Hopefully, your listing has a good physical foundation. But, as a real estate agent, in order to set up your listing to sell, you need to give it a good marketing foundation, too. The marketing process starts with the way you present your listing to the market.
Write Listing Descriptions that Sell
You’ve seen tons of listing descriptions. You’ve seen many descriptions that are entered into the MLS is all caps. A description like that is difficult to read, and since the birth of texting, all caps indicates someone yelling, which isn’t a good sales technique. Here are some tips to make your descriptions shine.
Sell the Lifestyle
Buyers have requirements about the number of bedrooms and baths, but they’re also looking for a home that matches their lifestyle. In addition, lifestyle descriptions will make your listing stand out from the crowd. Put yourself in your seller’s shoes and think what it must be like living in their home.
Is the home perfect for entertaining? If so, how can you describe why? Is it the large kitchen with seating around a big island? Does it have exceptional flow that would keep a party buzzing? Is the house sophisticated? Is it rustic? Is it within walking distance of shops and restaurants? Take a look at some outstanding examples of how to make a home’s lifestyle come alive.
Don’t forget to mention sought after or unique features of the home. For example, right now, it seems that open concepts, gourmet kitchens with large islands and stainless appliances, and hardwood floors are extremely popular. Make sure to highlight those types of features.
Write – or hire someone else to write – the most amazing description possible. Don’t worry about length, just include all the information that you think will make the home stand out. Then, decide how you’ll use that description.
Naturally, your description will be longer than what you can fit into your MLS listing. Therefore, you’ll need to choose the most critical information to use for the MLS. The complete description can be used everywhere else, including flyers, your website, and blog posts.
Take Professional Photos
In today’s digital world, you know that buyers start their search online. In addition, the photos are important to 83 percent of potential buyers. Many buyers pour over listings on websites to determine which ones they want to consider and see in person. Bad photos will eliminate a good portion of the market for your listing.
The most effective way to get those photos is to hire a professional; you’ll undoubtedly get a good return on that investment. If you don’t want to do that for some reason, it’s critical that you take excellent photos yourself.
You’ve seen the results of agents creating listing photos with a mediocre mobile phone. The photos are often blurry, and the colors are washed out. Besides that, agents don’t know how to use light and angles.
For example, they might shoot into an unlit room with an open window, which shows the room itself entirely in shadow. They’re also prone to shoot empty rooms from the door and capture one corner, losing all perspective on the size and configuration of the room. In addition, you’ve probably also seen examples of listing photos that display on their sides.
If you plan to do your own photos, invest in good equipment, including lighting, and take the time to learn more about how to take good listing photos. There are many resources online, including information about the mistakes to avoid.
Final Thoughts
Many things need to come together to get a home sold, but one of the most important is making sure you give your listing an excellent chance to shine. If you do that, you’ll see great responses from your showing software for real estate. And, that will translate into a successful sale!