When listing your property, it is important to have a well-defined strategy to present that property to qualified and interested potential buyers. Los Angeles realtor Kathy Doyle shares how she assists clients with this process.
Once you have a listing, how do you prepare a marketing plan specific to that property?
Once we have a listing, we make a full-scale marketing plan that will help that particular listing get traction on the open market. We advertise based on the properties specific needs. We advertise locally, and mostly online, because it reaches many more potential buyers. We also have a marketing plan within our personal network that reaches a diverse echelon of clientele. This word of mouth advertising is also quite valuable when selling in the Malibu and Beverly Hills real estate markets.
What media channels do you find work best, and why do you think they work? (Print, online, direct selling, word of mouth)
The best media channel currently is the internet. People will casually look at print real estate advertising, so it is an important aspect of maintaining that local connection to our Malibu real estate and Beverly Hills real estate markets, but online is where people go who are looking to buy. In terms of which online venues to invest your marketing time and dollar into, it’s important to use sources that reach the type of buyer your property requires. For most of our luxury real estate listings, we market via luxury residential sources such as Haute Residence.
Do you find that specific media channels have become more effective for specific markets, properties, or market segments?
All real estate markets are benefited most by the internet. Everyone is on the computer, and it gives the customer the most freedom to investigate their real estate and agent options.
What advice or assistance do you offer your clients when it comes to staging their property for potential buyers?
We always recommend a professional stager for our properties. It makes a huge difference in making the home’s personality come alive. A professional stager helps the home shine in its fullest potential, and it allows potential buyers to imagine themselves in the home. The key is to give the impression of what life in that home would be like without filling in ALL the details so that the owner can imagine their own life fitting in as well.
When it is time to showcase the home, how do you decide to have an open house, or to show the property by appointment only?
For most of the high-end properties that we list in Malibu and Beverly Hills the homes are shown by appointment only. There needs to be real mutual interest in viewing the property. Occasionally we will do Broker’s Opens, because brokers know many potential buyers and can envision which of their clients would fit into which property.
