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Digital Marketing That Sells for Top Dollar

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Digital Marketing for Home Sellers That Works. Get You Home Sold Quick w/ these Strategies.

This week I’m really really excited to share what digital marketing is all about in 2019 and how to get results when selling your house. This concept is based on the idea of starting where buyers begin their home search. Today Buyers are looking at home online via their phone, iPad, or computer.

When buyers start looking at homes online it doesn’t matter if they’re just thinking about purchasing or 100% committed. Buyers don’t want to answer someone door knocking with a new listing from the neighborhood. They’re not running to their mailbox waiting for the most recent just listed card. Buyers are going online to the MLS aggregators like Zillow, Realtor.com, etc. and searching for properties. They’re even setting up email alerts and notifications getting properties sent to them in real time as they hit the market.

Showcasing Your Home Online

All Buyers Start Their Home Search Online. It's the Easiest and Most Convenient Way to First Start Looking.

If we start where they start, we present your home online in a way that excites your target home buyer when they first view your home online. Our first impression should appeal to their lifestyle and speak to their needs. We want them to look at your property over and over until they schedule a home tour.

We create this Home Buyer Experience by taking professional photos that are 100% on point. Photos must be crisp and bright. Professional photos pop, and everyone knows if photos came from an iPhone. And especially when a house is not staged properly! As we have shared in previous weeks.

Ariel photos and property videos highlight community features and strengths of the property that speak to your target buyer. Getting buyers interested in your home happens by marketing photos and video of your property including the location and lifestyle of the surrounding area.

Targeting Your Ideal Buyer

Let’s say you’re home is located in Lower Downtown, to speak to your ideal buyer we will highlight proximity to Union Station, walkability, and descriptions like “pick a direction and you will find an amazing restaurant, yoga studio, or whatever you’re looking for!”

The same is true if you own a property in Highlands Ranch. Right? Highlighting recreation centers, open space, or access to residential amenities like shopping will attract suburban buyers. Think about your ideal buyer and narrow your marketing focus to speak directly to them.

When you speak to location and the lifestyle it begins to resonate with a buyer profile looking for that lifestyle and experience. With that Buyer in mind, we can design a marketing experience designed to pique their interest.

Doing this will push a Buyer’s hot buttons to take action and tour your property. It doesn’t stop at photos and video, so highlighting location and lifestyle in your property marketing description is just as important. Doing so gets people excited and most importantly get your home sold fast!

Targeting Your Ideal Buyer Gets Your Home Sold Fast

Tracking Home Buyer Behavior

How do we measure the number of home buyers excited about your home? It’s by watching the behavior of buyers in the marketplace looking at your property. For example, when we list a property on a Tuesday or Wednesday at 5PM I begin tracking the activity of the buyers looking specifically at your home before we begin showings on that Friday.

I’ll look at all the real estate aggregators to see how many views the property is getting. And how many people are saving your property online. Understanding the popularity of your listing online will set the tone during our first weekend of showings.

If we track buyer behavior we’ll understand the pace of that deal and how it’s going to go during our first weekend of showings. By listing on a Tuesday or Wednesday, it allows our marketing to trickle out into the marketplace and get buyers excited before showings begin on Friday. It allows us to reach the person that’s waiting for a “just listed” email. All the way down to the person who isn’t checking until the weekend is near.

By tracking the metrics we understand the pace of the deal and most importantly we understand what kind of leverage we have if we get an offer quickly. If I have one offer quickly and a lot of showings scheduled, we’ll need to respond in a way that doesn’t leave any money on the table. And tracking buyer behavior online allows us to know our negotiating position before we make a deal 🤝

Digital Marketing Starts Online and Targets Specific Buyers Searching for Your Property.

Why Digital Marketing Works

Everyone starts online because it’s the most convenient and easiest thing to do. That’s the importance of having an effective online marketing campaign because it’s 2019 and my attention is online and via my phone. And that’s the case for most home buyers.

Buyers are setting up custom email alerts and notifications on various apps getting new listings sent in real time as they are hitting the market. All of it’s feeding through the attention we’re giving our phone and our e-mail. Consumers are taking a very tailored approach to the results they are getting. That’s why we must start online and speak to the specific buyer looking for your home!

Today digital marketing is king…everything is online! And I want to encourage you to carefully consider how you sell in today’s digital world. If you want to discuss my digital marketing campaign please contact me. I would love the opportunity to sit down and chat!

Next Week:

This past month has been all about Sellers! We covered Updates and Repairs the Get Top Dollar for Sellers. Even How to Stage Your Home and why that flows into an effective Digital Marketing Campaign. Next week we’ll be covering How to Price Your Home in Today’s Market.

Sellers Who Stage Know How to Win

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Home staging is critical when creating a home buyer experience

This week I’m talking about home staging. And last week I shared Updates and Repairs that get Top Dollar for Sellers. All with speed and execution in mind! 💪So here we go!

