WINE COUNTRY EXPERIENCE SINCE 1986
WINE COUNTRY EXPERIENCE SINCE 1986
Properly Marketing Your Property Starts With a Plan
Sotheby’s International Realty and I are proud of the level of service we provide. In my 30 years of selling Sonoma County homes, I have developed a marketing philosophy and approach that will provide your home the attention and exposure it deserves.
Whether your property is being purchased as a primary residence or second home, the potential buyer is likely from out of town or the region, if not the state or country. The digital presentation of your property must stand out from the rest. We need to give agents and qualified buyers every reason to schedule an appointment to see your property.
Over the years, I have a solid track record of representing sellers and buyers, which gives me great insight and knowledge of the entire process from both angles. I know how to present your property to its greatest advantage and how to work with potential buyers and their representation.
Cross Platform Digital Marketing
With my team of digital and media professionals and my association with Sotheby’s International Realty, I excel at the technological tools of marketing property.
Your property will stand out and get noticed. I am the forefront of cross platform digital marketing with interactive virtual tours and HD video tours as a way to reach the increasingly large portion of the population (93%) who begins their search online.
Whether your property is viewed on a smartphone, tablet or traditional computer, my media team and I will ensure you have a consistent, top-level presentation.
Components include: a virtual tour on a dedicated website, professional HD photography, a professional HD video tour, an extensive online distribution, a regional print media campaign, print and electronic brochures, and a direct mail campaign.
Philosophy
Technology
Announcing your Property with Skillful Marketing
Typically, the greatest interest in a property happens within the first weeks on the market. To effectively capitalize on this attention, I will market your home to make the impact it deserves.
Achieving the Highest Selling Price
Factors to consider in determining your home value include market research, recent transfers, active listings and housing market conditions. Ultimately the valuation is determined by comparable properties and its ‘worth’, and it is closely tied to the history of prices in your same community and region.
Preparing the Physical Property
With any home at any price point, there are always minor (and occasionally major) issues to address and projects to complete such as painting, landscaping, repairs and staging. I will not only help you prioritize the tasks that need to be completed before we list your property but also facilitate securing appropriate professionals to perform the work if required...from grounds maintenance crews to general contractors.
Influencing the Sale of your Property
Your property will need to be uniquely positioned to create maximum interest and help produce the highest possible financial return. Although the listing price we place on your property will influence its sale, there are many other factors that come into play. Some of these factors are within your control; others are not.
Factors Within your Control:
• The listing presentation price and terms of sale
• Your property’s distinctive and compelling attributes
• The physical condition of your property (incl. grounds)
• The ready access to your property for showing
• The selection of the real estate professional to represent you
Factors not Within your Control:
• Your property’s location
• Recent property market values
• Expired listings with multiple price revisions
• Economic and housing market conditions
• Absorption rate
Why not pad the price a bit to have room?
Agents are most often working with buyers who have viewed what is currently on the market and are waiting for new listings. Therefore, most activity tends to take place within the first weeks after listing. After this initial period, we reach primarily new buyers in the marketplace.
Buyers will only view and purchase a property that is priced within their lender approved price range. Agents don’t want to lose credibility with clients by showing overpriced listings. Agents and buyers may assume over seasoning indicates that something is wrong with the property, and it may become overexposed and shop worn.
Even subsequent price reductions may not regain the lost market. Many qualified buyers who view overpriced listings decide at that point to eliminate the property from consideration—now and in the future. When buyers see that a property has been on the market for a long period, they assume they can purchase below value or that more price reductions will follow. Extremely unrealistic offers are likely.
Statistics Tell the Story
Typically, there is nothing more important to a client selling property than to maximize the proceeds from the sale. Listing your property at the right price is crucial to achieving this.
Consider this scenario, as underscored by real estate transaction statistics (homes sold in 2015 in comparable areas in the price range of 600,000 to 2,000,000). Homes that were priced accurately and subsequently sold in the first 30 days received on average over 98% of the asking price. Up to 60 days – almost 96% of the asking price. Overpriced homes that languished on the market for over 120 days finally sold at an average of only 84% of the asking price.
Consequently, pricing your home over a realistic valuation – even by 5% - typically leads to significantly reduced profits and a much longer period on the market. Leaving 'room' seems like a good idea; statistically and in my experience, it means less money and more owner inconvenience in the long run.
