Ben Slade Realty, Your Local Real Estate Expert

Marketing Plan for your Property

Sometimes people are overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised by the amount of marketing that we can and will provide for our clients. Should you want to do several of these marketing services, you may either pay for each service as you go, or we will negotiate a percentage commission with you based on our current commitments to full service listings. And, if at any time you want to become more “full service” after you have paid for each service as you use them, you can upgrade your service with us. Ben Slade Realty -- where a one-time fee allows you to sell your house, your way with all the advantages of a real estate agent.

UNTIL YOUR PROPERTY IS SOLD we’ll provide the following essential marketing services:

• An “Exclusive Brokerage Listing Agreement:” with this rare type of property listing you benefit from being “listed” while retaining your right to sell your property as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) with no real estate commission if your buyer is not obligated to a real estate agent. Simply stated, if a home buyer comes to you while you are on our program, and that buyer is not working with a real estate agent, no matter how they found you—thru the yard sign, an ad we created for you, or by referral—you pay no real estate commission! You’ll keep the 2–3% buyer’s commission in your own pocket. We won’t take it from you. A traditional real estate agent simply will not give you that opportunity. If they set you up on a typical 6% commission, and a buyer approaches you independently (i.e., they are not working with an agent of their own), the listing agent will pocket the entire 6%. We consider this to be too much to pay someone for a few hours of work. We regard as the upfront flat fee as payment to advertise your home. At closing, we charge a small fee of .0049 of your sales price to negotiate your contract and, on your behalf, pay the MLS transaction fee of .0012.
• List your property with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) via WIFI laptop before we leave! The majority of properties are sold via this database. Thru this estate database over 5,000 real estate agents will know your home is for sale, get a detailed description of the property, see 6 photographs of the home, and know exactly what real estate commission you are willing to pay the real estate agent to bring you a home buyer – usually 2–3% of the sales price. Importantly, FSBO sellers have no access to this essential marketing tool. If your property is not in the MLS your chances of selling your property quickly are drastically reduced. In essence you are dependent on drive-bys and/or expensive newspaper advertising to attract buyers. Placement in the MLS database means that your property is immediately visible to the 5,000+ Emerald Coast real estate agents who search daily to find properties for their buyers. Your MLS listing will contain a detailed description of your property and the commission you will pay a buyer’s agent to bring you a buyer (normally 2-3% of the selling price; because of the savings on the listing side, you can get aggressive and offer 4% to the buyer’s agent if you choose!) Moreover, we will upload 6 photographs to help buyers better decide if your property is what they are looking for (i.e., it provides enough visual detail to prescreen solid interest buyers.)
• List your property on Realtor.com: in addition, we’ll list your property on the world’s #1 home searching website via a customized “Showcase Home” ad (again with at least 6 photos) with copy designed to promote the most marketable features of your property. Because we produce an oversized ad which includes custom banner headlines, scrolling marquees, color, and large text, we make your ad stand out from competing ads, thereby getting your property noticed in a crowded real estate market (this extra effort and creativity that makes us and your property stand apart from all other real estate agencies (both traditional & discount). For a modest additional cost ($195 if you select this option when you list the property; versus $250 if you decide to add it later)) we can upload a Virtual Online Tour of your home on Realtor.com, EmeraldCoastHomesByOwner.com and the MLS.
• Feature your home on Realtor.com so that it automatically comes up for all price ranges on searches in your county.
• Place a viewing counter on your ad on Realtor.com.
• Create your very own one page "Property for Sale" website when you purchase a Virtual Tour (see below); this can be referenced on your flyers and in other marketing materials you may wish to produce.
• List on EmeraldCoasthomesByOwner.com: Many homeowners in the area “self-board” their homes on this site at a regular cost of $99.00. We’ll add you as a FSBO seller in a 6-photo or more ad; and we’ll do all the creative and production aspects as part of the package at no additional charge.
• List your property on BenSladeRealty.com: naturally we’ll place you on our own website where visitors can view our active listings through a link to our homepage on Realtor.com.
• List your property on: Yahoo.com, AOL.com, MSN.com, Excite.com, Netscape.com, iWon.com, Immobel.com... These and other Real Estate search engines will find your property.
• Advertise your property on other real estate & relocation company websites: we’ll place your ad on most large company and individual agent websites that search the MLS. Your home will appear courtesy of Ben Slade Realty. Don’t be fooled by other companies, your home will appear on their website too while listed with us as well as those of relocation companies.
• Provide a durable “standard” professional real estate size yard sign. Our signs have a very conservative logo that does not draw attention to the fact that you have a discounted listing. An attractive "Sign on Post" is also available at no additional cost to listings over $500,000.
• Strategy Advice: if you need help strategizing the best way to sell your property our experienced real estate professionals will provide advice on all aspects of selling process as part of our service. On request, we'll provide a detailed Strategy Report and Comparative Marketing Analysis in which we’ll share local area comps with you (from the sold listings in one of the multiple listing services). This will guide you in the optimum competitive pricing of your home and should not be confused with the typical market analysis provided by traditional real estate companies--ours will advise you on how to maximize your property sale profits.
• Strategy reports are provided every 30 days and will advise on just how many prospective buyers are active in your market area.
• Advise you on how to increase traffic to your property.
• Advise you how to set up and maximize the benefits of an Open House.
• When buyers call about your home we will email them your listing from realtor.com.
• Home warranty during the listing period with no strings to purchase.
• Provide Sales Home Guides ad.
• Provide suggested text for newspaper ads.
• Purchase and Sale Agreement: we provide the appropriate state Association of Realtor’s contract form and all addendum that are needed to make your closing go smoothly. We will even assist buyers (not working with agents) fill out and submit the agreement when making their offer - keeping them from seeking agent representation and saving you the buyer’s agent commission!
• Contract Negotiation: whether your buyer comes with or without an agent, we will negotiate the contract on your behalf. We will do our utmost to help you achieve the highest price and best transaction possible for your property. We attend seminars and take regular ongoing classes to perfect our skills and build upon our years of real estate experience.
• We will negotiate you property inspection at no cost to you.

