For the past couple of years it's been pretty easy to sell or let most properties quickly AND achieve a great price for your vendor or client. But this super-hot market won't last forever…
So are you prepared for when the inevitable market correction does come?
When the market slows down you may have to go back to basics and look at your listings – to make sure you’re doing all you can to convert interest into enquiries.
Here are six questions you need to be asking to ensure your listings are optimised to get the maximum number of serious buyer and tenant enquiries:
Do You Have Professional Quality Photos?
Whether you’re selling or letting, professional quality photos are essential. You don’t have to hire a photographer, but whoever is taking your photos needs to have been trained to take them to a professional standard. Then they need to know how to edit them to get the best results.
Do You Have A Floorplan?
Floorplans have gone from being a nice-to-have to an essential part of your listing. Yes, even for lettings.
Do You Have A Video or 3D Walkthrough?
This isn’t essential but more and more agents see the many benefits of having a video or 3D walkthrough. They can help to command a higher fee. And they can improve efficiency by allowing potential buyers and tenants to view a property online prior to arranging an in-person viewing.
Does Your Listing Copy Include Estate Agent Cliches?
Like ‘Well Presented’, ‘The Property Boasts…’ or ‘The Accommodation Briefly Comprises…’?
Some people will read your listing copy, others will just look at the nice photos and floorplan. But one thing that everyone agrees on is that Estate Agent jargon is off putting and does nothing to help sell or let the property. Ditch the jargon.
Would Your Ideal Buyer Or Tenant Be Interested In Reading The Listing Copy?
Buying or renting a property isn’t a barrel of laughs. It’s an expensive and stressful experience, so most people will have a very good reason for doing so. Does your listing copy reflect the most likely reason that the Ideal Buyer or Tenant will be interested in your property? If they have a particular problem to solve (such as a lack of space or a need to get their kids into a particular school) they’ll read every single word of your listing copy if it suggests your property can fix this for them.
Do You Have A Single Minded Call To Action (CTA) At The End?
What do you want them to do? Usually it’s to arrange a viewing. If so, be clear and tell them exactly what they need to do. Don’t confuse them by giving too many options!
Simply by answering the six questions above – and by making the necessary changes to your listings – you’ll improve your click through rates from the search results and improve the number of listing views that turn into genuine enquiries.
About the Author
Neil is author of the No1 Amazon best-seller “The Ultimate Property Listing”. A direct marketing expert and ex-letting agency owner, Neil specialises in helping agents to sell & let their properties faster and achieve higher offers by optimising their property listings.