Category: Real Estate

  • Price for Real Estate Video Editing Services

    Price for Real Estate Video Editing Services

    Video editing can reconstruct ordinary videos into something different. Enjoying with your family on a trip for a well-deserved vacation, or attending special occasions with relatives and friends, or simply having real estate videography as your bread and butter, taking videos is totally a normal thing to do.

    Today most of what we think of can be done at the tip of our fingers. Editing is one common job when it comes to video enhancement. Old images, photos and videos are the ones that are preferred to be edited. But there are enhancements that are done on new photos or videos, primarily to add missing important features.

    With proper knowledge on video editing, it can be guaranteed that profits grow when done in a professional manner. Video editing is valuable because it is the only way to blend images and sounds to make the audience emotionally connected for real estate marketing. Video editing is one of the most sought after tasks when it comes to real estate videography.

    Real Estate Videography: Madison Park

    Basic Real Estate Video Editing Tips

    Before you edit your first video, you need to:

    1. Close a real estate deal.

    Landing a real estate gig involves people that you are going to approach. It also requires you to present a strong demo video or portfolio. You must also be always available and give a quick turnaround time.

    2. Create the right pricing

    This depends how long you shoot the house and the skill level you have. Adding music and graphics are some add-ons for your price.

    3. Pre-Plan

    Schedule plans accordingly.

    4. Know the camera type and proper settings.

    The gear you use is basically very important because nothing will be edited without your camera. And, drones for real estate are necessary for your aerial footages.

    5. Create good composition

    Use wider lens to show wider area. Lines must not be distorted. Avoid pointing the camera too far up or too far down. Keep it at eye level and shoot the film between eyes and waist level.

    6. Focus

    Use the autofocus of the camera as often as possible.

    There are also tips whenever a real estate video has been finished.

    Use good music. Choose music that matches the house’s personality. Websites like www.soundstripe.com or www.audiojungle.net are great sources of good music.

    Start off with a strong establishing shot. If the house has a pleasant kitchen, start presenting the kitchen first then show the location of the property using drone. This shows the overview of what the house really looks like.

    How to Photograph Kitchens for Real Estate | Videography Explained

    Make sure your clips flow. Video clips must be put together in order. Real agents and potential buyers like to see clips that video which starts from the entrance to the living room; from the living room down to the kitchen; from the kitchen to the dining room, etc. This should be the flow of your video. The purpose is to show the actual layout of the property.

    Make sure you have good pacing. Avoid using long video clips because people will get bored quickly. One to two minutes video is quite long enough.

    Make the property look bright. House videos that receive natural light are a lot better than having over-exposed videos.

    Add some graphics. Be sure to add some animations in the video like the real estate agent’s basic information like website, email and a little bit of profile. You may go to www.motionarray.com and use After Effects Templates that can be downloaded from the Internet.

    There are real estate videos that are primarily focused only on houses. When you are a videographer that focuses only on houses, these are some important tips. It is necessary to identify too, the type of camera and the setting used, and the skill on how to put and edit them altogether.

    Note: In this set of tips, video was done using a Canon 80D 60 frames/sec which is converted to 24 frames per slow motion with a 16mm equivalent lens on the camera. Editor used the Adobe Premiere Pro timeline.

    Real Estate Videography: Magnolia

    By using the Parallax Effect, panning all the areas inside a house is done by cutting together all your house videos and putting them together using the Parallax Effect. During the filming of houses, videographers should focus more on their amenities like the basketball court, picnic area, and the gazebo.

    Keep in mind that videos must be done at a minimal time compact type so that people will not look for other short videos. It is advisable to take as many possible angles as you can especially if you’re inside a room.

