Archive for category: Ideas & Advice

Everyone has a different idea of the perfect house. Some people envision a quaint ranch home with the perfect little white fence while others dream of a classic Victorian filled with character and charm while others like a clean, modern esthetic or prefer the lower maintenance of condo living. While many homes appeal to a wide array of buyers, some homes have a more niche appeal. Homes that have been converted from their original (usually commercial) forms fall into that list. While the real estate market continues to sizzle as homes are in short supply and demand is rising, these converted homes and their unique features can require a bit more specialized marketing to sell.

Show ‘Em What You Got

The first thing to do when selling a unique home is to have excellent pictures. Most buyers have never thought of living in a “luxe bohemian converted barn” or “modernized industrial train depot” so high quality pictures help transition buyers from intrigued to interested.

Think Outside the Box

A unique home tends to be a point of extreme pride for those who live there, but it does take a unique buyer when trying to sell. These properties often come at a higher price point than a standard single family home, so they aren’t for every buyer. Advertising for a unique property should be done in all the usual channels (MLS if you’re an agent or working for one, for example), but it’s also a good idea to think a little differently. Trying to sell a mushroom home? Why not let a local mushroom hunter-foragers group know it’s for sale? Got a gypsy style converted barn? You’d be remiss to not tell the local artist community.

Find the Story

Few people move into a unique property because it was just a random house in their price range and even fewer take on a conversion project without a reason. There is almost always a story to tell; maybe they have a special connection to the building in its original use or maybe they’re handy and were looking for a creative way to use their talents. Maybe they inherited the building and were inspired to revitalize it. Whatever the case may be, the story behind it can help generate more buzz on a larger scale than just “there’s a new house for sale.” Questions to ask about the property can include:

• How long have you owned/ lived in the property?
• What made you decide to do a project like this?
• Why did you decide to convert the train depot specifically (love trains, great opportunity for local project, etc)?
• Did you do it yourself or hire someone?
• What was the most difficult part about the project?
• What was your favorite part of the process?
• Did the reality live up to your expectations?
• What’s your favorite part of the current property?
• What’s your advice for someone taking on a project like this?

If your listing has a great story, make sure to share the story on social media and share it with local media outlets — you never know when a slow news day will lead to your property being featured!

Show It Off

While selling a unique home can be a challenge, it can also be a lot of fun! These properties have a “WOW” factor that many cookie cutter homes do not. Once you have good photos and a listing description that is well written and keyword-filled, you’re ready to show it off. Social media and content aggregation sites like Buzzfeed tend to go nuts over beautiful, funky, and unique homes and can bring tons of exposure to the property which in turn increase your opportunities to sell.

Still struggling to get the exposure you need to sell your unique home? RealtyHive offers marketing programs and time-limited events that help to create the exposure you need when it comes to selling a unique home!

The real estate industry is constantly being reinvented by new technologies and consumer preferences. While some things like good follow up and strong negotiation skills never go out of style, times have certainly changed. Here are a few of the most common mistakes smart agents make and how you can easily fix them to see a positive impact in your business and your bottom line.

Using the Wrong Address Format
When listing a piece of real estate for sale, one of the most basic pieces of information is the address of the property. Typically, this is something simple that the sellers tell agent and the agent never questions. After all, the seller should know the property best, right? While it may seem obvious how the property address should be entered into the multiple listing service (MLS) and other property portals, it’s wise to double check how common GPS services, like Google Maps, display the address. If you list the property as located at “12345 Cty Rd T N”, but Google doesn’t use the same type of naming style, your success is likely to be minimized simply because potential buyers can’t easily figure out where a property is.
Take Away: Double check to make sure you can easily find the property with your GPS. If your GPS seems to know the area, but just has trouble differentiating between “N” and “North” or “Cty” and “County” or some other small change, choose the version that GPS prefers to be found more easily.

Writing Listing Descriptions for Agents
It used to be that real estate agents would almost exclusively list their properties on the MLS. Many MLS’ have character limits and only other agents could access these listings meaning that soon the industry was taken over by jargon and in-the-know abbreviations. Have a w/o LL in your 4bd/2.5ba sfr? No problem! Nowadays, the process is very different. According to a survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, 44% of recent buyers started their home search process by looking online, while only 17% decided to first contact a real estate agent.
Take Away: Write your listing descriptions with the buyer in mind. Avoid jargon or abbreviations that aren’t known by the general public, even if you think they are obvious. Buyers are more likely to find your listing before they find an agent to translate so keeping your audience in mind will help to successfully connect with them.

Not Having Enough Photos
As an agent, sometimes you list a property that is in, to put it nicely, appalling condition. Maybe there were destructive tenants, an abandoned major construction project, or a tragic situation. In any event, traditional knowledge would say to simply show the exterior of the property with some sort of euphemism in the description such as “ready for your creative touch” or “tons of potential, just needs your TLC”. These phrases are overused and buyers feel like their time has been wasted when they go to view a property that “needs some TLC” and realize it actually needs to be condemned.
Take Away: Sometimes you can’t get interior photos because of tenant privacy, but it’s important to portray the property accurately. While you can sell properties sight-unseen (as happens with many foreclosure and short sale properties), in most cases it’s in your favor to actively show potential buyers what they’re up against.

Giving Too Much Detail
More isn’t always better when it comes to listing descriptions. The goal is to give enough information that a potential buyer will have their interest piqued, but not so much that they’ll get lost in a sea of features and adjectives. It is important to list the features that may show up in a buyer’s search (open concept, in-ground pool, or split bedroom design), but not so much that you need to detail that there is a “Swarovski crystal encrusted fireplace accented by a hand-polished travertine mantle”.
Take Away: While being detailed and thorough is a good thing, you want to make sure to leave a reason for the buyer to call or schedule a showing. Also, don’t lose people in a sea of text — when possible, use bullet points or paragraph breaks to keep your message clear.

Avoiding Auctions
In Europe and Australia, auctions are seen as a great way to expose a property to a large number of buyers and the competition among buyers leads to a fair sales price, however real estate agents in the U.S. tend to hesitate to even mention the word “auction” to their clients.  This negative connotation is likely because in the US auctions are most commonly seen in foreclosure proceedings. The stigma is then perpetuated by a  lack of knowledge about the benefits of auctions.
Take Away: Auctions are a great way to increase the buyer pool by having a range price that is attractive to a wider audience. This wide audience then creates the competition necessary to increase the final sales price. In a soft auction, like those run by RealtyHive, home sellers are then able to choose whether to accept the winning bid and continue on to a sale or hold off for a higher offer. Learn more about RealtyHive Time-Limited Events here.

Have you noticed any other common missteps? Have any tips you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!