vicpark Fact or Fake News? Busting 5 Common Fake News Myths in Real Estate
After 25 years in real estate I have definitely heard my fair share of weird and wonderful Fake News ideas within the property market. And with so many diverse and conflicting points of view out there, the challenge lies in sorting the fact from the Fake News fiction. The key here is to know the difference between the two, especially when you are considering selling your home. Below are 5 Common Fake News Myths and the simple facts you need to know in todays property market.
5 Common Fake News Myths
- You Need to Spend Big with Online Marketing. Sellers are often told they must spend $1000 minimum on realestate.com.au marketing to ensure they have their ad located at the top of the search results. Plus they can also be pushed to spend extra dollars on having the bigges t ad available to sell their home. However, this is what I call inappropriate marketing costs because for an investment of less than half of this amount we can successfully market and sell your property online with the top real estate sites. Fact: You can spend less and still get online marketing which gets results.
- Extensive Social Media Marketing is a Must. Everyone is aware of Social Media. Due to its popularity sellers are often told they must pay for extensive Social Media marketing, such as Facebook, to sell their home. In my experience, when purchasers are looking to buy they go straight to the recognised real estate sites to find their new home, not to Social Media sites. So skip the Social Media sites and invest your marketing dollars in property specific sites instead. Fact: You will have a successful outcome sticking to the marketing which attracts the best outcome for the dollars invested. .
- Agents are Qualified to Take Photos and Write Your Ad. Sellers are sometimes told their agent can take their photos and write the ad for them. However this is definitely where it is vital to have your all-important photos and ad done by professionals. Because it is proven, expert photos and a well written ad can and do attract buyers to your property for viewings. And this is what ultimately translates to a sale. Which is why we have professional photographers shoot all property photos and an expert writer create an ad specifically for each property. Fact: Have your photos and ad handled by professionals.
- You Need a Large For Sale Sign with Photos. Another piece of Fake News is when sellers are advised they must have a large For Sale sign with full colour photos to sell their home. This is totally unnecessary and a waste of money in most cases. In todays digita l world buyers can go straight to your onlin! e advertising to view photos of your home. Plus if the images and ad have been professionally taken and scripted, they will do an excellent job to attract and engage interested buyers. I recommend a regular sized For Sale sign which features your address so buyers can Google your property on their mobile devices while they are right in front of your property. Fact: A regular For Sale sign will do the job and save you money.
- You Need to Have Home Opens. Many sellers are still advised they must have Homes Opens to sell their home, this is no longer true! The good news is you can sell your home with no Home Opens at all, if you choose this. Because statistically speaking genuine buyers will be doing their property research online. And they will know from the description of your home, the photos and its location whether they are interested. Home opens were a significant part of the property marketing culture when there was no online m arketing and the only property description was the one in the lineage advertising in the weekend newspapers. Today, all a buyer needs to do is to arrange a private viewing with the agent once they have established a desire to inspect the property based on what they have seen on line. In fact I recently sold a property where the home owners specifically stipulated no Home Opens. Instead we arranged private viewings only and sold the home with an asking price of $889,000 for $885,000. Fact: Properties sell with by appointment vie wings because the online marketing has attracted the interest from prospective purchasers.
If you have any questions or wish to enquire about property, feel free to contact me on 0403 588 880.
Regards,
Dean Nicolo
Principal
0403 588 880
