Why You Need to Market Your Home with Photos
If this was the view from your Bonita Springs home, you'd better play it up online. THAT is a photo with a hook. Imagine a buyer sitting in their home in the middle of a cold snap or worse, a snow storm and they're researching Florida real estate online. That pretty sunset would make them pause and take a closer look for sure.
Years ago I had a home listed in the Bonita Springs Golf & Country Club area that had a fantastic pool and back yard. I used those pool photos, taken with a wide angle lens camera, in the majority of color print advertising, internet advertising and the visual tour. The response was greater for that home than any other home I had listed in some time. Why? The photos were perfect, they screamed "Florida" and showed a slice of the American dream. Who can't imagine lying by a sparkling pool? The only thing missing from the photo was a Corona bottle. The rest of the home, on the other hand was a bit of a handyman special. The pool was the best part and it made the phone ring.
With 94% of buyers now beginning their search for real estate on the Internet, it is more important than ever to get photographs of your home on the web. Photos sell homes. Period. Buyers want to see photos of homes, community amenities, and any other benefit a home has to offer. The photos are the hook.
Many of the buyers that are coming to Bonita Springs and Estero to buy a home or condo begin their search on the Internet. They've often weeded out the list of homes that will be not seen before they even arrive. Homes with little or no photos are usually the first to bite the dust. Think about it. Heck, test-drive the idea. Go to Realtor.com and find a few homes in your dream city. Pick your price range and try to start filtering out the homes you want to see. It won't take you long to realize that photos are an important tool. Now just imagine the challenges a buyer from outside of the country or up north faces while searching for a home long distance.
If you're a home owner and you're considering putting your home on the market or your home is currently on the market make sure you have photos on:
- The MLS report - both MLS systems, too. (Yes, we have more than one in SW Florida)
- Make sure your home has a visual tour that is on the MLS and attached to Realtor.com and websites that the home is hosted on such as Trulia and Craigslist.
- The color flyer and interior brochures available for buyers to pick up should also offer a series of photos to help the buyers recall the home (they may see over a dozen in a day).
- Don't use "date stamped" photos or photos taken during a holiday. Nothing says, "I'm past the freshness date" better than a date or Easter décor in August photos.
- Scanned floor plans and community site plans can now be attached to the MLS report, website and images of Realtor.com.
Buyers are looking for information. If you make sure they're getting information on your home you stand a better chance of getting into your home.