Selling - marketing

[Of The Vultures]

About to sign the paperwork appointing an agent to sell my property and just wondering what everyone does with regards to marketing?

They want 6 weeks worth of advertising in the local paper, some at quarter page size ($2000 worth). Also $360 for "featured property" on realestate.com.au.

Is any of this really worth it? I myself do most of my looking online and I can't say I've ever paid much attention to feature properties.

I'm inclined to cut it to 4 weeks in the paper and standard listing online.

Thoughts?

 

[westminster]

I didn't use local paper - it depends if your local market if they are internet people or old school. But I would hazard a guess that most people are now internet people.

I just use realestate.com.au but yes did go featured in there

 

[Big Will]

I am not a fan myself on the paper but if I was targeting the really old in a retirement village I would use it.

If my place is for a first home buyers online is really all you should need, I would rather use the print money to upgrade my online ad and have twilight photos rather than paying for print.

I feel print is the most expensive advertisement and I feel is most ineffective.

I want bang for my buck and to draw as many people into my property. When I looked for my property as most people (ask your friends how they found theirs) I only used online, yes I picked up paper but there isn't a house in print that isn't online. However there is the other way around.

If I was targeting FHB I would do online with premium internet listing (above feature), twilight photos, floorplan, photoboard (unless my house was on a deadend street) and printed brochures (A4 that people take away after inspecting).

If I was targeting a higher end I would still do the same as above but would also do a video (can get away with one for $100->$200, they are just a flash of the video) but if I was selling a multi mill then would do the actual video which would cost another $1,000 but would also be looking at print advertising.

If I was wanting to target the Chinese market I would also look at advertising in their paper and having the blurb translated.

 

[RyanMcHarg]

Feature listing online is pretty much the standard one these days, the upgraded ones are highlight and premier. It really does depend on how much competition there is in your suburb and where the target buyers are coming from.


For example if you are in the surrounds of a major CBD (e.g hobart) and you take up a premier listing, anyone who searches from the greater region for that major center will have your property come up in their search. e.g if you are just in the greater Hobart region and a Brisbane buyer who is uneducated about surrounding suburbs searches for the property, it will come up towards the top of their search results. REA have just restructured their prices to be suburb driven for listings so pricing of each type of listing will depend on your agents contract with REA and if they are on the new structure yet. I am happy to give you an idea if you PM me through the suburb the property is in to see if it is advantageous to upgrade your listing.

In regards to print advertising, it really does work for the same reasons that the premier listing on REA works. You will attract buyers who may not have considered property in your suburb, who are less price driven than those who are constantly scouring your suburb, and know the last 30 sales due to research, this will not be the buyer who pays the premium price for the home as they are educated and price driven, where a the buyer who comes from the paper can be a little more emotional.

 

[Jess Peletier]

They want 6 weeks worth of advertising in the local paper, some at quarter page size ($2000 worth). Also $360 for "featured property" on realestate.com.au.

Are we talking the Mercury, or the Cygnet Times? Editorial, or the bulk ads? It all depends...

Generally though, I would suggest don't worry about the paper too much. If you wanted to go for print, I'd be more inclined to do it as a feature in a major paper once or twice if it's special or unique house, then internet for the rest.

Others may disgree, but that's my thought.

Regarding featured property on RE.com, I tend to purposely skip them and look at the normal listings, almost like I skip the bar advertising - is that just me?

 

[Connie]

I would definitely go in the paper, our purchaser was originally looking to buy in Hunters Hill but purchased from us in Gladesville. With not many properties on the market people need to broaden their search and advertising in newspapers is a great way to capture their attention

 

[Big Will]

Regarding featured property on RE.com, I tend to purposely skip them and look at the normal listings, almost like I skip the bar advertising - is that just me?

I find most everyday user wouldn't understand how the internet listings work and being at the top is most important.

 

[RyanMcHarg]

I find most everyday user wouldn't understand how the internet listings work and being at the top is most important.

This is true, you have to remember the browsing habits of buyers from this forum would be at the more educated end of the property hunting schedule, it isn't typical that an an educated buyer is paying the premium price for a home.

 

[vaughan]

Twilight photos? You mean pics of the property in the evening? You think this helps?

 

[Jess Peletier]

This is true, you have to remember the browsing habits of buyers from this forum would be at the more educated end of the property hunting schedule, it isn't typical that an an educated buyer is paying the premium price for a home.

Ha - that's a good reminder! What WE do by default is NOT the same as what 'everyone' does. Easy to forget that.

 

[Big Will]

Twilight photos? You mean pics of the property in the evening? You think this helps?

