Marketing a house for sale in Toronto requires a robust marketing strategy. Contrary to popular opinion, houses don’t just sell themselves, and sitting on MLS is not enough to generate buzz. It is true that houses in Toronto typically sell no matter how you market them, but if you want to sell your house quickly and for the most money, don’t skimp the marketing. I have written about how our team preps a listing before it hits the market. Now, let’s talk about how to showcase your beautiful home once the for-sale sign is up.
Again, the absolute best way to ensure that your house will get great marketing is to hire the right real estate agent.
Most potential sellers hire a real estate agent who promises to get them the highest amount of money. However, without a significant investment in marketing, that is an empty promise. You should hire a real estate agent who can show you concrete examples of their marketing. Do their past listings look like homes out of a magazine? Do you like their past virtual tours? Do they have a solid presence on social media channels? All of this stuff matters far more than an empty promise.
Let’s talk about Commission: Good real estate agents spend thousands of dollars marketing your home. Paying for the marketing is where a lot of the commission that you pay your agent goes. A discount real estate agent will not spend money on marketing, and you will make less money when you sell your house. When it comes to hiring a real estate agent, you get what you pay for. In the long run, it rarely pays to hire a discount agent.
★ For more information on how a qualified listing agent will boost your sale read:
- Four Characteristics of a Great Listing Agent
- Selling Privately vs. Listing With An Agent
- Selling Your Home With A Top Bosley Real Estate Agent
We have two important steps in our marketing strategy. First, create amazing digital content about your house. Second, broadcast it! I’m giving this information to you so you, too, can market your home in the best way. Remember, though, that good marketing doesn’t happen overnight. It happens with years of brand presence and strong relationships with our crew (photographers, videographers etc.)
Stage One: Our Digital Content Package:
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Photography: It remains true that the single most important step to selling your house is good staging. Once your house is staged to perfection, we’re going to show it off just right with good photography. Almost all homebuyers view your house online before deciding to a showing. Therefore, good photography can make or break your house sale. The more showings you get, the more offers you get. The more offers you get, the more money you make. It, therefore, follows that if good photography is necessary for buyers to book a showing, good photography = more money. Simple arithmetic! We have used the same photographer for years. He makes all of our listings look beautiful and bright. He composes images very well. All of our houses look like magazine features.
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Virtual Tours and Floorplans: Both have become especially important during COVID. A virtual tour is so important, not just to help prospective buyers decide if they want to view a house but also for them to refer to after they have seen the house while they are deciding to offer or not. Most homebuyers spend a short amount of time in a house during a showing. In my experience, with some exceptions, buyers will not stay in a house for longer than thirty minutes. Therefore, it is important that the virtual tour can remind them of the house and show them parts of the house that they may have missed during their showing. Similarly, floor plans are extremely popular with all buyers, especially those who have difficulty visualizing space and layout.
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Home Inspection: This may sound counter-intuitive, but the more you disclose about a home, the better. The one thing that buyers hate the most of all is surprises. If you disclose everything about your house that may need work in the future, your buyer feels you are transparent with them. This goes a very long way in negotiations, and you, paradoxically, end up making more money. An informed buyer is a happy buyer. Don’t be afraid of home inspections. Embrace them as a part of the marketing strategy that will bring you the most amount of money. Click here to learn about what home inspections don’t reveal about a property.
★ For tips on how you can set yourself up for success read: Preparing Your Home For Sale
Stage Two: Broadcasting!
Once we have this great package of digital content, it is time to broadcast your house! We post your house on our Instagram, Facebook pages, and on our website several times in the lifespan of your listing. Our posts get thousands of views. Our website also gets thousands of organic views every month, and we work hard to make sure that all that traffic sees your house. We believe in social media marketing so much that we hired someone in-house whose designated job is to ensure your house gets as many views as possible.
We would never put a third-party company in charge of the most important part of our marketing strategy.
Here’s the last thing I will say about our marketing, without sounding braggy. Name recognition of the agent you hired matters. Kim has been in the business for over thirty years, and her name is all over Toronto’s west end. She has invested in that brand recognition for years, and that ultimately benefits our clients. As I was walking into one of our listings last month, I overheard someone walking by saying to her friend, “Oh, that’s Kim Kehoe’s listing. She always sells the best homes.” That’s why it matters. We are known for making any home look like it is the best.
★ Click here to learn about how we help sellers maximize their sale.
Are you ready to sell your house? Contact us here or give us a call.
As always, stay safe.
Robyn VanderVennen
The Kim Kehoe Team
