You remember Name that Tune, don’t you? Contestants in the 1970s and 80s would bid to see how little information they need to identify a particular song, usually some big band standard or another that folks used to sing around the piano or listen to on those big wireless radios back in the day.
It was an entertaining game, a fun show … and it’s absolutely inappropriate to play the same game with your home when you want it to sell.
Many sellers going it alone rely on the free listing options out there – Zillow and craigslist, most often – to promote their home. Neither is particularly effective.
Craigslist, for instance, aside from being the birthing pool of scammers foreign and domestic, limits listings to four photographs in addition to the description.
Take a look at your own home and decide … do four photographs really tell the entire story? Do they relate not just the basic features of the home, but the less obvious, less concrete sense of what life in your home, your neighborhood would be like?
On Zillow, many unrepresented sellers make the same mistake as many agents – rehashing the features of the home that already are listed below in the home details. When the listing already says there are 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, there’s no reason to waste precious characters stating the same.
Don’t tell buyers there are granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. Relate to them how it feels to be cooking in your kitchen with the counter space, the upgrades appliances and all the rest.
Have a swimming pool? Great. So does have the Valley. What makes yours different? It’s the picture you paint in the description, matched by professional photographs that allow buyers to see themselves with their floaties on.
Don’t make buyers think too hard and don’t leave them with only three or four notes to decide whether your home is the right one for them.
Play the whole song and make it as vibrant as you can.
