In this video, I go through the steps involved in making a marketing plan and explain what you need to pay attention to. I want to stress at the outset you don’t have to spend much money at all on marketing.

You could even run an auction by just putting up a sign and distributing fliers to the buyers registered with the agency. All good, and you will get a reaction. But that’s not really the point. You have options here and we need to look at what they are. With anything you’re selling, the more people the marketing reaches, the greater its effect. That’s all we’re talking about. How many people do you want to get to? Are you going for it, or will you just take your time and let the market come to you?

What’s the time frame? Are you in a hurry or cruising? You’re more likely to get closer to your asking price if you have in place a fully structured marketing plan. So you don’t have to do anything much, but considering you’re selling one of your biggest assets, you would be wise to look at options with your agent.

The first thing to do is design the ultimate marketing plan for your home. What would be the best way to let your home prove itself on the market? You can always come back and change it later if it costs too much. The second thing to look at, is timing. Work out on your calendar when you want to get started. Ask your agent what options you have within that time frame. Work out how many ads would make for a great marketing campaign, no matter what strategy you’re using. Work out the timing for putting up the sign, for going on the web, for team viewings, first ad and for subsequent ones.

The next thing is the publications and marketing options. The agent will take you through these, including the websites you can now upload to. Now, you need numbers on these. Don’t go into them just because you like them. You need to know two things: the circulation and the pass-on rate, which is the number of people that read the publication over and above the number printed. Then you need to look at the size of ads within all these media. The best size for newspapers, the best size for websites, and the options available.

After that we look at the cost. Add it up and take into consideration what you’re selling here. I’ve seen and done advertising programmes on million-dollar homes that are 30 to 40 thousand dollars. That’s 4% of the value of the property. One more bid at an auction or one more buyer forcing a multiple-offers situation and that advertising is looking like a great investment.

Ask about the payment options for this. Some companies let you put it on your credit card and others will take the advertising cost on sale. I suggest, talk about that first if that will help.