Are you selling your home online? According to the National Association of Realtors, more than five million preexisting homes were sold in 2019 alone, in part, thanks to the use of the world wide web.
Unfortunately, many homes don’t sell right away. This could be because the sellers are not acquainted with the right tools to sell their home or because they haven’t made the necessary fixes to their homes in order to drum up enough interest. After you make those essential home fixes — with the help of qualified professionals, of course — tweaking your home profile online is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd.
Now that warm weather is finally here, more people than ever are looking at new homes. That is, in part, because it’s easier to move homes in the summer when you don’t need to worry about slipping on ice. But summer weather also drums up interest because folks aren’t distracted by the busyness of the holiday season. Couples are exchanging beautiful wedding rings and finally moving in together while college students are eager to graduate and find housing in a new city. As such, now is the ideal time to tweak your online home listing to gain more interest.
Whether you rely on the help of one of the almost 107,000 real estate agents in the United States or you go it alone, here are some of the best ways to make your home profile stand out and gain interest from potential homebuyers.
Choose the right platforms
That’s right: you should be posting on multiple platforms, plural. While it’s great to gain interest on one real estate website, you never know when the right buyer is perusing an open house listing site or browsing for options on social media pages.
Along with posting your listing on Facebook and Craigslist, you should use reputable homeselling sites to bolster your listing’s authenticity. Zillow, and its child company Trulia, enable independent homesellers to gain important information about selling their home that they might not know otherwise. It’s also a great site to estimate how much your home is worth based on a variety of statistics, including its age and location.
There are also platforms that can connect you with the right listing agent. You can go through an online option or meet with a real estate agent in-person to create a unique listing on a variety of websites. Of course, meeting with a real person might be difficult during the time of COVID-19, but there are plenty of remote employees that are using their website experience for the good of their community. Better yet, many of these remote workers are backed by corporate offices to offer them the necessary support. As such, they can even help you create your own unique website where you can list important aspects of your home and information about your neighborhood.
Steer clear of any websites that don’t seem legit. While social media can help get the word out about your new listing, few people are going to want to click on a website that they don’t recognize. At best, you simply won’t get any interest in your home profile. At worst? You could lose personal information to online hackers. Be careful and always rely on the experience of a professional to steer you in the right direction when you need it.
Know the digital marketing tools of the trade
Having a basic knowledge about digital marketing can help grow your Instagram following while having an expert knowledge can help you grow an entire company. You want to be somewhere in the middle. While you don’t need to read a book on PPC advertising, learning about the ways that SEO can help improve your home profile can get your home sold sooner than later.
Here are a few ways that basic SEO skills can help make your home profile get found online:
- Using keywords: Relevant keywords pertaining to your listing are great to include in your home’s description, any metadata on the site, and any social media pages you’re posting on. Using keywords can help your home’s profile appear higher on search engine results pages, like those found on Google and Bing. Target location-based keywords and descriptors that potential homebuyers might be looking for where you can.
- PPC Ads: If your listing has been up for a while, but no fish are biting, you might want to invest in an ad campaign. Using pay per click advertising is one of the best online forms of advertising. You just pay some money to get your website ranking on certain keywords. When these keywords are searched for, they will appear at the top of the results page if your bid is high enough.
- Make your listing easy to understand and navigate: Whether you’re using a custom website or posting your home profile on a third-party platform, you have to ensure that the site is easy to navigate. No potential buyer wants to wait 10 seconds for a page to load. Not only does this make it more likely for people to click away from your page, but it will also make your site seem insincere or shady. Display your information clearly, succinctly, and without spelling errors.
If you want more information, you can always rely on your local SEO agency for a consultation. Share your optimized site on social media and watch the queries come tumbling in.
Take great photos
Photos are essential for making your home profile stand out online. They not only make your home profile seem more legitimate, but they’re also vital for bolstering interest in your home. You can wax poetic about the high ceilings and spiral staircase all you want, but in the case of boosting your home’s profile, a picture is worth a thousand words.
But don’t think any old photo will do. When you’re taking pictures, you’ll want to use a quality camera with landscape format. Ensure that there’s good lighting and don’t include any fuzzy or blurry photos. They don’t need to be taken by an expert photographer, but a little attention to detail can make a world of a difference to potential buyers.
Investing in photos that show off the space will work to your advantage. As such, you’ll want to decorate the home with basic furnishings, even if you’ve already moved out and found a new space to live in. Take photos of your large garage both with and without a car to encourage garage monkeys who are looking for used corvettes for sale. You’ll also want to decorate kitchen counters with fresh fruit, show a sample of a bed in the bedrooms (and list the size of the bed), and stage the living room with basic decor. Imagine that you’re investing in a studio kitchen rental when you decorate these spaces: you want to make potential homeowners imagine themselves in your photographs. Take tips from studios to make your listing stand out.
Note any repairs
Remember the garage we talked about earlier? That’s a feature that many homeowners desire. It’s a great place to set up a workshop or tell potential buyers about the benefits of a pontoon boat storage space. The same goes for a pool, the presence of a master ensuite, and a large kitchen. But any of these features can quickly become a burden if they aren’t well-maintained. If you have invested in the quality of your home, this is important to note on the profile.
For example, homeowners love a large kitchen, but they love new countertops even more. That garage is excellent but it’s almost worthless unless you’ve invested in new garage door installations to combat the elements. You will also want to make note of any repairs to appliances, the roof, and plumbing features. These are all components that new homeowners don’t want to have to worry about for a few years. Even a great home can be overlooked if the roof needs to be replaced in the span of a year. Entice buyers with new features and repairs that can give you a great return on your investment.
The U.S. home improvement sector is expected to increase over the next few years, even with the threat of COVID-19 slowing it down. If you’re worried about making these repairs, you shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to a contractor with experience on the project you hope to complete.
Highlight nearby amenities
You could have the perfect home, but it means nothing if a city person is trying to live in the country, or vice versa. Your neighborhood is one of your top advantages, but countless homeowners fail to list the necessary data on their home profile. For example, the proximity to local performing arts middle schools could make all the difference to a new family with growing children. On the other hand, being close to nightlife could be great for young couples trying to live up their youth before settling down and having kids.
But that isn’t to say that you have to live in the suburbs or the city to entice buyers. Plenty of potential homeowners will also be interested in rural spaces with plenty of land. For those that are worried about health concerns or the closeness to town, you can also mention how long it takes you to drive to a 24/7 urgent care in the next town over.
You can also list nearby hiking trails, dog parks, and other features that make your home’s neighborhood stand out. You never know which amenities will appeal to buyers, so don’t be afraid to ask your neighbors why they chose your neighborhood or why your friends love coming to your house. At the end of the day, everyone has different tastes. These options will simply make your home’s profile more unique in the eyes of potential buyers.
Bolstering your home’s profile
Your home profile online can be amplified using these tactics. Whether you’re selling your house by yourself or relying on the help of an agent, rely on these top tips to make your home stand out on the world wide web. Buyers are fickle, but these tools will help you attract the right ones in the end.
