When it comes to marketing your home online, your best bet is probably a seller’s agent with the industry tools, skills and know-how to effectively advertise your home on the multiple listing service (MLS). However, once your MLS listing is out in the world, you might find that broadcasting it with some powerful—and freely available—online tools will help you find the right buyer that much faster. Here are a few resources that could help boost your listing and get your home off the market in a jiff.
Social media
Chances are you’re already on a social media channel like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. You might even be on all of them! Here are some ideas for tapping into the power of social networks to increase your home listing’s visibility:
- Post the link to your home’s MLS listing in your personal feed and ask that friends tag in anyone they know who’s looking to buy.
- Join local Facebook groups (for example, Denver Area Classifieds for Denver-area sellers) and post your listing there. This can dramatically boost your home’s visibility to potential buyers. Just make sure that you carefully review each group’s rules for posting!
- Leverage hashtags to increase your reach. Do a little research and find some popular real estate hashtags that relate to the audience you’re targeting on Twitter or other hashtag-friendly platforms. For example, #realestate, #homeforsale and #california might be good to try out if you’re selling in the Golden State.
- Make a video and post it to YouTube. Don’t worry: this doesn’t have to get too technical. If you’ve got nice home photography, you can simply put together a slideshow. In the description field, add information about your home and a link to the MLS listing. You can also post your video to other social media platforms.
For as much as we use texting and social media, email still remains a prominent online form of communication. Send out a message to your contacts with a subject line like: “I’m selling my home!” Inside the email, provide a short description of your house with a link to its MLS listing, and invite any friends to reply if they’re interested—or to forward to anyone they know who’s house hunting. Chances are that, because they recognize your name, a good percentage of people will at least open your email.
Blog
Do you have a personal blog? If it doesn’t feel out of sync with the content you normally write, market your home to your blog audience. Like your email contacts, loyal blog readers are a captive audience that could provide the extra boost your home listing needs.
Craigslist
Yep. Good old Craigslist. You’ve probably sold or bought other local items using this no-frills classifieds website, and you can use it to market your home too. Post a free listing on your region’s Craigslist page, and make sure to include any good photography of your home.
These are just a few online marketing techniques that could help make the difference in your home sale, but you might think of even more tools and tips to increase your home listing’s exposure! Just remember to be guarded about your personal information when advertising online.