    1. Cut all the clips together. The clips must include all the important rooms and spaces of the house.
    2. Always adjust the brightness and exposure levels to make the video consistent. You can select videos that are pleasing and drop them to the Timeline.
    3. Always look for the continuity of the shot because photographers like to tell stories in their video. You can visually join the selected scenes at the Timeline. Avoid disorientation of scenes.
    4. When videos are taken early in the morning grab the Sun Flare by stopping the lens at f8.
      Add the proper sound effects like wind and chirping birds. To do this, the button is located at the bottom of the Timeline.
    5. If you want to move in quickly from the front of the home, do this by putting in a Zoom-in Transition which punches in smoothly and cleanly inside the house. This also includes moving forward shot while your camera is panning. With this effect, your audience will be given a dynamic flow of your video. Because it is a video, turn everything ON that can be turned ON like lights, candles, televisions, fans, and anything that can move to add dynamics to the video.
    6. Wrap up the front of the home by using Motion Graphic Template from Rocket Stock 700 hundredth minimal preset. It is a drag-and-drop or plug-and-play type. Also fade the sound of the video as is always required at the end of any video.
    https://www.facebook.com/phixerinc/videos/204211023580858/

    Furthermore, when you use a Panasonic GH4, the following are the tips. This camera fits perfectly in a drone. Under this camera is a 7-14mm F/4 lens which is the widest-angled rectilinear lens that is an aperture zoom lens. For the settings, you may use ISO 200-800, f4-f9, 1/50 for indoor shoots and ISO 200, f22, 1/50-1/100 for outdoors.

    In using GH4 camera setting you may try to:

    1. Avoid using Auto White Balance. You must only set White Balance manually. Camera will struggle if ever you are shooting a particular area in the house if different sources of light are coming in at it. This will particularly change the white balance during a shoot which can be very troublesome.
    2. Look for the best perspective and correct angle of the house that you are shooting. Typically start from the outdoors before proceeding inside. You can opt to go to the balcony afterwards. Finally you can finish your video with a big range shot.
  • Top 10 Adobe Lightroom Plugins for Real Estate Photo Editing

    Top 10 Adobe Lightroom Plugins for Real Estate Photo Editing

    Professional real estate photographers are growing due to the increased interest of many people in the real estate industry. Adobe Lightroom—one of the most popular post-production tool, is an excellent help in creating an ideal high-quality picture of the building or room for photographers in just one click. This software gives a long list of presets and plugins that are available which help you save a lot of time during your photo-editing process.

    Photographers know how time consuming editing photos is. Lightroom Presets allow beginner and expert photographers to edit pictures with a lot of ease instead of using manual editing. Presets—paid or not—offer pre-determined settings in clusters according to specific themes. These visuals are easily obtainable oftentimes. On the other hand, plugins make Lightroom even easier to use while adding a new dynamic to your editing process which results to editing being a simple task to do. Plugins are responsible for the extension of Lightroom’s capabilities, and these are what most people overlook.

    The Top 10 Plugins

    This article will introduce ten Lightroom plugins for real estate photo editing.

    First on the list is The Fader. This functions as a master slide which takes control all the different tools within Lightroom. When you move the slider, all the edits a certain preset makes will be adjusted at the same time and in equal measurements. This simply means that The Fader’s main advantage is very visible when you are using presets. Sometimes cases like this happen: you apply a preset to one image and it looks great, but when you apply it to another one, it will be completely over the top resulting to a terrible image. Normally, you would reduce each tool one by one, but using The Fader, you can reduce them all at once using the slider.

    Next is the LR Backup, a tool that backs up your Lightroom catalog. Sure, this one does not do anything when it comes to the main process of editing, however, it is important to backup tour catalog because this contains a record of every edit you have made to your image. The standard backup tool provides backups of your RAW files, but this LR Backup provides the backup of your Lightroom catalog. Without this, it will be just RAW images without any editing applied. LR Backup lets you make manual backups of the Lightroom catalog without having to exit the program and it has the ability to schedule the backups you made—and this backup is compressed to almost 10% of its original size, which is very useful when you have a large database of edited images.

    Another useful plugin is the Focus Mask by Capture Monkey. This plugin highlights the parts of the image that are in focus, the same way what focus masking does in your camera. This helps you to choose the best shot between two or more similar images of the place in just a glance.

    The next plugin is quite special, but some people might be against it. Photolemur is a plugin that automatically edits your photos in a single click. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create the best edit possible in order for you to focus your time on other aspects of photography. Photolemur is a standalone product, but can also be set up as an LR plugin. This plugin doesn’t have a free version you can try before you buy. It is only available as a paid product.

