Monthly Archives: December 2020

Selling your home can be a stressful and difficult process on its own, but the pressure can be significantly increased if you’re on a time crunch. If you’re someone who’s found yourself in this situation before, perhaps because of a job change, an immediate family situation, or countless other circumstances, surely you can attest to the urgency of needing to speed the process along. Unfortunately, at that point you’ve likely run out of time for any major improvements or renovations that you could generate more interest, and who wants to invest more money just to get it property off your hands? 

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, the key to a speedy selling process is maximizing your property’s exposure. Utilizing multiple media channels is essential to achieving this goal. Instagram is a free and easy platform that you can use to your benefit during this difficult time. I’ve had my Instagram account for nearly a decade as I joined the social media site soon after its start in 2010. As a naive middle school girl, accessing the network through my iPod touch at the time, I was no tech wiz, and you don’t need to be either. In the past, I viewed the network as  Since then, Instagram has evolved to host approximately a billion users’ accounts, and is listed as one of the top social media apps for marketers. Within its lifetime, Instagram has evolved from just a photo-sharing platform to an extremely well developed resource with various features that can surely help you to promote your listing. 

It’s extremely useful when promoting any kind of content through social media to understand the app’s demographics. For Instagram, it’s important to note that half of the user base consists of people younger than thirty four and the majority of users fall into the eighteen to twenty four year old age group, making it a much different crowd than other platforms such as Facebook, which is now more consistently used by older generations. This makes Instagram a great place to reach first time home buyers. By recognizing these statistics you can better target your audience, and by utilizing both platforms you can expand your listing to reach people of all age groups.

This platform is well suited for real estate because of the visual features the app provides. Users can upload multiple photos and videos within the same post, which allows you to show off numerous features and amenities at once. To add, Instagram stories are a great way to draw attention to your property. Although stories only last for twenty-four hours, they can be pinned to your profile and permanently featured as one of your highlights. Instagram stories appear at the top of the user’s newsfeed and are often one of the first things that people see when opening the app. You can even get creative by creating collages or adding music to your story to make it more entertaining and keep your potential buyers engaged longer. This social media also gives their users a platform where they can do live video tours and interact with their viewers by answering any questions that are commented during the walk through; this feature has proved to be especially useful throughout the pandemic.

Get creative with your caption. Instagram allows you to write captions that are up to 2,200 characters long, which gives you lots of opportunity to include information about the property. This is a great place to include your contact information, a link to a more in depth listing, or an invitation for anyone who is interested to reach out to you. Be sure to take advantage of hashtags! Hashtags are a great tool that helps to organize similar content, making it easy for users to find related posts. You can use hashtags to reach people outside of your own account’s following. The more hashtags you use, the more potential your post has. By including hashtags that have to do with real estate, the community, the property’s features, etc. you’re able to market the listing to people who may be searching for just that.

Have you ever sold real estate through Instagram? Did you find your forever home through this app? Which of Instagram’s features did you find to be most helpful when selling, buying, or searching for your property? First hand insight is always appreciated by our community and I’d love to hear your experiences with this new-age real estate technique. If you found this post to be interesting or helpful, please leave a comment below. 

If you have any questions about the topics covered in this blog, don’t hesitate to reach out through the comments section, by email, or my social media. I’d be happy to address any confusion or concerns in future blogs. If you think you know someone else who may be interested in learning about all of the beneficial aspects of using Instagram to promote your property, share this blog to your own friends or followers to help us grow our community! Remember to like this blog and subscribe to my “Media Promotion Within Real Estate, A ‘How To’ Blog” so that you don’t miss any new content.

Resources:

Bruner, R. (2016, July 16). Take a Look Back at Instagram’s First Ever Posts. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://time.com/4408374/instagram-anniversary/  

Chen, J. (2020, August 28). Important Instagram stats you need to know for 2020. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/ 

Gigante, M. D. (2020, February 11). 10 Powerful Ways to Use Instagram for Real Estate Marketing. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.mdgadvertising.com/marketing-insights/10-powerful-ways-to-use-instagram-for-real-estate-marketing/ 

Jackson, D. (2020, December 11). Know Your Limit: The Ideal Length of Every Social Media Post. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-character-counter/ 

Tran, T. (2020, November 03). 20 of the Best Social Media Apps for Marketers in 2020. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-social-media-apps-list/ 

As I’ve mentioned before, shopping for real estate is a visual process for buyers. Oftentimes, what makes a person stop scrolling is a beautiful outdoor shot of the property that intrigues them enough to investigate the interior. When promoting your house through different media channels, you want to provide your audience with as much material as you can. Keeping your audience engaged for as long as possible is a great technique that sellers can use to lure in potential buyers. Does that mean you need to be a professional photographer to create quality content for your online listing? Should you go buy expensive lenses and camera equipment? Not necessarily, you don’t have to feel pressured to spend loads of money just to sell your house.

