Master Marketing Plan

Presented by:

Sedruola “Sedie” Maruska

EXIT First Choice Professional Realty 883 Edgell Road

Framingham, MA 01701 Office: 508-877-6500 Cell: 978-273-5691

Email: sedie@sediesells.com Website: www.sediesells.com

Table of Contents Marketing Objective An Agent’s Marketing Plan is the #1 difference among agents…. Mission Statement Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) How does my house compare? Preparing your Home Present your home in the best light possible…. Pricing & Positioning Your Home Your house is competing with other houses in the marketplace…. Gathering Information Your home has a story to tell…. Photographs Pictures tell the story more than anything else…. Virtual Tour Give your home an added dimension The Home Warranty Give your buyers peace of mind Market to Other Agents

There is a 90% chance your home will be sold by an agent from another company

Table of Contents continued For Sale Sign

74% of all buyers found a “For Sale” sign useful in finding their new home….

Neighborhood Mailing Let the people know…. MLS Not all Agents are created equal…. The Internet The Internet is the #1 tool buyers use to search for their new home…. Scheduling and RealtyLog Make your home easy to show…. Monitoring Feedback

Presenting you with new information is an integral part of a successful sale….

Communication

Communication between a seller and a listing Agent is crucial for a successful sale….

Summary What distinguishes an EXIT agent from other agents….

Marketing Objective An Agent’s marketing plan is the #1 difference among Agents…. As a real estate agent my objective is the same as yours – Sell your home for top dollar, in

the shortest time possible, with the least amount of hassle. This is achieved through a

strong marketing plan and good communication. In a slower market, little details will make

the difference between a successful sale and your home not selling.

This marketing plan is designed to give your

home maximum visibility, to as many people

as possible, using as many different types of

media available. It is important to give your

home the broadest appeal possible. The

more people that see your home, the more

likely we will achieve a successful sale.

My Mission Statement

To empower my clients through the house selling process so they feel confident in their

transaction. My goal is to provide honest, clear and factual guidance at every step with

integrity and compassion and in so doing gain trust and confidence in my ability to get the

job done, resulting in a smooth transaction and the referral of family, co-workers,

neighbors and acquaintances to me for competent advice on buying, selling or investing in

real estate.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) How does my house compare

A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is used to determine what similar homes have sold for in the

recent past and the most likely price range your home should sell. In a perfect scenario we’d take

three identical homes, with identical amenities sold in the past 6 months on the same street and

their average price would be the best indication of what your house would sell for. Unfortunately,

it isn’t usually that easy.

In order to determine a “fair market value” for your home we find similar properties that have sold

in the last six months. Here are some major criteria used to determine comparability and price:

Style: We work to compare the same style home as yours. If your home is a ranch we compare it

to a ranch and not a colonial. Just as in the case of your home

being a colonial, we won’t compare it to a ranch.

Functionality: We work to compare similar

room count, bedroom count, bathroom

count and square footage etc.

Appeal: Just because two homes are of

similar style and functionality doesn’t mean

they’ll have the same appeal. A colonial built

in 1965 will not have the same appeal as one

built in 2009. Therefore, appeal plays a big

part in the pricing decision.

Location: If one house is on a busy street and an identical house

is in a quiet neighborhood, there can be a drastic pricing difference between the two.

Condition: A home that has been meticulously maintained will always bring a higher price than

one that has maintenance or esthetic issues developed over time.

It’s important to note that in a healthy market at least 30% of all properties will expire without a

sale. Another 30% will have several price changes before going under contract.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) (cont) The following items have little or no bearing on the price of your home

Original Purchase Price: Chances are when you purchased, you paid market value. However, it

may be the price was too high, or there was a downturn in the market since your purchase.

Need: An owners need to receive a certain amount from the sale does not increase the homes

value.

Over Improvements: You cannot add items to your home, based on your taste and expect a

buyer will pay the original cost. The item you love, may be the one thing the buyer hates and is

looking to change.

Lack of Factual Data: Pricing should always be

based on recently documented sale prices and not

what you think or what your neighbor says.

