You know the story: you labor over your listing descriptions, trying desperately to come up with just the right words to describe your brand-new-listing-that-you-want-to-sell-today.
In reality, you should be paying closer attention to the images. Why?
Because the agent’s remarks are ignored by more than 40 percent of buyers.
Tip #1: Spend less time describing a listing and more time photographing it
I’m not making this up – studies prove it. An ocular tracking study (tracking eye movements of buyers on a real estate website) showed that “the real estate agent’s open remarks section is viewed” last and that viewers place “very little emphasis … on this section.”
In other words, you’re stressing over nothing.
Now, if the home’s photos are sub-par, you do need to stress because more than 95 percent of your website visitors will look first at a home’s photo. Then, they turn to the “quantitative property description.” That’s the MLS template stuff, like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, etc.
Now, here’s the really surprising part of the study:
“In our experiment, participants comply by viewing the remainder of the home, but in an actual setting, one has to wonder if the agent remarks would ever get read if the home searcher does not like the initial photo of the home.”
In essence, you could probably fill your agent remarks section with “Lorem Ipsum” and nobody would even notice. Now, I’m not advocating that; just trying to make a point.
Tip #2 Who started this one?
It’s common knowledge that kitchens and bathrooms are the most important to buyers, right? Isn’t that what we all tell our sellers? Don’t photos of those two rooms dominate listings? Where did that come from?
It’s amazing how we do things without questioning why. Sure, at one time, kitchens and bathrooms may have been buyers’ hot buttons, but are they today?
Nope. New-home buyers crave a laundry room over anything else. The second in-room preference is a dining room, according to annual research for the National Association of Home Builders.
Whether you hire a photographer or DIY your listing photos, don’t neglect to feature a home’s usable outdoor space (whether a full backyard or a patio or lanai) as well. Anecdotal evidence from agents across the country hints that this is still a wildly popular feature in existing homes.
Some of the other popular outdoor features mentioned by agents include:
- Updated lighting
- Outdoor ceiling fan on the patio
- Ample fences to keep kids/pets safely enclosed in the yard
- Firepit or fireplace for those chilly nights
Allow space for photos of these items in your online listing photos.
We won’t always be in a hot sellers’ market. Someday buyers will rule and you’ll need every tool in your belt to lure them to your listings.
The Get More Listings Series is shown above. To send a one-time mailing, Click Here. To launch a Get More Listing Campaign, Click Here.
PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.
1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine
Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.
Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here
2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan
The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here
3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system
The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here
4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan
The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here
5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook
Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here
6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast
Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here