I'd heard of Frank Kern a few years ago,
liked one of his videos, but thought he was a flash-in-the-pan and so never
paid him any
attention. But this
The first part is unrelated to real estate:
The more expensive the
product is, the more important the guarantee is. Amazon places
testimonials at the core of its business.
Dan Kennedy provides direct marketing
insights for small businesses. Here are his 63 Marketing Strategies.
I've looked at a few, but don't always seem to have the time to go
through the rest. My one concern is how to approach buyers, and who in a large
organization would I approach in the first place? Kennedy appears
at AWAI, so that's good.
Marketing strategies for your home, whether you're a buyer or a seller
If you're a buyer in a
bidding war, try this.
If I were a Realtor, I
would have a WordPress site, a Facebook page, a Google+ page, a YouTube
channel, along with other social media sites up. On the WordPress site, I
would post all of the pics, videos, dimensions and descriptions of the home.
But I would also post a letter from the seller/owner. Longer
copy sells better than shorter copy. This last feature would
be over-the-top biased, but would leave a lasting impression with any serious
buyer. Not only would I post everything to the WordPress site, I would
also attach the letter via staples this letter to the brochure of the home.
The second step in the
process is to write the ad that you will print out and stick inside a plastic
container that is attached to a pole next to the curb. This will be the primary
sales brochure. To make it look as though you wrote it, it should be typed up
in 12-point type, preferably New Times Roman.
A Personal Greeting To Our
Visitors
Welcome to our home!
My husband and I have lived
at The Parkside for over a decade now and have so many memories stored up here
in our home. Selling our home is a bittersweet experience after passing
ten years in this community of friends and neighbors but we have prepared this
letter to share with visitors why we love our home here at The Parkside and how
grateful we are for all the times shared here with family, friends and
neighbors. What follows is a short tour of why we love what we love about
our home.
Our Neighborhood
The Parkside is a 13-home
community located on the backside of the historic Peachtree Heights East
neighborhood. Designed in the early 1900’s by Eretus Rivers (whose name
adorns a nearby elementary school), Peachtree Heights East boasts over 300
stately homes in a wide variety of architectural styles nestled together in an
interlinking, privately-owned park system. The crown jewel of the park
system is the centrally located Duck Pond, a 7.5 acre urban lake.
Surrounding the pond is the Upper Park which consists of the Grand Lawn
and the Peninsula but the Park continues as the pond drains beneath Lakeview
Drive and forms the Lower Park which continues down to Lindbergh Drive and
backs up to The Parkside. The Peachtree Heights East neighborhood
association (www.peachtreeheightseast.org) recently completed a thorough
renovation and upgrading of the entire park.
My morning routine (but
especially the morning routine of N’andy, my six year old English Springer
Spaniel) would not be complete without a visit to the Duck Pond. Our
morning circuit takes us on a mile-long walk around the pond where I have a
chance to visit with my fellow dog walkers and N’andy can run and play with her
furry friends. Less pleased to see N’andy are the ducks and geese but
when my grandkids were little it was always a highlight of their weekends to go
and feed the ducks. Later my sons would take them to the Lower Park down
by Lindbergh to throw the frisbee or toss around the football after a visit to
the Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market (www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com) where
Nana had a chance to spoil them with some treats and collect some fresh
produce.
What I like most about the
Peachtree Heights East neighborhood is how safe and secure it is to walk N’andy
or play with my grandchildren. The winding roads of the neighborhood all
have traffic calming devices installed to keep away fast cars and there is a
constant security presence from the neighborhood patrol or Atlanta PD.
Even though The Parkside is not located within the neighborhood
technically, it has been a huge asset during our time here and I love having
the park right next door.
Our Location
Social and Shopping
The Parkside feels like its
own little community, so much so it’s easy to forget that we live in the heart
of Buckhead. As anyone who has spent any time in Atlanta already knows,
getting from point A to point B in this city can all too often turn into a
grueling exercise of patience. I have a Publix grocery right across the
way at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center, a Kroger down across Lindbergh and
a Whole Food’s Market up Peachtree on W. Paces Ferry Rd.
