As a Real Estate Agent why should I Blog?

This is a question that I get asked often. Many real estate agents today are looking for something other than the old stand by web page. With a lot of Real Estate agents web pages today the data and information they put on their site is static and not dynamic. In many cases they are sites that were created 5 years ago and never touched again with the exception of a dynamic listings search. The typical real estate agent site will have links that say, “Search for Homes” “For Buyers”  “For Sellers” “About Me” “ My Listings”. In toady’s world of dynamic information and news, customers are tired and board with seeing this over and over again. They want something that is engaging, that connects them to this person and information that they can’t get else where. Agents tend to be a wealth of knowledge that relates to communities, neighborhoods, and Legal issues with the housing market and lots of other great useful information that frankly you can’t find on their website or it is so buried that it can’t be found.

With a blog you have the ability to take that knowldge and get it out to the people that are looking for it on a daily basis. A blog allows you to write your thoughts and ideas and share information in a far more dynamic arena. A lot of agents are afraid to blog because they don’t think they can write or  they just don’t have the time. Both of these are excuses and can be overcome with a little direction and help.

Your Blog can be used to tell it like it is on a Neighborhood level and allow you to become the expert. You can write on many different topics that help educate both the buyer and the seller about your profession, the process of buying and selling and just how great, or not so great areas are in the communities you serve.

Don’t get me wrong websites can do this to but the work required to keep your site up is not a easy as adding an article daily or weekly to your blog. If you want to get started with a blog watch this great video that really gets right to the meat of what a blog is and then think abouit  takeing  Windermere’s blogging class to get you going in the right direction. To see the windermere classes visit Windermere’s Blog

Great Video on Blogs
 

How to create the best real estate multimedia presentation online

 

Recently Windermere did a study and In April 2008, we contracted  Hoi-Yin (Hoi-Yin Lo, is an independent consultant with a master’s degree in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) from the University of Michigan. She has been a user experience researcher for over 7 years and had served as a consultant at Microsoft, Intel, and Zillow. ) was hired by Windermere to conduct independent user research on what buyers look for in a real estate multimedia presentation (also known as virtual tour). She wrote a white paper  to help selling agents use their marketing money wisely by creating the best multimedia presentation online. The research also serves to advise Windermere on the best way to create real estate multimedia presentations.

I’m not going to go into great detail here but I want to make some points about marketing a home on-line and this is backed up by our recent studies.

Many agents today really focus on the Seller as to what is going to please them when it comes to how the home will get marketed. I think the we as real estate agents forget that what a seller wants to see is not what a buyer wants to see. Many virtual tours companies talk about how 9 out of 10 sellers love their features and there fore Mr. and Mrs. Real estate agent use our program. I have to tell you that Sellers don’t buy homes buyers do.

From our studies let me share with you what we found that buyers don’t like when they are on line looking at homes and images. Here they are.

Least desirable multimedia features

·         Auto-play slideshows

·         Background music

·         Audio commentary

·         Narratives instead of quick facts

·         Agent videos

·         Difficult-to-view videos

 

In many cases the number one viewers of virtual tours are the sellers not the buyers. So what do buyers want when it come to a good presentation here is what we found.

 

Most desirable multimedia content

·         Photos of different kinds and angles

o   Photos that show character of the property

o   Photos of closet spaces, flooring, garage and other details

o   Neighborhood photos

·         Detailed photo description that described amenities and dimensions of the room

·         Property and tax information

·         Neighborhood information

1.     Not all multimedia presentations are created equal – choose the best

To maximize chances of potential home buyers pursuing a listing, make sure to choose a real estate multimedia presentation that best accentuates the most desirable features and content of the presentation. The best-of-breed multimedia presentation will feature the following:

• Large, clear photos
• Photo description next to the photo
• Written descriptions of important facts about the property
• Floor plan or layout map
• Panoramic views of the property’s surroundings/neighborhood

TThe bottom line here is that as Real Estate Professionals we need to arm ourselves with information and then be able to articulate it to a seller as to how we are going to best represent their home to the pool of buyers that are out there looking. Remember just because the Seller thinks it is neat and fun doesn’t mean it will get more attention from a buyer.

 

Credit to Hoi-Yin Lo, User Experience Researcher