Powerful Home Presentation Tools

Powerful Home Presentation Tools


The Inman Team Tip:
Being able to show your potential client what you offer and how you plan to sell their home is huge. Our team creates a presentation for each new client. It is a very simple presentation put into a booklet that has information from our past sells in your area to how we plan to advertise and market your home. Also add in photos, references, and testimonials to show off how thankful your clients are to have you as their Realtor, this shows potential clients that you are trusted. Either way creating some kind of presentation gives the client a visual to see what you are capable of and if it will work for them. Read this article below...

By Denise Lones
Humans, by nature, are visual creatures. What we see with our eyes is what tugs at the strings of our heart and engages us emotionally. Visual cues are extremely important in real estate because of this—it's the way we first connect buyers to homes, and it's the way those buyers ultimately move beyond simply looking at a home to mentally creating new memories in that home... before they even live there.

When you have fabulous home marketing materials to showcase at your listing presentation, you're not only reinforcing the positive way the sellers feel about their home, you're also visually showing the importance of reaching the emotional side of buyers through home preparation, beautiful photography, and engaging video.

Sellers tell us over and over that home presentation is critically important to them. It's one of the reasons they choose one agent over another. If your home presentation tools aren't up to snuff, you're going to lose business!

When you have "props" that show potential sellers what your home presentation tools look like, your ability to "wow" the sellers and get the listing goes up very quickly. This is especially true if sellers are comparing you to agents who have either poor quality—or very few—tools.

If you know you need to step up your game, but aren't sure where to start, here are some ideas to get you going. None of these ideas are terribly expensive. But they will give you a huge return on your investment, helping you build long-term and sustainable relationships with your sellers and attract potential buyers to every one of your listings.

Photos, photo galleries, and video: Unless you are also a professional photographer or videographer, hire professionals who specialize in showcasing homes. Your home presentation tools should include incredible photography that draws buyers in from the first time they pull up the listing. When you show sellers what kind of photography you invest in, they'll instantly understand the value you bring to the table.

The Home Photo Book

This is different than what I call the "home book" (a book where you include items such as home care and warranty records, the most current inspection report, tax and appraisal records, and neighborhood and community information). The home photo book is a photographic tour of the home that draws the buyer in and allows them to envision themselves living there. This is where you tell the story of the home!

Here's how to build the home photo book:

Start with amazing photos. These photos must be very high resolution and print-quality. They should be so good that when you print them at 8"x10" they look even more amazing.

Many agents use an online company like Shutterfly to build their home photo book. For about $30, and just a little time, you can create something quite stunning. All you do is pick your style, pick your cover, and upload your photos.

Other agents buy what I call the 'wedding album' book. You can find these at any craft or photo store. If you buy the version with the die-cut front cover, you can insert a beautiful exterior home photo for the cover. Print out high-quality photos on glossy photo paper and mount them to the pages. Remember to take care of it to make it last as long as possible—it can get worn out as you show it to more and more potential sellers.
When you're showing your sample home photo book to your sellers, be sure to let them know that you'll be creating a similar book for their home. That book would be prominently displayed in the home (perhaps next to the flyer stand) for buyers to look at when they're touring. And don't just make a single book—make (or order) two of them! After closing, one can stay in the home for the buyers, and you can give the second copy to the sellers at closing. They will love having this beautiful book to remind them of their former home.

Home Staging

Be careful here, because sometimes sellers think that when you offer to stage their home you are actually going to change their home so much that you make it unlivable for them. Or, they may assume you are offering to spend hundreds of dollars to get their home ready for the market. Make sure you clearly explain your plan so your actions match their expectations. Some agents are now calling this service "home merchandising" rather than "staging."

Here's how it might sound as you talk to sellers: "One of the things we need to consider is how to merchandise your home properly to engage potential buyers. I know you might have visions of us drastically changing your home. Don't worry! We don't need to change the way you live—we just need to help buyers see how they might live in the home."

Be sure to use your home merchandising props—the before and after photos that show sellers exactly what you mean by merchandising, and the value that it brings to them. If you have statistics that show how your merchandising efforts lead to fewer days-on-market or a higher sales price, use them in your props! Create a visual board that has some beautiful "before and after" photos, and a flyer that displays the statistics to back you up.

I don't want you to feel so overwhelmed that you never get started creating your listing presentation props. So—feel free to start small. Once you see the value (and I guarantee the value will be BIG), you will be ready to create more and more visual props that reinforce your professional skills as a listing agent. Your goal should be to have a very compelling, very professional presentation... one that is so impressive that sellers hire you on the spot.
http://www.realestatezebrablog.com/2011/04/28/powerful-home-presentation-tools/

Thanks for reading.
The Inman Team