Yes I do, see attached two photos of the same house.

The twilight one makes it look more impressive and for the difference of like $100 I feel you would get more than $100 in the sale price or atleast generate more interest in your project which leads to a quicker/easier and higher price sale.

 

[vaughan]

Great pics Thanks.

 

[MTR]

About to sign the paperwork appointing an agent to sell my property and just wondering what everyone does with regards to marketing?

They want 6 weeks worth of advertising in the local paper, some at quarter page size ($2000 worth). Also $360 for "featured property" on realestate.com.au.

Is any of this really worth it? I myself do most of my looking online and I can't say I've ever paid much attention to feature properties.

I'm inclined to cut it to 4 weeks in the paper and standard listing online.

Thoughts?

I staged one of my villas for $2000 and paid around $1500 on marketing which included professional photos, also video/talk on the property by the agent, very effective I believe this is only $300 included in the price. Also kept my listing as a feature on realestate.com, first/second pages. I give the paper a miss, does anyone these days read these listings or go straight to the net??
I would most definitely go staging again.

The first 4-6 weeks are critical I think this is where you need to go hard with marketing, most important thing is get the price right if the market is not going gangbusters, get this wrong and you will waste valuable time and you don't want the property going stale.

Pricing - We started FROM $........, but no end range, and we went a tad on the lower side to capture a larger group. I would not have people through prior to home opens as you want everyone at the home opens together to create competition.

At the end of the day the most important factor is your sales rep, get a dud and you are stuffed.

MTR

 

[MTR]

Yes I do, see attached two photos of the same house.

The twilight one makes it look more impressive and for the difference of like $100 I feel you would get more than $100 in the sale price or atleast generate more interest in your project which leads to a quicker/easier and higher price sale.

I see what you mean, wow what a difference. I am going to do this one.

 

[Genia]

The paper marketing is aimed to advertise agents, rather than property.

They even have a special term for it: "VPA - vendor paid advertising".

VPA is one of KPIs in the big franchises. The agent, that convince vendors to pay for expensive marketing, is considered a very successful.

Check Tom Panos videos and website and you will see what I mean.

There are also agent operating under Jenman system. The believe, that advertising should be minimal, they have "no sale - no charge" policy.

 

[MTR]

The paper marketing is aimed to advertise agents, rather than property.

They even have a special term for it: "VPA - vendor paid advertising".

VPA is one of KPIs in the big franchises. The agent, that convince vendors to pay for expensive marketing, is considered a very successful.

Check Tom Panos videos and website and you will see what I mean.

There are also agent operating under Jenman system. The believe, that advertising should be minimal, they have "no sale - no charge" policy.

Genia
Totally agree with you

 

[wylie]

We have just signed a marketing campaign.

I initially thought about ignoring the newspapers, but ultimately, it comes down to just not knowing where people will look.

I rarely look in the paper, but go straight to the internet. I know people without internet who only use the papers. I know some people will see houses in the local paper but who never use Courier Mail. I always look at my local paper, every week. Will that type of person be looking at the house we have to sell?

In the end, we chose the cheapest Courier Mail, just to have a presence, the cheapest local paper, just to have a presence, and chose the premium re.com package to stay on the first page or two.

Are we wasting our money by using print media? Possibly, but like many other things, there is no way to ever know.

I hate paying for print adverts, but if we ignored it totally, knowing some people still do use print when house hunting, we would just always wonder "what if"?

 

[Of The Vultures]

Thanks everyone for your input. I agree that print advertising is more about the agent than my property but ultimately I just don't know where my buyer will come from, it's in a regional centre and if it's anything like Hobart people here still use print a lot. Out of towners will rely on the internet so I have to cover both.
I will do featured property online even though I personally avoid them when I'm looking.

 

[Big Will]

I forgot to mention the photos I posted earlier was also with the same professional photographer. He did the daylight one and about a year later twilight and the house sold a couple months later.

Not that the photos were the main issue in the sale but rather unrealistic expectation set by the first agent on price (over 100k over what it sold for and an independent licence valuation).

 

[fernfurn]

I have signed up for over $6k worth of advtsg for the auction of one of my houses - expected sell around $700k. On the other hand they are on smallest commission. Includes $1500 worth of internet for 4 weeksSupposedly 7 internet sites, when I said I only need Domain and RE he said it was a package and would cost just as much for 1 site. Includes their glossy mag, the local paper, boards, brochures, artworth, professional copywriting (which I had to alter) and photography. I figured I could save $1k but if I pay it and it captures a worthwhile bidder I know I have done everything possible to get the best price and have no regrets.