All brokers have access to Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). But believe it or not, very few really know how to use it. Here are 10 things we know that most others don't.
TAKE GREAT PHOTOS! Then use readily available photo editing software to edit, crop, and size them. Photos need to be consistantly sized using a 3x4 height to width ratio so they'll look good across all sites regardless of their sizing conventions or display format. We use 1200 x 1600 finished as our standard.
UPLOAD PHOTOS IMMEDIATELY! We edit our photos and video in advance of even starting to input a new listing. As soon as we upload the data, we immediately start uploading photos. MLS listings are instantly available to both brokers and the public. A broker who waits to upload photos runs the ominous risk of presenting a listing to the world, with no photos.
VIDEO IS IN! Virtual tours were all the rage a couple of years ago. Now they're just slow and boring. Last year YouTube was serving-up 12 billion videos a month. So we started producing full-motion video with voice-over and sound-tracks for display on YouTube. We now routinely produce 30-second, 60-second, and "full-length" features quickly and effectively.
COMPLETE THE LISTING! Not all fields are required and many brokers are very sloppy about submitting incomplete listings. In today's market, buyers demand complete information before they make the decision to purchase.
PROVIDE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS! As with photos, we scan supporting documents before we begin to input your listing. That gives brokers immediate access to required documents such as the property disclosure, legal description, and plat map.
THEY'RE MARKETING REMARKS! Not just a string of abbreviations and poor grammar which, unfortunately, seems to be the norm. Marketing remarks should sell the fantastic lifestyle someone will achieve by purchasing your home and living where you live. True, we are limited to 500 characters, but copy writers have been writing very succinct and persuasive ads for years using fewer. Also, before submitting marketing remarks to the MLS, read, re-read, spell check, read again, and have somebody else read them.
USE KEYWORDS! I know most brokers don't get this one yet. Keywords are what you use to find things on the Internet. Looking for a waterfront home in Olympia? Google "waterfront", "home", "olympia", or some reasonable variation. We use keywords in the marketing remarks, photo descriptions, and video descriptions.
PRICE IN ROUND NUMBERS! If you want to list your home for $800,000 and your broker suggests $799,950, fire your broker immediately! It may work in retail where you're trying to grab someone's attention as they walk through your store, but on the internet, it's all about search parameters. In the above example, your home will be found in a search from $700,000 to $800,000, but not $800,000 to $900,000. Price it at $800,000 and you'll be found in both searches. Do some searches and you'll soon discover that only about 1 in 10 brokers have figured this out.
PICK A ROLL-OUT DATE! Wednesday or Thursday is the best day for your home to hit the market as much of what happens in real estate happens on the week-end. A complete listing, with all photos, video, and supporting documents hits the market Thursday morning. As brokers start their day they see your new listing and call their buyers to schedule a showing. Or, a buyer sees your listing hit the market via one of our feeds, they call their broker to schedule a showing.
THERE'S NO SECOND CHANCE! As soon as your listing hits the MLS, it starts disseminating to Websites, portals, search engines, social sites, sharing sites, and more. If your listings gets to NWMLS with bad photos, incomplete data and lame marketing remarks, you'll probably be stuck with at least some of that for the duration of your listing a beyond. Some portals and sites update daily, some weekly, and some are one time uploads only. These days on the Internet, there's no second chance to get it right.
waterfront real estate
waterfront real estate
Landing Page for "olympia waterfront real estate"
We also place a Google "QR Code" on your sign riders, flyers, and other printed advertising. If you have a smart phone with a QR Reader application installed, you can simply use your smart phone's camera to read the QR Code, which takes you directly to the unique Web Page we've designed for your waterfront. Try it on the QR Code to the right.
