San Francisco is one of the most expensive housing markets in the United States, and many buyers can take their pick of homes — even paying cash. When price doesn’t matter (or even if it does) marketing strategies to attract top San Francisco home buyers are essential. Even a new home in an ideal location won’t sell if buyers don’t see it. Marketing strategies, in tandem with working alongside a trusted real estate agent, are the only way to be sure that you are bringing in the buyers who will tour your house and make an offer.
Study the market
Before you can market your home, you have to know the homes it’s competing against. Using what real estate agents call a Comparative Market Analysis (Comps) can give you a picture of the market and offer clear parameters for marketing your home. Comps are three or four houses in your area with similar characteristics and they can help you determine more than your home’s sale price. Looking at comps listings can offer insights into keywords to help sell your home as well as photo angles and amenities to highlight.
Know your niche
The more specific your angle is for your marketing campaign, the more it will attract buyers. Understanding your home’s unique qualities and buyers’ niche is a strong strategy to market your home. Your home may have top-of-the-line appliances and a chef’s-ready kitchen, or a home spa with a sauna. Access to nature and a lush backyard are other features that can give your home an edge.
Streamline and stage
Real estate agents talk about staging as one of the essential steps to marketing and selling a home. Staging is getting a home into shape so its best features are highlighted with a streamlined look, to appeal to a wide pool of buyers. The first steps to staging are decluttering and cleaning. With a clean slate, a home can then be staged, creating a flow from room to room that shows how it will be lived in. Decor is neutral with an emphasis on light and decorative elements that add interest in a room without overpowering it. Staging may mean replacing furniture or adding to what you already have.
Plan your photo shoot
Photos are one of the most important tools to market a home — but only if they are high-quality and impactful. After staging your home, it’s time for a photo shoot with a professional photographer who specializes in real estate. The photos can then be used on social media, a website for your home, and on any printed marketing materials.
Use the power of digital
With everything from classes to work meetings happening online, digital is also a tool to sell a home. A social media marketing campaign shared by your real estate agent, and also across your personal channels can reach a wide-variety of buyers. Other options are to work with your agent to host virtual showings, which are either live or on a website for buyers to view on demand. Targeting a specific audience using social media groups can also help find your ideal buyers.
Network
A strong marketing strategy will use many angles to reach people. Networking, both in-person and virtually, can widen the pool of potential buyers even more. Attending community events and talking about your home sale as part of your daily conversations is one marketing tool that won’t cost you anything.
With a robust marketing strategies , you’ll get your San Francisco home sold, so you’ll be ready to move into your next property.