Capturing the attention of a prospective home buyer is one biggest marketing challenges in any industry. There’s tremendous competition, regardless of where you’re located, and appealing to everyone’s particular tastes can be nearly impossible.
However, if you’ve identified your target market, there are a few things you can do to attract the interest of potential home buyers, over your local competitors.
The following are the top 5 most important elements that many realtors and real estate developers forget to include in their real estate website redesign.
#5. Recently Sold Listings or Units
Realtors and developers alike, need to promote themselves as already being successful.
For developers, nobody wants to buy into a residential community that isn’t already occupied by others. Displaying homes that have already been sold reassures buyers that you sell quality homes, in a good location, and others have already recognized the value your company offers.
As a realtor, your sold listings are kind of like your career portfolio. Sellers can immediately see that you are very capable of selling homes, and buyers are instilled with confidence that you are trustworthy and that you understand your clients’ needs.
#4. Basic Home Specs
I’m surprised I even have to list this as something that’s overlooked, but there are actually realtors and developers out there that don’t include this stuff on their website!
You need to include ALL the basics:
- Square feet
- # of beds & baths
- Garages
- Flooring materials
- Kitchen features, appliances & brands
- Outdoor living spaces
- Property acreage & features
- Etc, etc…
You need to tell your customers about anything that will differentiate your homes from everyone else out there. There’s no excuse for not putting this stuff on your website.
#3. The Surrounding Community
For those customers who are looking to relocate (or willing to travel) to find a great new home, there’s few things more important than the neighborhood and the surrounding community.
Take them on a tour of the town, give them pictures of local landmarks, shopping centers and school sporting events. Tell them how long it takes to get to the grocery store and the center of town…
In other words, let them imagine living there, before they even come around for a visit.
#2. Quick Sale Units & Active Listings
This one’s pretty obvious for the realtors out there, but some of you developers are missing an enormous opportunity to tell people about your move-in-ready units…
You can’t just wait around, hoping interested buyers will ask for a tour. You have to tell them that homes are available TODAY! If a home fits a buyer’s requirements, once they hear you’ve actually got one for sale, they’re all but guaranteed to arrange a tour.
#1. Fantastic Photography
It baffles me time and time again… Imagine yourself in the market for a new home:
You’re browsing the web and you find a beautiful new residential community, with many homes already built and more to come. It’s located in a family-friendly, suburban neighborhood, in a great school district and just a few minutes from the heart of town. The builder’s got a great reputation for quality construction and it seems like a perfect fit.
But then, you get to the pictures…
It’s hard to tell if they’re “before” or “after” shots… and then you see the befuddled plumber trying to figure out how to put the kitchen sink together…
Make Sure Your Real Estate Website Photos Are Better Than This One
We’ve all seen ’em. Those hideous photos of potentially gorgeous homes. Now imagine, after seeing those, how many people have stopped browsing and moved on to the next community, right down the road.
Please, do yourself a favor and hire a great photographer.