Guest article provided by: Alexandra Mulet from CUBIQZ USA
During these social distancing times and considering the amount of people fleeing large cities, if you have a home to sell, this is a great time to take advantage of a fast growing niche market and attract those remote virtual buyers, the ones that will only set foot on your property when they actually move in. This practice has a coined term, buying a property sight-unseen, and it has established itself strongly in the real estate scene.
In this new reality, a large growing number of transactions done in recent months show the scenario is here to stay and hence, as a home seller, this is a great time to capitalize on this new wave and have it play in your favor.
If you Google the term you will find the most common definition is “without inspection or appraisal“. To confidently do this, the buyer will need a proper strategy and among others, hire a trusted local team such as a realtor, an appraiser/inspector and a law firm to safely back up the operation.
So, in order to attract those virtual buyers, nothing better than sticking to the old “one picture is worth a thousand words”. In about 90% of the cases, your potential customer will most likely have started the home search on any of the internet platforms (Zillow, Realtor, Redfin). Competition will be tough and many listings will fight with yours for the winning place. The trick is to make your listing stand out and look much better than any other in order to attract as many potential buyers as possible.
To target the potential ‘sight unseen’ prospective buyers, all you need is to ensure your listing is not only visible in the MLS, but also that it is especially catchy and attractive. To this effect, the critical aspect to showcase are the visuals of the listing and how it is presented on a screen. Remember, customers will not visit the property until the very last part of the process, if at all. This clearly means that pictures, videos, floor plans and image enhancement will become an essential element in the listing. No doubt, the best way to go about this is to use some practical online tools, or even better, to hire a Pro, which can deliver the very best needed to impress the buyer and its local realtor representative.
But pictures can only be as good as the state of the property itself. Empty rooms or dirty and cluttered spaces will not show well on pictures or videos, independently of how good the photographer is. Staging is a key marketing tool and a must have when listing a property. Working with a professional home stager is a real game changer, as their expertise and knowledge ads much value to the sales process.
However, not all sellers are willing to invest large sums of money in marketing the property, especially in staging a vacant listing, hence many look for options. An excellent alternative is the use of a prop furniture solution for the staging like the one offered by CUBIQZ USA. It is a practical, elegant and cost efficient way to fill an empty space and create an inviting and cozy atmosphere. It can be a DIY project if the seller masters the staging techniques, although the intervention of a Pro will always bring optimal results.
Compared to virtual staging, placing actual pieces turns filming virtual tours or walkthroughs into a more realistic experience and room dimensions and furniture placements become much more clear to the viewer. Helping potential customers to visually and emotionally connect to the property is the best marketing investment you can do as it will surely lead to a faster sale.
So when thinking of selling, remember to befriend technology and the right marketing tools that will help you achieve your goal and move on.
Photo by Pixabay