The del Castillo Marketing Difference



The del Castillo Marketing Difference

Multiple Listing Service…

All listings by any Realtor MUST be submitted to the MLS. Some Realtors tell you they’ll put your home on the internet too. They’re selling you smoke and mirrors because your home is automatically posted on the internet when you list in the MLS.

The typical Realtor has the MLS take one picture of the front of the house. They might take a few pictures themselves at best but never seem to capture the homes best features, or focus on the wrong thing. I see it all the time. The MLS is littered with bad photos.

Realtors only have 310 characters including spaces allowed by the MLS to describe your home. Often Realtors waste precious line space with verbiage like “close to parks and schools”, “easy freeway access”, “excellent schools” or “near shopping and restaurants”. Today’s buyer is sophisticated and knows these things already, typically. Buyers want to know details about the home.

Now, there’s The del Castillo Difference way of MLS submission.

Once the home has been cleaned up and my staging suggestions have been completed I take about 30 pictures. This process takes about an hour because I will typically move furniture, garbage cans, turn lights on or off (for the best photo), open blinds or whatever it takes to show your homes best features in a picture. If you’re home when I take the pictures I can show you all the pictures (I use a digital camera with a big view screen) and show you what it is I look for in a home picture and what I don’t want in the picture. I then go to my office and view them on my computer where only the best 8 are used. What I look for is what I call the “wow” factor. Photos sell homes faster and better then words. Having the very best photos of your home is crucial for effective marketing.

Describing your home I use the homes best features that will hit the hot buttons of a buyer. Buyers want to know what’s past the front door, and I always use all 310 character allowed to do just that. And that’s the point getting buyers past the front door so they can fall in love with your home.

The MLS is internet based and because of this our MLS system tracks how many hits your listing is having in 2 ways. First there’s the public version of our MLS which buyers access through the or go direct at and all the “hits” are tracked. Then there’s the most important; The realtor only MLS, where realtors look up homes for their clients. Keeping track of the hits you have on these 2 MLS (plus which you’ll read about next) sites is very important in knowing how much activity you actually have with buyers coming to take a look at your home. Bottom line is no hits means no buyers looking, lots of hits, better mean buyers are looking and if your listing is getting lots of hits but no buyers looking; it always means one thing; PRICED to high.

The biggest miss-conception about selling a home is sellers often think “just because I’m in the MLS my home will sell it self”. This just simply is not true. Thousands of listing never sell that are in the MLS. I’ve taken over some of those listings that didn’t sell before when listed with other realtors. I can give examples when we meet.

Another miss-conception is virtual tours. Many Realtors tout them because they lack any real marketing strategy of their own. The reality is most people still don’t have high speed internet and the virtual tours can take forever to download, even with DSL. They also give out to much information; example: you’re a buyer looking at a virtual tour and you love the family room then the camera pans around to the kitchen and you don’t like it, then you say “ oh, no”. Typical buyer will delete this home off their list because they’re not emotionally involved, as they are when they see the home in person. Virtual tours can distort features as well, especially if you’re panning around quickly. I’ve sold many homes where the buyer physically saw the home and loved it but really wasn’t crazy about the back yard or formal living room, but they liked the rest of the home enough to “live with it”. If you’re a seller, that’s the point.

I do and would advise a virtual home tour if I feel the need is necessary or if the seller is adamant about having one.

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This is the proven #1 real estate search engine in the nation. Many major search engines link to , such as; AOL, MSN, NET ZERO, EARTHLINK, NETSCAPE, JUNO and more (see the list elsewhere in this seller information pack), plus hundreds of other websites like our own local all link to as well.

When you list in the MLS you’re automatically listed on as well. That’s where your typical realtor will leave it. Boring, no information, nothing to entice a buyer, no photos either. The del Castillo Difference subscribes to to make all my listings a true SHOWCASE HOME and make your home stand out so buyers will take notice. I do this by giving the listing a heading and title. I also change the description from boring to enticing. The first couple of sentences are used to intrigue a buyer so they’ll click on your listing for more information. Honestly though, it’s usually the more photos link that buyers click to get more information on your home. When they do click on your home for more information it get’s even better. Here all 6 photos ( only allows 6 photos) are seen with captions underneath each photo to highlight features. I use a BOLD scrolling text message that will describe the homes best feature as well. Buyers will always look at the pictures first then read the description where I can describe a picture image of your home. The normal MLS only allowed 310 characters to describe your home so there I get right to it but on I can use up to 2500 characters to describe your home. Here I’m a lot more elaborate to describe a mental image for the buyer so they’re intrigued and will take action to see your home in person.

Another benefit is, on I can advertise my $5,000 incentive to buyers or my buyer move up program where they’re directed to call my 24 hr. hotline for more information (you’ll read about these programs coming up and more.). Many of my listings where I represented the buyer as well first saw my listing on saving my seller thousands in commission. OOH – AAH!

The best advantage of Showcase listings is all the hits are tracked. Every time some one looks up your home or inquires for more information, that visit or “hit” is tracked and tallied at the end of the week. Every week I email (or print and mail if you don’t have email) the weekly report so you can see for yourself just how many hits your home is having on . This tracking system is used to critique how the home is priced too. Experience lets me know how many hits your home should be getting. If you have lots of hits but I’m not getting phone calls or emails about your home, or people aren’t telling their realtor to add your home to their list when they see homes and people just aren’t coming through, we know the price is too high. Because I always try to sale my listing for as much as possible, sometimes I can over price them but this allows me to analyze and adjust if necessary. In the last couple of years I’ve only had to adjust price a couple of times.

is the only real estate search engine that has this feature of tracking (besides our own MLS). Most realtors can’t tell you how much REAL web activity your listing is having except you’re posted on the net. As our market changes, this tracking system will be in-valuable. Besides, it’s pretty cool to see in full color the activity your home is having on the net.

