This past weekend I must have shown at least 8 homes over two days, and let me tell you, it seems like 2020 and 2021 all over again. I am not disclosing this to make worry anyone or cause anxiety. I am writing this to set the expectation of what selling your home might be like in this market, or what buying a home might be like in this current market environment. For anyone outside of my network reading this, I am based in the Richmond, Virginia market. Let's start with anyone who is looking to potentially sell their home for the sake of this blog. If you currently live in a hot neighborhood and have been thinking of potentially moving, we are definitely still in a seller's market. There are currently 7 homes for sale in The Fan this week. That's right, across 85 blocks in one of the hottest neighborhoods in Richmond, there are 7 homes for Sale. If you cross Arthur Ashe Boulevard that number dwindles down to 4 homes for homes for sale in the Museum District. I showed a home in a beautiful neighborhood named Huguenot Farms near Pony Pasture this weekend. There were multiple agents with multiple clients scheduled for appointments at the same time, all viewing the same home. Apparently there were at least 40 showings there this weekend according to one agent I met there. What does this all mean? Inventory is still at an all time low in the hottest areas of Richmond.
Before we dive in further, I would like to explain the process of how this happens, and how we can market your home to get there as well. There is a formula that I like to follow to get the most people through your home.
First, we need to price it competitively. What does this mean? Your home needs to be priced similarly to homes that recently sold in your neighborhood. If you are pricing your home extremely higher than your neighbor's home that sold for $50,000 less than your expected price, there is a good chance we do not get a good amount of foot traffic the first weekend on the market. If we do not have amazing foot traffic the first weekend your home is on the market, there is a good chance that we are overpriced from the very start, resulting in a long drawn out process of trying to get a price for your home that is not obtainable.
Next, we need to have your home flow so that people can envision themselves living there. What does this mean? This means we need to have either an occupied stager (if you are still living in the home, shoutout to Ellen Spann one of my favorite occupied stagers) or a vacant stager who will stage the home if there is currently no one living there. Occupied stagers will walk through your home with you and provide suggestions on how to depersonalize, declutter, and make your home flow effortlessly so that buyers can envision themselves living in your home. They will also make it so that the professional pictures of your home will look absolutely immaculate. If it looks like it flows effortlessly on the listing photos, and looks like it flows effortlessly in real life, we have hit an absolute home run. When it comes to vacant homes, having light staging at the very least is a must as well. As funny as it may seem, people have a difficult time envisioning themselves in blank spaces. Just because you as the homeowner understand which room is the living room, or where you would position your couch and tv, the rest of the world may not be able to envision themselves in your home. It is imperative that the layouts are easy to relay to prospective buyers.
Okay, so your home is staged, your pictures are down, the stager has made your home look immaculate. Now what? Every listing I have, we have a few things that come as a part of my listing package. First we have professional photographs taken by Upward Studio Your Local Media Expert (upwardstudio.com)) These guys know how to take photos of your home. We aim to capture every angle, every room, and the exterior of your home in the best light possible. I am extremely tedious about this. Every time we have a photo shoot I am there every step of the way. I get it, you are living in this home, and cannot remember everything. That’s okay! That’s partially why I have a job in the first place! We are going to make sure your home looks like something out of a magazine, so that the entire world can see everything that your home has to offer. After we shoot photos, every home has a perfectly tailored video orchestrated exactly to appeal to our target customers. We want to capture anyone and everyone across multiple levels of marketing in order to let them know about your home. In this day and era, not every sale comes from simply posting it to the MLS. Especially in the luxury sales market, the amount of showings that we have from YouTube, Instagram Reels, Facebook, Google, and so much more, is out of this world. If your agent is not producing high end content for your home, you could be missing out on that a countless buyers that are a great fit for your home. Take a look at the link below to see some of our past listing videos.
Spectacular Luxury Living: Tour Your Dream Home in Richmond, VA! 🏡🔑✨ #RichmondRealEstate #LuxuryHome (youtube.com)
Charming Cape Cod Living in Richmond's Premier Location! 🏡🌳 | Gary Martin, Richmond Realtor (youtube.com)
Luxury Living Unveiled: Downtown Richmond Condo with Panoramic Views & Modern Elegance! 🏙️ (youtube.com)
We have our pictures, we are staged, we are priced competitively, we have an amazing video curated specifically to your home. What next? All of the pieces of the puzzle get put into motion. With our perfectly taken photos we are going to send at least 200 postcards of the best photos of your home to your neighbors to let them know your home is on the market. Often times friends or family members want to be near their loved ones (Valentine's Day Plug) and want to live close by.
Next, we are going to run Facebook and Instagram boost campaigns with the best photos and the video of your home. The photos and video will go to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn. This will all happen the week that your home hits the market, while in the Coming Soon status. During this timeframe, we will also allow potential buyers to begin scheduling appointments so we can prepare for them to tour your home. There have been times where the showings have completely booked for the entire weekend, before we ever even hit the market!
Alright, we have marketed your home both digitally and in your neighborhood. Now comes show time. If we are in a neighborhood that is walkable, I like to have a preview party the Wednesday night before we hit the market. This will usually be a wine and cheese night that allows buyers who do not have a chance to make it over the weekend to come see your home. I have had countless offers come from people who only saw the home at these exclusive open houses, and we routinely have amazing success from these events. The day before the Open House we will go around the neighborhood and let your neighbors know about the event, in case they have anyone that might be looking for a home like yours. After the Wednesday Open House event we will have open showings from Thursday through to Sunday, with potential Open Houses scheduled for the weekend as well.
If we have accomplished everything above, and I do mean everything, there is a great chance that we will have an offer after the first weekend your home is on the market. It is not always a perfect process, and sometimes we might be on the market longer than the first weekend, however having a successful first weekend with that amount of momentum is the best publicity we can give your home. This is a long process, and from start to finish, getting your home ready can take at least 30 days. That is why starting sooner rather than later is always the best way to go.
Just because you are scheduling me to come see your home, does not mean we are entering into a binding contract on day one. We need to establish a game plan, a pricing plan, and a marketing plan so that you are confident in your choice of a real estate agent. I would love the opportunity to even have a chance to interview for that position. If you ever have any questions about the listing process, you can reach out to me directly at 804-418-5509 or go to my website at www.garymartinrealtor.com.
