The Rule Team Listing Plan
This Listing Plan is an in-depth bullet by bullet look at how the Rule Team lists and markets homes for sale. This list is for the most part comprehensive, but we have always felt that a "listing" is a fluid and ever changing process. We don't just stick a sign in your yard and walk away. We are full service, dedicated real estate agents with our fingers on the pulse of the market... it changes and we adjust with it.
The Listing Plan is the process... the Marketing Plan is a breakdown of the Marketing avenues we use to carry out the Listing Plan. Enjoy!
Prior to Listing Your Home:
1) Prepare a “Market Analysis” on your property including information on past sales and currently listed properties.
2) Secure all information needed to list your property: Tax information, Mortgage exemptions, Current Mortgage Information, Legal Information, Square Footage, Room Sizes, Lot Size, etc.
3) Consult with you in pricing your home at a price appropriate for today's market.
4) Review estimated net profit based on your choice of listing price and your payoff amount.
5) Review Listing Contract and discuss terms and date for start of listing and showing.
6) Consult with you in showing your home at its best. Are there a few projects that should be done?
Help evaluate any staging or furniture rearranging to show the home at its best.
In this market, it has become very apparent that the imagination of today’s buyer is very limited. They are unable to envision a home with their furniture, paint selections, etc. and as a result, homes that would have sold for more money while furnished are selling for far less.
Just like any other showroom, your home needs to appear in perfect condition everyday! This is difficult, especially if you have children. Remember, if buyers are not drawn to the image created by the front of your home, they will never see the inside. Fresh paint on your front door, touching up the trim, colorful flowers in the front – all of these features communicate an “I care” attitude to buyers. You should also clean dirt from around all the mechanical units in your home. (Furnace, Water Heater, Air Conditioner etc.)
Setting the stage and mood really does help a home sell. When you know someone is coming, turn on all the lights (even on a bright day), low soothing music is also nice. Pets and children can be very distracting and cause a home to be eliminated by the buyers. Whenever possible, please take them with you or have them outside if the weather permits.
After securing the listing – prior to showings:
1) Review the staging of the home and make final preparations and repairs.
2) Sign contract, place sign in yard, put an electronic lockbox on door, put our a flyer box if necessary after listing and prior to showing.
3) Take pictures of your home for the home's Marketing Book, flyers, Real Estate Multiple Listing System, the Internet, additional Home Magazine advertising.
4) Secure and prepare information regarding the home and community for color Marketing Book to go in the home. Place in home.
Within the first week I will be placing an information package in your home for prospective buyers to take with them during showings. This will include a brochure highlighting information about your home with a colored photograph, sellers disclosures, MLS profile sheet, survey (if available) and any other information that you have asked to be included. Please review this information for accuracy. When you start to run low on these packets, please give me a call so I can deliver more.
5) Submit information to MLS (multiple listing service) & internet websites.
Your home will be listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) computer within 24 to 48 hours after our listing has been executed or at the designated time which we have agreed upon. This means information on your home will be immediately available to any agent in the Indianapolis Metro area subscribing to our MLS system.
If an agent is actively searching for a listing with the special features your home provides, it is conceivable that your home will be shown within a few days or possibly the first day. However, sometimes the market moves slower, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t get a showing immediately.
It takes three to five days for information on your home to appear on the Tucker Internet Home Page.
During The Listing:
1) Showings at your home.
Showings will be set by Centralized Showings. You will be called when a request for a showing is made. The customer service representative will let you know the time and date of the request. If you are not at home a message will be left on your answering machine depending on your instructions with us. All efforts will be made by the showing agent to meet the time frame specified. (Example) If an appointment is set between 1:00 – 2:00, that means the agent should arrive sometime between 1:00 and 2:00, not arrive at 1:00 and leave at 2:00.
It is important to understand why showing agents sometimes can not be at your home in the time they have requested. Sometimes their client is late for the appointment, or they stay longer at one house, throwing the agent’s schedule off. Some buyers look at a house for five minutes, some take 30 minutes. Agents have no way of judging this in advance so it can put them behind or sometimes ahead of schedule.
Sometimes a buyer changes direction while looking at home and decides to look at a different area or price range. At this point the agent has to drive to an entirely different area or subdivision and is not able to cancel their appointment immediately. If you are experiencing a large number of “no shows” please let me know immediately so I can try to solve the problem.