Additional Marketing Services

Sometimes people are overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised by the amount of marketing that we can and will provide for our clients. Should you want to do several of these marketing services, you may either pay for each service as you go, or we will negotiate a percentage commission with you based on our current commitments to full service listings. And, if at any time you want to become more “full service” after you have paid for each service as you use them, you can upgrade your service with us. Ben Slade Realty of Emerald Coast, where a one-time fee allows you to sell your house, your way with all the advantages of a real estate agent.

Popular OPTIONAL MARKETING Services

Electronic Agent SUPRA Lock boxes can be rented during the listing period for $100.00.

• Virtual Tour or Mega Slide Show! $195.00 will post your virtual tour on many websites provided you select this option when you list with us ($250 if you select it later). We will shoot your home at the time of listing. You can use your photos on your flyers and even print a flyer from your website. This option includes the creation of your own one page website; this can be referenced on your flyers and in other marketing materials you may wish to produce.
• We take the photos - 6 photos for $50.00. Pictures are taken at the initial appointment. Pictures are free if you select the virtual tour option.
• Attend your property inspection $250.00.
• Attend your closing $250.00.
• Purchase a custom Info-Box Flyer $12.95 for your yard sign.
• Take you to the competition - One of our buyer’s agents will give you a comprehensive overview of your competition. The overview will consist of both of you going to see 5 competitor homes on the market in your area. The cost is $150.00 for 1 and ½ hours.
• Get Set to Sell Package - 2 hours with an interior designer, a pre-inspection with an inspector to identify any problems with your home and a virtual tour or 50-picture slide show. Ask your listing consultant for more details.
• We offer more services for the price than any of our competitors. This unique and highly successful marketing program has helped an overwhelming number of our clients sell their properties and has made us the leader in our niche of the marketplace.
• We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, checks and cash as payment for our services.
• We can accommodate your payment needs with payment at closing of $2,000.00 in lieu of our $500.00 upfront flat fee.

For your convenience we accept: VISA, MasterCharge, AMEX