Congratulations To:
Bob Garwood
He is the winner of our
“Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
Give-a-way
– Preparing The Home.
Selling your home is like selling a product – it must be marketed correctly to reach a specific buyer. The first step to making your listing stand out from the competition begins with hiring a professional real estate photographer.
There are several things you can do to make sure you have a successful real estate photo shoot. We highly recommend that the agent arrive at the property 15 minutes before his or her scheduled appointment to verify that the home is photo-ready. To see more helpful tips and print out a checklist to give to your client so they can prepare their home for the best real estate photos possible just click below.
– When it comes to Social Media Context Rules.
Everyone is always talking about how important it is to post regularly on social media. Using images typically increases engagement. The real estate industry is ranked at the top when it comes to posting this type of content. So why is it that you end up feeling ignored and you are left wondering why aren’t people engaging with you?
Have you ever thought you’re not posting the right things. It’s not that everything you post is bad it’s probably great for some people. But most of your followers probably just don’t care.
Context rules even though Content is king
Unless all of your followers on your social media pages are in the market for a new house or are ready to make a move now, then they have no interest in your listings, the houses you have sold or anything else related to your business.
Let’s face it — most of your followers don’t fit into that scenario. It might be 8-10 years before those individuals will even think about moving again.
Here is what the real problem is, you can’t afford to ignore them all that time Out of all real estate clients 70 percent of them forget your name after only a year.
Here’s what to do instead
1. You can’t force people to follow you but you can give them the information they want.
The majority of the time you post updates you want to share, not what your followers want to receive.
Hopefully, you have built some sort of connection with your clients and you have some sort of idea what they like and what interests them. Food, home and lifestyle topics are the most shared content. Shareable recipes, DIY ideas, organizational tips and self-improvement information also work very well.
2. Focus on gaining new followers and friends and not trying to push your services on people.
Think about the reason people use social media. We hate to be advertised and sold to. People like updates on social media because they learn something new or get to share an opinion.
A good guideline to follow when planning your social media calendar. No more than 20 percent of your activity should be about your services. The remaining 80 percent should be about others needs and likes.
When you post about yourself show your personality, make it a little personal but always make sure to keep it professional.
Find ways that help you connect with your followers by showing the fun side of your personality. The more your followers get to know you, the more rapport you’ll have. In the end the payoff will be huge when it comes to referrals and repeat business.
The same is true when it comes to your followers. Getting to know their likes and connecting with them on a personal level only helps build the rapport.
If you know that one of your clients is into cars, you can always share the news about the car show coming up with a personal message about how you thought they might enjoy it.
It all takes time and effort but if you have the patience, in the end it will all be well worth it especially if you find your competitors are still doing things the other way.
Virtual Staging
Virtual Staging
Virtual Staging can make an empty listing feel just like home.
Every real estate professional knows that vacant homes usually sit on the market longer because most clients can’t picture themselves in a property with bare walls and empty floors. Virtual Staging allows your clients to see the full potential of your listing.
In today’s marketplace, it’s more important than ever to present your online listings in their best possible light. According to the National Association of Realtors, 90% of buyers use the Internet to search for a home. With Virtual Staging, you can quickly and inexpensively stage an empty property online to help attract more potential buyers without the time and trouble of traditional staging.
What is Virtual Staging
Virtual Staging is technology that allows you to take digital photos of empty rooms and insert furniture, rugs and furnishings into the images. This helps clients visualize how a potential home might look and helps them connect with the property emotionally.
Cost-Effective
Virtual staging costs far less than traditional home staging. The normal staging on average runs between $2,000 to $3,000 to set up the property and anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to pay for additional rental fees each month. The average cost to digitally stage real estate is only a fraction of that. The pricing is a one-time fee not a monthly fee like standard staging costs and is determined by the number of photos you want staged.
Once you receive all your regular images, you just simply pick which images that you would like to add virtual staging to. Then, you can decide which style of furniture you want put into the room and we have our editors virtually add the furniture and send the completed photos to you within 24 hours.
By using Virtual Staging, you can make more of your properties stand out online in a crowded and competitive marketplace.