Bargaining Room: Buyers may offer low, but

they will do that no matter what the price. It is

easier to negotiate up to a fair market price

than an inflated price.

Move isn’t Necessary: In order to maintain your

“market integrity” it is important to price correctly in case your move does

become urgent.

A buyer and seller must agree on a price for a sale to take place. You may think your home is

worth a certain price, but if a willing buyer does not materialize, you have no sale. It is important to

remove all emotion from the process and look at the data objectively. Fair market value is based on

history not on what you feel, need or want.

Determining fair market value of your home is not always easy. Make sure you understand how the

final price was attained and how current market trends are affecting the current price. If you don’t

understand the pricing it will affect your ability to make good decisions and get your house sold.

Preparing Your Home Present your home in the best light possible….

Presenting your home in the best light possible will help you get top dollar in the shortest

amount of time. Sometimes it can even mean the difference between selling your home or

not. The best way to determine if your home shows well is to put yourself in the buyers’

shoes.

Walk up to your home, around your

home and through your home like

you are seeing it for the first time.

Whatever impression you get is the same one the buyer

will get. Is it the best? Make sure your first impression will leave your buyers wanting more.

First, your home must be in good repair, clean, de-cluttered and depersonalized. Next,

make a list of the projects and items that can be done and see if they will fit into your

budget. Make sure to discuss with your agent what the best approach would be for you.

Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your house. Fresh paint in updated colors will go a

long way to making your home more

sellable. Clean carpets and refinished

floors will also give the best impression.

Ultimately, whatever you decide to do to

prepare your home can drastically affect the sale

price. Consult your agent before doing any major work.

If your REALTOR is an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) they have the added skill set to

stage your home professionally in order to get your house looking it’s best, and selling

quickly for top dollar.

Pricing and Positioning your Home Your house is competing with other houses in the marketplace

Setting the proper asking price for your house is the

single most important part of the marketing plan. A

properly priced house will sell quickly and for top

dollar. One important fact to keep in mind is that your

house is in competition in the marketplace. Buyers

have choices and are well aware of the fair market

value of your home, especially if they are using a

good buyer’s agent.

The consequences of making the wrong decision are

painful. If your house is priced too low, you will

literally be giving away thousands of dollars. Price it

too high and your house will sit unsold for months,

developing the reputation of a problem property.

Sellers overprice their home thinking they can pick up some extra money, when in fact they

are doing more harm than good. Yes, all houses have a front door, a certain number of

bedrooms, a kitchen… But remember the key factors: location, condition, style, function

and appeal. All are determining factors in the pricing of your home.

Failure to understand market conditions, removing emotion from the process, and properly

pricing your house can cost you thousands of dollars and cause your house not to sell.

Pricing and Positioning your Home (cont) Beware of just “trying” out a price. . .

“Can’t we just try?” is a question that is always asked. The problem is you waste valuable

time sitting on the market overpriced. Peak activity on a listing is in the first 3-7 weeks.

The first showings will be from Agents with their clients. These buyers have rejected every

other house in the marketplace and are waiting for the next new house to come along.

These initial buyers are tired and they have felt

some pain. They may have lost offers because

they underbid, because of a home inspection

issue, or a multitude of other reasons. They are

ready to buy and they are the buyers that will

offer you the most for your house. As your

property sits on the market you’ve lost the

attention of the best buyers. Now you get the

buyers who are just entering the marketplace and the bargain shoppers. Less competition

nets you less money.

Setting the proper asking price for your house is the single most important part of the

selling process. Work with us to determine the best price for your home. Use all the

determining factors available as well as the market conditions to position your home

accurately and get the largest amount of interested buyers.

Gathering Information There’s a story behind your home

Before moving forward, we gather all the available information about your home possible.

Buying a home is a major purchase for anyone so every potential buyer is going to want to

know as much as possible about the home. Most agents provide very little information. We

go one step further. We’ll ask you to gather as much information as you can find on your

property… these include:

• Property Appraisal

• Inspection Report

• Improvement Reports

• Deed

• Plot Plan

• Utility Bills

When a buyer can have access to this information up front they feel more comfortable

with the possible purchase of the home.

