Best Real Estate Agent Marketing: Tout the Power of MLS
When you roll out your Realtor or real estate agent marketing plan focus on the strengths of your position and what makes your services unique. You’ve heard it before – 90% of all home searches begin online. Today’s buyers are tech savvy, but where you search online for a Tampa home for sale can make all the difference.
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) utilized by Tampa Realtors is the only service held to a stringent code of ethics for honesty and accuracy. The information found on the MLS is populated by you, the Tampa Realtors and real estate agents yourselves and delivers the most accurate facts on Tampa homes for sale, their value, neighborhoods and amenities.
The professionals at Tampabaywriter.com deliver the real estate agent writing services to get your unique message and personal brand selling points directly to buyers and sellers. We can highlight how your MLS access provides the relevant data a homebuyer will need to make an informed decision and can include photos, virtual tours, information on local schools and more. But let’s look at the gaggle of your online competitors that can provide “information” on the Tampa real estate market including Redfin, Trulia and one of the most popular, Zillow.
Make the Poor Accuracy of Zestimates Front and Center in Your Marketing
Zillow offers a property valuation tool called Zestimates. A Zestimate is based on the company’s value algorithms that sifts through property information but, the basic flaw is that the information comes from public data and user-submitted data, not Realtor-specific sources.
Remember, an accurate valuation is only as accurate as the information it’s based on such as lot size, square footage, number of bathrooms, how old the information is, etc. And, even if someone notices that inaccurate information is present and notifies Zillow, there can be a significant lag time in updating the Zestimates to generate a more accurate valuation guess.
Point this out throughout your marketing – MLS is the best resource and only available through a licensed agent.
Educate Clients that Home Upgrades can be Unaccounted For
Another selling point for you is to point out that Zillow real estate data can become inaccurate due to the lack of consideration for homeowner upgrades. How many homeowners upgrade their properties without pulling permits? A whole lot do, even if it’s just for small projects. The only way Zillow knows about improvements to a property is if they appear in the local tax assessor’s information which include permits entered into the public record.
Many interior projects, such as upgrading a bathroom or kitchen don’t require permitting but add significant value to a home. Again, Zillow is restricted to a specific set of data points which may lack all the relevant information or simply be generated incorrectly from the beginning.
You, via your experience, by personally going through the properties and via the accuracy of MLS will have this knowledge. Let your client know.
Buyers and Sellers Can’t do it Themselves. We can Help You Help Them!
The online services don’t hold their information as 100% accurate. They offer the service as a service to viewers looking for basic estimates on value. The only way to accurately determine the real market value of a Tampa property is to use the expertise of a Tampa real estate agent or Realtor with experience and access to the MLS.
How can the professionals at Tampabarwriter.com help you educate prospective clients and earn their business? Just call or e-mail – just that easy.