Listing of the Day - St. Augustine FL

In an effort to improve the impact of the marketing of listings, I randomly choose current listings around the country in a variety of price ranges and comment on their effectiveness. No current clients of mine are used, nor do I know any sellers or buyers or have any additional information about the property.


1323 Powis Rd. St. Augustine FL 4 + 4 $275,000

http://homes.jacksonville.com/realestate?tp=homes2.jacksonville.com&classification=mdRealEstate&temp_type=detail&listing_id=43830433


This advertisement is actually quite interesting. The potential buyer is not told this is really for a Short Sale until the very last part of the description copy, appearing at a point by which they have been well 'sold' on the appeal of this property.

It will be interesting to check the reaction of my clients as well as agents who always read these critiques about the ethics of burying the fact that this is for a Short Sale. From a marketing standpoint, I'm somewhat impressed at how the agent does her job of "selling" the property first. Well, almost first.

The primary photo is an impressive view, showing the scope of the home with the photo taken at the best possible angle to show the large driveway and 3-car attached garage. However, there are no interior photos at all on the spread, and that is a big waste of opportunity. A family (or investor) looking at a 4-bedroom home, especially one that shows as well as this one does from the exterior, is bound to be curious to see how the inside looks. In addition, the side and back exterior photos appear to be taken in different light and make the house look to be in a different color than the front. While I can understand showing a home in relation to a pond or lake, we don't know whether this photo was taken looking from the home for sale, or from across the pond looking toward it. At least two of these photos should have been interior shots.

Although the description copy highlights several prime sales points, the "Realtor fluff" that starts it out should be eliminated and it would make the copy much more effective. The "Look no further" bit explains absolutely nothing about the property.

I like how the description copy (after the first line) provides an excellent balance of interior and exterior selling points. It furthers the point about the need for interior photos to appear within the picture spread and what a tremendous reinforcement opportunity is lost.

Holding off revealing this is a Short Sale until the end could entice investors to pursue it, but might lose a family looking for a home for the immediate future. Personally, I prefer this approach, since it reflects better on the listing agent. Far too many agents listing short sales make it obvious they spent about 10 seconds on the advertisement and make an investor skeptical that the agent is capable of getting a deal done.

GRADE: B-




Note: This commentary is uncompensated and for marketing purposes only and is no reflection on the featured property. Its accuracy is not guaranteed. Neither Dave Kohl nor First In Promotions shall be held responsible for any representations.

At this time, I have openings for more realty agent/office clients to critique current and brand new listings on an hourly basis. No current or past client listings are featured on this blog.Random listings are chosen around the country.

Your comments are most welcome!