The tremendous rise of online commerce over the past decade has seen the fees charged by service providers such as travel agents and insurance agents fall dramatically as they try to compete with their internet-based counterparts. Real estate agents have still been able to charge relatively high fees in comparison.
Now though, they are under attack from various sources, including For Sale By Owner (FSBO) websites which advertise properties for sale on behalf of the owners in a particular area. People looking to move to an area now have a choice of traditional real estate agent sites to search, plus any local FSBO sites.
Whatever type of property you are looking to sell, there are several choices. Many people now feel comfortable with the idea of selling their home through FSBO websites as an alternative to traditional real estate agents.
Alternatively, it is possible to create a website specifically to sell the property. When choosing this option, serious thought will need to be given to how potential buyers will find the site. The chances are they will come to it via a search engine such as Google. Think about what keywords might be entered by someone looking to buy different types of property in a particular area. Choose a domain name for the site based on these keywords, and, when writing the content for the site, make sure to include the keywords frequently. This will ensure that the property appears high on the search engine results page for those keywords. If the site fails to appear on the first page of results, it will result in attracting very few visitors.
Whichever option is chosen as the route to market, the importance of good content is paramount. The quality of the photos showing the property, inside and out, must be as good as possible. These are what create that all important first impression. Visitors to the site will simply lose interest and go elsewhere if they are not impressed by what they see.
It is possible for photographs to be enhanced digitally. This is usually carried out using specialist software such as Adobe Photoshop. Obviously, dimensions of the property cannot be altered, that would be unethical, and dishonest. However, any property looks better with a blue sky in the background, and it is not always feasible to wait for that perfect clear day to come around. With a few minor adjustments, a clear blue sky and a bright beautiful home can be on view.
One of the best investments to make for the website is a virtual tour. It is possible to do this without professional help, but that will involve buying the software used to "stitch" together the images that make up the virtual tour. They are best described as a user-controlled, 360 degree view from a fixed point (usually of a particular room). By providing a virtual tour of each room in the property, it provides the visitors to the site with an online experience of what it would be like to be in each room. This is particularly important for buyers from outside the region. On the internet, these people could be anywhere in the world, and they are able to check out the property for sale as if they were there.
The ideal scenario is to use a professional website designer. A professional will be able to advise and suggest appropriate color schemes, fonts and so on for the site. If the site looks amateur and cheap, the viewer will see the property in the same light. What is needed is a high quality, desirable site which reflects a high quality, desirable property.
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