I started my photography experience in high school when I first joined the yearbook club. I fell in love with the moments I could capture and focused mostly on shooting our high school sports teams. I noticed a significant difference that the camera would make when I compared it to the pictures I shot on my cell phone at the time, which even then was pretty out of date. Since then, cell phone cameras have become much more advanced. Not only was the yearbook club where I first learned how to work a camera, but it’s where I began to understand the importance of two key factors; angles and lighting. 

Luckily, times have changed and you probably already have everything that you need in the palm of your hand. Within the past couple of years, the camera quality in your smartphone device has evolved tremendously. So, if you own a cell phone that was released in the past five or so years, you’re set and you just need to know how to use it! Remember those ‘key factors’ I mentioned before? That is what you need to focus on, finding the right angles and proper lighting. To ensure your space is well lit, avoid taking pictures with the flash and instead wait for natural light to illuminate the area. Typically the best lighting can be captured in mid-morning and in the afternoon. Some exceptions to taking pictures at this time would be if you have fantastic lighting features that would appeal to buyers or if you have a window or sunroom that will stand out during sunrise or set, but even in that case, you’ll want additional pictures to show how the room looks throughout the day.

 You’re probably wondering which angles are “right” when shooting pictures of a property, the answer is multiple. By capturing the room from more than one angle, you give the viewer a more concrete understanding of the space. Be sure to take advantage of your camera’s features, one helpful tool is the grid line assistant which can help you to straighten your shot and find balance within the frame. Although phone cameras come with many helpful tools that you can utilize, additional accessories can prove to be helpful as well. One of the most useful phone accessories for the purpose of online property promotion would be a phone stabilizer. This gadget helps to eliminate any shakiness that results in blurry images. These lightweight devices are especially great if you are posting video tours or live walk-throughs for your audience. 

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer, is to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes; try to imagine what they want to see and include that in your listing. Do you have experience buying or selling real estate? What did you look for in the images posted in the listing? If you have more ideas that can help our selling community, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment letting us know how you made your property stand out online.

If you have questions regarding what equipment you’ll need to create a quality listing online, don’t hesitate to reach out in the comment section or to me directly through my email or social media. Did you find this post helpful? Then be sure to like this blog and subscribe to my “Media Promotion Within Real Estate, A ‘How To’ Blog” so that you can get updated when I post new information and tips of how to create the most effective listings possible. If you think your followers could benefit from this post as well, share this so that we can continue to grow and expand our community!

Resources:

Cox, L. K. (2020, October 26). Phone Photography 101: How to Take Good Pictures With Your Mobile Device. Retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/good-pictures-phone-tips 

DeLong, M. (2018, July 01). Best Times of Day for a Photo Shoot. Retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://www.markdelong.com/blog/best-times-of-day-for-a-photo-shoot 

Ali, H. M. (2020, December 22). The 8 Best Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizers in 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://www.omnicoreagency.com/best-smartphone-gimbal-stabilizers/  

Borland, C. (2020, November 26). Real Estate Photography – A guide to getting started. Retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://digital-photography-school.com/real-estate-photography-a-guide-to-getting-started/ 

Imagine being ready to start a new chapter, perhaps in a new city, where exciting adventure awaits you, nothing can hold you back! Except a property that sits on the market for months or even years, keeping you captive in a house you’re ready to leave behind. It can be extremely stressful to carry that financial burden as well as any of the other time consuming issues that may arise throughout the process of selling a home or property. The real estate market is unfamiliar territory to many property owners, and there are so many different websites that have to deal with real estate, which often leaves people wondering where to start.

If you want to maximize your property’s exposure you have to take advantage of your online resources. One media channel you may already be familiar with is Facebook. This is one of the most popular social networks, and if you’re one of the 2.7 billion monthly users reported earlier this year, then you’re already a step ahead! Facebook was my first ever social media, I activated my account when I was twelve and the user friendly platform proved to be an easy-to-navigate environment. At that time, I was just hoping to connect with friends, keep in touch with family, and explore some of the other features that the website offered. Little did I know all of the different ways Facebook could be utilized. 

The evolution of Facebook has led to the development of features such as Facebook groups and Facebook Marketplace. By using these different tools, you can better connect to your target audience. Not only is this a great way of reaching a specific audience, but the free service allows interested potential buyers to message you directly to inquire about certain details or any additional information that may have not been included in your initial post. Another great aspect of this social network is that the Marketplace feature can be accessed through the Facebook app. This enables you to receive notifications, updates, and check on your listing in a quick and easy way because you can access it all from your handheld device. This is important because like many situations, communication is key and you’ll want to be able to respond to any messages you receive regarding your listing as soon as possible.