    Following Photolemur is Sleeklens. This one offers Lightroom presets and brushes in order for you to enhance the beauty of the exteriors and interiors of the houses you took a photo of in a few clicks. Just like Photolemur, this plugin is a paid product and unfortunately, does not have a free version.

    There is this plugin for Lightroom called Photomatix Pro too. It is a plugin that lets you select a bracketed photo or photos set in Lightroom and then export it to Photomatix Pro for HDR processing. After that, reimport the final output back to your Lightroom library.

    Next in line is VSCO Film. These revolutionary VSCO presets and camera profiles work very well with Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. There are custom camera profiles available for different camera brands namely Canon, Fuji, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, and Sony. This VSCO film plugin has many presets that come in packs, each pack based on a particular theme. These presets have very versatile saved settings, that give a perfectly shade to the photo, make bright colors, and soft tones.

    Mastin Labs plugin comes with products that make your photos look like film. This one is similar to VSCO Film. It comes in packs and include presets that enhance your picture and be in its very best. As it is similar to VSCO Film, it comes with a price as well.

    The next preset pack comes from Trey Ratcliff. This collection is ideal for travel photography but can also be handy for real estate photography. In Winter Wonderland, you’ll find presets that are perfect for the cold season of the year. In contrary to this, Nicolesy’s Matte Lightroom Preset pack adds a vintage, worn out look. This softens the blacks and adds a slight split toning effect.

    Lastly, Grain and Film plugin adds that retro film feel to your photos. It has the vintage film, black and white, grain and noise, and cinematic effect presets that somehow give off a nostalgic feel to the exteriors or interiors of the house. There is also the Kodachrome Film preset available. This is a tremendous preset that adds a movie style and drama looks to your masterpieces presented to the clients.

    Lightroom helps you organize and edit the images you took. The introduced plugins and presets are very useful for real estate photographers to create exceptional and high-quality images of buildings, houses, and rooms. With these, the editing process will surely be very much easier for you.

  • What is Real Estate Photo Retouching Job?

    What is Real Estate Photo Retouching Job?

    Real estate photography has always been an in-demand business. People sell houses which means a photographer is needed in order for them to be able to show their house in its best light. Real estate photography is not just a simple matter of taking photos of the house interiors and exteriors. There is a certain process of this kind of photography. It captures the essence of the house—its personality, character, emotions a house gives, as well as its major selling points. In order to do this, retouching job in photography is always a necessity.

    Selling a property has never been easy without simple yet handy cameras that are capable of producing great quality images in the real estate industry. Having a good camera is a step closer to selling your property. Enhancing the image quality through a simple yet amazing photo editing app is another story which can take your business to a whole new and better level. It is because, the more beautiful, more vibrant, and more realistic your pictures are, the greater is the chance for your property to get sold quickly.

    Developing Skills in Photo Retouching

    Being a real estate photographer entails lots of days of photo shoot not only as part of marketing purpose but also to perfecting the small details of some common mistakes. A photographer does not only consider the right time of day to create good shots. Other factors like right lighting and good angle are also important in developing good quality real estate photos.

    The world of photography amazes each viewer of its distinct and indispensable beauty. On the other hand, distinguishing an original shot from an edited one is a tough thing to take into account. Nevertheless, an enhancing application or software gives handful of help in achieving quality pictures for any purpose it could serve.

    Photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom permit users to adjust the details in a picture, some of which are photo resizing, cropping, recoloring, and other alternatives when it comes to digital editing. These become possible because of the different features that it has like brush manipulation, pen tool, luminance and color controls, group layering, variable fonts, quick share access and more. The software can be used to obtain high-quality resolution of the image which is perfect as a marketing tool in selling properties.

    Hiring a real estate photo editing professional really saves you time. With these people, retouching job can be far easier. Tasks such as color correction, adding effects, window stain removal, sky replacement, and even deleting unnecessary objects can make your ordinary real estate photos become high-quality images. And to become a real estate retouching editor, there are job requirements that you needed to possess.

    1. Higher education in photography

    There are courses, whether a vocational crash course or four of five-year degree course that are helpful in developing your skills in digital and graphic designs like fine arts, interior designing, and other similar courses.

