The September housing market inventory was up roughly 20{0a8e414e4f0423ce9f97e7209435b0fa449e6cffaf599cce0c556757c159a30c} in comparison to numbers from last year at the time.
With that being said, we are now into the time of year when inventory numbers begin to creep downwards until they begin to level out in the spring.
So how can real estate agents effectively attract more sellers so that they can keep their inventory numbers higher through the light periods of the year?
The answer to that question is very likely sitting on your desk or in your pocket: Smartphones.
Quick Tips: Use Mobile Technology to Market to Sellers
1. Have a Strong Mobile Presence
A strong mobile presence allows sellers to see your expertise in marketing their home, especially to Generation Y, and can give them confidence in the home being sold in an effective way.
Your site should be easy to use, finger friendly, load quickly on a mobile device, and it should have all of the content of your regular site. Your website should also scale so that someone using a smartphone or tablet can easily and seamlessly switch between devices.
There is nothing more powerful than placing a well designed mobile site in the hands of a potential seller during a listing presentation. Once they can see for themselves how well designed and easy to use your mobile presence is, they will be hooked.
2. Focus on What Sellers are Looking For
Think about the things that sellers want in a real estate professional. They want someone who is going to promote their property, sell it at the best possible price, and sell it as quickly as possible.
Think about how you can highlight those factors on your mobile presence. Some of the biggest complaints that sellers make are about transparency– more often than not their real estate professional failed to communicate with them. The listing presentation is a great time to go over all the ways you can reach out to, and keep your seller in the loop. with actionable information that they can use and access on their mobile devices.
This type of mobile focused, seller-first thinking will let them know that you take both their time and concerns seriously. Above all, communicate with your sellers on the devices they want to use. If that means sending a paper letter, so be it, but make sure you’re equipped to text or instant message (IM) with the best of them.
3. Attracting FSBO Sellers
In your neighborhood(s) there are likely several FSBO homes. We know from the research that FSBO properties tend to sell for significantly less money, and a full ? of these properties are not supported by any kind of marketing.
There are numerous guides online to help people move their property without the aid of areal estate professional.Some of the most effective ways to move a property, like creating a winning mobile presence for a listing, is sometimes too technologically savvy for owners.
The real work with attracting FSBO sellers is to show them that working with a real estate professional has value and can turn directly into income for them. The key to converting a FSBO property into a listing is talking directly with these sellers in person and possibly putting your mobile phone in their hands and show them one of your mobile listings. Let them play with it.
Then tell them how many people have looked at that listing in the last week. Use your mobile presence as one of your tools to show the value that you bring to the table as a real estate professional..
4. Post Helpful Blogs about Selling Homes
Creating incredible content on your site will not only be useful to anyone selling a home, but it will help to establish yourself as a local market expert. Perhaps you can create a blog series around the process your company went through to get a home ready for the market and its eventual sale. In your blog you could list an array of easy DIY projects that can help spruce up a home or help add to its value.
Additionally, your blog should also showcase your local community. The goal here is for people to see your company as an expert not in just selling homes, but also in their local market. Of course, all of this content should be maximized so that it works well and is easily accessible on a mobile device. These are just a few of the ways you can use mobile devices to reach out to sellers.
The key is to keep the seller and the user experience in mind. People are looking for sites that are easy to use, intuitive and full of all the content on your desktop site. What are some ways you can you think of to use smartphones to reach out to sellers?
