Houses Sell Houses, Not Salespeople
By Stefan Walther | January 10, 2023
“I bought this home because I really liked the salesperson.”
How often have you heard that line? No? Never? Not once?
Exactly. No, we do not purchase a home because a salesperson was friendly, witty, smells good or has nice hair.
Houses sell houses, not salespeople. So a home owner should truly do themselves a favour and not hire a salesperson and potentially save themselves tens of thousands of dollars in that person’s high-cost sales commission.
The reasons why we purchase a home are because of us, ourselves, our lifestyle, and they include:
- the style (bungalow, two-storey, ranch core-floor)
- the size (small, big, three bedrooms, room to grow in the basement)
- special features (pool, hot tub, gas fireplace, stunning new kitchen, heated garage)
- the property (country acreage, waterfront, rental income potential, small)
- the location (nice neighbourhood, no neighbours, semi-rural with city water, country)
- or a combination of the above.
What is the difference between sales (Realtors) and marketing (ThunderBayHouses.com)?
Marketing builds awareness and knowledge and attracts customers, essentially making a product like a home sell itself, whereas sales converts those leads into a paying customer, or brings in offers on a home.
Marketing could — and should — be all that a home owner requires to sell quickly and effectively.
If the marketing is done right — which is what ThunderBayHouses.com is all about — then the “sales” effort is not needed, it is obsolete.
And this has been ThunderBayHouses.com’s concept and our whole reason for existing from day one, since we started nearly 20 years ago — to showcase a home in the best possible way, with full details and information, an attractive professional write-up, and high-quality photography, to the largest buyer audience (over 30,000 weekly website visitors, over 21,750 followers on social media).
In a sense, the home owner could be thought of as the “salesperson.” Though no real sales training or experience is required. And in so many ways, this is so much better — the owner knows the home better than any strange salesperson, they know the history of the home and the neighbourhood, they know the quality of the finishing and the year of the updates, they even probably know the neighbours and their pets.
And if you put yourself in the shoes of a buyer, wouldn’t you appreciate dealing directly with the home owner, being able to ask them specific detailed questions and, in return, getting accurate honest answers. A salesperson, as the middleperson, may provide an inaccurate response, or may not be able to find out the information.
Myth: A salesperson is required to obtain a better offer and a higher price for a home.
Myth busted: Homes listed privately for sale on ThunderBayHouses.com sell at — and often above — what they would sell for with a salesperson. This is the power of successful marketing at work.
The reason for this is quite simple and has already been mentioned, that ThunderBayHouses.com showcases homes better, and that no salesperson, nor any other private-sale company, can match our vast exposure — the weekly website traffic that we’ve built up over 20 years, and the over 21,750 followers we’ve attracted on Facebook and Instagram. Moreover, something many do not know is ThunderBayHouses.com “pays to promote” and boosts all house listings on social media, to ensure an even wider audience.
Interesting tidbit: Believe it or not, ThunderBayHouses.com has listed and sold, privately of course, homes personally owned by local active Realtors, by their families and by their friends, as well as homes owned by retired Realtors.
Yes, it’s true. While a Realtor enjoys collecting high commission for their own payment and income, they prefer not to have to pay out this same hefty commission themselves. Who can blame them?!
Even Realtors know where the excellent real estate marketing can be found — ThunderBayHouses.com.
We also sometimes, not too often, get referrals from Realtors. Perhaps they prefer not to list a certain home for some reason. We are happy to accept the business and help the seller achieve a quick successful sale.
At one time, decades ago, there was a marketing advantage to listing with a Realtor but it was not them, the salesperson. Rather it was the multiple listing service or MLS. While the MLS stills plays a significant role in very large, active and complex markets such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, ThunderBayHouses.com has, long ago, eclipsed its popularity in the city of Thunder Bay and in northwestern Ontario. And we have the results and 20-year track record to prove it.
ThunderBayHouses.com is extremely proud to offer everyone in our hometown market, a highly effective, low-cost method to market and sell their properties.
Got a question or comment? We at ThunderBayHouses.com work in local real estate every single day. We are proud to serve you. Reach out to us anytime, E-mail us at info@ThunderBayHouses.com. Or call 807-344-9393.
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