There may be agents driving through your neighborhood with clients and see your sign and call from the car requesting a quick showing. If at all possible, please allow them to come in. Simply ask them to give you a few minutes to “tidy up”. A little clutter or preparation of a meal will not prevent your home from selling.
One important thing to remember—agents may be showing 10 – 15 homes to a buyer in one day. If you ask the agent to reschedule another time or day, you may lose the showing as they are most likely inserting your home into their showing itinerary or the buyer may be from out of town or unable to come back later.
Most buyers feel more comfortable when the owners are not home so they can talk directly to their agent while walking through the home. If you are unable to leave during a showing, please go outside (weather permitting) or move to another area of the home, but do not stay in one room.
Be cautious when talking with prospective buyers—the one thing you may want to point out about your home may be the one thing the buyers do not like. Casual remarks that you feel are important and harmless could possibly cause the prospect to eliminate your home.
2) Showing feedback.
It is a professional courtesy for agents that have shown your home to provide feedback
from their buyers to the listing agent. I will call the showing agent after your home has been shown. If showings occur late Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, I will call the following Monday for feedback. I make every effort to get the buyer’s thoughts about your home for you. However, not all agents will respond to my request for their feedback. If they have not responded after two attempts, I call it a lost cause and assume there is no interest.
The feedback you receive is a true accounting of what the agent tells me. This does not necessarily reflect my opinion. It does reflect the market’s opinion. You will mostly hear what the buyer did not like about your home. Please do not take offense at any negative comments as the reaction to these comments may bring you a quicker sale. (Example) If the feedback from several agents is “The garage door needs to be replaced” or “The wall paper is just too much and the buyer’s do not want to strip and repaint”, the information is telling us something…these items need attention in order to get your home sold.
3) Distribute fliers to all other Tucker offices advertising new listing and open house
4) Place ad on Talktotucker.com
5) Place ad on BrianRule.com, Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Facebook.com, Craigslist.com, and all other appropriate websites
6) Mail “Just Listed” Postcards to neighborhood
7) Submit information to Tucker Talks Homes for publication
8) Submit advertising for 1st Sunday Open House
9) Hold open house; Get feedback from potential buyers
An open house will be scheduled for your home once or twice a month depending on availability and will be advertised a week before. This is a great opportunity to capture potential buyers and their feedback.
10) Scan the Multiple Listing computer system for all entered prospects with a match to your home's characteristics. Contact agents via E-mail, flyers, phone calls, etc. to market property.
11) Schedule tour of your home for Tucker agents in Keystone office after sales meeting (feedback purposes). The F. C. Tucker office tour of your home should bring in about 15+ agents.
12) Follow-up on office tour and any showing feedback.
13) Inform F. C. Tucker Relocation about your home.
14) Send flyers to the agents on the F. C. Tucker Relocation Team.
15) Discuss your property with key agents in the area offices. (All area real estate companies).
16) Contact you at the beginning of every week to inform you of all showings, feedback and market conditions giving recommendations to improve the salability of your home.
17) Verbally advertise home a the next Tucker office staff meeting.
18) Prepare and deliver additional flyers for agents in other offices.
19) Send flyers or open house announcement to known buyers for this area and price range.
20) Sign you up for our “Home Link” program if necessary.
21) Review the activity on your home, the current market, and list price.
22) Continually update all information in marketing your home.
23) Follow up with all agents who have prospects looking for homes similar to yours within the quoted price range.
24) Market your home to agents that have previously sold a home in your neighborhood.
25) Stay in touch with agents that have someone with an interest in your home.
26) Repeat different marketing techniques at different time periods.
27) Continue to keep current marketing media in place, repeat marketing to various agents, buyers, out-of-town clients, professionals, mailing lists.
28) Stay in constant review of the market.
29) Get an offer...Prepare to Close!
I am available to provide you the best possible service. If you have questions, please give me a call. If you would like to make changes in the MLS, internet, or advertising please call me to discuss. I return phone calls, usually within two to three hours, unless I am showing properties, and certainly no later than 24 hours.
One final area of importance to bring your attention to is that of valuable articles such as jewelry, money, guns, and prescription drugs. The F.C. Tucker Company is not responsible for any losses during our listing period. While the risk is very minimal, please be sure to lock away any items of value and put prescription drugs out of sight.