The process of marketing your home can be tedious, stressful, and complicated to some; in this article it provides some tips and guidance on the process of marketing your home!
Marketing your home can be a difficult and tedious task and for some can be incredibly complicated. It’s always a good idea to rely on the resources a realty agency can provide, especially in regards to the process of marketing the sale of your home! However, if you are deciding to do the home selling process alone or are just curious about the ways a home could be marketed, this is just the article for you as it goes over the process and proven methods of marketing a home sale!
The process can be repetitive and difficult for some as it requires some finesse and creativity to properly market your home. Like much of the process of selling a home, determining the market the property sits in is one of the first and most important tasks before setting out to market your home. Once that’s determined there are a variety of methods that vary widely depending on the type of home you have. From drone photography for waterfront homes to night shots with lighting from inside for luxury homes to utilizing social media as a medium, the marketing of a home can be a complicated task but with enough vigilance and knowing when to outsource is an invaluable tool for getting potential buyers to look at the property you’re trying to sell!
Photography:
Taking the time or finding the right resources to capture your property in the best way is one of the more obvious but important aspects of marketing a home. The photography involved can vary widely depending on your home’s features and points of interest. However, there are a few categories that all homes will want to cover for the photographing of the property:
The front of the home: It’s only fitting that we begin with the front of the home as it is the first thing a potential home buyer will see in person as well. A good shot of the front of the property can greatly increase the quality of the showing. Remember to avoid having the sidewalk and street in the photos, include close-up shots as well as angled shots, avoid shade ruining a good shot, and make sure the pathway to the door is clear!
Exterior Shots: Although it is true that a home listing with only shots of the exterior will not perform as well, that does not mean that quality shots of the outside of the home are without value! If you have a spacious yard or a pool then exterior shots can be a major strength for the home listing and should be captured properly. Begin with tending to the yard (trim the hedges, clean up any children’s toys, etc.), then remember to shoot in a longer perspective, and choose a time of day where the sunlight doesn’t come off too harshly in the pictures!
The Interior: This is the portion that will be of great importance so take your time and shoot in every room of the house. Even in rooms where you believe won’t yield great pictures, be sure to give it a shot anyway. With the right lighting and angle, you’ll be shocked by the results you’ll see! When taking pictures be mindful of the surroundings in the picture and avoid things like mirror shots including an accidental selfie, having toilet seats up, and trashcan lids left ajar, and be sure to open the blinds and turn the lights on for great lighting! These might seem insignificant details but can go a long way in ensuring a quality photograph!
If any of that sounds overwhelming to you, do not hesitate to reach out and find a staging company to handle the photography of your home! The home selling process can be extensive and intense to handle by yourself so remember to outsource when needed!
2.) Virtual and Physical Options for Marketing
It should come to no surprise that the best way of marketing is to be comprehensive, especially in a competitive market so taking advantage of as many marketing vectors as possible is the key to successful marketing!
Virtual Options: In today’s age many buyers will be exposed to listings on the internet so taking advantage of virtual marketing can be as important as physical marketing. The advantage of virtual options is that they vary widely and a home seller or agent has many different options for tackling the virtual side of marketing. Some of these strategies include but are not limited to:
Virtual Tours: This is an excellent method for capturing as much of the essence of your home as possible and allows a greater number of potential buyers to see the property without even leaving the comfort of their home or going through with the commitment of a showing or an open house!
Social Media: This medium continues to grow as an excellent vector of exposure for real estate as the user population for social media applications continues to grow. Social media also offers a more personable approach to marketing with short videos. Don’t undervalue a well-written and thought-out social media post as a form of marketing!
MLS Listings: This one isn’t really an option but more of a necessity as any broker you would hire will put your property on the MLS Listings but if you’re handling the process on your own, fear not! MLS listings also accommodate “home-sale by owner” listings! This listing will make sure that the maximum number of agents and people will see that your home is available for sale.
This only covers a small portion of the many options the internet has to offer for the marketing of a home sale so take your time and be creative using such a varied and powerful marketing vector!
Physical Options: Despite virtual options being new, varied, and continuously growing, don’t count out the physical options for your home sale! These methods have the luxury of being tried and true. It may take a little extra elbow grease but the options listed below can bring a great number of potential buyers to look at your property!
Signage: This option may sound trivial and obvious but it cannot be stressed enough how valuable a “For Sale” sign or agent’s sign can be for generating phone calls for your home listing. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book and is still around for a reason. The sign gives an immediate call to reach out about a listing.
Open House: This option isn’t the best marketing option for all properties but the best way to find out is through experience and besides, it doesn’t hurt to give it a go! The location of the home and the surrounding area have a lot to do with whether or not your home is a good candidate for an open house. So, if the home is in a high population area and situated in a convenient part of town, you can almost be sure that your property is a good candidate for an open house. Be sure to leave flyers and signs mentioning the open house and do not be afraid to utilize those virtual methods to advertise your open house.
An open house is also a very effective way to receive feedback about the property you’re trying to sell so when talking to people who decide to attend, do not shy away from receiving feedback and take it in with an open mind!
Showings: This option has very similar benefits to an open house but is more accessible to homes of different locations and situations. Although the number of potential buyers is limited to viewing at an appointed time, this can be an advantage as the potential buyers can be familiarized with the property on a more personable level and have more time to appreciate the strengths of your listing! When doing your listings, it’s always a prudent and wise decision to offer your agent a key for a lockbox or if you’re handling it on your own, be as available as possible to maximize the number of appointments your property acquires!
There was no exaggeration when it was mentioned that marketing your home is a vastly varied and optimized process. It’s because of this that the items listed above only scratch the surface when it comes to the options a seller has when marketing their home. With all of these options and more, it cannot be stressed enough to save yourself the stress and outsource when you can. Even if you want to handle the lion’s share of the work of selling your home, it would be madness to not at least reach out to a real estate agent and see what options and expertise they can offer you in such a taxing task!
