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Packaging is key to selling your home on the Internet

ARA CONTENT

The housing market is a tough sell, especially if you are desperate to move and want to sell your house for a good price. But the Internet can be a great tool to help you up the ante of selling or renting your property.

Eighty-seven percent of potential homebuyers use the Web to search for homes, according to the 2008 National Association of REALTORS Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Given that statistic, it’s pretty safe to say that the first impressions of your home as presented on the Internet matter just as much as they do for in-person viewings. “Your online impact is equal to your curb appeal impact,” says Aimee Flynn, instructor in The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham’s department of Graphic Design and Interior Design. “In both instances, the way you package the product to entice a potential buyer is key.”

And knowing who that potential buyer may be can make a world of difference. “A common mistake is to assume that your home would appeal to everyone,” says John C. Franke, a General Education department instructor at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. “People don’t usually think about their homes in this way, but by analyzing your neighborhood and your home’s unique appeal, you can pinpoint your target audience and market accordingly.”

“Whether you’re selling on your own or working with a realtor, keep in mind that you’re selling a dream -- if someone can imagine his or her life unfolding in the images and descriptive text, you are one step closer to landing a successful showing,” Flynn adds.

Franke, who also has professional experience in retail buying and merchandising, and interior store design for various specialty department stores, says that the photographs used to promote your home mean everything. “Pictures must be professional-looking and include shots of landscaping, interior attributes such as laundry room, basement storage, garage and other unique selling points,” he says. “The home should appear to be bright, clean and appointed with fresh flowers or other notable accents to add style or seasonal flair.”

Here are some more pointers, provided by Flynn and Franke, when preparing your Internet home listing:

- Shop the competition: Research how others present their homes online locally and in other cities before you begin to develop your tactics. Good places to start are local real estate sites, www.realtor.com and www.craigslist.org.

- Seek professional help from within your social network: Don’t be intimidated by technology and don’t try to master what is outside your comfort zone. Web designers, photographers and other experts are probably living within your social network. Request their help.

- Sell the locality: Promote the city, school system, neighborhood parks, restaurants, etc. All of these things sell a quality of life and double as search engine buzzwords.

- List the address: Make sure you give very clear directions from main roads or intersections. This allows an interested party to check out the location of the home beforehand, which may weed out non-serious buyers.

- Highlight the property’s features: Mention any recent renovations, the number of bedrooms, if you have a fenced-in yard, and any unique offerings.

- Include detailed descriptions: List the square footage, individual room dimensions and property taxes or association fees, and post multiple images.

- Keep the price in a searchable range: For example, $999 a month for rent is better than $1,001. This practice seems to draw borderline buyers.

- Choose sites that organize listings by date: When you update the listing, any saved changes will bump up its positioning in the list.

- Seek viewer input: The only way to know what people are thinking about your home, your site or their interest in your property is to provide an easy way for browsers to offer feedback and to ask questions. Add a feedback form or email address to facilitate.

To learn more about The Art Institutes system of schools, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/nz.

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