Once you have completed your updates, it’s time to think about how to stage your home to enhance it’s strengths. The best way to create this is to let your updates set the tone for the look and feel you want to achieve. Especially since staging is the cheapest thing a Seller can do to their home!

What Is Home Staging?

Staging your home is cheap. It's the best return on your time.

In its simplest from staging is taking things that you already have, and organizing them in a way that accentuates your house. It creates the ideal flow for buyers walking through your home. Staging allows buyers to see themselves living in your home and takes the focus off your personal belongings.

Creating the Home Buyer Experience

In previous posts, I’ve shared the importance of creating a Home Buyer Experience specifically designed for the ideal Buyer you are targeting. Creating an experience will allow Buyers to walk into your house excited for what’s to come so they can easily say “YES” and move forward with an offer.

Minimizing the Space

From a staging perspective, creating this experience starts by minimizing the space and accentuating the strengths of your home. Have you ever noticed when there’s a lot of clutter in a home? It’s really hard to no get distracted, right? When you minimize space with staging it allows buyers to see the strengths of the property first, then personal belongings second.

Give Buyers SOME of Your Story

I encourage all sellers to stage their home in a way that shares a part of who they are. It allows the buyer to get a piece of your story so they can connect to a part of you and your personality. This can be a certain style of artwork you like or a sports team that you are passionate about. Don’t go too far creating a sterile environment. And don’t give too much of your story! Sharing a little bit of who you is a good thing. Too much is overwhelming 😉

Denver Broncos don't like the Raiders

Let it Flow

The last part of home staging I want to cover is creating space in your house where things flow from room to room. Ideally, we want buyers walking from room to room efficiently and not walking around furniture or chairs.

By minimizing space, you’re creating flow from room to room. And with each space minimized it allow buyers to see the strengths of your property. While giving them a little piece of the story to connect to you as the seller.

Home Staging is all about Flow

Enhancing Your Home

Next, let’s talk about enhancing your property. Here’s the best way to think about it…imagine walking into a dark room. How do you feel when you walk in? Versus walking into a room that’s fully lit up all lights on and you’re able to see everything? It’s a very different experience. And that’s what enhancing your home is all about.

Lighting is Key

As I stated above, lighting is important. I encourage all sellers to purchase LEDs and change out light bulbs to make all the rooms pop. Plus LEDs are super energy efficient, so you’re able to leave them on all day long for weekend showings or days when you can’t come back home to prep your home.

Add Pops of Color

Color provides contrast and adds to the overall Home Buyer Experience. It can be flowers on the front or back porch. Or adding color throughout your house by placing designer items on the kitchen countertop, dining room table, or island. Whatever space needs color add it, that will bring life and enhance those spaces.

Smells. Really?

This one is interesting. So hear me out. Think of it this way…if you’ve ever been to a new home community like D.R. Horton or any builders out there what are they typically doing? They’re baking cookies, leaving food out, even hot chocolate on a cold day. It’s all about smells of home.

The same is true with you, smell allows your property to feel like home for buyers. To do this you can go as far as baking cookies and leaving them out for showings. Or simply putting fresh cut flowers out in your kitchen.

Adapt to Sell

The last topic I would like to cover is adapting to feedback. This is feedback for me your real estate agent, feedback from your friends, and people touring your home. It can be anyone who understands design and flow.

Staging means we are minimizing space and enhancing it. Then getting feedback from others. Ultimately when your home is on the market you’ll be getting feedback from actual buyers. So being able to adapt early on in the process allows you to rapidly respond to feedback from potential buyers if it’s not selling in the first few weeks.

Home staging is a process. Get feedback and continue to adapt until your home is sold.

Home Staging Recap

Just want to recap, staging your home is super cheap. It’s inexpensive because it only requires time and effort. And by packing things up, minimizing spaces and enhancing you will be able to quickly adapt to feedback that you’re getting from the market.

Most importantly, you are creating an experience for the home buyer walking through your house. And as I have shared before, if you create an experience targeting the buyer that you want to purchase your house they are going to walk into your home excited and say “YES” by writing an offer.

Let me know if you have any questions! This is something that I specialize in and would be more than happy to come by and give you staging advice. Or even talk about what’s possible within your house.

Hate Staging? I Have Someone

For anyone out there that does not like staging, and don’t want to mess with it, let me know! I can refer you to professional designers, and home stages that can actually take care of all of it for you.

It will allow you to focus on packing everything up and get 100% moved out. My stagers will deliver furniture and interior decor and will handle all of the interior design if staging isn’t your strength or something that you want to mess with.

Next Week!

This is where the rubber meets the road. All of the hard work we’ve done gets showcased online and we start getting buyers through the door to tour your home and make offers. Next week we’ll be covering Digital Marketing that Sells. See you next week!