We can learn a lot from marketing type companies like Coca Cola and McDonald’s on the way they launch a product. When you think about it launching a new hamburger or a soft drink is really not too dissimilar to launching a new property into the marketplace. There are products in the marketplace which in the real estate world comprises other houses and units. They are looking to find a buyer. When a vendor’s property comes on the market it is like a new product is being launched. A key in the process is how to differentiate your property from another property. 

If there is one clear thing we can learn from McDonald’s and Coca Cola, it is when you market you must use a multi media campaign to ensure that you get maximum cut through in the marketplace in a short period of time. When Coca Cola launched Coke Zero they did not passively just go onto their own website and put a logo of Coke Zero and hope for the best. Far from it. They advertised everywhere and in all forms of media and did it in a short period of time to ensure that the product was positioned in the consumer’s eye in a particular way.

In real estate when a property comes into the marketplace the first 30 days are crucial. Research shows that you will generally get your best offer on the property during this period and it is for this reason that you should have all your advertising happen in a short period of time at the start of the campaign versus a drip feed approach over many months. A property that hasn’t sold for months develops a perception in the marketplace as being “stale” or having a “defect” and that is the reason that nobody wants it. Unfortunately this is generally not the case at all and in fact the real reason why the property has not sold is that many of the buyers may not have been aware of the property during the early stages of the campaign or it was priced at a level that did not connect with the appropriate buyers in that marketplace.

Having been involved in thousands of property transactions as a real estate agent and auctioneer I know there are only two reasons why a property does not sell. Either the price is too high or the marketing is poor. You will never be able to establish what fair market value is unless every possible buyer in the marketplace becomes aware of it when it comes on the market. Buyers come from various sources, internet and newspaper advertising being the two predominant ones. The behaviour of many buyers is that they originally see it advertised in a newspaper then go onto the internet to explore more information such as a virtual tour and floor plans. Other sources include the signboard and the real estate agent’s database. Before appointing an agent ensure that every component of your marketing plan is discussed so not one buyer may slip through the cracks, as the family home remains the last tax free haven in Australia. Every dollar profit you make selling your principal place of residence is yours to keep.