The Importance of Internet Marketing When Selling a Home

If you want to sell your home, a strong Internet presence is vital. This is because most buyers these days use the Internet to look for homes. Buyers can access more information on the Internet than from any other source. Multiple photos of homes’ interiors and exteriors, virtual tours, interactive maps, easy property search options, automatic email updates of new listings, and other real estate information is available online, making the Internet an attractive place to search for homes.

The use of the Internet by homebuyers has increased phenomenally over the years. An ample number of researches and surveys have been conducted which prove that an increasing number of consumers are using the Internet to buy, sell and invest in real estate.

According to the study conducted by the National Association of Realtors® in 2005, the use of Internet to search for a home has risen dramatically from a miniscule 2% of buyers in 1995 to a whopping 77% in 2005. People who first learn about the home they buy from a real estate agent count up to 36%, while only 15% learn from yard signs, which is the next largest source of information.

By far, the most popular and widely used consumer real estate website on the Internet is Realtor.com. In fact, home buyers spend 86% of the time they search online for a home at Realtor.com.* Other major websites that have Real Estate related content are: CaliforniaMoves.com, AOL.com, MSN.com, The Wall Street Journal Online, Netscape and Net Zero. Not only is it important for the seller of a home to ensure that there property is advertised on the Multiple Listing Service and these major websites, but that their home is featured with a detailed description of the property and its upgrades, and that it features multiple photos of the property to help set it apart from other listings on the websites.

By placing your home for sale on the above listed sites, an internet savvy real estate agent can help you be certain that your home is accessible to more than 70% of the home buyers who use the internet to search for a home.**

Like buyers, a majority of sellers are also seeking the assistance of real estate agents. The study shows a steady decrease in the number of FSBOs (For Sale By Owners). In 2005, 85% of the sellers used an agent, which is an increase of 3% from the 2004 statistics. The survey also shows that those sellers who enlisted the services of a real estate agent made better deals than those that did not. The median home price for sellers who use an agent is found to be 16% higher than a home sold directly by an owner, while there were no significant differences between the types of homes sold. The survey shows that nine out of ten homebuyers use the services of a real estate agent when searching to by a home.

These statistics confirm the importance of Internet marketing when selling a home. If you are an anxious home seller, the first thing you should do before putting up a ‘for sale’ sign on the front lawn, is to list your home for sale with a reputable real estate agent and to ensure that your agent gets your property well positioned on the Internet.

Choose a Realtor who has excellent experience, and a proven track record, to assist you in selling your home faster and who can give your home maximum Internet exposure.

The importance of Internet marketing when selling a home in today’s market cannot be over emphasized. So if you are considering selling residential or investment real estate, be sure that your real estate agent is Internet savvy and advertises your property prominently on major real estate websites in order to gain a competitive advantage in selling your home.

* comScore Media Metrix, May 2004 Time Searching on Comparable RE Aggregation Sites.

** 2004 National Association of Realtors profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

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