If I need to have lunch
with friends, all my favorite restaurants are close by in Buckhead and Midtown
and I know for a fact that my husband will be happy (while American Express
will not) that we are moving away from living so close by to the cute boutique
shops I like to drop by and shop to find new outfits. The Cherokee
Town Club, where my husband and I are members, is only a fifteen minute drive
away and we often have dinner there with friends from other clubs who in turn
can invite us over to Ansley Golf Club or the Piedmont Driving Club which are
both right down the road from The Parkside.
Services
On Sunday mornings, the
streets are empty of traffic which lets me cruise up the road to All Saints
Episcopal Church in Midtown where I attend services and it is beautiful to hear
the church bells toll all the morning long from the several churches that
surround The Parkside (five are located within a mile of the house).
Schools
Our children were already
graduated by the time my husband and I moved into The Parkside but the private
school they attended (Lovett) was only a twenty to thirty minute drive down
Northside Drive, as would also be true for Westminster or North Atlanta High School.
The Atlanta International School is even more close by up Peachtree Road
while couples with young children have three elementary schools to choose from:
E. Rivers, Garden Hills or the private academy at Christ the King.
Travel
When we need to get out of
the city, a trip either direction down Lindbergh soon brings us to I-85 or I-75
and from there we can go up to our home in the Carolina mountains or go visit
friends on the coast or make the half-hour commute to Hartsfield-Jackson
airport. This convenient access cannot be beat, especially in the
summertime when we travel often between homes and like to get out of town
before the rush. While traffic in Atlanta is something no sane person
will ever miss, I do know we have been blessed to live in a location that
allowed us so easily to escape the worst of it.
Medical
Thankfully, we have never
had to take advantage of the fact that we live as near as we do to Piedmont
Hospital, a state of the art medical facility located five minutes away from
The Parkside.
Our Home: First Level
Patio-Garden
When it comes to our
town-home here at The Parkside, I don’t like to brag but I think we have the
best location in the entire complex. All our neighbors have lovely homes
as well but what makes our home so special is how it sits tucked away in the back
corner of the complex, as far away as possible from the drivers and
distractions of Lindbergh Drive. This isolation helps keep our stone
patio garden an oasis of quiet attached to the back of our home and here is
where I like to sit with a cup of coffee in the morning and listen to the
birdsong while I read the paper after finishing walking N’andy. In the
evenings, my husband and I both enjoy relaxing in the lounge chairs with a
glass of wine while the sun sets and the cool of evening descends down to our own
private garden secreted away from all the rest. Each spring and summer I
get to watch my plants flower and flourish while overhead the overhanging oak
and maple branches shiver green with leaves and lend a pleasant shade to the
patio before turning a painter’s palette of red, orange and yellow every
autumn. While my husband and I are not hot tub people, my grandchildren
loved splashing and playing in there and we enjoyed to the utmost the deluxe
propane grill installed in the garden with many a marvelous dinner party going
on until late in the evening when the candles finally guttered out and our
guests bid us good night.
The best part about our
oasis? It is maintenance and hassle-free. Our housing association
here at The Parkside pays for the upkeep and once a week like clockwork a crew
comes to clean the patio of leaves and debris, to prune plants and spread
mulch. All in all, it is a very different routine from when we owned a
home and my poor husband hurried through a work week only to reach home and
find a long ‘honey-do’ list stretching before him to get through the weekend.
The Garage
Two doors lead to the patio
garden. One enters to our garage which fits two full sized cars
comfortably (I own a SUV; my husband drives a sedan) and comes accompanied with
ample built-in shelving and closets which is more than enough space even if
you’re a pack-rat like my husband.
Den and Kitchen
The other patio door opens
into our den and kitchen. This door gets a lot of traffic and it has been
a struggle to fit next to it the enormous Christmas tree my sons bring for us
every year but somehow we manage. Both the den and the kitchen is where
we as a family spend most of our time together. The kitchen is where I
spend my time cooking and as the mother of three children, the builders must
have had me in mind when they designed the kitchen because it has everything
and anything I would want. The island in the center is perfectly placed
to eat a quick meal while still allowing me plenty of prep space and enough
room for others to sit comfortably, sip wine and pass compliments to the chef.
