Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
It wasn’t that long ago that searching for your dream home meant actively visiting multiple properties with your real estate agent until you finally managed to find something that met your needs. Even though people may still look at quite a few houses, the chances are they found the details on a webpage.
Apparently figures from the National Association of Realtors® show that 89% of all homebuyers used online tools and resources when searching for a property. This means home sellers who are working with a real estate agent to advertise their property need to embrace new technology.
Debbie Z, President of the Greater Metropolitan Association of Realtors (GMAR), the premier local Association of REALTORS® for South-east Michigan said “Technology has changed nearly every aspect of the way we live, so it is only natural that it affects the way sellers and their agents market and sell homes. Most potential buyers make their first impression of a home online, and with so much high quality media online, the bar has been raised for online real estate listings to really ‘wow’ buyers.”
High-tech resources and gadgets that can help sell homes include:
Social Media. Most people are on at least one social media platform, whether that’s Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook, so a social media strategy for a home’s marketing plan is becoming the standard. As Debbie Z points out, “A well-placed post on Facebook or a properly timed tweet can place your listing in front of hundreds, possibly thousands, of potential buyers and usually costs the seller nothing.”
Virtual Staging. Visual effects software can be used to fill an empty home if the seller has already moved out. It’s possible to add different styles of furniture, light fixtures and art, and to even change the color of the walls with just the click of a mouse. These types of visual images can allow a prospective buyer to more clearly see the property’s potential, particularly when the images can be tailored to their style and taste.
Drones. These are great for taking aerial photos of the property and the surrounding land. “New drone technologies can help you and your agent to market your home in a way that may have been cost-prohibitive in the past. If your home has beautiful mountain views or sits on a large piece of property, drone photography can highlight these features” said Debbie Z. In spite of the potential benefits of drone photography, GMAR is keen to remind sellers that rules for commercial drones haven’t yet been put into place by the FAA so it’s important to hire an agent with a Federal Aviation Administration waiver or a professional drone operator. The NAR expects the rules to be finalised this summer.
