What to expect when listing your home

Listing your home is a big decision, one of the biggest financial transactions you'll make in your lifetime.  Now that you've made the decision to move forward, what should you expect from the process? Putting a home up for sale is as simple as populating data on an MLS form.  But listing a home is a completely different process altogether.  Listing your home is about a strategic plan to market your home to a defined and relevant pool of potential buyers.  The objective?  To command the attention of buyers, generate maximum interest and inject competition into the marketplace.  The result?  A sale of your home that maximizes your net proceeds insuring none of your hard-earned dollars are forfeited at the closing table.

Here I'm sharing how my listings are different, what you should expect when listing with me and what I bring to the table that other agents aren't.

Step 1: Let's Meet!

The first step in the process of listing your home is sitting down to meet.  This is a casual, get-to-know-you meeting where I'll do the majority of my information gathering.  You are the expert on your home and I'm all ears when it comes to learning about what made you fall in love with your home in the first place.  We'll walk through your home together while l take notes about improvements you've made or attributes that set your home apart.  Selling your home is about educating buyers on the value of your property.

While I'm in your home, I'll take some quick photos for reference when researching comparable properties.  I'll address any questions or concerns you have about the process, listen when it comes to your desired timeline and goals and establish next steps based on our conversation.

Step 2: Pricing Your Home

Having previewed your home and taking into account everything that we talked about, I'll begin the process of establishing a selling price for your home.  Pricing a home is an intricate process of analyzing data, studying current market trends, researching past sales of comparable properties and formulating a strategic plan.  You can read more about establishing pricing by reading this post on my blog.

Once I have established the price range I believe your home falls within, I will sit down with you to plead my case.  I'll present the data and comparables I used to establish my range while taking into account your own opinion of price.  At the same time, I will lay out a marketing plan for how I intend on presenting your home to the market and delivering on expectations.

Step 3: Production

Once we have established a sales price, we will move into the production phase of listing your home.  Depending on the customized marketing plan we have established, I will coordinate the local professionals we are enlisting for help - this could include videographers, stagers or local trades to name a few.  This process can take days, weeks or more depending on the agreed upon plan.

Edina Minneapolis Realtor

Regardless of the price point of your home, I provide professional photography for each and every listing.  Photos are often the first point of contact buyers make with a property.  Presenting your home to its fullest potential and establishing a precedent for prospective buyers upfront warrants the same of offers in return.  In addition, we'll build a library of images we can use on a variety of platforms - from printed marketing collateral to social media posts, blog content and more.

Listing your home in Minneapolis

Step 4: Develop Content

My unique approach to marketing properties is heavily weighted in online content.  Social media channels like Instagram and Facebook are opportune methods for strategically targeting buyers by zip code, neighborhood, region and so forth.  Developing eye-catching, sharable graphics broadens the reach of your listing through user engagement.

In addition, my blog acts as an additional platform to share about your property without the limitations of the MLS.  Instead of populating static fields about your home, I'm able to integrate lengthy descriptions and paint a virtual picture to peek buyer interest.  Incorporating editorial style imagery outside the standard wide-angle real estate photography gives a look inside your property unlike any other listing.

Edina Realtor

You can visit my social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Step 5: MLS Listing

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the #1 resource for home buyers and real estate agents.  Listing your home on the MLS allows an agent to offer a portion of their compensation to a cooperative broker who produces a buyer for your listing.  The fields we are able to populate on the MLS are static however, the descriptions given and accuracy of information provided is not.  Providing detailed and forthright data online insures your property measures up to buyer expectations upon viewing.

Step 6: Open Houses

Open Houses offer a unique opportunity to drive a diverse pool of prospects through your home.  While some homeowners may choose to forgo open houses, they do present a unique opportunity to network your property with other agents, neighbors and prospective buyers.  Open houses provide an opportunity for the listing agent to communicate directly with buyers about what sets your home apart.  They are also an occasion for cooperating agents to establish good rapport - those they may be sitting across from when it comes time for negotiation.

An Overall Branded Listing is Critical

The details matter.  Bringing a high-quality listing that is visually interesting, boasts creative and engaging content and has a professional look and feel demands the same of its buyers in return.  An overall branded and well-positioned listing is critical regardless of the price range you are selling in.  My strategy for marketing homes is a tailored method developed with today's technology, market conditions and buyer pool in mind.

The Power of Fox Homes

Fox Homes isn’t your average real estate brokerage.  With years of experience in new construction sales and Twin Cities residential real estate, Fox Homes was born to fulfill a niche in the industry for a more full-service real estate experience.  From buying and selling to paint and finish consultations, second story additions and beyond – the relationship with our real estate clients is designed to last far beyond the closing table.  You can visit the Fox Homes website right here.

Are you ready to walk through the process of listing your home?  Contact me by email at sarah@foxhomes.com or by phone at (612) 723-7636 to get started.

All images by Minneapolis photographer Stephanie Bloom Photography