Is your neighborhood walker friendly? Are schools nearby? Have you made major

improvements in the home since you purchased? All these questions help position your

home and give it the broadest appeal.

The point is not to have the buyers guess or dig, but to have everything readily available so

they feel they are making the most informed decision possible.

Photographs Pictures tell the story, more than anything else

A picture is worth a thousand words, and nowhere is that more true than in using

photographs to sell your home.

Most buyers surf the Internet for a home. When they see a photograph of a home that

attracts their attention, they look further. They explore the additional photos, the virtual

tours and the home specifications in order to see if it will meet their needs. You have

about 30 seconds to attract their attention with the lead photograph. We make sure the

lead photograph is impeccable. Then we follow it up with a cast of images that tell your

homes story in a way that most will relate.

We can turn expired listings into sales by upgrading poor photographs and marketing

materials with high quality replacements. We’ll create a better image and make the home’s

“story” more compelling.

Virtual Tour Give your home an added dimension….

A virtual tour gives your home a whole new dimension that photographs can’t. It helps

prospective buyers visualize the flow of the home. This is especially good for out-of-town

buyers who look at the virtual tour long before they were able to look at the actual

property.

We make sure that the virtual tour is done at a time when your home gets the best lighting

possible. We also select the “show off” features of your home and make sure they pop

during the tour. It’s all about showing your home in its best light.

The Home Warranty Give buyers peace of mind

• Make your home a preferred home – 8 out of 10 buyers prefer to buy a warranted home. (Source: Gallup Poll)

• Sell your home faster – Homes with home warranties sell up to 50% faster than unwarranted homes. (Source: National Home Warranty Association)

• Sell your home for more – On average, homes with a home warranty increase sales prices by up to 3% by making them safer investments for buyers. (Source: Business Week)

• Save money – Seller’s coverage can protect you against costly repairs while your home is listed for sale.

• Peace of mind – Buyers who receive a home warranty are less likely to call the home seller if a covered item in their home breaks down after closing.

• Avoid Closing Delays - Minimize the chance that a system, component or appliance failure could delay closing.

Market to Other Agents There is a 90% chance that your home will be sold by an agent from another company

Most likely, an agent from another company will be the Agent that brings a buyer. Because

of the far-reaching tentacles of the Internet and its use in real estate, we can share our

inventory with other Agents. The Massachusetts MLS has almost 29,000 members. We can

put them to work for you.

Most buyers will work with an Agent, so we need to devote some of our marketing efforts

toward informing other Agents about the benefits of your home. Some of the tools we

use:

The MLS – See the MLS section of the marketing plan

Broker Tours – We invite the real estate community into your home for a preview. This

gives Agents an opportunity to match your home with buyers with whom they are

currently working.

Email Blasts - We email agents known to have buyers that fit your criteria, informing

them of what is going on with your home.

The For Sale Sign 74% of Buyers found a “For Sale” sign useful in finding their new home….

The For Sale sign is a very effective tool in marketing your home. It lets all passers by know

your home is on the market. It helps us, as Agents to communicate price changes, open

houses or whether your home has been sold. It also allows people to identify your home

quickly. Many buyers like to drive by a home before scheduling an appointment. They drive

by to see if they are truly interested and to check out the neighborhood, the setting and

maybe even the town, if they aren’t already familiar with it.

Neighborhood Mailing Let the neighbors know

A mailing will be sent to 200 of your closest neighbors notifying them that your home is

for sale. They are probably not in the market to move down the street, but hopefully they

enjoy the neighborhood as much as you do. What we’ve found is that they will encourage

friends, family and acquaintances to view your home.

We also send out “Just Listed” cards to past clients, current clients and prospective home

sellers and buyers. Again, they may not be in the market for a home like yours, but they

may pass the information along to someone who is.

The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) Not all Agents are created equal….

