In this day and age, you can expect that when you list your home with a real estate agency, that your property will be listed on the internet, in one form or another. Along with everyone else’s property.

So how do you make your property standout from the crowd? And how do you convert views to a live inspection?

These are my top tips for making the internet work for you!

1. Photos

-Quite possibly THE most important component to an internet listing. After scrolling through pages and pages of listings, you are going to click on the property with the best looking photo on the frontpage, followed by the heading.

 

-Where do you think the best photographs can be taken from? Don’t be afraid to suggest these to your agent.

-When photographs are taken, make sure your home is neat & tidy. Don’t be afraid to ask your agent if you should move your furniture around.  Sometimes a slight angle to a couch makes a huge difference in the photo.

- Beware of over-processing! If a photo has been taken and it’s too dark, there is only so much you can brighten it on a computer before you start to get digital noise (those green and red speckles in the dark spots).

- Digital manipulation is a big no-no! Using a computer to remove powerlines or to remove that bare tree is against our industry code of business practice and arguably misrepresenting the condition of the property. 

- Consider a professional photography session. These photographers will have more time than your agent to take the photos, and have the advantage of professional gear and years of experiance.

2. The Heading

What is going to grab a buyers attention? What can you say quickly about your home that sums it up?

A heading can be descriptive (Ultra Modern Family Home), funny (Room to swing 2 cats) or promote a lifestyle (Relax and Enjoy The Views).  You should think of who is going to buy your house, and why.

3. The Description – How much is too much?

The great thing about advertising online is that you have all the space in the world to write about a property. But how much information is too much?

Write down all of the features of your home. Now, how many are a must to know? How many are a should know? Anything that doesn’t fall into either category should be left off. We can all safely assume that your home has a hot water heater and double power points throughout. Try to be fairly brutal.

4. Formatting

You want to try and make your description easy to read for your potential buyer. Basically this means spacing out your description.

Having everything in a giant lump of text is very hard to read, and even harder to find the important features of your home.

Put the most important points to the top (bedrooms, bathrooms, suburb and price), and follow on with the “bonus” features.

5. The Hook

This is the most important part of your description – making the buyer pick up the phone. 

Some include:

Don’t miss this opportunity!
Inspection will impress!
You’ll love it!

Another important finish to any ad, online or not is the call to action.  

Call Today!
Pick Up The Phone and Inspect Now!
Better Be Quick – Act Now! 

6. Virtual Tours and Floor Plans

Give your potential buyer a feel of what your home is really like. Floor plans are a great way to show off a spacious floor plan, and a good flow of living space. If you dont have any floorplans handy not to worry. Depending on the size of your house for between $150 and $300 you can have flooplans drawn up for marketing purposes.

Virtual tours give your buyer a sense of being at the property, and triple your chance of a live inspection.

7.  Ask for Stats.

Your agent should be keeping stats on how many hits your property page should be getting, along with how many email enquiries and calls. If the advert isn’t getting any calls, try to figure out why. Is there a good hook? Are you missing any descriptive points? Are your photo and title attracting attention?

8. Don’t Be Afraid To Speak Up!

You know your home better than anyone else, so if your agent has missed something, let them know! If you think your main selling point is being missed, or you don’t like the photos, you have every right to ask the advert to be changed.

Whether you pay for the internet advertising or not, the quality should be up to a professional standard! There may be a valid reason why they are doing something different than you expect but you will not know what that is  if you do not ask.

Nerang First National have a dedicated marketing team to look after the promotion and advertising of your property. They work hand in hand with your salesperson to get the sort of results that has seen us awarded the REIQ Queensland Agency of the Year twice and through to the final three for REIQ Australian Agency of the Year.

If you are looking to give your property the marketing edge, call us on 07 5596 0055.

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Tagged: internet advertising, Marketing, property advertising, real estate marketing online

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