When you are dealing with people’s properties, whether it is a sale or a purchase, you are most likely dealing with one of their biggest assets. You are also likely talking about a very emotional decision, except perhaps for real estate investors. And if you are in a vacation spot, you are probably dealing with a lot of out-of-staters, either buying a second home, or buying a future retirement home.
So why are your websites all looking alike? And why do you not work a little harder to make your listings stand out?
In the grand scheme of things, paying a little more to have unique photography on your site, tailored copy, and a design that is somewhat different from your competitor down the street is a no-brainer. How are people to decide to come and talk with you if the only compelling reason you give them on your website is that you are “the best?” Or that you know the Upper Valley the best?
If all your listings are categorized by town, the same way your competitors are doing it, and all your images are nice landscape images, the same type that your competitors are using, how are we to decide between them? Besides the fact that most of those images belong on travel sites, not real estate sites. If your “about us” pages are just corporate-speak, and of full of boring bios, the same way your competitors are listing their “about us” section, how can we differentiate?
The same is true with listings. A few phone snapshots and up goes the listing. Did you know that every time we shoot a property with a pro photographer, it sells in no time? People are visual creatures, and they react to visual stimuli. They will first look at property images before they dig deeper into the details. If you sell 5 more properties a year because of professional photography — how much more income is that? And you decide to forego that by saving a couple of hundred dollars on a pro photographer?
A nice website with compelling stories about you and attractive visuals does not need to cost a fortune. Plus, the fact that it can be updated, and that it will likely last for years, makes for an easy ROI.
Do yourself a favor and stand out from the crowd.
