Property marketing - the power of information: Michael Ferrier

It’s easier than ever for property buyers to find out that your property is on the market.

Virtually all buyers are researching property online and the major property portals list pretty much every property for sale. They have 95% of agents on their books. If your agent isn’t listing your property on these sites you should be asking why.

 
Many agents still want property vendors to spend a large amount of money on print advertising. It’s expensive and does exactly the same thing as online advertising, but without the reach.  In fact, all property marketing options offered to vendors are aimed at the same thing – getting buyers to come and look at your place.

 
Property staging – bringing in furniture and other interior decoration elements – has become more popular too. It’s also expensive but shows buyers how your property would look with a modern, uncluttered feel.

 
But what do buyers want?

 
They are hungry for useful information about your property.  Floor plans, photos, etc can all be included in your online listing and access to historical sales information about your property and suburb is available free or for a low cost from a number of online providers.

 
But what about information for buyers that show interest in your property and want to get it checked out by a building inspector?  This is still largely considered the buyer’s responsibility with many agents hoping that they won't bother to look too close and just make an emotional decision to buy.

 
In our view that type of attitude is old hat!

 
What vendors and agents are failing to recognise is that better, detailed information about a property can have a powerful marketing benefit.  As noted earlier, almost all marketing is aimed at getting buyers to your place.  But what happens after that?

 
If you make it easier, cheaper and quicker for buyers to do their due diligence (i.e. access independent inspection reports), you are adding depth to your property marketing and also making it easier for buyers to be ready to buy your property.

 
You are also being more transparent about the condition of your property.  That means buyers are likely to be more confident about making a decision to buy.

 
The investment in getting inspections done is very low compared to the overall cost of selling your property.  As well as giving you a new string to your marketing bow, it helps ensure you don’t miss out on buyers who see your property at the last minute and don’t have time to carry out their own due diligence.

Michael Ferrier is managing director of EYEON.