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Health & Fitness

BLOG: Online Appeal is the New Curb Appeal, Will your Home Shine?

The importance of your Home's Online Appeal has surpassed the traditional Curb Appeal. Standing out Online can be accomplished with a good plan!

My belief is … it’s finally happened. The importance of your home’s online appeal has surpassed the traditional curb appeal! This doesn’t mean we should ignore your true curb appeal, your home still needs to look inviting from the street as potential buyers drive by, or pull up to the house for a showing.

It does mean your listing must look good online, just to be noticed, it must look great online to be competitive in today’s market. It was only a few years ago that having your listing advertised on various websites was a wonderful marketing edge. Those of us Realtors who adopted Internet advertising during the early stages were rewarded with increased sales for our clients. Just being on the internet gave our listings a competitive edge.

Now, nearly every listing is online and usually on many sites including the Listing Brokerage, Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow and other sites. The competitive edge and the 'Wow Factor' for your listing online are now achieved, not by just being on websites, but rather by how appealing your home looks online.

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Standing out online can be accomplished with a good plan!

Start by performing the extreme de-cluttering explained in my previous post. Next be sure to have great photographs; this is so important. I hire a professional photographer to take the pictures for all of my listings, it makes such a difference! Post the maximum number of photos allowed by each of the premium websites. Be sure to have lots of descriptive text under each photo. Text needs to be enticing, targeted to help potential buyers ‘see themselves living in the home’. Add a virtual tour, slide show, and a link to take buyers over to a custom website made just for your home.

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There are more tricks and tips, but this should give you a good idea of the basics. According to Realtor.com, homes with a virtual tour are viewed 50 percent more often than homes without a tour. Some websites claim that listings with multiple photos are viewed 300 percent more than homes with only one photo.

Find more information to help you sell your home at www.SellingSouthoftheRiver.com.

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