Times have changed since the days of trying to sell a house by placing a "home for sale" ad in the classifieds and hoping for the best. With the convergence of the Internet and the service industry to put real estate property listings online, the real estate market is now a much easier terrain to navigate. Online marketing has become a critical aspect to both buying and selling homes. There are a myriad of online real estate services available that serve the sole purpose of catering to busy home buyers and people trying to sell a house who do not have a lot of time to invest in the process.

Online Marketing for Home Buyers

The home buying process can be exciting, frustrating, fun or maddening depending on how you pursue the search for your dream home. Thankfully, there are real estate property listings and services available online that can make the home buying process much more approachable and shorten the time needed to find the perfect home.

Online realty service companies offer a variety of services to benefit homebuyers. The best realty service companies will reduce the buyers' search time by acting as a one-stop shop where buyers can utilize a variety of resources in one, central location. By enabling buyers to search real estate property listings for specific criteria for the home they desire and receive results of homes advertised on multiple websites, these sites decrease buyers' search time and optimize users' abilities to comparison shop. Advanced searches enable you to enter criteria such as number of bedrooms, zip code, and price range and get instant results. Quality sites will enable buyers to save search criteria and request to be notified automatically via email when property matching their criteria is located.

Instead of hauling your kids and your digital camera from house to house, jump online in the comfort of your own home and visit real estate property listings, where you can sift through thousands of online descriptions, photos and maps before committing to venturing out to see the houses in person. Doing your research online is a real time-saver for both you and the person trying to sell the house. Once you feel confident that a house deserves an on-site visit for closer viewing, many realty sites will allow you to email or text the seller to arrange an appointment, enabling quick turnaround.

Finding your dream home is only part of the equation. Now, you have to figure out how you are going to pay for it! Quality realty service websites will offer home buyers the resources to research and obtain a mortgage. Look for a site that has partnered with a lending company that can provide quotes from multiple lenders, allowing you to comparison shop, and increasing your chances of receiving the best rate available for your next home.

Online Marketing for Home Sellers

According to the study conducted by the National Association of Realtors(R) in 2005, the use of Internet to search real estate property listings for a home has risen dramatically from a minor 2% of buyers in 1995 to a massive 77% in 2005 (1). The importance of online marketing when trying to sell a house in today's market cannot be over-emphasized. If you are considering selling residential real estate, be sure that you or your real estate agent are Internet-savvy and advertises your property prominently on online real estate property listings in order to gain a competitive advantage in selling your home.

Not only is it important for a person trying to sell a home to ensure that his/her property is advertised on a quality realty service website, but that his/her 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 real estate property listings on the website. The best realty service sites enable sellers to post profiles detailing homes for sale, including multiple photos of homes' interiors and exteriors and interactive maps. Find a site that allows interested homebuyers access to contact you via phone, e-mail or text message, decreasing turn-around time and, ultimately improving your chances to sell a house.

It is also important to find out what the online realty company is doing to sell the house "behind-the-scenes" in regards to marketing and promoting the site to increase views and reach a large audience. Does the company utilize search engine optimization to ensure that prospects who are ready to buy are viewing the real estate property listings? What marketing tactics does the company employ to compliment your current selling tactics? After all, your home's online profile is only valuable if it is being viewed by the right potential buyers.

Finally, do not pay too much for an online realty service. There are many services out there that charge an exorbitant monthly fee, but offer little in return to help sell a house beyond basic real estate property listings. Do your homework before selecting an online service package. There are sites available that offer high value at a low cost--and value is essential during the process of trying to sell a house.

Conclusion

The Internet offers a range of valuable services for those looking to buy or sell a house. If you are a buyer, find a quality online realty service that will enable you to comparison shop for homes and loans with the click of a mouse. If you are selling a home, due to the growing trend of buyers searching for homes online, the first thing you should do before putting up a 'for sale' sign on the front lawn is to ensure that your property is well positioned on the Internet in real estate property listings. Online marketing transforms the home buying and selling process, making it easier and more efficient for both parties.

Sources

1. Home Buyer & Seller Survey Shows Rising Use of Internet, Reliance on Agents, Walter Molony, http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2006/hmbuyersellersurvey06.html, January 17, 2006.

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