Yes, the "First Showing" is Online
When a home buyer decides to look at a home again, agents will call this a “second showing”. Sometimes a third or fourth showing might be needed before a home buyer makes the decision to write up an offer, but it is important for you (Mr./Ms. Home Seller) to understand the new “first showing” concept.
There was a time when real estate agents would ask their clients to describe what they were looking for in a house. Okay, we still ask those questions because we know that everyone isn’t looking for the same exact home to buy. The idea is to get an idea of their style, hot button items or total turn offs. People can typically describe their turn offs without hesitating, but divulging their “likes” to their agent is a challenge. It really isn’t until people see things that they can form a clear picture.
These are the Vienna homes we want to see!
Today’s Home Buyers are totally different because they have already seen most of the houses in the area while sitting in their current home drinking coffee (or tea). Checking out homes online is the new national pastime taking place wherever people can surf the Internet.
Today’s first showing of a house is taking place online, and homes with poor photos suffer and those listings with few or no photos get totally ignored by the majority of the active buyers. So if you are one of today’s home sellers, then know that the buyers who are walking in your door are on their second showing.
My strategy for selling a home in Northern Virginia takes into account what I hear from buyers currently active in the market. If they all were screaming for videos rather than easily skimmed photos then I would probably take videos.
But really, would you sit through a 15 minute video tour? Let me know your thoughts on that…
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- Will Your Real Estate Offer Make the Cut? (dougfrancis.com)
- Yes, Reviews are Relevant (dougfrancis.com)
- Selling Your Home… have an FHA Mortgage? (dougfrancis.com)
