Strategies – Real Estate Master

Simple strategies for selling your home

Admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:55:16 +0000

Getting the strategy right for selling your home can make the difference between achieving a good sale or just selling for an average price.

A perennial question asked by potential vendors to agents, other than what price will they get, is: ‘what is the most effective way to market my property’?

A property will still sell in a down market and, if your agent does their work, optimal returns can still be made.

Marketing your property

The essential elements of a successful property marketing campaign include the price you’re willing to accept, the presentation effort you put into offering your property to potential buyers and the marketing effort recommended by your agent.

The soul purpose of all real estate marketing campaigns, is to sell. This is usually done by connecting emotionally with the buyer – you must establish and maintain a connection between your property and the potential new owner.

Photos are key

Vicki Gardiner, Director of Gardiner McInnes Estate Agents, Warrandyte, (VIC) says one of the keys to a great marketing campaign is fantastic photographs.

“Put yourself in the position of potential buyers scanning hundreds of online and print property advertisements – don’t make them work too hard to see the best features of your home.”

It’s a good idea to check with your agent about the quality of the photographs in some of their past marketing campaigns – you are entitled to ask your agent for samples of their photographer’s work and make sure you’re happy with the quality.

Home staging

Other methods Ms Gardiner suggests to maximise returns include staging living areas to spark buyers’ imaginations. A simple example of home staging is to rearrange your furniture or rent furniture to maximise the space of your property. Clear your clutter away and beware of home staging cliches such as lighting too many candles. Potential purchasers should be able to easily picture themselves in your house, but it shouldn’t have too much of ‘you’ in it.

Attention to detail is what matters when staging your property’s presentation.

“It’s the little things that count. Take care of any outstanding maintenance items; buyers can make decisions on how sound your home is based on the small details that are easily visible,” says Vicki.

Further advice includes playing to your strengths; “…if your property is strongly connected to a particular period, select a complementary interior design.”

Be open minded

Your tastes may not be matched to a home stylist, or even your agent’s, but using a professional means learning from their experience. Don’t be offended if you need to hide your wedding pictures, your cat, your baby photos and that family heirloom vase – keep focused on the goal, the best price for your property.

A 70s inspired example

As a practical example of optimising returns, Gardiner McInnes marketed a property in Warrandyte which was a fantastic 1970s home in entirely original condition. The decor was amazing and would have been the height of fashion in its day, complete with shag pile carpet and large geometric print wallpaper.

Rather than alter the design, or remove any elements, the agents worked with the vendors to embrace it in the marketing campaign. The home stylist used the existing furniture and added complementary soft furnishings.

During open homes 1970s disco classics were played and a celebratory atmosphere for potential purchasers was created. The home sold in fewer than two weeks for a price the vendors were thrilled with, plus the purchasers loved the decor so much they kept it as was.

For more insight into selling take a look at our Selling Guide.

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This article was originally published on
19 Sep 2013 at 2:00pm
but has been regularly updated to keep the information current.

Getting Ghosted? Try These 7 Lead-Generation Strategies

Admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:54:35 +0000

Ghosting comes from low-intent leads, awkward first conversations and generic follow-up, Josh Ries writes. Here are seven ways to reduce ghosting, and they start before you ever make the first call.

Getting ghosted when you call real estate leads absolutely sucks. It is demoralizing, it makes you question what you are doing, and if you are paying for those leads, it also makes you unprofitable fast.

Every lead that never makes it to the closing table increases your cost per acquisition, which means the real pain is not the silence; it is the math.

Over the past couple of years, I have had the chance to consult with some big teams and brokerages on lead generation and conversion. When I see a lot of ghosting, it is rarely because the agents “need better scripts.” It usually comes down to a broken process that creates low-intent leads, awkward first conversations and generic follow-up that screams, “You are now in a robot sequence.”

7 tips to prevent getting ghosted

Here are seven ways to reduce ghosting, and they start before you ever make the first call.

1. Define your target audience more tightly than you think you need to

Most agents think they have a target audience until you ask them to say it out loud. Then you get something like sellers in my market or buyers in my area. That is not a target audience; that is a ZIP code with a hope attached to it.

If you do not define who you are actually trying to reach, you cannot speak to a specific pain point. If you cannot speak to a specific pain point, you attract people with unclear intent, and unclear intent leads are the ones who disappear the moment the conversation gets real.

2. Narrow your campaign so the lead knows why they raised their hand

Ghosting often starts in the campaign itself. A lot of paid campaigns or social media posts are so broad that the lead clicks without a clear reason, and you end up on the phone trying to build rapport off a message that could have been written by any agent in town.

When you run broad, you lose the ability to personalize the first call because you have no sharp angle to anchor the conversation. That is why the call feels generic, and generic calls create generic follow-up, which creates ghosting.

3. Stop going into the call with one predetermined ‘win’

A lot of agents treat every call as if it only counts if they book an appointment today. That mindset creates pressure fast, and leads can feel it. Your goal can be an appointment, but your only definition of a win cannot be an appointment.

Sometimes the win is identifying timing. Sometimes it is identifying the real problem. Sometimes it is simply building enough trust that the next conversation feels natural.

4. Stop relying on scripts like they are a life raft

Scripts put the conversation in a box, and real people do not stay in boxes. The moment the lead says something unexpected, the script follower panics, and the call starts to feel like a performance instead of a conversation.

The other problem is the lead has heard the script before. If you sound like every other agent, you become easy to ignore.

5. Stay relevant to the reason they entered your funnel

If your campaign is built for sellers, the first call should stay focused on that seller’s problem. Too many agents pull the conversation into everything else too fast: Where are you moving, are you buying next, what is your timeline.

Those questions matter, but they matter after you earn the right to ask them. Early on, find one pain point, and prove you understand it, because that is why they reached out.

6. Make the first follow-ups personal, not automated

This is where most ghosting happens.

The initial call goes well, then the next touch is a generic automated text or email sequence. People know when they are being nurtured by a robot, and they know when the message has nothing to do with what they told you.

Your first follow-ups should be personalized and tied to their pain point. A simple text that references your conversation and sends something useful works because it feels human and relevant.

7. Stop assuming one unanswered text means you got ghosted

Agents get one non-response and label it ghosting, then they pull back. A lot of times the lead did not ghost you; they got busy.

Most real estate moves are tied to stressful life events. That is why you cannot treat one missed reply like rejection. Keep going, keep providing value and keep your follow-up tied to their problem. Most agents quit way too early and call it ghosting to protect their ego.

The profitability lesson hiding inside ghosting

Ghosting feels personal, but it is usually structural. When your targeting is vague, your campaigns are broad, your calls are scripted, and your follow-up is generic, the lead has no reason to stay engaged. When you tighten the front end and stay relevant, you reduce ghosting, and you protect your cost per closing.

March is Marketing and Branding Month at Inman. As the spring selling season kicks in, we’ll examine the proven tactics and new innovations driving results in today’s market — and celebrate the industry’s top marketing and branding leaders with Inman’s Marketing All-Star Awards.

Josh Ries is a real estate broker and a lead generation consultant. You can connect with him on TikTok and Instagram.