If you are a home owner and you are wondering what is the best way to sell your house, the answer might be video home tours.
The year 2020 poses a number of challenges to home owners looking to sell their property. Particularly during the lockdown caused by Covid 19.
Not being able to conduct viewings meant that home owners’ plans were disrupted. To most that just meant a delay in their plans but to some unfortunate owner, this could mean a monetary loss due to previous commitments.
During this period, however, you will notice that there are still property transactions that took place. Many of them are due to virtual viewings and video home tours.
Some buyers purchased properties even without stepping foot unto the property. The mentality of buyers are changing and so should owners who are marketing their property for sale. Let’s discuss why we think that video home tours are the best way to sell your house.
The “traditional” way
What most owners/ property agents do is they list the property for sale on a property portal. Doing a quick search on a property portal will reveal hundreds of similar units for sale in a certain estate, this is especially true for HDB properties. When you list your property up on these portals, your listing will be among the hundreds of listings waiting to be chanced upon by a potential buyer.
This rather passive mode of marketing means you will be playing the waiting game. Even when you do get a potential buyer that views your listing, it might not have captured the attention of the buyer. Most of the time, the properties are represented by photos that does not do the house justice. Poorly lit and ill composed photographs does little to appeal to the interest of potential buyers.
Unless it is somehow part of your agent’s strategy, leaving your property unsold for a long time usually means bad news. You might end up lowering your price to make your property look more attractive .
Property portals are great and absolutely essential to marketing your property. But is there more you could be doing to increase the chances of selling your home?
We think video home tours are the answer.
What is a video home tour and how does it benefit you
A video home tour is a short video clip, usually with an agent or presenter highlighting the features of the property for sale. It should be professionally shot in a format that is easy to distribute online.
Why it works:
Highlight the features
Showcase the best features of your property in a cinematic way and leave a lasting visual impact. Create value in your property by bringing attention to its highlights.
This helps the buyer understand your asking price and connect it to the values of the property.
Conduct viewings 24/7
Lockdown? No problem. Having digital content means potential buyers can view your property at any time of their convenience. This makes it easy for agents to share your property to interested parties. Faster and wider reach result in better chances of finding you the right buyer.
Active Vs Passive marketing
Aside from having your listing up on a property portal and waiting for a buyer to chance on it. Having a video home tour means your agent can market your property using digital marketing. Your property can now be actively marketed on digital platforms in the form of targeted advertisements. This could significantly cut down the time it takes to find you a buyer.
Reach thousands of potential buyers
While it is not possible to bring thousands of buyers to your home, your property can get thousands of views online. Video home tours puts your property on mobile phones that is in the palms of everyone these days. A potential buyer can view your property while scrolling though their social media feed. Even if the viewer might not be a potential buyer, they might know someone who is and share your video with them. Getting sufficient exposure means you could be getting more interest for your property, resulting in a better price.
Quality Viewings
Imagine having to take the afternoon off your busy schedule just to attend a viewing that is barely 5 minutes. If you have a video home tour, most buyers would have already seen your property in video before coming to view in-person. This means the viewings you conduct will be of a higher quality with better chances of closing the sale.
Points to consider
Home Staging
Showing your home in its best state would be ideal for a video home tour. A neat and tidy home feels much more welcoming than a cluttered one.
Stepping into a home with personal items on display can make buyers feel like they are in someone else home. Instead, remove personal effects like pictures and awards so potential buyers can better visualize themselves living in the space. If they can already see themselves living there, chances are you will get a offer.
Should you already have moved out of your home, you should consider staging your empty house with some furniture. You don’t have to furnish all the rooms, instead focus on the living room, dining area and master bedroom. The living room needs to make a good first impression as it is usually the first room a buyer will enter.
At the heart of every household is the dining area, furnishing it will make the house feel warm and welcoming. The decision makers are likely going to be the ones utilising the master bedroom, they need to feel comfortable and see themselves in that space.
In the case of most properties, an inexpensive fresh coat of paint will up-lift signs of aging. Just a simple touch like this could significantly increase your chances of selling.
For more advice on home staging or contacts to contractors, simply contact us at Insight Homes. We are more than happy to help.
Presenter’s style and delivery
In most cases, the presenter for your home tour is likely going to be your property agent representing you. Not every agent has experience speaking on camera and is comfortable to be in a video publicly. Having an agent/ presenter with good poise and speaks well will result in a more enjoyable home tour. This leaves a better impression with the buyers and is more likely to get you a viewing in-person.
Cost
Not all agents will be argeeable to bear the costs of producing and marketing a video home tour. It usually costs around $800-$2000 to produce a video and hundreds more to market it online. This will eat into the bottom line of your agents commission, your agent might be reluctant to incur extra costs. Some agents might increase their commisson or ask you to split the costs with them to cover the expenses. Not every agent has adapted to this new standard in marketing and might not be well versed in media production or digital marketing.
At Insight Homes, we believe that we should bear the marketing cost. We do not charge our clients for producing a video home tour or for digital marketing.
We go the extra mile and strive to deliver better results to our clients at no extra cost.
Video home tours are probably going to be the new standard in marketing property. It is a tool every home owner should consider using when selling their house.
If you are selling your home, you could be missing out if you are not using a video home tour.
Insight Homes can produce one for FREE, simply contact us for a consultation.
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