Now that we have our asking or listing price established, we know to what extent we will use – or not use – the services of a real estate agent.

The marketing plan for a residential property should present the property in its most favorable light and reach as many targeted potential buyers as possible. A targeted potential buyer is one who is both in the market for a home and interested in your home's neighborhood.

Create a Compelling Home Marketing Brochure/Flyer

The first suggested step in developing a marketing plan for your property is to create the property marketing brochure, also called a house flyer. By starting with the brochure, a seller is forced to consider and evaluate the attributes of the community (neighborhood / subdivision, etc.) and the home.

Show What Makes Your House Unique

Is the community close to attractive schools, employment centers, recreation, public transportation, religious and cultural amenities? Most are, and these should be identified and articulated in the property marketing brochure. What makes the property unique? Is it the mature landscaping, proximity to a park, the architectural design, floor plan, etc.? Why did you buy it and what do you enjoy about living there? Once you have identified these attributes, you need to design a property brochure that readily and graphically presents these attributes in an easily recognized way. A map showing the property's proximity to the park, a picture of a beautiful sunset through the tall oaks in the back yard will help present the property in a way that people will notice.

Include as Many Home Photos as Possible

Research has shown that buyers want graphics and photos to better understand if it is worth their investment of time in driving by the home to see if they like it enough to schedule a showing of the home. As such, the more graphics and photos you can get into a brochure and in the MLS database listing, including virtual tours (digital video tour of the property), the more likely you are to get property showings. If you have an online virtual tour, make sure to include the web address of that tour on your marketing brochure.

Promote Your Home in as Many Places as Possible

As with all sales, the process of selling a house is a numbers game. The more exposure that you can generate for your property via the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), online advertising, print media such as newspapers, etc., the more showings you will have. The more showings you have, the more likely that an acceptable offer will be generated in the shortest period of time.

Market Your House For Sale on the Internet

From "Leslie Appleton-Young, Chief Economist and Vice President of CAR in her analysis of the real estate market in 2006":

• 86% of home buyers started using the Internet as part of their process before they started looking for a specific home; the other 14% did after they started looking; that means 100% of buyers surveyed looked for a home on the Internet.

Get Professional Home Photos and a Virtual Tour

From "Current Marketing Trends in Real Estate, the National Association of REALTORS® 2005 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers":

• Features ranked most useful among homebuyers searching for a home on the Internet were photos and detailed property information, both viewed as very useful by more than four out of five buyers. Virtual tours were also very useful for a majority of buyers. Buyers were less certain about the usefulness of interactive maps and neighborhood information.

The takeaways from this trend are:

1. You should strongly consider having professional photos taken of your home and getting virtual tour or video tour of your property to effectively market your home in the MLS and on the Internet. Homes often have tight spaces or small rooms that can make them hard to photograph yourself unless you have the right equipment (e.g. a wide-angle lens and good flash) and expertise shooting small rooms.

 2. Include as much useful detail about your house. Promote the unique advantages of your home, especially in ads where you have lots of space (e.g. online ads) or in large brochures. You may find it useful to walk room by room with a notepad and jot down the features that you might take for granted, but that would attract a potential buyer. Pay the most attention to features that a buyer wouldn't see in many other homes in your neighborhood.

Describe the Benefits of Your Neighborhood

From "Current Marketing Trends in Real Estate, the National Association of REALTORS® 2005 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers":

• The most important factor influencing the location of a home purchase is neighborhood quality. Two thirds of homebuyers ranked neighborhood quality as the most important factor, followed by proximity to job or school (43 percent) and proximity to friends or family (36 percent).

The takeaway from this trend is that you need to stress the benefits and attributes of your neighborhood when marketing your home. Drive your neighborhood with a pad and pencil handy and take note of your neighborhood's educational, cultural, recreational, economic (shopping centers & office complexes), and other aesthetic characteristics that you believe are appealing and incorporate them into all of your marketing literature.