A picture is worth a 1000 words?
Actually it’s worth much more than that. A picture can be worth the sale of your home.
Potential buyers (especially those up north that are considering a home purchase in Naples) love to look at photos of homes for sale. They don’t have access to a property through open houses, or through showing appointments (that comes later). They need to fall in love with your home before they arrange for a trip to come view in person. Here are several points you need to keep in mind:
- 89% of buyers start their search for a home on the Internet.
- Most of our Naples buyers live somewhere else. They need good photos and as many photos as possible.
- Don’t miss an excellent opportunity for maximum exposure to buyers in the US, Canada and worldwide. When your home goes on the MLS, it is automatically copied by 100s and 100s of websites on the internet. One of the great tools for home sellers like yourself.
- Chances are that your perfect buyer will fall in love with your home for the same features and amenities that attracted you in the first place. Try to recall what made you fall in love with your home when you bought it. Was it the walking distance to the beach? give them a photo of your favorite beach. Was it the spacious kitchen? give them 2 photos of that kitchen. Have a photo of your family and friends in that beautiful lanai/pool area of yours, when you were celebrating a sepcial event? Don’t be shy, share it with your potential buyers – let them picture themselves doing the same when they purchase your home.
Here is a “Do” and “Don’t”
- Buyers hardly read anything, but they do check the photos. I can tell you from experience, as much as buyers are spending hours a day surfing the net for their dream home, they hardly ever read anything. Once they fall in love through the photos, the next step is calling an agent for more information (usually already provided) and to schedule a showing.
- Agents also search the MLS looking for listings with the most and best photos to forward to their out of town clients. If your home is advertised with 2 or 4 pictures, it won’t make the list.
- Buyers sort homes by the photos presented. As an experienced and seasoned agent with strong Internet presence, I can track my visitors on our website www.StepsToTheBeach.com and follow what they searched for or looked at. 80% of the time, they click on the photo/gallery button and not the features.
- There is no excuse for bad, low quality photos. Presuming that you hire a true experience professional to market your home (and not just a friend of the family or neighbor), with today’s unlimited software programs, your agent should be able to brighten a photo, use contrast to enhance, crop to take out a door in the way of a shot or use color to enrich the picture and bring it to life.
- Be a little involved in the marketing of your home – ask your agent to share the photos taken before going on the MLS, to make sure you both decide on the best photos to represent your home.
Our local Sunshine MLS system allows for 24 photographs to be posted on each home listing and there is no excuse whatsoever for this maximum not to be utilized to help sell your home. The photographs can include community amenities, local beaches and details of workmanship inside of the house – they don’t need to be limited to the typical front elevation shot and empty rooms. Photos have the power of emotion, creating interest and making a buyer connect to your home. Photos are your subliminal marketing tool – don’t underestimate their power.
Quality photos bring calls from potential buyers – calls bring showing appointments – showing appointments bring a chance at a sales contract.
Call Ellie @ (239) 776-5077 if you are thinking of selling your home and you believe in the power of photographs.
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