If you will be selling your house this September, an early
decision will be whether to team with a Metairie Realtor® or go the “For Sale
by Owner” route. One thing to consider is messaging.
“Messaging” is one of those words that Metairie
homeowners began to hear a lot after Madison Avenue decided to verbize the noun
‘message.’ I know verbize isn’t a
real word, but to me, messaging convolutes
English in pretty much the same way.
Messaging rose in
popularity about the same time that Hollywood actors and politicians started
referring to their own names as their ‘brands’—apparently on the assumption
that it makes them sound more valuable. To some of us, it makes them sound more
like cattle ranchers.
Nonetheless, since it’s now mainstream to be messaging this
and messaging that, whether you’re leaning toward planting a For Sale by Owner
sign in the front yard or recruiting an Metairie Realtor, you should be considering
the messaging. Once you know that, you can message like crazy, confident that you’re
not sending any wrong signals.
Most of the messaging will certainly be about how terrific
it would be to live in the house. The subtexts might be that it’s a fantastic
place that’s well worth the price asked; that any owner would be proud to
invite friends and relatives over; that it’s clearly a leading contender among
other Metairie homes in its price range.
With messaging in place, your Realtor can create a complete professional listing, then set
the ‘For Sale’ sign in the front yard. For those who would rather go it alone,
they can figure out how to pay for the listing they create themselves, then
plant a ‘For Sale by Owner’ sign out front.
But that could be where the messaging goes a little
haywire.
Yes, a For Sale by Owner sign on a Metairie home announce to the
world that the house is For Sale—and
that is excellent, unambiguous messaging. But the by Owner part will, for some, carry some additional messaging that’s
not quite as positive. Think for a moment about the impression you get whenever you see a house with
that sign out front (a nicely printed one…the ones scrawled by hand on poster
board don’t even count). Chances are, you are like everyone else: you assume
you know something extra about the seller.
The messaging
is, at best, This house is for sale by
someone who is up front about not wanting to pay for a professional to sell it.
The other
messaging takeaways can be less helpful:
Professionals haven’t been able to sell this
house for the price you’ll be finding out about soon enough is one
possibility. There is also:
Here is a bargain, sort of like a yard sale—want
to pick over what’s here? Or:
This house is going to be cheaper than a
real house. Or:
Nobody who is professional will be involved in
any way. Or:
If you’d like to get
into a personal bargaining situation with someone who considers himself a shrewd
negotiator, here’s your chance!
That kind of For Sale by Owner messaging differs greatly
from:
This house is professionally represented—the unambiguous messaging all
my “FOR SALE” signs send. You’ve probably seen them around Metairie
(often with a ‘SOLD’ placard attached). They’ve got my phone number on them, but
you don’t have to drive around to find it, since it’s right here on the website.
You can call me right now!
Terez B. Harris
Keller Williams Realty New Orleans
504 975 1033
TerezHarris@KW.com
TerezSellsNolaHomes.com
8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118
No comments:
Post a Comment