In an increasingly competitive real estate market where listings are posted online, it can be difficult to make your home stand out. Never fear—there are plenty of ways to use your creativity to make your listing shine! Here are some ways to connect with interested buyers as you market your home online.
1. Make a promotional video
Anyone can upload photos of a home, but not all listings take prospective buyers on a visual journey. Consider making a short video to promote your home! A walk-through tour where you show viewers the house’s layout can be incredibly helpful; with photos, it can be hard to judge proportions or get a sense of the way rooms flow. If your home comes with substantial acreage, a beautiful property, or features like a swimming pool or tennis court, you might consider filming a flyover tour. This is easily done with help from a drone and can give potential buyers a good idea of how they might utilize the space.
Don’t have any filming equipment? Consider hiring a professional videographer or editor. They’ll ideally have plenty of experience and will intuitively know how best to showcase your home. You may want to check to see what type of cameras or drones they work with to make sure they can meet your needs.
When the video is complete, consider posting on social media to reach a wide audience! Potential buyers are likely to be browsing Instagram and Facebook during their home search, and a video is a great way to draw them in. Hoping to reach a younger and trendier crowd? Check out TikTok, which will let you post fun videos up to sixty seconds long! You’ll also want to consider captioning your videos, as many viewers will simply play them without turning up their device’s volume.
2. Partner with local influencers
You may also consider contacting a popular local restaurant or food truck. Grab some catering for an open house, or hire a food truck to pull up in the driveway! This is sure to delight your visitors while also giving you an opportunity to promote your open house in a fun way.
3. Highlight special features
When a potential buyer looks at your listing, you want to make sure they can actually visualize themselves living in the space. Maybe they’re first-time homebuyers who aren’t exactly sure how to utilize a spare bedroom, or perhaps they work from home and are wondering where they could set up their office. A great way to get the ideas flowing is to highlight cool features in your house that people will actually want to use!
Does your house have an ornate fireplace or built-in bookshelves in the living room? Make sure these feature prominently in your photos so that potential buyers can imagine themselves reclining by a roaring fire and arranging family photos or knick-knacks on the shelves. You can even allude to these great features in your caption. Mention that the yard is a great place to string up a hammock, that one bedroom would make a great playroom for kids due to its natural afternoon light, or explain where in the living room you like to set up the Christmas tree. This will help potential buyers connect with the space.
4. Let your pet have the spotlight
Maybe your dog likes relaxing by the fireplace or at the foot of your bed, or you have a wide windowsill where your cat enjoys birdwatching. Snap a photo of them in their favorite spot! You don’t want the pet to be the focal point of the shot, but incorporating them in the background makes for a fun detail and is likely to capture the attention of animal lovers. Remember that many of your potential buyers could be pet owners who are hoping to find a space that their four-legged friends will also enjoy.
5.Emphasize neighborhood traits
Of course, when prospective buyers are browsing homes on the market, they’re not only looking at the actual house and the property on which it’s located. They will also want to learn more about where it’s located. Is it situated on a quiet or busy street? What’s the local school district, and how close are the schools? Are there parks, green spaces, or hiking trails? Some buyers will want to know if there’s a Target, Starbucks, Whole Foods, or other favorite standby located in the area. These are all things you can describe, and even emphasize, in your listing.
Aside from amenities located nearby, plenty of potential buyers will be curious about your neighborhood’s vibe. If they’re new to the area, they might not necessarily make the trek out to view the property or attend an open house unless they know the area will meet their needs and match their preferences. Make sure to be honest when you’re describing the area online. If there are frequent train whistles, airplane noise from close proximity to an airport, or audible highway sounds, you shouldn’t describe the neighborhood as “quiet.” Instead, find other ways to describe the area’s traits—maybe it’s a convenient location for commuters or perfect for those who want a quick way to get into town and enjoy nightlife! If you use a positive but honest tone to depict the area, you’re more likely to catch the eye of an interested buyer.
6. Share interesting local history
Many potential homebuyers will be interested in learning more about not just the local history but the history of your home in particular. If you have any photos of the home when it was originally built, this makes for a great social media post or addition to your listing! Keep in mind that this isn’t only for homes that are centuries old; houses built in the 1920s, 1950s, 1970s, or 1990s all have their specific charms, and it can be fun to look at photos from back in the day!
If you live in a deeply historical area and something particularly significant happened at the home, you’ll definitely want to mention that as well. History buffs could take an interest in a home that’s close to the site of an important Civil War battle, and others might be intrigued to know that the house once hosted a famous visitor.
7. Offer up rewards
Worried about reaching enough interested buyers online? Consider an attention-grabbing campaign where you offer up a reward if someone shares the post! This is especially helpful on social media apps like Instagram and Facebook, where sharing is easy and can quickly reach a wide network of people. Let people know that a successful share—for example, a shared post that connects you with the eventual buyer—will result in a fun reward.
Consider awarding the winner with a gift card to a great local restaurant or retailer. This will encourage people to share your post with their network, which could instantly get your listing seen by hundreds more people! Lately, with more and more people browsing home listings on social media from home rather than stopping by in-person open houses, this has proven to be a beneficial strategy.
8. Showcase you smart phone
One thing that’s guaranteed to make your home stand out? The newest and best technology. Making your home more high-tech as you prepare to sell doesn’t have to break the bank. For just a couple hundred dollars, you can install some easy improvements like smart security systems and thermostats, door locks, smoke detectors, and other safety items. Everyone wants to live somewhere they feel safe, so if you can add on some little improvements like these, buyers are sure to be drawn in! Plus, as an added bonus, these upgrades paint a chic and modern mental image in buyers’ minds as they read. They’re likely to be attracted to a home that seems not just safe and secure but updated as well.
Searching for homes for sale in Dallas? Contact the Ritz Group today to speak with Dallas real estate agents with years of experience and a dedication to their clientele. They’ll be happy to assist you as you search for Dallas luxury homes.
