In the old days agents would ask sellers to come into their office in hopes that the seller would be so impressed they’d select the Realtor they were going to list with on the spot.  This was a good strategy, and if a Realtor stands out from the crowd by a wide margin, why wouldn’t a seller be impressed?  Some Realtors even refused to visit the seller’s property until the seller selected them as their agent.  While this may seem a little over the top, some Realtors actually used this strategy with some success.

Listing Presentations Going Mobile

Today there is no reason an agent cannot do both!  With the advent of Tablets like the iPad or an Android Tablet an agent can now bring the office to the seller.  It’s quite easy to show your office, how you work, and how you market in a mobile world.  If the agent works and negotiates contracts in a mobile world, why can’t they list in a mobile world?

The truth is they can, and they should.  The two most important ingredients in a successful home sale is the relationship between the seller and the listing agent, and the property itself.  The agent’s office really doesn’t matter.

Oh, we’re proud of our physical office and all the things we can show a buyer or seller from the office.  However, many times offers have come in while I’m out of town or away on appointment and I’ve been able to look at the offer, make changes, negotiate, and close the sale, all in the amount of time it would have taken to drive back across town from the appointment and begin that process.  The office never entered into the equation.

Sure, we have a team of assistants back at the office assisting us, but that had nothing to do with negotiating the offer.  Just the same, we no longer feel the need to show a seller the office and meet the team before listing their home.  We can bring the team to the seller.  We even have powerful video conferencing we can utilize with our sellers and our team.

A seller can surely list a home without going to an agent’s office, but it’s pretty tough for an agent to list a home without seeing the sellers home. Pricing the home depends on condition, functionality, upgrades, etc.  There is no substitute for viewing the home.

You have to ask yourself, am I listing my home or listing the agent’s office?  We all know the answer is the home, so why not focus there?

You’re also hiring an agent, so it’s important to ask questions, such as how will you market my home?  Why should I hire you?  What do you bring to the table that another Realtor doesn’t?  Show me examples.

Some things are just hard to show on paper.  So much marketing today is online or the print is not the standard 8 1/2 x 11.  I remember the days when we used to handout 80 page packets explaining the sales process and our team.  Those days are now gone.

An agent today can show a seller how buyers are using Apps to search for their home.  We can show how the home looks online, how many people have seen it, and where the agent ranks in search engines.  Sellers can see virtual tours, photos, satellite views, etc all in the comfort of their home.

Not all agents are the same.  Results can vary greatly from agent to agent, and from company to company.  Ask your Realtor to show you everything.  Buyers today are demanding tech savvy agents when searching for a home.  If your Realtor can’t show you their business in a mobile world, how in the world are they going to market your home to today’s buyer?

Later on it may be necessary to meet at the office, but selecting which Realtor to list with is no longer one of those necessities.  If you’re considering selling your home, let us show you how buyers really view your home, and why selecting an agent with today’s tools matters.

Good luck, and Happy Home Selling.