Where the Buyers Are!

No, this isn’t the Connie Francis hit in the early 60’s, but it is the question asked by seller’s day in and day out.  And looking at Sunday’s (5/15) Madison Patch, “”, although maybe just an anomaly, it still is a concern.  Not so much that houses will never sell again in town, but that the news brings upon a perception and that perception clouds the buying public of thoughts of a slow market and a time to get a steal of a deal.

Yes, we may be seeing a little lull in the market, however, we cannot blame the market as to why a house does not sell.  Homes sell in any market as long as the marketing fits that market. 

When marketing a home, a key aspect is increasing the number of prospects who will see your home.  The more people that that view a home the better chance of not just one offer but maybe multiple offers, despite the current state of real estate.

Every year the National Association of Realtors creates an extensive profile of home buyers and sellers*.  The most recent one, the 2009 version (as 2010 is still in the works), is an accurate accounting of today’s trends.  The study found that in the subject of “Where the buyer found the home they purchased”, the Internet (which in 2001 was at just 8%) and the real estate agent (which in 2001 was at 48%) tied at number one at 36%, which I will get to a little later.  What was more of an eye-opener was the balance of the study and the rest of the findings: Yard sign, 12%; friend, relative, neighbor, 6%; home builder or their agent, 5%; print newspaper, 2% (yes, just 2% and that was in 2009, it is less than that in 2011. In 2001 it was only 7%); directly from sellers, 2%; home book or magazine, under 1%, and other, under 1%.

So looking at the trends, real estate agents and the Internet are the two most important factors in getting buyers to your home.  The study further went into which websites were most widely used by buyers. Number one was the multiple listing websites at 60%, running ahead of both real estate websites and the popular Realtor.com, at 46% by all buyers.  (And BTW: for those of you that think that the Internet is just for the young, 50% of those 65 and older are on the sites and again this was 2009.)

Unbeknownst to most sellers, there is more than just one MLS in NJ, there are approximately 12- 14, servicing different areas, and in order to get a home into more than one MLS, a realtor must be a member of that service. Therefore, in order to attract more buyers to a seller’s home their listing should extend to more than just one Multiple listing Service to attract the buyers from other areas.  

Talk to your agent or if you have not picked one yet, ask if that agent is a member of more than just one MLS.  The more your home is exposed, the higher price you will attain. 

Have any real estate-related questions, ask away or contact me directly.  Until the next time, “Happy sales to you — until I blog again.”   

*National Association of Realtors, Profile of Buyers and Sellers 2009