    2. Knowledgeable in Adobe Photoshop

    The most popular tool used in photo editing is Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC). This is considered by many as the most advanced digital imaging software. The very basic step to use this is to download Photoshop CC. Adding effects to real estate pictures can be limitless unless your retouching skills are exceptional. You can resize the photo using Adjustments, familiarize with ‘Curves’, and practice the Hue and Saturation buttons.

    3. Develop skills in visualizing real estate images through editing.

    Photo editing can also help service and advertising firms for real estate companies and brokerage systems. It can increase the aesthetic beauty of properties by the enhancement and enrichment of images. Images are edited by making the color more vibrant and to make the photos look more entertaining to stare at. These modified images may turn out to be used for listing services for other websites.

  • 2019: Shutter Speed Tutorial for Beginners

    2019: Shutter Speed Tutorial for Beginners

    One of the most amazing features of a camera is its shutter speed, the other two being the Aperture and the ISO. If you want to change the brightness of the photo, you rely on shutter speed. If you also need to create dramatic and significant effects for both freezing and blurring motion, you get help from shutter speed. Because of the camera shutter that is located in front of the camera that acts like curtain, shutter speed existed.

    Shutter speed is defined as the time duration where the camera shutter opens that will eventually expose light onto the camera sensor. It is the length of time the camera will take photos. Shutter speed is important because it creates effects in how the images will basically appear. That is, when you have a camera that has a long shutter speed, the sensor is exposed to a longer period of time. One of the effects of this kind of shutter speed is developing a blur motion especially for moving objects.

    On the other hand, slow shutter speeds are used for objects in gloomy environment. It is also used to take images of the cosmic environment using a tripod. For real estate and landscape photographers, they may intentionally use long shutter speeds to develop a sense of motion like dynamic natural elements like waterfalls, rivers, and others.

    Shutter speed can also be used to freeze motion. Especially for shooting for fast-moving objects like flying birds or speeding cars, fast shutter speed can eliminate their motion. This process can be totally achieved through better shutter speed control. To generalize, quick shutter freezes action while long shutter speed makes an effect to moving objects.

    Shutter Speed Tutorial for Beginners

    As mentioned, the faster the shutter speed of the camera, the lesser the light will hit the sensor. On the opposite end, the slower the shutter speed is, the more light will travel through the camera sensor. But this is not always the case. It will also depend on the time of day the shutter speed is being used.

    When the shutter speed is used at night and there is no light available, the image will end up being black. The sensor should always receive enough light to maximize its purpose. For novices, the more available light is used, the better the image will get. Below are some tips and tricks on how to use the shutter speed.

    • Know the speed

    Know the speed - shutterspeed
    photo: shuttermuse.com

    If the shutter speed is slow when getting an image of a moving object, it will definitely appear blurred. At slow speed, it is very important to use a tripod because slow shutter can make the whole image blurred.

    • Determine the traits of the subject

    directmotion - shutterspeed
    photo: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com

    Aside from considering the speed, it is essential to take notice of the direction of the motion. Always know where the subjects are moving, if they are away from or towards the camera. The magnification of the subject is the combined effect of the focal length and displacement of the object. There are occasions where the focal length can result in greater magnification and camera shake is the foremost reason why the image gets blurry.

    • Develop intuition

    Developing an intuition for shutter speed under different cases and different subjects is quite a painstaking task for beginners. It can be a difficult training process for them. Yet, novices can do this procedure by taking a common application of the shutter speed to express emotions.

    Taking experiment on moving water like rivers or waterfalls is a great way to begin practicing you camera’s shutter speed features. Shutter speed of 1/2 of a second 9or even longer) will make the moving water silky. Thus, for the sake of experimenting, try moving to various shutter speeds to create the most acceptable effect.

    • Sway with the wind

    Sway with the wind
    photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/victormui/4464348728

    To really test the shutter speed of the camera, you must move with the subject. This entails the camera to be located on the moving object. The camera can also be aimed on the subject in such a way that the image frame moves with the subject, which is commonly called panning. To make your panning shot successful, the shutter speed must be slow enough to cause the background to move but fast enough to make the object in still motion.

