Lightbulb Moment

Call me a little slow, perhaps.  Call me a little behind the times, maybe.  Call me a moron if you will, but I had a lightbulb moment the other day.  Are you ready?  Here we go…

A listing agent is a public relations agent for the house that’s for sale.

I’ve always known that selling a house is more about marketing than anything else.  I’ve known it’s about negotiating.  I’ve known it’s about representation.  But this PR thing brings it all together for me.

The PR specialist makes sure that their client always presents its best face to the public.  If there is negative publicity, the PR person corrects it, and in some cases prevents its distribution.   Coordination, negotiation, presentation, are all part of both jobs.

Each city (Richland, West Richland, Pasco, Kennewick) and each price point ($100k-$500k), and each style of house demands a different campaign.  Even if two houses are side-by-side, and have the same floorplan and are similarly priced, the one which is ‘packaged’ best will sell faster and for closer to asking price.  The best agents understand this and make sure that they have settled upon the right plan for selling the house.  Just like each actor or corporation or politician requires a different presentation to the public.  Even two moderate Democrats from the mid-west of the same age and gender are going to vary vastly.  The PR for the one is not going to work for the other because they are different people, and there is always a better way to present anything.  The person who defines the best way to present his or her client represents the winner.

I just shudder to think that it took me three years to relate the two.  I almost want to call all the clients who have chosen me in the past and whose houses I have successfully sold, and ask them to sell the house they’re currently in, just because now I have a better understanding of the whole thing.  I’ve already started with my current listings and about-to-be-listings, but I can’t help wanting to go back in time!