When you put your Baltimore home on the market, your most effective marketing mechanism isn’t the front yard “For Sale” sign. Now don’t get me wrong, that sign is certainly one way to generate valuable neighborhood awareness, but it’s FAR from #1. It’s also not the well-designed ad your Realtor® publishes, even if its in the most well-read Maryland newspaper or magazine – although, once again, those expensive insertions can draw valuable inquiries, they are still no where near the top of the list.
Without a doubt, the absolute most powerful marketing mechanism at your disposal to sell your home is Maryland’s Multiple Listing Service, (MRIS).
Once again, let me repeat, the MLS is far and away your most potent advertising tool. Although today this seems so obvious that it’s barely worth restating, in important ways that’s a relatively recent development. The “Why” and the “How” of today’s listing availability provides an interesting peek ‘under the hood’ of how 21st century real estate works.
You see, back in real estate’s medieval past (before the Web reached everyone – say, 20 years ago), Baltimore “home listings” took the form of printed sheets distributed between cooperating real estate brokers and agents. They were headed by a single mug shot of the property, contained somewhat updated information, the usual details (Beds, Baths, Square Footage, etc.), OH – and of course, the price.
But even that practice was a modern development. Early in the formation of the United States, groups called “Real Estate Exchanges” – the antecedents of today’s Boards of Realtors® – would meet on appointed days to exchange lists of properties their clients wished to sell. In practice, these meetings would often become auctions, with brokers bidding on behalf of their principals for properties they wanted to buy from other brokers.
In the early 1900’s, “multiple” was sometimes applied to the “listing” of properties; but by the Roaring Twenties, the advantages of “multiple listings” were widely accepted. The difference was that now brokers cooperated to combine their separate portfolios of client offerings into integrated master lists…which usually translated into all those sheets of paper in the “orderly collections” of binders on the shelves and in the briefcases of real estate pros. Orderly or not, it took a lot of diligence to keep everything current…
It was a far cry from today’s Maryland listings, which can be summoned up instantaneously on computer screens in homes and offices anywhere. Actually, on phones and tablets, no matter where they are! When you think about it, the technology has fundamentally changed the nature of how listings are used. Instead of having information that had to be gathered and shared by real estate professionals who would physically gather for that purpose, today’s MLS listings are available to be inspected and compared by you, the client, yourself – with your Realtor acting as expeditor rather than limiter. It’s the Real Estate Professionals who make sure the parts of the listings on public view are as accurate as possible, and who guide clients all the way from their discovery of the most likely candidate properties through visiting, negotiating, and closing on their next home no matter if it’s in Perry Hall, Parkville, Timonium, Bel Air, Ellicott City, Annapolis, or ANYWHERE else in Maryland.
www.execuhome.com is your direct portal to the ENTIRE Maryland MLS… to start your search for your next home, simply click RIGHT HERE. Our dynamic website is updated in REAL-TIME, so you are guaranteed to have the most accurate and up to date information possible. ExecuHome Realty allows our customers to truly “Search Like An Agent”! Simply sign-up for a free account (no obligation whatsoever), and unlock your access to the entire MLS database.
As soon as you find the ones you’d like to look into further, ExecuHome Realty is right here – standing by for your call (443-632-3800)… We can’t wait to help you buy and/or sell your next home. We are Maryland’s Largest In-State Brokerage!
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