This is the third post in a blog series on home selling methods, and which ones are most effective and least effective in the current Northern Virginia real estate market. You can read the other articles in this series here: Part 1 and Part 2. In this article, we’ll discuss a common form of marketing that is still used by a lot of agents, but is not very effective when it comes to getting your home sold.
Home Selling Methods in Northern Virginia – Which are Least Effective?
Can you remember the last time you found the home you wanted to purchase by looking at a real estate magazine or a newspaper print ad? Probably not. Is print marketing in real estate dead? No, not at all, but it’s used a lot less, and it's often used for different reasons.
Even as far back as 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, only 6% of home buyers used print newspaper advertisements when looking for a home. Samples of print marketing pieces might look impressive when a real estate agent arrives at your home to show you how they will market your property, but statistics show that most likely, those flyers won’t directly lead to the successful sale of your home.
Okay, so why do you still see print marketing pieces being used? Well, it happens for a few main reasons. Some agents who have been around for a long time stick with what they know when it comes to home selling methods. They might not be very savvy with the internet, so they focus on methods that were a lot more effective before the age of the internet. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on print advertising, but if you know that an agent you’re considering dedicates the majority of their marketing budget toward a method of advertising that is least likely to yield the results you want as a home seller, would this give you pause?
In today’s competitive Northern Virginia real estate market, it’s important to have an agent who understands internet based home selling methods and who knows how to use the internet to reach as many buyers as possible. Call me at 703-462-0700 or email me at DarrenRobertsonHomes@gmail.com so we can discuss your goals when it comes to selling your home.