Step Six: Brokers

The real estate business is composed of professionals in one of two roles. The first group, agents, are people like myself. We work with clients to buy or sell a home, and build our businesses based on our reputation and expertise.

The second group, brokers, work with agents to help them get exposure in the marketplace. In my case, my broker is Windermere. My association with Windermere helps my clients by letting me tap in to a large, established network of other agents and corporate services.

Agents must stay abreast of the latest properties on the market. Every week, a "broker's open" occurs. It's much like an open house, but it's only for real estate professionals. Broker's opens are a terrific way for your home to get exposure to a large group of people who are likely to have demand for it. Brokers from Windermere, along with brokers from other real estate firms, will tour your home and learn about its features and price. Armed with that information, they can recommend the property to agents in their various offices.

It's a terrific way to build awareness of your home in a short amount of time.

In addition to the broker's open, I distribute copies of your home flyer (the same one people can get from your yard sign) to the top 50 or 100 agents in the area, from Renton to Everett. Agents welcome these flyers because they're an efficient, proven way to quickly communicate what's on the market.

I do get questions from clients about open houses for the public. I rarely do them. In my experience, open houses don't return enough qualified buyers to warrant the effort and inconvenience. Traditionally, my clients have found them to be time-consuming; since they can't be there during the open house, that means they have to be elsewhere (a movie? dinner?) for four hours or more. Finally, too many people from the general public enjoy 'touring' homes as sport ... and with certain kinds of people in the community, it can even be dangerous.

I am always happy to show homes on appointment to any interested buyers.

NEXT: Postcards, CDs, DVDs and TV.