Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
In the real estate sector, it’s well-known that the value of curb appeal simply can’t be understated. The concept is simple: a property that looks warm, inviting, and attractive from the street is one with good curb appeal, and it’s going to result in more positive attention from prospective buyers than a comparable property that doesn’t have the same well-refined aesthetics.
The importance of good curb appeal is nothing new. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all. Yet today, with an increasing number of individuals leveraging the internet to buy and sell properties, there’s a new gold standard that real estate professionals need be increasingly mindful of - the rise of the importance of so-called “digital” curb appeal.
The concept behind our traditional idea of a property’s curb appeal and how that translates into digital mediums are interrelated, of course. Both approaches are squarely concerned with presenting a property in the most attractive light so that first-time viewers are hit with nothing but positive impressions. However, while curb appeal is limited to what a prospective buyer sees and experiences when they pull up in front of a house for the very first time, digital curb appeal goes much deeper; it encompasses every aspect of the property, inside and out. This includes not just traditional aspects like landscaping but also investments in interior staging and professional photo shoots.
The need for paying more attention to digital curb appeal is clear. Whereas in the past many prospective buyers would first experience a property for the first time when they pulled up outside of it for a showing or an open house, today, this is no longer the case. In our modern, vastly interconnected world, the overwhelming majority of house hunters first encounter properties over the internet through real estate websites that post MLS-listed homes. These listings all come with at least a handful of photographs of the property - at least ones that have a reasonable chance of one day selling - but the more numerous the images available, and the higher quality those images, the better.
As mentioned previously, digital curb appeal encompasses much of what traditional curb appeal entails. Ensuring the exterior of a property looks its best is integral to this process, and that includes investing in landscaping and ensuring outside infrastructure elements like walls, window treatments, entrances, and roofs are all in the best possible shape. However, while traditional curb appeal stops there, digital curb appeal is all about continuing that momentum throughout the entirety of a property’s interior. Here are some excellent starting points for how to maximize the positive impact of the digital curb appeal of any property.
While it’s yet to be a standard practice for home buyers to purchase a property without setting foot in that property at least once, the writing is on the wall; digital presentations of homes for sale are increasingly important. With most house hunters first encountering properties for the first time in online environments, the need for positive digital curb appeal will only grow in importance as time goes on.
This increasing demand means real estate professionals need to embrace these approaches if they wish to remain agile and responsive to changes in the marketplace going forward. Stressing the importance of digital curb appeal to clients looking to sell properties means encouraging those clients in investing in what it takes to transform their homes into carefully managed showpieces in ways that translate well in online environments. Be sure to familiarize yourself with everything that digital curb appeal entails in order to perform well in this context for the best success.
This a wonderful explanation of what Digital Curb appeal is and nice practical guidance.