How To Attract More Property Viewings

Selling a house is like an online dating – you want to present your best features, but honesty is key!

Great photos might do the trick online, but will they be enough to get you viewings and more importantly offers?

If your Wirral home has been stagnating on the market for a while then this blog is for you.

Many clients come to me, irritated that not only have they not received an attractive offer on their property, but that viewing numbers have also dwindled.

The harsh reality is in 2024, the homes that have a well structured marketing plan and are exceptionally presented from day one receive the offers. The longer a property stays on the market, the less chance you have of receiving a suitable offer, without resorting to tactics such as price reductions.

However, on a positive note, you can hold your agent accountable and help sell your property faster, by being armed with the appropriate knowledge.

Simply follow our guidance below and take control of how effectively your home is being marketed.

ARRANGE FOR NEW, PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS

Far to often, photography is carried out by someone from within the estate agency, with limited skills, experience and equipment. You can browse through any property portal and you’ll see a whole bunch of “point and click” attempts by estate agents.

Remember, your future buyer is looking to purchase a lifestyle, not just the bricks and mortar to put a roof over their head. The majority of buyers aren’t able to imagine living in an empty room for example. Equally, a messy room can easily leave a bad impression.

The first task is to “dress” the house appropriately. Take the time to clear away all the clutter and any personal items. This will help procespective buyers to use their imagination when viewing and will also give the impression that the house is more spacious.

Once you’re satisfied that the property is clean, tidy and screams either country or city living, then it’s time to capture that image on camera. It’s a fact that over 90% of buyers begin their property search online, so your photography needs to be exceptional in order to capture their interest and prevent them from moving on in. It’s rare that this standard of lifestyle photography can be achieved in-house, so a good estate agent will always call upon a renowned professional photographer to capture the best images of your home.

ROTATE YOUR IMAGES!

From your selection of professional photographs, there will always be one or two which will act as “The Money Shot”. These often help to create the “wow factor” you want your buyers to engage with, showing your home in its best light, and should always be displayed first. However, in order to keep presenting the property in a fresh light and to help prevent marketing stagnation, the remaining photographs should be shown in rotation. This can help to alter a buyer’s perception.

CONSIDER PREMIUM AND FEATURED LISTINGS

Property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla offer paid-for added extras, to help a property listing stand out from the crowd. Research has shown that the viewer’s eye is naturally drawn to items which stand out, providing them with a better chance of receiving enquiries and viewings.

A premium listing can increase interest in your property by 33% and increase the number of viewings received by around 25%. A premium listing home can normally be identified by a symbol and/or different coloured background. It will include more photographs and information than the standard listings.

A featured property listing on the other hand, can increase interest in your property by up to 40%. Taking the form of an advert, featured properties will always appear at the top of a search results page, ensuring that they’re seen before any of the competition… and your home is in competition.

Unfortunately, many estate agents don’t offer either of these options to sellers. Why? Simply because they are costlier than a standard listing and must inevitably be funded by the agency which in turn, has a negative impact on their profit margin.

The rule here is very simple…

Any estate agent which refuses to market your home as a premium or featured property listing shouldn’t  be marketing your home and should be avoided at all costs.

CHECK THE DESCRIPTION

Many estate agents have an in-house vocabulary. They use the same adjectives and descriptions over and over again in the hope that viewers won’t realise that they’ve said precisely the same thing about 20 other properties in the area.

How often have you read the words “deceptively spacious”, “popular area” and “conveniently situated”? This is a lazy way of marketing a property, and it usually fails to highlight the key benefits and lifestyle of the house.

When it comes to crafting an eye-catching property description, less is almost always more. The first couple of lines should draw the eye, the property description should focus on the key benefits and lifestyle of the property and/or its situation. There should also be a strong call to action, prompting the buyer to click to find out more. Do your own online property search and see which listings you’re immediately drawn to. Is your property description as effective as that?

CHANGE THE MARKETING PRICE

Let’s get one thing clear – I’m not talking about reducing the price you want to achieve for your home!

You may be surprised to learn that how you present the price of your home can alter the demographic of the potential buyer. For example, instead of setting the price at a firm £390,000, why not show you’re open to negotiation by stating “Offers in excess of £380,000”?

Always remember that it is the estate agent’s job to utilise some or all of these tried and tested methods, to achieve the price you want in the shortest time possible.

Armed with this knowledge, you’ll now be in a position to recognise how to market your property effectively and ensure that your agent is fully on board with the strategy.

If you think it would be beneficial to learn more about our unique marketing methods when selling a Wirral home, you can connect to us directly via WhatsApp or by calling us on 0151 662 0312