Extreme home marketing
When the selling gets tough, the tough get creative. Faced with a softening market and higher interest rates, today many real estate developers and agents must work harder to sell properties that would have been snapped up last year by frenzied buyers looking to lock in steadily rising prices. Now, with price appreciation slowing, properties that would have once been easy to sell take more time and require slicker marketing.
That’s why Michael Shvo, president of his eponymous real estate marketing company, SHVO Marketing, in New York, claims he is not selling real estate but lifestyle. “The right amenities exist, but they have to exist within the brand and the building,” he says. “The customer is all about the lifestyle. When you buy a mediocre product, that’s just a vanilla box with nothing in it.”
Shvo is one of a new breed of real estate professionals trying to redefine the way homes are marketed in today’s more cautious environment. Brokerages are strengthening their marketing arms, emphasizing heavy research and product development. (BUSINESSWEEK)