Selling a house used to be an ordeal. While the current process still involves multiple agents, banks, and housing regulations, our modern digital lives have actually made selling a house faster and easier.
If you have one of those dreaded “moving deadlines” looming and need to get your house off the market as quickly as possible — and at the right price — then start using social media. Social networking sites offer various excellent ways to show off your property to the maximum number of people.
Here are six ideas to get you started.
1. Facebook reminders
Word of mouth works better on a social network. When your house first hits the market, start posting about it on Facebook so your friends know and can share the news with their friends or anyone they know who is looking to purchase property.
Keep your posts as interesting as possible: add photos and always link to a site where viewers can get in touch with the right Realtor. It’s important to avoid overloading your Facebook profile with these statuses, though. Post one announcement when your house is first for sale, then use other posts to explain any key changes, such as an adjusted price.
2. YouTube tours
Video tours are becoming a common tactic when selling a house on the Web. Don’t let the opportunity pass you buy to create your own tour.
It doesn’t have to be slick or complicated: several minutes is enough time to go through your rooms, show off a few nice features, and explore any landscape your house may include. Posting a video to YouTube is a very easy process, and once it’s online you can freely share it with friends on multiple social networks.
3. Blog links
If you or a close friend has a blog, be sure to create a quick article that showcases your house. Blog articles have several advantages in the social world. First, they allow for a more narrative experience: an in-depth description of the house and how you have improved it that Realtor descriptions simply don’t accomplish.
Second, blogs are often interlinked and shared in order to increase blog rankings and search engine results, channels of communication, or discovery that typical social posts do not allow for.
4. Professional campaigns
If you want to take an active hand in selling — especially if you’re not using an agent — then consider creating a more in-depth campaign through social networks like Twitter. If you want, you can pay extra to post an official ad on Google or use the business-oriented Twitter cards to show off your house, but there are plenty of cost-free campaigns you can mount, too.
Create a list of posts, tied around a central theme, and post them consecutively, one every few days or so. Make your theme especially interesting and tied to the unique benefits, attractions, or quirks of your home.
5. Use photo galleries
If you want a simple way to show off your home, start snapping photos! If you create a photo gallery of your own, you can include far more photos than your agent can post on an official website.
You can spotlight interesting nooks or angles that may otherwise get overlooked. Once completed, you can post your photos to a number of different photo gallery sites, or simply share them via Facebook and Twitter.
6. Find professionals on LinkedIn
LinkedIn may not be the best place to post pictures of your house and try to get it sold, but the site could be excellent for initial research when you’re looking for an agent. Choosing an agent who has a well-developed LinkedIn profile may help you get someone who will use social media on his or her end to help you find the best seller as fast as possible.