The kitchen sink is deep and open and the range, stove, oven and
refrigerator are all top of the line appliances. The cabinets allow me to
keep all my cookware close at hand along with a full spice rack. Clean-up
after a meal is a simple wipe-down of the granite tops before everything else
goes into the new dishwasher we had installed a short time ago.
The pantry storage space
affords more than enough room for food and dishes and it is where I keep my
coats during the winter months as well as N’andy’s leash and dog food.
Outside the pantry door is a small bar with a wine cooler and ice machine
and above in the cabinets we keep our fine crystal.
Usually before and after
dinner people lounge in the sofas and chairs of the den and either enjoy
conversation or enjoy the entertainment coming from the television we keep in
the hutch. Beneath is a stereo system and the speakers above in the
ceiling allow for a full volume experience when it comes to watching a movie or
listening to music. I will definitely miss sitting in my chair next to
the gas fireplace, reading a book or wasting time on my iPad while in my robe
and enjoying being warm and toasty inside during the winter months.
Living Room and Dining Room
We have allowed room for a
round table in the kitchen but for more formal occasions and during
Thanksgiving and Christmas we gather together for meals served in the dining
room by the front door. The dining room has enjoyed many a holiday dinner
and the living room has functioned as a reception for a gathering of my friends
to help celebrate a new grandchild or a special birthday. The vanity
bathroom down the hallway, small and elegant, serves perfectly to help keep all
entertainments on one floor.
Our Home: Second Level
Climbing the stairwell to
the second floor you pass beneath the chandelier and arrive at the hardwoods of
the second floor landing, identical to the ones down below. Two more
closets are installed on the landing as well as the door to the laundry room
where inside are the washer and dryer with plenty of cabinet space for cleaning
supplies. The HOA hosts a maintenance service for both machines.
Master Bedroom
Our master bedroom is to
the left once you reach the top of the stairs and fits comfortably a king-size
bed along with two nightstands. My make-up table is against the
full-length windows which open to a view of the patio. I have a small
closet against the other wall where I store shoes and winter clothes during the
summer months. The master bath is through the double doors and has two
vanities for both him and her as well as attached closets with built-in
shelving. The huge window is crystallized glass and allows plenty of sunlight
but not eyesight to come in from outside and rests above our jacuzzi bath,
which is my favorite place to be and relax after a work week to relieve the
worries of the day.
Guest Bedrooms
Two more bedrooms are
attached to the landing and serve as guest bedrooms when family or friends come
into town. Long tall windows in each let in plenty of sunlight during the
day and the closets hold excess storage for us while still permitting visitors
room for their things. We have queen-size beds in each but both could accommodate
bigger if necessary. There is a full bathroom with vanity, shower and tub
in each and another additional closet and cabinet to hold toiletries and other
sundries.
Our Home: Third Floor
The Study and Attic
The study is up the stairs
on the second floor landing and leads to the room, or ‘man-cave’, I let my
husband keep on the top of the house. Here is where he spent most
of his time and he liked it as a place to go and escape to if the noise from
the grandkids or my visitors ever became too much for him. It is indeed
the quietest part of the house and allows a wonderful tree-top level view of
the dogwoods, oaks and maples that wall us off from the neighborhood behind.
My husband keeps a pair of binoculars on his desk to study the hawks,
owls and other birds that like to pass by for a visit. It is his private
nest and a comfortable place to read, write and reflect and we filled the room
with comfortable chairs and sofas and bookshelves to hold our library. A
small vanity sink and refrigerator allowed him to keep snacks and drinks with
him and the full bathroom besides the stairs allowed him to not have to climb
the stairs so much. Flanking either wall is the attic which are huge open
spaces we have allowed for storage but either of which could be easily
converted into more living space with a simple renovation.
Our Home: Conclusion
So this is our home and why
we love it so. I hate to have to leave it but it has become difficult for
old knees to live on three floors. While it would be easy to utilize the shaft
designed for the elevator, my husband and I would rather leave that investment
for future owners. For right now, we prefer the mountain air and
slower-paced lifestyle of the Carolina mountains that is more fitting for a
couple now in the last part of their golden years. We very much hope that
the future residents who purchase our townhome come to love it as much as we
have and that they fill it with memories just as special and precious as our
own.
Thank you so much for
visiting, K.
