marketing Archives - Kimberly Howell Properties

How To Create Real Estate FOMO

June 27, 2019 by Tatiana Delaserna 1 Comment

This week, we turn the keys over to agent Tatiana Delaserna and let her take over the blog. In this post, Tatiana discusses “FOMO” – we don’t want to spoil her article, but we have to say, it’s a very real thing and we love that she’s teaching her clients about it (and now, we benefit from it, because she’s sharing the knowledge with all of us).

FOMO – “Fear Of Missing Out” is real. It is especially real in real estate – it is the very reason we see multiple offers on a freshly listed home. The ability to leverage this emotional response from buyers has never been so powerful as it is today thanks to our integrated world of social media, websites like zillow.com, and instant satisfaction consumers crave on all aspects of life. Because buyers can see in real time when a home hits the market, the idea of “you only get one time to make a great first impression” is more impactful than ever. If a buyer sees a home that looks great on pictures, in an area they have been looking for, and for the right price, they start wondering who else saw it too and the race begins.

Unfortunately, the opposite has also never been more damaging to sellers. When a buyer disqualifies your property, they will never revisit it online (they can block that home permanently!). If they feel it is overpriced, they will save it, and wait on the sidelines to see when seller will drop the price.

The three components of creating the perfect FOMO are visual appeal, being at the right place at the right time, and price.

Visual appeal – Over 96% of all buyers start shopping online…and they will move on if you do not catch their attention within the first 3 seconds. If they cannot see how great your home is from the pictures, then you may have lost the “perfect buyer.” Taking the time to prepare your home before it hits the market is not a luxury, it’s a must if you want to ignite the desire of buyers. At Kimberly Howell Properties, many of our agents work closely with stagers for this exact reason.
Being at the right place at the right time – Your property has to be seen by the right people at the right time (when they are in the market to buy!). If a buyer sees your property popping up in all the places she has been looking, the reality that other buyers are seeing it too hits home quickly. Unlike at our favorite clothing store, there is no way the buyer can hide your home behind the out of season sweaters – the only way of hiding it from other buyers is to submit a competitive offer and take it off the market!
Price – There is that saying, “everything sells…at the right price.” The thing is, many times that “right price” is very different from what a seller has in mind and what the market will bear (what a buyer will ultimately be willing to pay for it). There are several pricing strategies for each seller situation but if we want to create that fear of missing out, there are some time tested principles successful listing agents utilize.

Remember, the biggest enemy of creating FOMO is days on market. The longer you property sits on the market, the less buyers worry someone will come and snag it from them. They have less and less desire to submit a strong offer and start to wonder why no one has bought it yet. It becomes a vicious cycle – they wonder what is wrong with it. Do not let your home become victim of “nobody wants what nobody wants,” let’s work together to create the perfect FOMO storm!

image courtesy of Jesper Sehested and PlusLexia.com

Marketing Your Commercial Real Estate Listings

October 14, 2013 by khproperties Leave a Comment

Commercial real estate is a numbers driven business. Square feet, annual debt service, vacancy rates, operating expenses. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Because of this, many commercial real estate brokers focus on the bottom line – giving the purchaser the numbers ahead of everything else. For many commercial real estate consumers, this is what matters. Unlike their counterparts in the residential real estate world that are often driven by emotion, these buyers want to know “what’s it going to cost me?”

Reading through commercial real estate listings and viewing commercial real estate marketing materials, this is evident. But what if we took a step back and looked at it from a different angle?

While the numbers are important to a business owner and should never be neglected, some common sense marketing tips could boost your visibility and land more buyers for the property much faster. Sell the highlights of the property and the surrounding area. Is it luxury high rise condominiums? Sell the local shops and restaurants. Although the owner of the building might not think about the boutique down the street, his tenants are. While a business owner seeking an office space may only want to know what their operating costs are, their employees are going to care about what local restaurants are available to them on their lunch break. Paint a picture of what the owner’s employees will gain from the property and you can sell to their emotions just as much as their purse strings. Even though the numbers matter, many employers are now focusing on their employees’ experience so that they can retain them in a highly competitive world. Show them why they need this building over all the others. Show landlords why their tenants will want to stay for years, instead of one lease cycle.

By using language that evokes good emotions and stunning visuals that are pleasing to the eye, you can push your commercial real estate listings to the forefront of a buyer’s mind. While the numbers will always have to make sense to the buyer, going the extra mile in marketing can make the difference between two properties with few differences between them.

image courtesy of Oberheiden

One photo does not sell a home.

January 23, 2013 by khproperties 1 Comment

Doing the research for a listing appointment.

One day I received a phone call from a woman who wanted to list her home. I listened to her concerns, asked her some questions, and immediately jumped onto our MLS (multiple listing service) to start my research. As I pulled up the listing (it had been previously listed with another agent), I found something that upset me: there was only one photo of the home on the MLS and it was a poorly taken photo at that. The description of the property was about as vanilla as you can get as well and didn’t even take advantage of all the space we’re given as agents to write about the home.

So I finished all my research and went over to the appointment the following day. I approached the building (it was a condominium) and saw exactly where the photo was taken from. I went inside and got the grand tour. Now here’s where I got really upset…this place was gorgeous! It was large, had tons of natural light, new flooring, and was in an excellent community (they have two pools, wonderfully landscaped grounds, and even a little herb garden for everyone’s use). None of this was expressed in that one photo I saw the day before.

We owe it to the buyers and sellers to use tons of photos.

Our local MLS allows each agent to put up to 25 photos in their listings. Twenty five! And this listing had only one photo. Of the front of the building. You couldn’t even tell which door was the unit being listed.

