Channel Placement
This term is "Marketing Speak" to define the different avenues you would use
to sell your product to the buyer. For real estate this would be
real estate agents, auctions, eBayR
and for sale by owner (direct).
Choice of channel is important in
that the seller should use the channel that has the greatest access to
buyers. Auctions and particularly eBay, have tremendous buyer
participation, however, sales of houses at auction takes a very
intrepid buyer. As such, sales of real estate through this channel
are very low. Selling your property yourself is very attractive
since the savings are considerable. The savings, though, are half
what you might expect. The commission charged by an agent is shared
with the buyers agent. Since most buyers have contracted with their
agent, the buying "side" of the commission is not a figure
the seller may negotiate. The buyer will expect the fee due their
agent to be covered by the seller. Remember, the great majority of
buyers have exclusive agreements with their agents.
The greatest issue with selling
your own property is exposure. As stated elsewhere in this web site,
80% of buyers start their search on the internet. How do you get the
buyers to find your property in the maze of the Internet? There are
sites that cater to private sellers, however, since greater than 85% of all
properties for sale are listed with the local multiple listing
service, buyers tend to focus their attention on web sites that get
their data from the MLS.
When asked, the largest group of buyers, 38% stated the home they
purchased was made known to them by their real estate agent, 16% by
a yard sign and 15% through the Internet. Only 5% located their home
through a newspaper advertisement. Since the Internet, yard signs
and advertisements are means of communication rather than channels,
then the channel with the largest access to buyers and to whom
buyers listen is real estate agency.
Still, the dedicated "For Sale By Owner" could make the effort to
develop and maintain contact with the agents in their market area.
In Apple Country there are more than 1000 active agents! Realtors®
through their membership in the MLS are able to communicate directly
with buyer agents whose clients have identified homes meeting their
requirements. This is a highly efficient means by which agents can
promote your property to agents who have buyers known to have an
interest in your property.
If you have chosen to sell your
property through an agent, ask the agent what their plan is for
communicating with and promoting your property to the other agents
in your market. Their plan should at a minimum include listing in
the MLS, agency tour, hosting a brokers open house and regular FAX
and email communications to agents and agencies in the area.
Copyright©
2006 - Chris Kellogg
All Rights
Reserved
Last Modified
05/16/2007 |
