Fund the property before funding reach: preparation, staging, photography and floor plans outperform advertising of equivalent cost. Present the budget to a seller as a sequence rather than a number, and put in writing who pays for what and who owns the resulting assets.
Budgets are set badly in both directions. The useful frame is not how much, but what each thing is actually for — and most misallocation happens in the ordering.
Marketing budgets at the top of the market are set badly in both directions. Some agents spend heavily on things that do not move a property. Others underspend on a listing worth millions and wonder why it sits.
The useful frame is not how much, but what each thing is actually for.
Photography and video. The largest single lever, and the one to fund properly before anything else. Every other channel distributes these images; if they are poor, distribution multiplies the problem.
Floor plans. Cheap and consistently among the most-viewed assets on a listing. Skipped far too often.
Staging. Where the property is vacant or poorly furnished, this outperforms almost any advertising spend of similar cost.
Preparation. Paint, landscaping tidying, minor repairs. Unglamorous, and it changes the photography more than the photographer does.
Notice that all four are about the property itself rather than about reaching people. That ordering is deliberate and it is where most misallocation happens.
Targeted digital advertising. Effective where the buyer profile is identifiable and the creative is genuinely good. Ineffective as a general spend.
Print. Still has a place in certain markets and demographics, particularly regionally where a specific publication reaches the actual buyer pool. Ask which one and why, and be skeptical of a generic answer.
Broker events. Worth it when the agents who control the buyer pool are small in number and actually attend. Not worth it as a routine.
Dedicated property websites. Useful on genuinely significant properties. Unnecessary on most.
Advertising placed to make the seller feel marketed to rather than to reach buyers. Every experienced agent knows which spend falls into this category, and sellers rarely ask.
Volume without targeting. Reaching many people who will never buy an eight-figure property is expenditure, not marketing.
Anything that arrives before the property is ready. Driving traffic to poor photography wastes both.
Present the budget as a sequence rather than a number, and be explicit about what each stage is for.
Prepare the property. Photograph it properly. Distribute those assets where the buyer actually is. Then, and only then, consider paid amplification.
Sellers who understand the sequence rarely argue about the amount. Sellers presented with a flat figure and a list of channels frequently do.
Be explicit in writing before the listing agreement is signed. Which costs the firm absorbs, which the seller funds, what happens if the property does not sell, and who owns the resulting assets.
That last point matters and is routinely left vague. A seller who changes agents and discovers they cannot use photography they paid for is an unhappy seller with a legitimate complaint.
For any proposed spend, ask what specifically it does that the next-cheapest option does not, and who it reaches that would not otherwise see the property.
If there is no clear answer, the money belongs somewhere else — usually in preparation, which is unglamorous, unbillable as a service, and consistently the highest-return spend available.
Into the property rather than into reach. Preparation, staging, photography and floor plans consistently outperform advertising of similar cost, because every other channel simply distributes those assets.
Sometimes, particularly regionally where a specific publication genuinely reaches the buyer pool. Ask which publication and why, and be skeptical of a generic answer.
Advertising placed to make the seller feel marketed to rather than to reach buyers, volume without targeting, and anything that runs before the property is properly presented.
As a sequence rather than a figure. Prepare, photograph, distribute, then consider amplification. Sellers who understand the order rarely argue about the amount.
Which costs the firm absorbs, which the seller funds, what happens if the property does not sell, and who owns the photography afterward. That last point is routinely left vague and causes real disputes.
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