Prepare Your Arsenal

No one gets involved in the business of real estate thinking that they would like to lose money. Of course not. But if you dont have an effective marketing plan in place that is exactly what you may be doing. At the very least, if you dont have any effective strategies to employ you are minimizing the profit that you could be making. And the goal is to maximize your profit right? No matter what your exit strategy is, you need a plan that includes some top notch selling strategies.

When it comes to getting top dollar for your property you need an arsenal of tricks and techniques at your disposal. Before you even begin to advertise your property, you must begin the marketing. This starts with home staging, or scene designing. Know your market. I cannot stress this enough. If you are aiming your staging and marketing efforts at the wrong target market, you are wasting your time and money. Research the neighborhood, determine who lives there, and who would want to live there. Market to that group and forget the rest.

Once you have your property effectively staged to the appropriate target market, you are ready to begin the rest of your marketing campaign. Of course you should utilize the traditional advertising methods such as the MLS, lawn signs and internet listings, but dont make the mistake of limiting yourself. You need to take the initiative to attract the right people to your property. host events at the property that will appeal to buyers or renters or offer move in incentives such as gift certificates to local businesses.

Dont forget your overall marketing plan. When you have potential buyers or renters visit your property, collect their information for follow up. If you let people leave the property without collecting their contact information, you are letting one of your most powerful marketing tools walk away. Ask what they are looking for, in what neighborhood, you may have another property that will appeal to them. And dont forget about who they know. Offer a cash bonus if they can refer any potential buyers to your property. Word of mouth advertising is very effective.

An effective marketing plan complete with selling strategies are key to success in real estate no matter what your exit strategy is. It is no longer enough to put a sign on the front lawn and wait for buyers to walk through the door. Creating an arsenal of strategies, tips, tricks and techniques guarantees you real estate success.