    • High-speed motion

    High-speed motion - shutterspeed
    photo: https://northviewsports.com

    High-speed motion has the capability in the promotion of dynamic subjects. Capturing fast-moving objects is quite difficult. But the very key is always anticipation of the next thing to happen. There must always be a prediction on where the object will position itself since shutter speeds shorter than 1/5 of a second is faster than our very own reaction time.

    • Make use of zoom function

    camera zoom power settings
    photo: https://www.samsung.com/

    Another trick that will be of great interests to beginners is to change the zoom during the exposure. Aptly called the zoom burst, one can achieve this technique by using a shutter speed of 1/15 or 1/2 a second with the use of a tripod. One can also twist the lens’ zoom ring and make sure the camera is not moving literally.

    Familiarizing yourself with the camera’s basic functions, particularly with its shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, can help you achieve the perfect shot more efficiently. This is one of the basic skills necessary if you’re still building up your own professional portfolio or you’re planning on honing your skills for your preferred photography style.

    zoom effect - shutterspeed
    photo: https://www.photographymad.com

  • Importance of Real Estate Video Editing

    Importance of Real Estate Video Editing

    There are countless reasons why you should consider using video in your real estate business. Using video as marketing strategy is perhaps the best way to capture the true spirit of the property. In this way, you can offer your potential clients the feel and the look of the area that you are selling. This is the reason why professional assistance for real estate video editing is very important.

    An assortment of video services these days is readily available in the Internet. As part of marketing technique, every real estate sales agent reaches out the support of property video and video editing company because real estate video production offers more aesthetics than what a still photo can do. In utilizing the benefits of video production, there becomes an easy connection as to where to locate the rooms, spaces, and other important areas of the property.

    Real estate video is today’s most essential method of marketing. Many real estate agents, realtors, and brokers turn to the creation of videos because they believe on the type of influence videos can offer. In presenting properties, every video should be engaging enough in highlighting nearby communities, thus presenting the kind of lifestyle and personality the property is surrounded with.

    Everyone loves to see attractive clips. Everyone believes that creating video is a great way to market one’s personality. Owning a collection of property videos in your listings will only make every buyer visit your site. Presenting professionally made videos will make these clients realize you are so dedicated to your profession. This is a plus factor in terms of attracting buyers.

    Video editing jobs are very common today. For properties to be sold fast there are numerous photo adjustments to be made just for one particular video. A real estate video editor should look at some parts of the video to ensure that there are characters of the clips that needed to be changed. With the technology that can be run at the very tip of our fingers, video production and editing are very easy tasks to do.

    Since video production is important in marketing the property you are selling, so is video editing. One can use his/her smartphone by just simply holding the phone horizontally. Holding the phone in a horizontal manner will make the video being shot in full frame. Video creation should also consider the time of shooting, especially in the interior. Because a video is created by means of a smartphone, it is proper to edit them using a laptop or a desktop aided by the best editing software available.

    Reasons Why Real Estate Video Editing is Important

    Hiring the services of professional video editors will make your real estate videos look more professional. They can make your videos high-quality ones which will create vehicles for a higher chance of potential buyers visiting your site. The sole purpose of video editing is to make the video stand out in the listings. High quality videos, especially when they look professional, make your listings more appealing to the buying public.

    Everyone else can create videos easily because most of us own smartphones. But not everybody can edit videos especially when using high-end editing software. Editing is a work that involves color enhancement, resizing, placing in proper angles, correcting of blacks and whites, and many more. In this way, properties are sold faster than videos that are not properly formatted.

    When videos are properly edited, it really gives you the competitive edge. And when they are seen at your video listings, it only shows that you have the marketing advantage over the rest. You are the ones setting the standards in showcasing real estate properties in a whole new perspective.

    Videos are very important to display the sentiments, feelings, and thoughts of prospective buyers. As a real estate agent, you can also work on the testimonials of these people because testimonial videos have a big impact to help get new people promoting your real estate business. You can also create a series of informational videos about the property not only to give additional knowledge to customers but to impress the clients in general.