First Steps
Considerations
Effects of Overpricing
The Right Price
Photography | Professionally photograph your home and its environment
Brochure | Create color gloss marketing brochure
Video Tour | Produce a professional HD video tour of your home
Website | Create and register a personal property domain name and web page
Virtual Tour | Design and launch an online virtual tour for mass distribution
Sign | Place signage on your property, if desired
Post to Multiple Listing Service
Online Distribution | Launch to partner sites, including ArtisanSothebysRealty.com, SothebysRealty.com, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times.com, Herald Tribune, Great Homes, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, AOL Real Estate, Washingtonpost.com, Yahoo! Real Estate, Google, Frontdoor.com, OpenHouse.com, Smarter Agent, Cyberhomes.com,Homefinder, Enormo,com and Homes.com
Agent Outreach | Present your property and distribute marketing brochure to our agents in sales meetings.
Mailer | Create a direct mail campaign for portions of Sonoma County
Print Advertising | Schedule ads in regional print including, but not limited to, Homes & Land of the North Bay (Sonoma/Marin), Real Estate Magazine (Mendocino) and Real Estate Reader (San Francisco)
Open House
Host an Open House to drive further awareness (if appropriate)
Launch email (eflyer) campaign to announce your Open House
Broker's Open
Preview your property with any/all interested agents (ongoing)
Host a catered reception/open for agents and brokers
Email Marketing
Create and email a custom announcement of your home to the top 500 agents (all brokerages in the greater SF Bay area), as appropriate
Showings
Schedule and host property showings with Realtors and clients
Regular Updates
Inform you of responses, inquiries and showings of your home
Provide you with a copy of all advertising
Inform you of sales, new listings, and general updates of comparable homes
Prior to Listing
Within a Week
Within a Month
Ongoing
After working with you to prepare the property for sale and arranging staging, if needed, I choose from a short list of the best real estate photographers in Northern California.
These images allow us to tell the story of your property to other agents and potential buyers. You will have high quality and compelling photographs so that your brochure, dedicated listing website, all other online listings and any print advertisements are eye-catching, vibrant and enticing.
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While photographs capture the eye, the cinematic video about your home tells the deeper story and creates an emotional connection to the property, showing what it truly feels like to experience your property - to see the wind blowing gently through the trees; the crackle of the fireplace; magical gathering spots in the backyard.
The short film is embedded in your property's virtual tour, optimized to play on any computer, tablet or smartphone, and uploaded to almost a dozen real estate and video sites.
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By combining professional photography and attention getting narrative details, your property’s heavy cardstock brochure will act as an essential tool in attracting qualified buyers locally, nationally and globally.
For those properties that warrant a more extensive presentation, I prepare a Property Portfolio as a take-away after showings to qualified buyers.
I use several different services to create and deploy attractive and effective electronic brochures that have a proven track record of bringing the property to the attention of agents who may have otherwise overlooked it, driving traffic to the dedicated listing website and making the phone ring.
In order to direct a prospective buyer to your property's website, I maintain a regular presence in widely read and distributed regional and national gloss magazines with dedicated listing ads and cooperative ads placed by Artisan Sotheby's Realty, usually the extremely desirable back cover. I employ the following regional publications: Homes & Land of the North Bay, North Bay Biz Magazine, The Real Estate Reader (Wine Country), Real Estate Times (SF), Real Estate Magazine (Mendocino) and others.
The ads placed depend upon many factors, including price, target audience and time of year and more.
Your property will be marketed online with a dedicated listing website, which will feature an interactive virtual tour and a professionally produced HD video .
The virtual tour allows for a thoughtful and visually pleasing venue to present your home to agents and prospective buyers. Components can include: Image Gallery, Complete Details and Features, Community Information, Printable Brochure, Mortgage Calculator, Appointment Scheduling, and a Document Sharing for information such as aerial maps and property maps.
Photography
HD Videography
Brochures
Print Ads
Virtual Tours
Presentation is Everything
Preparation
Timeline
Materials & Media Samples
HOMES | ACREAGE | COMMERCIAL | RESORTS | WINE COUNTRY RETREATS