Looking To Buy Or Sell A New Home? Use Real Estate Video
The way that people buy and sell homes has changed radically in the Internet age, with 9 out of 10 home buyers today relying upon on the Internet as one of their primary research sources. You are probably already aware that you can go online and search for homes on sites like Zillow and Trulia , and get free instant access to an endless range of homes for sale or rent, without ever having to come into contact with a real estate agent during their search.
Some agents are now including video tours of real estate listings on their websites and social media sites such as Facebook, to engage casual visitors and encourage them to become clients.
How Do People Search For Homes These Days?
The days of scouring through the Sunday newspaper classifieds has long been dead and gone. More than 72% of adults are active on Facebook and with 83% of Buyers wanting to see pictures of homes online, it follows that more real estate agents are using social media and online adverting to buy and sell their clients’ listings. While you can get pretty good quality images on your smartphone, AZ Flat Fee recommends hiring a real estate photographer and videographer to take professional footage of your home so that it stands out online.
Consider these statistics that show that technology rules when you are searching for a home these days:
100% of home shoppers used the internet to research a specific home.
89% of home shoppers used the internet to search for a real estate agent.
70% of home shoppers toured the inside of a home through online videos
YouTube accounts for 51% of online video home research usage.
89% of home shoppers used the internet to search for a real estate agent.
86% of home shoppers find out more information about a specific community through online videos.
So if your real estate search is not conducted online you are very unlikely to find what you are looking for.
How A Real Estate Agent May Advertise To You
Most real estate agents have websites that provide you with the ability to search for homes that are for sale, and may not be aware that the savvier agents are placing “tracking pixels” on their sites that enable them to track visitors’ activity on their site. This sounds ominous, but a tracking pixels is just a tiny graphic that is virtually invisible on a webpage and placed on a website image, that when clicked begins to relay information about the visitors’ activity.
Facebook, as ever, goes even further, and the Facebook tracking pixel will track the movements of any visitors on your website who are simultaneously logged into Facebook. It will record which pages on your site they visit, which pages they don’t visit, and when they visit. It enables businesses to place very targeted advertising on Facebook to the people who visit their site.
A smart real estate agent like Agent Property Finder who understands online marketing will try to use the targeting pixel to encourage you to sign up to their email list, by advertising a special offer, such as a free market valuation, a report that shows you how to best market your home, or if you are a buyer, what to look for in a home inspection report. So use that free information to help you make a better judgement call about who you will choose to appoint as your agent.
Why Use A Real Estate Agent Then?
You may ask yourself that if there are so many apps and technology that can aid your home search online, then why use a real estate agent at all?
After all, with a click of a mouse, you can find the sales price of the home next door, search for listings in a given area and take virtual tours of homes you're interested in all from the comfort of your own living room. You can set up search alerts form your mobile phone and send details to others almost instantaneously. These days agents are even using marketing tools like BombBomb video email to better connect with their email subscribers, to keep them up to date with the local real estate market and including video tours in the emails
This shift in real estate marketing has led to a change in the modern role of real estate agents, who no longer just hold listings on their sites (in fact with all the multiple listing services available online at their fingertips, most would-be buyers these days send listings to their agents rather than the other way around). The role of the modern real estate agent is more one of guide and negotiator for their clients.
What should you look for in a modern Real Estate Agent, given this rise in the role of technology? Obviously, one who has expertise in the area in which you are looking to live; but with all of advances in fast-moving informational content about real estate, you should look to work with an agent
a) who feels comfortable using the benefits of online technology
b) who understands that your ideal buyer or seller will be looking for you online: and
c) who knows where that ideal buyer or seller hangs out online, and how to reach them there.
If your real estate agent has an effective website and social media presence, and markets your property or your property search online using the right online tools, the dream target buyer or seller that you need to find so urgently will be more likely to find your agent -.and therefore you will have a greater chance of closing your real estate deal. Happy hunting!