Technology is setting a new precedent for Carmel Realtors in 2019, and we have a responsibility to our clients to be using the latest and greatest tech to showcase their homes. While these advances in technology help bring the right eyes to our listings, tried and true real estate marketing practices are still prevalent and often times outweigh any new strategies. The important thing for Carmel sellers to remember in 2019 is that a full marketing rollout covers all the bases from digital, to print and word of mouth. Many times a Just Listed post card with high resolution is all it takes for a friend of a friend to call us and let us know they are looking in the neighborhood.
Kitchen from a recent Carmel Build by Alan Lehman
Marketing a Carmel Home in 2019 Involves 5 Components:
Preparation
Looking towards 2019, the luxury market is not increasing as rapidly as it has in previous years, and buyers are becoming more discerning about values. For this reason, preparation is more important than ever. Sellers who present listings with extensive due diligence packages and take on the task of presenting inspections with the list price have the best chance of affecting a smooth transaction. Buyers want to know the ins and outs of the homes, and really we consider this is a big part of our marketing. When we encourage our sellers to do inspections, it’s because we don’t want them to encounter any surprises where the buyer finds out more than we know about the house and tries to negotiate down.
Photography
High resolution photography is getting better and better as cameras and editing software evolve. With drone technology we are able to show the neighborhood of the house so that buyers can get a full sense of both the listing and neighborhood available to them. The photography should tell a story – it should not be disheveled. It should be cohesive with the story of the home.
Lifestyle
Similar to the renowned phrase location, location, location – marketing the lifestyle involves showcasing the location so that buyers can envision what they would be doing on a day to day basis. Where would you go on walks? Where would you drink your coffee? Where do you take naps? Where do you dine out? Where does your dog like to play? These kinds of questions involve the agent and seller working together to identify the lifestyle a buyer would experience so that we as the agents can then reflect it in the marketing package.
Advertising Mediums
Direct mail is not dead – post cards still work, and we level up by creating large brochures with great print quality so that cooperating agents and their clients can take them home for further review after showings and open houses. Sending letters to the neighborhoods informing them of our new listing is another practice of ours that brings great results. We use technology to put our listings in front of the right eyes through online target marketing, and our premier website.
Relationships
Marketing in 2019 is relationship driven, and that is not going anywhere despite any new technological advances. It comes down to the network of the agent, the exposure that a large brokerage like Coldwell Banker can provide access to, and the time spent nurturing those relationships with agents in other areas nationwide that brings the most possible exposure to the listings.