Only about a decade ago, selling a house was pretty simple and different from what it is now. Back then, it consisted mostly of agents talking to other agents without much involvement from consumers, the sellers and buyers themselves. But today, surveys show that 89% of home buyers rely on online tools to find homes. That means, then, that to be competitive in today’s market, you simply have to utilize the latest technology available, and agents and sellers have to aim their efforts at consumers. To that end, here’s how to use technology to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown.
Top-Quality Images
The first piece of technology you’ll need to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown is anything that will allow you to produce top-quality images. As savvy real estate pros maintain, today it’s “all about the images” because many buyers can’t or won’t take the time to tour a home in person (at least not until the very end of the process). So sellers have to rely on their high-quality images to make the sale.
Digital editing and digital uploading are also critical parts of the mix. In particular, quality photos allow for effective virtual staging. With the right technology, you can digitally enhance listing photos so that online shoppers can see what the rooms would look like with furnishings and décor in place. And, besides, virtual staging costs far less than actual staging performed by a professional.
Social Media
It’s hard to overstate the importance of social media in most people’s lives today. And that’s why the major social media channels are such powerful marketing tools when it comes to technology to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown. It works like a pyramid set-up: one friend shares with several others, they share with their friends, and they with theirs – till thousands of people see your listing.
And keep in mind this startling statistic from real estate surveys. A full 93% “of social media traffic on realtor websites comes from Facebook. This social media platform will be your greatest tool for marketing your property and attracting consumers to your home.”
Virtual/Video Tours
A hot trend with respect to technology to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown, virtual tours (or video tours) are powerfully effective. With these tools at their disposable, potential buyers can tour your home without ever stepping foot outside their living room.
You can hire production companies to help you capture the best angles and produce the best footage for good results. (Consult your local agent on where find such companies. Just call 3017071678.) It’s definitely worth hiring professionals when you consider these real estate marketing facts: 50% of online interactivity is video related, and videos get 403% more inquiries.
Listing Syndication
Here’s a new technology twist on an old tactic. Basically, it is an automated compilation or aggregation of listings on multiple specialized real estate sites like Zillow and Trulia. These sites get automatic feeds from original listings, as well as collecting consumer data and feedback that includes interactions and comments.
Using this technology to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown, you can track the performance of your listing. You can, for example, track metrics like number of clicks and time spent on the page, as well as the location of users. And this data, in turn, allows you to target your marketing efforts and produce the kind of listing that online users actually want to see.
Interest Maps
Another effective tactic is to include in your listing (in addition to a map of your house’s location) a map showing the location of points of interest in the surrounding area (hence “interest map”). Most online listings include Google Earth maps so that searchers can see exactly where properties are located. But you can also use interest-map plugins to show nearby attractions like schools, shops, museums, and so on. This is just another way to emphasize that all-important criterion of location.
Apps
We just mentioned this as a way to use technology to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown, but it’s difficult to overemphasize the importance of apps today, especially for all those mobile users. Zillow officials maintain that, on average, 600 million homes are viewed on mobile devices each month – that’s an average of 223 homes per second. It goes with saying, then, that you need to tap into the marketing power presented by the apps available on the major real estate sites.
What Hasn’t Changed
So to compete against other sellers in today’s market, you have to use technology to sell your house fast in Martinsburg and Hagerstown. But the one thing that has not changed with the advent of technology is the importance of local expertise. Local markets have their own peculiarities and call for specialized marketing tactics. And only your local agent can provide what you need.