Selling your home is not that different than trying to build a business and sell a product. You have to explain to people why your home (product) is awesome. You need to show how your home (product) is better than other homes on the market (competitors’ similar products). You need to prove that your home (product) is safe (not going to explode if it gets too hot).

Like in the retail market, today’s home sellers have to hustle to build buzz about their homes. Home ownership and sales figures of Santa Monica real estate may be on the rise but it is still very much a buyer’s market. This means that you need to put in some extra effort if you ever want to successfully sell your house.

In 2015, only 33% of home buyers found their homes via their real estate agent. Even fewer found their homes via print ads, friends, and yard signs. The fastest and most reliable way to make sure people can find your house is to use the internet. More specifically, you will need to use social media. Here are a few tips to help you do that.

hands-1176674_960_720

Make a Facebook Page

20% of the web’s page views happen via Facebook. Once you’ve created the page, invite all of your friends to like it. Ask (politely!) them to share it with all of their friends—particularly those who might be in the market for a home in your area (or know of someone who is).

Promote Your Listing on Twitter

Use Twitter’s search function and phrases like “move to [your town]” or “find a house in [your town.” Use Twitter to make contact with the users whose posts you like but don’t jump right into selling your home! Instead, offer a helpful tip about the neighborhood or a local artist or restaurant they might enjoy. After you’ve messaged back and forth a little bit, you can mention the house. You should also list your house’s Facebook Page URL in your Twitter bio.

ALSO READ  Things Worth Spending Your Money On

YouTube is Your Best Friend

The key to a good video is to make it personal and fun. The other key to good videos is to keep them short. Try to keep each video under three minutes. People are more likely to sit through ten three-minute videos in a row than they are to sit for one thirty-minute video.

Spread it Around

Don’t limit yourself to these three “major players.” You should also be using Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram, and any other social media portal you think might be useful. Remember: while almost everybody uses social media in some form or other, not everybody uses all of the same sites. Yes, there is some overlap, but there are people out there who skip Facebook in favor of regular blogging or who love Pinterest and Instagram but have no use for Twitter.

Be Safe!

If you are still living in the home, you should be careful about listing the physical address publicly on social media. The last thing you need is people showing up at all hours asking to “take a peek.” Instead, limit yourself to your neighborhood or city quadrant on the public posts and only share the address with people via DM or, better, send them to your realtor.

The same is true for your phone number. List your realtor’s phone number instead of your personal number. This will help make sure each potential sale goes through the proper channels and will keep the creepy types at bay.

Your realtor will likely have a website that they can use to promote your home listing when it goes live. This is great and helpful but if you want to sell your home now and not later? You will need to take matters into your own hands and do at least some of your own promotion. Social media is the best and easiest avenue for that promotion because everybody uses it now.

ALSO READ  Why buying quality glasses is a wise financial decision

Remember: When you’re selling something you need to make sure your product is where your customers are. The same philosophy holds true for selling your home.