Creating a property listing that sells is an important aspect of a realtors workload.  With the increasing amount of buyers turning to the MLS tool to search for homes, using the limited space available to make the best case for a particular property takes real skill.

The MLS has an inherent problem in that it works and presents information like a database, and not like a consumer.  This means it can’t search on things a real person would like, near a good school, or in a low crime area.  You can only search on the practical things like brick construction, how many bedrooms, bathrooms and suchlike.

The means that the agent has to be creative when creating a listing.  The criteria important to the people involved also has to be included within the data that the machine wants to include.  So while creating the listing and ensuring that all the machine readable data is present, the agent also has to weave in the human readable and relevant data too.

With the differing needs in mind, it is important for the agent to list all the physical aspects of the property.  The number of rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, family rooms and other characteristics.  It is important to find somewhere to add information about nearby schools, the neighborhood and other pertinent information wherever possible.  It isn’t always possible so don’t think badly of an advert without that extra information.  Some realtors and agents prefer to impart that kind of information in person.

Any listing would be empty without pictures.  Words can paint a picture, but not as well as a photograph.  We are visually stimulated as a species and make many decisions based on appearance.  While home buying is an emotional experience, if we don’t like the look of somewhere, it doesn’t matter how many boxes it ticks.  It could be the perfect house on paper, but it wouldn’t matter if it didn’t appeal visually to the buyer.

Recent studies have found that almost 90% of home buyers begin their search on the internet.  It’s a good idea to bear this in mind when preparing to sell your home.  Aiming it at the internet savvy buyer with an effective MLS listing will set your home apart from the rest.  Finding an agent who knows how to compensate for the shortcomings of the MLS, while highlighting the features of your home will get it sold much quicker.  Even if they charge a bit more than other agents, the money you save by achieving a faster sale, and the potential higher price you could achieve with better marketing will more than pay for it.