Vicki
- Sep 3, 2018

Does Your Real Estate Listing Stand Out?

My friend is a tenant who is now faced with moving due to the sale of the property she has been living in for less than a year. Hoping for at least a 2-3 year residence to allow her to save for her own property, the outlay to pay for another removal puts her dream back further than planned.

Bad imagery is not an option, be professional and proud of what you do.

As with most tenants, the search began for the ideal property online, where I've been helping. There are so many listings online with very minimal information and such horrendously bad imagery that I decided it was time to make some notes and share them with you all. (bad image shown from realestate.com.au listing)

Many of the principles apply to both rental and sales markets. A great agent will go the extra mile to ensure their clients’ needs are met.

Make your listing stand out and attract a great tenant! (or buyer)

1. Present it well with great images!

The best way to make your listing stand out is to show it at it’s best. An empty home may appear sterile and uninviting, while a well furnished, clean home can really show the possible use of the space.

We've all heard about staging a property for sale, but showcasing the property at it’s best can not only help lease or sell a home faster but the perceived value of the property can often be increased. A well staged home may sell or increase the rental value by as much as 20% more than a home that has been left empty when images are taken. Make good use of natural light and room structure.

A staged home makes beautiful real estate photos and increase clicks through to your listing. Clean, uncluttered and creative.

Cost of images and staging may often be a barrier, but more than 90% of well presented homes achieve a sale or lease within the first 14 days of listing, giving you a substantially faster turnaround than a home that is presented as clinical bare bones. Fabulous photography helps any listing stand out, but don't get into the trap of using artificial filters to give a false dimension, colour or light and mislead clients.

2. Highlight the best features of the property.

Make your listing memorable by directing attention to the listing’s best features. This can also draw attention away from the less desirable features of the property.

For example, if your listing has beautiful natural light or a newly renovated kitchen, be sure to highlight these attributes in both the listing description and imagery. These images should also appear earlier in order of the listing photos to reinforce the copy and create a point of difference.

3. Use keywords when describing the property.

Make your listing description and title stand out with functional keywords that potential buyers and tenants use to search their ideal property. Descriptive keywords that trigger the buyer/tenant imagination. Proximity to amenities, inclusions of the property, key features and emotive terms are all great examples.

Features of the property may include:

Air conditioning
Walk to the public transport
Close to shops
Hardwood or tiled floors
Stainless steel appliances including dishwasher
High ceilings
Park or city views
In-ground pool

Descriptive keywords include:

Beautiful
Lifestyle
Low maintenance
Brand new
Spacious
Stunning
Luxury features
Newly renovated

Knowing your target market and what the neighbourhood has to offer will assist in determining these keywords. Who are your potential tenants or buyers and what are they really looking for in lifestyle, amenities and features? A young family may be looking for proximity to schools while a maturing couple or active singles may be seeking close proximity to hotels, walking trails, cafes and restaurants.

The suburb profile tools on domain.com.au and realestate.com.au can greatly assist. The demographic I have used, from Domain, below is for Brighton, North of Brisbane, not far from where I live. Use the tool to determine your own suburb offerings and demographic.

The realestate.com.au tool works quite differently and shows the top three groups of people who live in that particular suburb, lifestyle offered and median property prices.

Both tools are extremely helpful, give them a try.

4. Floor plan and property location plan.

A floor plan not only ensures your listing stands out, it also helps reduce time wasted for all parties, you, the agent, and possible purchasers or tenants. A good floor plan needs to show the layout of the property, the number of rooms and their position as well as the size of each room in relation to the overall property.

Being able to visualise the flow of the property and how furniture might fit in each room allows potential tenants and purchasers to easily determine suitability of the property and move faster to make decisions. Boxbrownie.com offer very affordable services to recreate floor plans from hand drawn to 2D or 3D plans, and even virtual staging and floor and site plan combinations. Box Brownie will also virtually de-clutter, provide virtual staging and enhance your images ready to attract the best renters and buyers.

5. Use current and modern tools.

Showing clients, and potential tenants and buyers, that you are up to date with technology and know your stuff shows that you are serious about what you do.

For high rise apartments and luxury properties that are up for rent, consider conducting a virtual open house, live streamed on Facebook. This method is for particularly helpful to professional renters or buyers who are time poor and may not be able to attend the open house in person. It may also protect the asset on behalf of your client or reduce high foot traffic in common areas of apartment buildings. Answer questions quickly and honestly, become the agent they can respect and trust.

If you are active on Instagram, use Instagram stories to promote your open house and Facebook live stream. At the end of the day there are way more Facebook users than Instagram, but combine them to promote you and your event - talk it up; “Showing a luxury beachfront apartment right now (or from 1pm to 2pm, whichever applies) on Facebook Live. Use the link in my description to check it out!”

Prepare your property and yourself for the open house and don't forget to add premium and professional properties to your LinkedIn page or profile!