Using the Web and social media to sell real estate

Statistics tell us that almost ninety per cent of the people looking for a new house start their search online and make their first selection from the screen of their computer before going out and looking at the house for real. It is a fact and yet the majority of people which trying to sell a house don’t try to leverage the Web to its full potential.

The Web has become a key vehicle for selling your house.

Home owners go as far as placing a few ads on Craigslit, which is great for procuring phone calls but then you need to sift through a number of people, most of which probably don’t even qualify. Many Realtors instead advertise the property on the MLS (the service that allows Realtors to pitch properties to one another) and on “many other minor sites” they don’t even know the name of, but don’t take the time to create their own presence on the Web.

I myself recognize everyday that I need to do more and to leverage more the power of the Web because I realize that more and more it is becoming the crossroad for all transactions, from the minor purchase of an eBook to the major purchase of a house.

Why people are holding themselves back from using this incredible tool? Five misunderstandings or myths that get in everybody’s way:

Myth or misunderstanding 1: leads gathered online don’t work
Leads coming from the Web as just as good as the leads you can get from a magazine, a newspaper, an open house, fliers or bandit signs. They will have different effectiveness depending on the area or the type of property you sell, but they work nonetheless. The quality of a lead depends on your ability to qualify it and to close.

Myth or misunderstanding 2: you don’t need a web site or a blog
Official statistics show that almost ninety percent of home buyers go on the Web first. If you have a presence there you have the chance of contacting them even before they start looking for a new home (offering them services that can be provided through a site), you can pre-qualify them and you can show them you properties as soon as they are available.

Myth or misunderstanding 3: you need to be an expert in technology to do it
As a matter of fact, people with little or no technical experience are doing much better on the Web than the technical expert ones. You can build a site with no technical experience using templates already done for you, the most difficult part is having a plan and knowing what to do in order top get results in the real estate field.

Myth or misunderstanding 4: you can’t afford to have a web site
Let’s forget about the free sites that are not adequate for the purpose of real estate marketing, but you can still get a professional site developed and active for few hundred dollars. It is much more expensive not to have one. The success of your Internet presence won’t depend on how much you spend on the site itself but on how much work or bright ideas you put into it.

Myth or misunderstanding 5: the competition is too strong
The competition is a good thing. When you have competitors then you know you are doing the right thing, and the only way to reduce the pressure by your competitors is by being there yourself and conquering your share of it.

Roberto Mazzoni