Whether you decide to hire an agent or sell it on your own, you will need to tell the public that your home is for sale. The most common way to do this is by listing the property for sale in the public domain.
• In today's technological age, there is really no need to advertise in print. Other than a sign on your lawn letting neighbors and passersby know that your house is for sale, you should focus your marketing efforts almost entirely online.
• If you have chosen to work with an agent, the real estate agent will take care of the online marketing for you. Firms vary as to their online marketing efforts so you will want to ask them what they do. We, like other firms, also post on Craigslist, Google Base, Realtor.com and other internet listing engines.
• The reason that online marketing is so important these days is that buyers are no longer perusing the newspaper to find their home. Buyers are searching websites like ours to find homes that meet their search criteria. Once the buyer finds a home online that meets their criteria they are not waiting for a weekend open house, they are scheduling an appointment with either the seller or their agent to see it.
• The more content you can provide online the more likely that a buyer will look at your listing. That is why we recommend for our clients that they have a video tour produced for their property. Videos cost about $150 and can be arranged through your agent. Along with photographs, a video gives a more accurate representation of your home.
• While agents take great care in entering listings into the MLS, it is important for you to review the listing to ensure accuracy.
If you do not hire an agent, you can still utilize online marketing resources by using our Listing Only Service to list in the MLS and Realtor.com.
• MLS stands for "Multiple Listing System." The MLS is a database of property listings. In Vermont the MLS is owned by the Northern New England Real Estate Network (aka NNEREN). Real estate agents in Vermont input data into the MLS. The data is then pushed out to real estate websites, like this one. Thus, our listings appear on other firms' sites and their listings appear on ours.
• The MLS allows listings to be emailed on a daily basis automatically to prospective buyers whose search criteria matches a new listing. However, for buyers that do not sign up for this service, it may take them a couple of days to find the new listing. Therefore, you should be patient even if you do not receive any inquiries in the first few days.