This is a great opportunity for you to generate traffic to your listing, but to ensure your success, let me share some additional tips that I found helpful throughout my research. To start, the photos matter! Searching for a new home is a visual process for buyers, so include photos that highlight the property’s assets. Make sure your spaces are clean and attractive for your viewers. If you need help creating an appealing environment, you can even look into hiring a cleaning or staging service prior to photographing your house. Including a floor plan can help your audience better understand the property’s layout. Another way to make your listing stand out is to offer video tours, this is especially useful in today’s world where walk through tours and open houses are discouraged to avoid the risk of spreading coronavirus. Building your listing on Facebook can be extremely beneficial if you use it properly, so you don’t want to limit yourself by just posting a link to a different website that hosts your listing’s information. Facebook’s algorithm is designed to keep users engaged, meaning that posts that navigate users away from the platform will be weighted differently than others, making them harder to find. 

Are you one of the many who buy or sell through the Facebook network? Were you successful? What strategies did you find useful for promoting properties or items through the website? Let me know by leaving a comment and telling us your experience. If you’re someone who found their forever home through Facebook, what caught your eye? First hand knowledge can be massively helpful for this community of sellers, so don’t hesitate to interact with this post. 

If you have additional questions about how to promote your property on Facebook, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly, or post your questions so that I can address them in future blogs. It’s my opinion that one of the best strategies that you can employ when selling a property is to use multiple media channels. By liking and sharing this post, we can continue to grow our community. To learn more about the different ways you can promote your house or rental property online, subscribe to my “Media Promotion Within Real Estate, ‘How To’ Blog” where I will continue to share my tips and tricks with you.

Resources:

Clement, J. (2020, November 24). Facebook MAU worldwide 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/ 

Trulia. (2020, December 16). 6 Ways To Use Facebook To Sell Your Home. Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2017/01/18/6-ways-to-use-facebook-to-sell-your-home/?sh=22e3b1b84db4 

Ballen, L. (2020, January 24). Facebook for Real Estate: Get More Leads with Facebook Marketplace. Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://loriballen.com/facebook-marketplace/ 

Facebook Marketplace. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/learn-more/ 

If you’re someone who has experienced the pressure and chaos of selling a property, you’re probably familiar with how complicated, long, and stressful the process can be. Today, people who find themselves in this position face more obstacles than ever. Similar to countless others, the real estate industry has had to adapt their normal business practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has changed the world. Open houses and walk-through tours have been significantly reduced to comply with health and safety guidelines, leaving many property owners in an unfamiliar predicament. 

Although I as a college student in my early twenties don’t have any personal experience selling properties, throughout my life I’ve watched multiple loved ones go through the process. Unfortunately, their experiences weren’t always as quick and easy as they would have preferred. Being from a small town, some of the concern came from the lack of traffic; leaving my friends and family yearning for more exposure for their listing. None of their properties lacked quality or comfort, they just failed to promote their homes through the necessary media channels. Studies find that nearly ninety percent of people in the market, use online research to find their new home.

At this point you must be wondering which online media channels I’m referring to. Well, there are numerous apps, websites, and networks that could benefit your situation but for the rest of this blog, I will be discussing the leading online real estate platform, Zillow. This is arguably the most important place to market your listing. Statista reported that as of January this year, the popular site was visited by well over 35 million people each month. The difference between this platform and other frequented online networks is that the users share a common interest in real estate, connecting you directly to the right market. 

To best utilize Zillow’s platform, it’s important to emphasize any unique aspects of your property. Zillow allows you to include a description with your listing, giving their users a chance to get creative and stand out among the 110 million other properties on the site. Take advantage of this opportunity by detailing honest portrayals of the house’s features, renovations, and history. Remember that your word count is capped at 250, so cut out any unnecessary gab and don’t get hung up on jargon that can be simplified. Focus on highlighting your property’s most appealing aspects and finding opportunity in less attractive qualities; for example, a small bedroom could potentially be utilized as an office, dressing room, nursery, etc. Additionally, posting clear photographs is of major importance. People fall in love with details, so never be afraid of posting too many pictures; offering multiple angles of the same room can keep your audience engaged for longer and help to build their interest.

I hope this blog was helpful in outlining one of the most effective resources you have when it comes to selling a property online. Have you or someone you know used Zillow to sell a house or rental property? What techniques did you find to be most successful? Did you run into any difficulties throughout the listing process? If so, let me know! Leave a comment below to help simplify the journey for other members of our community who may be experiencing the same issues. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions regarding this post so that I may address any confusion in future posts. Make sure that you like this blog if you enjoy the content and share it so that your friends can become aware of these helpful Zillow tips as well. Subscribe to my “Media Promotion Within Real Estate, ‘How To’ Blog” to get updates of new posts that will describe even more tips, tricks and information of how to maximize your listing’s exposure.

Resources:

Statista Research Department. (2020, February 17). Most popular real estate websites in the U.S. by visits 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/381468/most-popular-real-estate-websites-by-monthly-visits-usa/ 

Zillow Statistics [2020]: Traffic, Market, & Real Estate Trends. (2020, October 23). Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/zillow-statistics 

Property Descriptions 101: How to Write Listing Descriptions That Sell: Zillow. (2019, November 27). Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://www.zillow.com/sellers-guide/listing-descriptions-that-sell/