Bland but good
September 13th 2008 12:30
Why is my real estate age so surprised that people want to inspect my house? True, is has only been on the internet for one day, but shouldn't that be all it takes to reach people who are actively looking? Have they ever heard of instant alerts? Yet another hole in the way people look for stuff. First impressions are no longer the agent, or driving past the house and seeing a sign - it's the net. I rekon preparation is the key - good pics and a clear, logical message.
The agent just chucked any photo on the webpage, so I asked them to replace certain ones to create more of an online picture tour. I made them take down the text, and replace it with an accurate description of the property minus the sales speak. Well, most of the sales speak. Why do they think that hard sell will work in this day and age of literate cynacism? If I see an advertisement saying this is the best house in the whole world because it ``ticks all the boxes'', am I going to believe it? No, I am going to ignore the way the words are said, drill down to the facts (four bedrooms, two bathrooms, walk to beach...), look at the photos, load up a Google Map and Streetview, go to a house value calculator, check recent sales online, and then, if I am prepared to get serious about the property I will ring the agent for an inspection. I have basically already made my decision before I step foot in the house. I am less likely to get serious about a house if I don't know the price upfront, because that blows out the time it takes to make a judgement and keeps all the power with the real estate agent.
So, I digress. My agent was dumstruck that there was so much response to the real estate web listing. I think he was actually a little scared. If I now have that much controll over how my property is presented for sale, what on earth do I need him for?
The agent just chucked any photo on the webpage, so I asked them to replace certain ones to create more of an online picture tour. I made them take down the text, and replace it with an accurate description of the property minus the sales speak. Well, most of the sales speak. Why do they think that hard sell will work in this day and age of literate cynacism? If I see an advertisement saying this is the best house in the whole world because it ``ticks all the boxes'', am I going to believe it? No, I am going to ignore the way the words are said, drill down to the facts (four bedrooms, two bathrooms, walk to beach...), look at the photos, load up a Google Map and Streetview, go to a house value calculator, check recent sales online, and then, if I am prepared to get serious about the property I will ring the agent for an inspection. I have basically already made my decision before I step foot in the house. I am less likely to get serious about a house if I don't know the price upfront, because that blows out the time it takes to make a judgement and keeps all the power with the real estate agent.
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