Consumer Guide: Marketing Your Home

What does it mean to market my home? 

Marketing your home refers to different ways you can promote your home to attract potential buyers. This may include staging, professional photography, social media, signage, open houses, and competitive pricing. When selecting an agent to work with, it is important to ask how agents would consider marketing your home and what methods may be most effective.

How do buyers and other agents know I’m selling my home? 

Simple tools like placing a “for sale” sign outside your home can advertise an open house or attract attention from the public. Listing on Multiple Listing Services (MLSs)—online platforms that compile home listings from brokerages in a given market—usually provides the broadest exposure to prospective buyers.

How can showings and open houses help me attract buyers? 

Showings and open houses give potential buyers a chance to see a property in person and ask questions. While showings require appointments, open houses allow sellers and agents to meet with multiple potential buyers at the same time.

How do I arrange showings and open houses? 

Your agent will help you schedule and plan for these events, including making sure your home looks great for visitors, potentially through staging. Timing considerations are also important: holding your first open house the weekend after your property goes on the market can help maximize exposure, but you should also consider any competing events that may be a conflict for interested buyers.

How can staging and other cosmetic updates make my home more marketable to potential buyers? 

Before taking photos of your home for marketing materials or holding showings and open houses, you should consider maximizing the visual appeal of your home. While you are not required to make any cosmetic updates, cleaning and decluttering, including cleaning the windows, carpets, lighting fixtures, and walls, can make a big difference. You may also consider staging, the process of cleaning a home and temporarily filling it with furniture and decorations that may help buyers better see themselves living in the home. Some agents may include staging in the services they provide you.

What is “curb appeal”? 

Curb appeal refers to how a home looks to potential buyers when viewed from the street. Your agent may recommend updates to landscaping or paint jobs to improve your home’s external appearance, as this will affect visitors’ first impression of your property.

What role does home pricing play in marketing? 

Competitively pricing your home can help attract potential buyers. Based on your goals and how quickly you want to sell your home, your agent may recommend a more competitive listing price, which can help expand your pool of interested buyers.