Listings Want to Be Seen

Selling a home and banking the commission is the whole point of taking a listing and entering it into the MLS system.  Up until a few years ago, all listings looked alike, a dense printout of 10 pt. courier type.  The only way to make a listing standout was to use gushing superlatives in the remarks, punctuated with strings of asterisks (e.g. ***WOW!!!***). 

Now this technique is still widely practiced, but entirely ineffective.  Very few consumers are spending time reading the StellarView printouts, let alone paying attention to hyperbolic gibberish.  They are probably looking for their next home with an Internet browser.

HAR's webmaster is able to track the number of times that a specific homes' "Detail Page" is viewed.  This includes views from HAR.com, Yahoo! Real Estate, the Chronicle's web site as well as the many Realtors who use the HAR.com search engine in their own web sites. 

The statistics indicate clear preferences.  If you want your listing to get maximum exposure, there are four things that you can do.

1.      A Picture of the Home - People lose interest immediately if no picture is available and they will have absolutely no recollection of a listing unless they have seen a picture.  There are two ways that a picture gets into the MLS and on HAR.com.

• You can submit the picture yourself - Use you public and private ID to log onto the Realtor Extranet from www.har.com.  On the left-hand side of the screen is a menu of options called the "Control Panel".  Select the option called "Photo Manager" and follow the directions.  If you use this web based photo submission utility, then the photo will appear on the Internet instantly, ***WOW!!!***.

• Interealty will take the picture for you - Now if you can afford to wait up to 10 working days, Interealty will take a picture for you, at no additional cost.  Now it is essential that you enter "T" (for "Take" vs.  "S" for "Submit") into the photo field in StellarView when you enter the listing.  It is also important that you supply coherent directions and the proper Key Map Page/Grid.  There are geographical boundaries that apply to this service and certain outlying areas are not eligible.

2.      The Property Address - Mapping a property's location, a popular feature of HAR.com, is unavailable if you decline to let the address be displayed on the Internet.  It is hypocritical to be in an industry that is always preaching "location, location, location", but then be unwilling to tell people where a listing is located.  Some sites, like Yahoo! actually put properties without addresses much lower in their sort order when listings are displayed, thus lowering the chances that the listing will be seen at all.  I realize that some sellers refuse to let their address be displayed, but if there is a sign in the front yard, then their concerns are not entirely rational.  If you are a listing broker, you are shortchanging yourself and your client if you withhold the address from display on the Internet.

3.      Additional Photos in a HAR Photo Gallery - The newly reformatted "Photo Gallery" on HAR.com is very popular with users.  Users can view up to eight photos one-at-a-time with each photo accompanied by its own set of remarks.  This gives you the opportunity to feature any home in its most positive light and draw attention to every positive aspect of that property.  It has much of the impact of a virtual tour, but it is free to all HAR members ***WOW!!!***

To build a Photo Gallery - Use you public and private ID to log onto the Realtor Extranet from www.har.com.  On the left-hand side of the screen is a menu of options called the "Control Panel".  Select the option called "Photo Manager" and follow the directions.  You can add pictures, put them in a specific sequence and supply up to 255 characters of remarks for each image.  Your Photo Gallery will appear on the Internet instantly. << Insert Picture photogallery.bmp>>

4.          Virtual Tours - These are still the "Gold Standard" of premium content.  Sellers are very impressed by them.  Many buyers use the option on HAR.com to search only those homes that have a virtual tour.  Listings with virtual tours are given top priority in Yahoo!'s sort order and are promoted to the top of the list.  If you have purchased a virtual tour, you will want to get it loaded onto HAR.com ASAP.  The quickest way to accomplish this is to supply the tour hyperlink yourself.  To supply a tout hyperlink you should first get the tour notification provided to you by your tour provider (iPIX).  Then use your public and private ID to log onto the Realtor Extranet from www.har.com.  On the left-hand side of the screen is a menu of options called the "Control Panel".  Select the option called "Load Virtual Tours" and follow the directions.  You can order a virtual tour from iPIX by going to their web site at www.ipix.com.  If you are affiliated with a Cendant brokerage then you may have access to a special promotional rate because your corporate parent did a bulk buy.

A virtual tour may not be right for every listings, but any listing can benefit from the increased exposure that a good picture, a publicly displayed address and a photo gallery will deliver.  If you want to actually see these traffic statistics then use your public and private ID to log onto the Realtor Extranet from www.har.com.  On the left-hand side of the screen is a menu of options called the "Control Panel".  Select the option called "Listing Traffic Report". 

Shopping for a home has been a popular hobby for a long time, but the Internet has turned it into a major pastime.  In order to turn a casual looker into a contract signing buyer, you have to show the something they want.  Load your listings with great content like pictures, maps and tours and be sure to check you e-mail, because when they are ready to contact you, they will probably be in a hurry.