I think what frustrates me the most when I see listings like this, is that it means the agent is not doing everything they can to help this seller get the best offer on their home. We all look at homes on the internet and use that as a great starting point for finding the perfect place. I know I’ve passed by on some simply based on photos (or lack thereof). We are visual creatures and thanks to the internet, video, digital cameras, etc.; we can have instant gratification while looking for houses in our pajamas. If the buyers are out there looking at photos, shouldn’t we as agents want to give them all we can? I certainly think so. It’s in our best interest and more importantly, it’s in our clients best interest.

Want to see other agents’ takes on bad MLS work? Just Google “bad mls photos.”

photo courtesy of nadbasher

Sellers

Why list your home with us?

When you decide to sell your home, it is likely not a decision you have taken lightly. Whether you are moving because of a job, for different schools, or because of a growing family, it’s important to have an agent on your side who will work to make the process as smooth as possible, and get your home sold at a price, and within a time frame that you can be happy with.

Before listing your home, you may want to consider some of the following:

Should I complete any projects or repairs on the property?
What can I do to help declutter my home and make it appeal to the most buyers?
How quickly do I need to move?
What price do I need to obtain in order to be happy or break even? What if the market does not support that?
What is going on in my neighborhood lately?
Which agent would be right for me?

When you are ready to sell your home, here are some things to consider when picking the right agent for you:

Market Knowledge: There have been many changes to the real estate market in the past few years. It is important to have an agent who is up-to-date on the current conditions, changes, and trends.
Confidence: You want an agent who can talk openly and knowledgeably about your home, neighborhood, market, or real estate issues. You will be looking to them for advice and guidance, and so having an agent you can trust is critical.
Integrity: In many ways, your agent is a reflection of you. Often times the agent is the first, if not only, person that potential buyers or agents encounter when discussing your house, and many presume that the agent is acting at your instruction. An agent who promotes the tenants of honesty and fairness, as found in the Code of Ethics, is a valuable asset.
Marketing Strategy: The ultimate goal is to get your property sold. You want an agent who has a plan to have your property promoted often and to the right buyers. Agents at Kimberly Howell Properties have access to the San Antonio Multiple Listings Service (which reaches over 5000 REALTORs® and their clients), as well as the New Braunfels MLS. Additionally, all listings from our company are featured on over 25 different websites. This is in addition to the customized marketing each of our agents designs.
Organization: One part of your agent’s job is to help the transaction flow smoothly. They will maintain records, help you keep notes, follow up on showings and offers, and keep the process moving along.
Negotiating Skills: When offers come in on your house, you will look to your agent to advise, guide, and fight for your interests. You want an agent who can stand their ground firmly, yet knowledgeably and professionally.

At Kimberly Howell Properties, we are dedicated to providing our agents access to market information, technology resources, and training about all aspects of the business. We give our agents the tools that allow them to work for you.

image courtesy of avlxyz

Why Good Real Estate Photos Matter

September 21, 2011 by khproperties Leave a Comment

In real estate, you might only get one shot at capturing a potential buyer’s interest when it comes to the internet. Thanks to the explosion of the online home searching, that first impression becomes more and more important to you when listing your home. If that first photo doesn’t showcase the home or worse, makes it look bad, you may lose the one opportunity to catch the buyer’s attention. If you miss it, they’re moving on to the next house for sale. Good photos really do matter.

In the words of Eminem:
“Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?”

Step 1: Getting Good Pictures

Knowing that the purpose of pictures is to present your home to potential buyers in the best possible light and entice them to come in for more information is incredibly important. If the lighting is poor, the home cluttered, or even the image blurry, a buyer can be turned off and never even give the house a chance. Buyers want clear images. They want to see unique features. They want to get an idea about room sizes, layout, design. They don’t need to see your furniture (although good furniture placement can serve to enhance), or your television programs, or doorways or your junk.

The best pictures offer variety, detail, depth, and quality. Taking a few moments to evaluate the room and make minor adjustments before snapping off a few shots is worth the effort, and then some. If the room is dark, turn on lights, adjust the blinds, or bring in a lamp for the 30 second shot. If you have an oversized highchair and piles of laundry on the kitchen table, move them out of the way briefly. Add fresh flowers, borrow artwork or design elements from other rooms. None of these things is permanent, but it can still make a significant difference in the impression being sent out to the world.

Sometimes, this also means excluding things. If you have a room dedicated to junk storage, maybe it’s ok to skip it for purposes of marketing. If a buyer is impressed enough by the other rooms, they’ll see it eventually, and by that point you’ve already gotten them at least a little interested and inside your home.

Step 2: Getting Good Exposure

Where do people begin their home search these days? The internet. Whether a REALTOR® is involved from the get-go or not, buyers overwhelmingly begin their search online. A 2009 study by NAR found that over 90% of buyers used the internet to search for homes. And other than general statistics, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage; the photos tell the most about a property. Buyers get a feel for the layout. They can see the materials. They begin to imagine how a home might get re-arranged with their furniture. They share the pictures with friends and family and actually start getting excited about their prospects.

Recent surveys by the National Association of REALTORS® show that 84% of buyers surveyed said that the photos are the most useful information. And the number one action they took after viewing a home online was to drive by or make arrangements to visit the home.

There are thousands of people who are willing to buy or lease a property without ever setting foot in that home. Their ability to make this decision has come to rely heavily on pictures.

The more pictures you can include with your listing, the better the exposure. Just one picture of the front of the house tells a potential buyer very little about the property. Twenty-five pictures showcasing the large rooms, layout, or even unique details of the property will yield much greater interest and much greater results.

Choose your pictures thoughtfully. Let the image order flow naturally. Don’t skip from the living room to a bathroom to the backyard to the kitchen to the living room again.

Keeping these ideas in mind, and working with your REALTOR® to market and show your home in the best possible light will make an enormous difference in the long run.

image courtesy of carolyn.will