You’ve agreed to list with an agent and their next step is presenting you with their “tried and true marketing plan” that is “guaranteed” to sell your home. It appears that the more there is on the plan, the better the agent is, but not everything listed may be for your benefit. Here are some common methods we see and what they really mean:

1. “Your listing will be posted on a ‘Multiple Listing Service (MLS®)’ or ‘REALTOR.ca'”. This is good, although not the greatest incentive to hire a real estate agent as every agent lists here and it should be expected that your agent will do so.

2.“Your property will be promoted on our social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram. How many likes, followers and subscribers do the channels have and how active are they?

3.“Distribution of marketing materials with your home listed around your neighbourhood and at open houses” Ask your agent what type of marketing materials they will be creating and when they will be printed and distributed. To give you a guideline, creating a flyer and sending it off to a printer and courier takes at least 5 days if done diligently.

4.”Professional Photos” This phrase is open to many different interpretations especially in the real estate world. What does “professional” mean to the agent? It can be anywhere from a dated point and shoot camera to smartphone photos. Always ensure that the photographer is a professional real estate photographer. Not a wedding photographer, not someone who photographs headshots, not someone who does sport photography. You want someone who specializes in making your home look good in photographs. At Residencity, we believe that having professional photos is a required component when listing a home.

5.”‘In-office’ marketing’: sending an email to all the real estate agents within their brokerage” The reality is, real estate agents receive countless of emails each and every day and your property will not be a priority. On top of that, agents and their clients already have a specific type of property they are looking for. This really only targets a small niche of buyers and will not add much value or have a great impact on you selling your home.

6.“Additional advertising on websites such as Kijiji and Craigslist to increase exposure on your property” People go on these websites to find pets, free or second hand things and not a house. They may be looking at a house to rent- but these people are not your target audience and therefore this does not hold much value.

7.“We advertise regularly on magazines and newspapers” Again, it is important to think about what they are advertising and the amount of exposure you will get. How often is this publication published? Which publications do you advertise in? How is it distributed?

8.“I am on X buses, X bus benches and X bus stops throughout the lower mainland and people frequently call for neighbourhood listings” What this tells you is that the agents are advertising themselves and not your property. Have you ever seen a bus ad where a property took precedence over the agent? Chances are, most of the calls they will receive are potential clients rather than potential buyers who are interested in your listing.

9.“Your property will be advertised on your agent’s personal website” How effective is it to actually have your listing on your agent’s personal website? How many unique visitors does the site receive and how many page views does it get? Unless the buyer has a relationship with the agent, chances are, their first searches will go to realtor.ca or other MLS pages.

At Residencity, we believe in only doing things that hold a significant value when it comes to selling your home. By that we mean focusing on photography, videography, proper staging, floor plans, feature sheets, aerial/drone imagery and 360 tours- things that will maximize your selling price. If you’re interested in listing with Residencity, give us a call at 604.288.9166 to see what we can do for you.