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is second only to the pricing of your home in the

marketing plan, with its 29,000+ members. However, when it comes to the Multiple Listing

Service, not all agents are created equal. Yes, most any Agent has access to the MLS, but

how your data is input into the system is critical to the successful sale of your home.

It is important to note that the MLS system is no longer a closed system for Agents, but

instead, home information is delivered directly to the buying public on the Internet through

directories and customized buyers searches, therefore, as much information needs to be

delivered in the best possible way, to the home buying public via your entry. Many Agents

don’t take the time to include school systems, or room dimensions even though there are

areas to do so in the MLS. The bottom line is, the broader the appeal of your home, the

greater the interest generated, the greater the interest generated, the more likely to receive

top dollar in a short amount of time.

Internet The Internet is the #1 tool buyers use to search for their new home….

Over 82% of homebuyers start their home search online before ever contacting an agent.

This tells us that your home needs to be effectively marketed on the Internet. You need an

Agent that understands the importance of Internet marketing and how it ties in with the

MLS, marketing to other agents, Realtor.com and other public MLS websites. It is this detail

and understanding of how they are used to showcase your home, that helps get your

home sold.

When you think about it, the real estate industry has changed dramatically in the last 10

years. With computers becoming a staple in every home, people can search for homes, at

their leisure 24-hours a day. They can also view photographs and virtual tours.

Internet continued Your home will be advertised on our competitor’s websites….

Here are just some of our national competitors on whose website your home will be

advertised. Not forgetting about the hundreds of independent companies in your area,

who also have websites, where your home will be advertised.

Internet continued Your home will show up on these websites and more….

www.YourStreetAddresss.com Have your home stand above the crowd….

Each listing receives its own URL allowing your home to have its own personal website. A

sign rider is attached to your sign to encourage drive-bys to visit the site. It is linked directly

from other sites such as Realtor.com and MLS.

Scheduling & RealtyLog Making your home easy to show….

RealtyLog is a real estate service that schedules your Agent assisted showings. It allows us

to maximize your showing potential and helps ease the stress of selling your home. It also

allows for everything to be done online securely. Anyone involved with the transaction will

have access to all the necessary paperwork, making it much smoother and easier for

everyone to get their jobs done.

Monitor showings, feedback and conditions Presenting you with new information is an integral part of a successful sale….

Markets change. You could have misjudged how buyers perceive your home, or you might

have entered the market priced too high. The worst thing is to do nothing when you

encounter this situation. You’ll need to adjust to this new information. It is our job to

provide you with the necessary information for you to make educated decisions regarding

your home.

Monitor showings: We keep track of all Agents and buyers that have been in your home.

Because they had some interest in your home when they saw it the first time, it gives us a

place to start to communicate new information about your home.

Monitor Feedback: Feedback is important. How do buyers and other agents view your

home? Are there repairs that need to be done or is there something about your house that

deters buyers in that price range? One bad comment doesn’t call for a change, but if we

keep hearing the same negatives over and over we need to repair, fix or adjust to make

your home compelling.

Monitor Market Conditions: Not too long ago, the housing market was red-hot, Times

have changed, so it’s important to be on top of changing market conditions. In a declining

market, it is important to stay ahead of the market. We will provide you with market

updates on a monthly basis.

Communication Communication between a seller and a listing Agent is crucial for a successful sale….

We never want to give you the opportunity to say “we never heard from our agent”. We

will be in regular communication with you to discuss every aspect of selling your home. We

are also committed to being available to you anytime you have a question or concern. We

truly believe in a team effort to get your home sold.

As much of the communication as possible will be done online. You will receive your

showing feedback, copy of marketing materials, monthly updates and documents online. If

you are not connected, we use alternative methods to keep you informed about the sale of

your home.

Communication is crucial to discuss what is happening and strategize on the sale of your

home.

Summary What distinguishes an EXIT Agent from other Agents….

• A comprehensive marketing plan

• High quality marketing materials

• Attention to Detail

• Communication with you

• Maximum Visibility for your property