Home Staging…

Home staging is very important, because good first impressions are crucial to getting top dollar and selling quickly.

I start from the front of the house with a buyer’s eye in mind as sellers follow me and take notes on my suggestions. Curb appeal is important because the front of the house is the first thing buyer’s will see, whether in front of your house, in a photo on the internet or from a print out from their agent.

On the inside we’ll walk from room to room as I make suggestions. The idea is to free up clutter and any personal photos as much as possible. I have personally been with buyers when they pay more attention to the cute baby photo then the size of the family room, or the house is so cluttered they didn’t even notice if the home had ceiling fans or if the counters were formica or tile.

Bottom line for sellers is my suggestions work with an impressive record to show for it. Yes, preparing your home to sell may take work but your home will sell faster and for more money.

I don’t have you buy any extra furniture or bring in a fancy “professional home stager”. Professional home stagers do the same thing I do and tend to want the home to be un-realistic like a model home. I’ve sold a lot of homes and have never seen a home that’s lived in like a model. You have to live their. Especially if you have kids or room mates, keeping the home clean can be challenging. However if there are kids at home I have a “Little Helpers” contract that basically bribes them to cooperate with a $25.00 gift certificate (one for each kid), and makes me be the bad guy for keeping the home clean. (see contract in this packet)

Color flyers…

Since photos sell homes faster than words I will always try to put 7 photos on my flyers along with your homes features that will appeal to buyers. Flyers help sell your home. Prospective buyers will always grab a flyer (and so will your curious neighbors). You want a flyer that will stand out because buyers will have a handful of flyers at the end of the day of driving around and you want your home to be on top of their list of homes to see. (see sample flyers in this packet and feel free to call the toll free number listed.)

Toll free 24 hours a day hotline…

This feature is a big benefit to all my listings. I don’t put the price on my flyers because it makes the buyer call the toll free number so they can hear the price as well as some of the unique buyer programs I offer that can save the seller thousands in commissions and make the sell of your home as smooth as possible.

Buyers call agents in the evening or weekends when they have time off work and typically will get a voice mail. Calling the toll free number they get information they want and the great thing about the toll free number is because I pay for the call I ALWAYS get the number captured so I can follow up with every prospective buyer that call on your home.

My hotline system shows me which extension they listened to, how long they listened for and if they replayed the message. If you’re a seller I think you’d agree that a buyer that replays the message would be a good prospective buyer.

Talking House…

This is a unique way to market your home 24 hours a day as well. Buyers often drive around in neighborhoods they would like to live in first, even before they call a realtor… this is very beneficial to you because of my unique buyer programs.

Enclosed is a pamphlet describing talking house. However it doesn’t describe how I record the message. I script a message that will make the buyers take action and call me or their agent because they don’t want to be too late. It also allows me to describe my buyer programs, giving them a further reason to call and take action.

Buyer programs that benefit the seller!

Buyer move up program…

When a buyer moves up to one of my listings and they have a home to sell, this a huge benefit to them and you the seller.

I will list their home for a flat fee of $3,000. This allows them to under cut the market and allows them to sell quickly, making their contingent offer now solid and in return saving you the seller an additional 1% in commission.

This also makes a very smooth escrow process because I’m involved in the sell of their home, so I know the strength of the buyer for their home and because I represent them for your listing as well it will be my lender they use typically too. No other agent to track down or wonder about the integrity of the lenders involved. Happy seller. Happy buyer. Happy agent.

$5,000.00 incentive…

You want to give your home an advantage over the competition. If you have 2 homes and one is offering a $5,000 incentive which one will they choose?

This doesn’t actually cost you the seller anything at all. When I represent the buyer the $5,000 is taken from my commission which was agreed to from the beginning. I’ve used this program for buyers whom had to use the $5,000 for closing costs or else could not have bought the home or might want to use the money for new carpet, paint, upgrades etc.

5000 more reasons to buy your home than the competition.

Love it or Leave it…

When I sell any of my listings I will re-sell it for FREE with in one year if they don’t absolutely love your home. Giving the buyers some comfort in their decision to purchase your home. This is a great advantage for those homes with not exactly the best locations like backing to a busy street. (this program was actually the deciding factor for the buyer that bought the home on Single Tree, the sample flyer in this packet.)

Seller programs!

Never pay 6%

$1,000 seller guarantee…

I hold myself accountable to the promises I’ve made you. Kind of putting my money where my mouth is.

If your home isn’t SOLD in 30 days or less for top dollar put in writing I will pay you $1,000. (see the actual guarantee we’ll fill out if your home qualifies)

This is used for sellers moving out of the area, have already purchased a new construction home or a landlord looking to sell a rental property.

If you’re a seller and want to buy another home, then my next program will interest you more than this.

Seller move up program…

When you use me to buy another home I will list your home for 1% only, saving you thousands of dollars. Better yet, if I represent the buyer you will save an additional 1%. Selling your home for a total of 2.5% only. That’s even cheaper than Help-U-Sell can do when they put you in the MLS.

I also call this my pass on the blessings to the seller, because I will make a smaller commission when selling your home but a normal commission when you buy another home (with a minimum commission of 2.5% to the buyer’s agent). I still remember when I was thrilled to sell a home for $200K. Now that will buy you a chunk of sidewalk in a bad neighborhood. The point is I’m glad to be selling real estate, and you’ll be glad you chose me to sell your home.

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