Is there a Difference in Marketing Between the Small Real Estate office and the Large one?

To be frank…. some property sellers seem to have the wrong impression about what makes property sell for the highest net. Highest net verses highest gross is another discussion, however, the size of a real estate office should have no bearing on this subject at all.
I have previously worked at large franchise offices with many agents and currently work at a small independent office. Having successfully worked and produced a high volume of sales at both types of offices gives me some unique insight into the reality of selling property at both types of offices.

1) It is a proven fact that most of today’s buyers will find their future property on the internet before looking at it with their Realtor. All listings that are placed on MLS migrate their way onto the internet from MLS via data share with companies like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and then migrate elsewhere also.
2) All Realtors have access to the MLS if they belong to their local Real Estate Association – thus the size of your office has no bearing on the ability to list property on the MLS or search for property on the MLS – only your office’s membership effects this.
3) Large offices may have more agents, however, in order to sell property you just need one buyer represented by a good agent – since all agents can access the same information there is no logical reason to believe that the size of the office matters at all.
4) Almost all offices, large and small have a website today, this is not something that only large offices have, and in fact most individual agents have their own website as well, the internet makes no size differentiation either.

What really matters in the agent you choose to work with is trust and a common goal in the transaction.

My goal is always to net my seller the most amount of money, to protect them from liability and to make the process as stress free as possible – this goal has remained the same no matter which office I have worked at.

I still utilize a professional photographer to help me effectively market my listings, I still use internet, magazines and the local newspapers to help me sell my listings and I still provide a wide variety of marketing exposure to net the most qualified buyer leads for each listing…..working at a small office has not changed this, in fact now that I do not have to pay franchise fees I have more marketing dollars to spend!

So remember to compare marketing plans not the size of the office when you decide to sell your next piece of real estate or business opportunity, you will be glad you did, and you may be surprised at who offers the most bang for your buck.