Wednesday, February 23, 2011
2011 Budget info
As far as the property market is concerned, buyers will, from 1 March 2011 need to fork out less for transfer duty as the costs associated with the transfer duty payable has been amended.
Most buyers already have to pay +/- 10% (or more) deposit to get the home loan approved so I guess every bit helps.
I came across this update on the Old Mutual website where you can download all the info you need etc.
Click Here For Update
Have fun ..... need to go sell some houses.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Online Property Marketing - 8 Tips
Article from http://www.immovableproperty.co.za/
It is trite knowledge that more owners, real estate agents and advertisers are opting for online ads over the traditional print media classifieds. The reasons for this are legion and include: ease of publishing online, lower costs and knowing there is a large audience looking for a property right at this very moment.
To get the most out of your online advertising efforts try these 8 pointers to help you create better ads and generate more leads:-
# 1 - The Title of your Ad
The title is often the first thing users will see. Make the right impression by having a snappy title that conveys your essential message - it could mean the difference between someone perusing your ad or moving on something else!
So what should you be putting in your title? Our view is that you should aim to put the most important and relevant information into this space and be to the point. We favour the following formula: Type of Property coupled with a description and information about the geographic area of the property e.g. " Stunning 4 bedroom house on Vaal River ".
Some advertisers prefer advertisements such as: "Cosy little house" or perhaps "Cute as a Button – don’t miss this". Whilst this approach works too, it to some extent ignores how search engines work and will probably limit the size of your potential audience. Keep in mind that Google, Yahoo and Bing not only ranks the property portal that you are listing, on it will also rank your individual listing separately within the search results on the engine. So if you want to catch the eyes of Google users who are looking for a property for sale in the Vaal River (our example) you stand a much better chance with "Stunning 4 bedroom house on Vaal River" than with "Gorgeous little place for the Family".
So what should you be putting in your title? Our view is that you should aim to put the most important and relevant information into this space and be to the point. We favour the following formula: Type of Property coupled with a description and information about the geographic area of the property e.g. " Stunning 4 bedroom house on Vaal River ".
Some advertisers prefer advertisements such as: "Cosy little house" or perhaps "Cute as a Button – don’t miss this". Whilst this approach works too, it to some extent ignores how search engines work and will probably limit the size of your potential audience. Keep in mind that Google, Yahoo and Bing not only ranks the property portal that you are listing, on it will also rank your individual listing separately within the search results on the engine. So if you want to catch the eyes of Google users who are looking for a property for sale in the Vaal River (our example) you stand a much better chance with "Stunning 4 bedroom house on Vaal River" than with "Gorgeous little place for the Family".
# 2 - Choose the right category
Most property websites allow users to choose a category for the placement of an ad. By making sure that you have picked the correct city, and sub-category you are giving consumers relevant and targeted information. After all someone looking for a house in the Vaal Area, to use our example, will not find your listing if it is incorrectly categorised and placed in the wrong section such as the "Business for Sale" section for Cape Town properties.
# 3 - Complete the forms appropriately
If the website makes use of any forms - take the time to list the information properly. For instance if the form asks for "Erf Size" enter the total size of the block in square meters and not the size of the building. There is a difference and consumers want to know about it.
Accuracy creates trust. Consumers typically avoid dealing with people who advertise in a misleading and incorrect fashion because then they have to tease the information out and that is always frustrating.
Accuracy creates trust. Consumers typically avoid dealing with people who advertise in a misleading and incorrect fashion because then they have to tease the information out and that is always frustrating.
# 4 - The Description
This is your chance to really shine and display your wares. Consumers are driven by aesthetic beauty. Make your advertisement look great and if you need some help look at this beautiful property ad in Durban for an example of something truly eye-catching.
Be sure to include all the essential features as they relate to the outside and inside of the property. Some users are also going to be interested in financials such as water rates and taxes.
Do your best to strike a balance between providing useful information and not going over-board. Keep in mind that most people scan for information so use lots of headings and bullet points to make your information easy on the eye - just like we have!
Be sure to include all the essential features as they relate to the outside and inside of the property. Some users are also going to be interested in financials such as water rates and taxes.
Do your best to strike a balance between providing useful information and not going over-board. Keep in mind that most people scan for information so use lots of headings and bullet points to make your information easy on the eye - just like we have!
# 5 - Use the Map Location
Lots of users look for listings by map location so if you don't have a map marker for your property it simply won't show up in the searches in which case you are missing out on traffic.
# 6 - Double Check your contact details
If you're going to go to all the trouble of creating a listing make sure you have entered the correct contact details for online enquiries. If you don't, the enquiries won’t end up on your desk.
#7 - Photos and Youtube
Use the best photos you have available and if you don’t have any go out and snap some right away. Users almost universally love photos so do your best to capture the look and feel of the property as best you can.
If you have video footage upload it to Youtube. You can then insert a link to the video on your portal site later on.
If you have video footage upload it to Youtube. You can then insert a link to the video on your portal site later on.
#8 - Face Book Like & Tweet Buttons
Once the listing is uploaded inspect it to make sure it displays properly and if not edit it in your user panel.
If you have a Facebook account or a Twitter account then promote your listing by way of a "Tweet" or "Facebook Like".
Facebook and Twitter you can dramatically improve the chances of your listing showing up higher on the search engines. To get even more bang for your buck send out an email asking your friends to “Like” your listings and to “Tweet” the info to their friends.
If you have a Facebook account or a Twitter account then promote your listing by way of a "Tweet" or "Facebook Like".
Facebook and Twitter you can dramatically improve the chances of your listing showing up higher on the search engines. To get even more bang for your buck send out an email asking your friends to “Like” your listings and to “Tweet” the info to their friends.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Technology, Social Networking and Real Estate Marketing
Marketing and advertising property has come a long way since agents use to take photos of properties and then they needed to get them developed ..... actually, I DON'T know how they did it.
These days you can advertise 100's of properties in the property publications (if you have the budget) and 1000's of properties on websites. Web development has also come a long way to assist "surfers" (no, not the tall, dark & bleached hair kind) in finding exactly what they are looking for, in the area of their choice and something that fits into the budget, a nice big garage for dad a modern kitchen and oh yes, a cupboard just for moms shoes.
Websites have widened the agents scope to buyers from other countries, being able to look at virtual tours of the property inside and with Google Street view you can now even have a look at the houses around you and see if the property is in good company or not .... now you can contact the agent who makes the appointment, shows you some of the details that are hidden from the net and the camera and there you go, before you know it the offer is signed and the rest as they say ......
In addition to the web, agents have realised that there are many ways of getting more traffic to your own stock on the website so, enter the dreaded SOCIAL NETWORKING sites and portals. See, the nice thing about facebook is that YOU can decide who YOU want to follow, have and invite as fiends so that when Mr "X" asks you on a date 5mins after accepting your friend request you can tell him to go and f ..... oh no, you just "BLOCK" or "UN FRIEND" or "UN FOLLOW" or whatever his ass and if you like you can report him to the facebook police.
Most of these social networking tools work on the same bases where you have people accepting you as a friend and they can then follow and or comment on what you have to say. You can even decide if you want return comments or not. More and more business are using facebook and twitter to reach their "fast fingered" target markets so why not for us, the agents.
These days, more than ever we need to be available and one way to do that is to be active, to facebook, to tweet and to blog.
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