What it Really Means to Market Listings Today

Regardless of real estate market conditions, our clients hire us to get their properties sold. Sorting through this week's news and numbers regarding how we market those listings, there still seems to be a huge disconnect between how most agents think there listings are marketed and the realty of the fastest growing resources that the consumers are getting their information from.

Just Being in the MLS Does not Cut it Anymore
It is all about turning your listing into a story now. The websites that are gaining most of our consumers attention are not depending on the information feeding from the MLS. They are looking for agents to contribute information on their listings. Our consumers are buyers, sellers and other Realtors. They are going in masses to sites like Zillow and Trulia, sites that take basic information from feeds but are looking to the listing agents for more pictures, open houses and additional descriptions about the property. Sites like these mix social networking and listing data. They offer free blogs and question and answer pages to engage professionals with consumers. The sites are doing a good job evolving as social media evolves.

Blockshopper.com is another example of MLSs loosing their relivance in marketing agents and listings. They pull their data from tax records. Owners can "claim" their homes. Agents who establish accounts can add notes to their listings and previous sales. It shows transaction history of the property. This site as well is a work in progress as every site needs to be.

Does Your Broker Do Your Showings?
Think of it this way: it is the agent, not the broker, who has viewed the property, evaluted the pricing, condition and sales potential. You now have platforms to communicate all of this information. The new generation of sites depend on broker feeds as a foundation and build upon that with agent participation. What prospective sellers see on this sites is your first interview and then the follow up in getting a listing. When buyers are searching for a property what they see online about your listing is the first showing and if there is any interest it is the third showing. The brokers provide agents with the tools but it is the agents that sell the properties. It works the same way in the virtual world.

These sites are growing at a faster pace than traditional sites because they are providing the transparency the consumers are looking for.