or don't have a clue about Internet marketing where most of today's buyers are.

Gaining the maximum exposure in today market is critical since there is so much competition. Buyers are being picky and are not willing to pay more than what they perceive market value to be. So, to reiterate…PRICING is the most important thing you can do to sell your home. And of course your home will be free of clutter and personal items (i.e., staged), and repairs will have been taken care of. Assuming that is on target, then, what sorts of things might you expect the agent you are considering hiring to provide you with regarding to marketing and advertising?

• Standard offerings
  • listing in the MLS – accurate information, no typos hopefully, and lots of high quality photos
  • signage in the yard
  • attractive feature sheet in the house and in a brochure box (there is some debate about the brochure box)
  • An ad in the local newspaper, an open house or two (or perhaps one every weekend – hmm, is that what you really want, given we know few homes sell this way?) and broker caravan
• Other offerings
  • Single site webpage or blog (see 6547 Calle Valperizo for an example of a blog I am using for my newest listing)
  • Unique URL for YOUR home (see above)
  • Virtual tours – these are easy to do and pretty common, yet lots of agents DON’T use them…and buyers say they WANT to see them. Here’s an example.

• Written marketing plan – many agents do not have one and look at you like a deer in the headlights if you ask to see one. How do you know what they plan to do to target market YOUR home?
• Lots of photos – buyers tell us they WANT to see photos, lots of them. Some buyers will not even look at a listing that has no photos…and many don’t. Here is an example of a slide show of a recent listing of mine.
• On-line flyers and postings on multiple websites – here is a Vflyer for my latest listing. This gets posted on multiple sites. And there are dozens and dozens of real estate website where your listing should be (Trulia, Realtor.com, Zillow are just a few of the big name ones that get the most Internet traffic).

• Video – is there a video of the home, or better yet the community? Here is an example I did.
  

There’s more, but you get the idea. Don’t short change yourself. Selling your home is TOO important, if you are really serious about it.

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If I can provide more information about Carlsbad or surrounding communities, and the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your home search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

The majority of buyers and sellers (like you, since you are reading this) are seeking information on buying and selling homes on the Internet. And if you are not, you SHOULD.

There is a wealth of information available to you on the process of selling your home, and acquiring a new one, or your first. That does not, however, replace the information that you can get from a knowledgeable agent.

But how do you find out about agents?

And what sorts of things do YOU want to know before making that critical decision to hire someone to help you, either to sell or to buy, or both.?

Agent websites are a good way to get to know about agents. But blogs are even better. Here's why.

• You probably want to know about your prospective agent's experience in your area
• And their knowledge about the market, the and selling process, and matters that can impact YOU and YOUR transaction
• Do they know what they are doing, and do they convey a sense of that in their communication
• And do they demonstrate that they are focused on their clients, or more so on their own interests. REMEMBER, as the client YOUR interests are paramount, and as agent we are obligated to look out for YOUR interests.
• Perhaps you also want to know their statistics

I suspect, however, that you also are interested in the agent on a more personal level. What is their style and personality? Are they ethical? Do they make you feel comfortable? Are they someone you would like to work with? And so on.

Blogs are a great way to get to know all of these things about an agent. You will find that you may feel comfortable with a certain person and how they work, their passion for the industry, their service attitude, their style, and so much more.

So in addition to learning about buying and selling, use the Internet, and blogs to find out what you would like to know about an agent before you hire them. You will probably find that if you like them on-line, you will also like them in person. That's the beauty of on-line transparency.

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