    There are also buyers who want to know the type of neighbors they will have once they buy the property. Developing a community video will help the buyer see not only the house he buys but also the surrounding neighborhood. Most real estate buyers want to know the establishments around the property which include schools, hospitals, parks, supermarket, and many more.

  • How to Sell Your Property Fast this 2018

    How to Sell Your Property Fast this 2018

    As the years go by, strategies for effective sales and marketing have changed. Often, consumers’ taste and preferences change along the way and marketers have to adjust. Being in the real estate industry, you also need to be abreast with the trends and sell your properties quickly. With the amount of competition in the market, you could not afford to keep the properties on listings for long.

    If you want to take your business up a notch, then you need to be smart with your marketing strategies. Here are some tricks that you could use this 2018 to market and sell your properties quickly:

    Use videos

    Video is the new king in 2018. Social media platforms like Facebook are giving it more weight when it comes to organic reach. More online users are also like watching videos. This allows you to stand out among the crowd. This builds your brand in the process while improving your conversion. It’s not just about adding videos to your listings but also adding different types of videos on your social media platforms that add an interesting take on your brand.

    Improve listing photos

    real estate photo editing company phixer real estate listing photo

    Make sure that you upgrade your listings in order to sell faster. This will encourage potential buyers to check your properties. User better photos and hire a professional photographer and real estate photo editor. Doing so ensures that you get high-quality images and the best angles for your photos. Better photos give potential buyers a clear picture of what the property can offer them.This is one of the best ways to get more people interested in the property. You have no excuses why you couldn’t get the best images for your listings since there are a lot of reliable real estate photographers around already.

    Add live chat

    Do not underestimate the power of having a live chat option, especially if you have your own website. Make sure that you use your website to its best potential when it comes to selling properties. If you use your site for this purpose, then it would be better to have a 24/7 live chat option. This is an effective tool for conversion. Visitors can ask questions in real-time. Live chat also improves their user experience. You are also able to get information and follow up on these prospects later on. This ensures that you won’t miss any possible sale.

    Be active on social media

    Social media is in the forefront of marketing today. If you want to effectively reach your market and make a sale, then your best bet would be having a strong presence on different social media platforms. Aside from this, you are also able to build your brand through social media. You don’t have to stick with posting listings on social media. You need to go above and beyond this common tactic. You can post videos and helpful tips when it comes to real estate purchases. Become a go-to resource when it comes to your industry. This increases engagement and creates a more reliable brand for you.

    Ask for referrals

    Do not underestimate the power of referrals. Ask your clients for referrals and make this your practice. Clients who have had good experiences with you will definitely refer you to family and friends. A majority of people trust recommendations from those they know even more than other types of marketing efforts. Make sure that when your clients are happy with your service that you ask them for referrals. Ask them to pass along your business card to those who will need your services.

    Follow-up your clients

    As a real estate broker, maintaining good relationships with previous clients is a must. Make sure that you stay in touch with them. You can do this by making and sending email newsletters to former clients. Make sure that these are valuable and helpful. Provide content that they can use and is relevant to your industry. This will ensure that clients will remember you in case they will need your help again.

  • What are the Best Real Estate Listing Sites in 2019 and Why?

    What are the Best Real Estate Listing Sites in 2019 and Why?

    When you’re searching for a home, there’s so much work that needs to get done. It is a big financial investment that can affect your future and your family’s future. Making sure that you purchase the right home is of high importance.

    In addition to that, searching for a home is time-consuming. If you are in an urban area, you might need to pour most of your time for weeks or months looking into different websites and doing property visits. To speed up your search, make sure that you’re looking at the top real estate listings online.

    From 2018 to 2019, Phixer still recommends to check out these top sites when looking for a house.

    1.  Zillow. The great thing about Zillow is that it has millions of property listings that often come with Google Earth views. This can be useful especially if you want an accurate image of how the property looks and not just an edited photo. The site has Zestimates, which is an estimated market value of a property that uses public data. There is also a forum for potential home buyers to interact with other people and get helpful advice. Zillow is a great tool if you’re a homeowner who wants to know the value of your home.

    2.  Redfin. This site has a coverage on 75 different metropolitan areas in the US and is updated every 30 mins or less. It has a pretty robust search tool that has interesting features like marking a home that is not for sale yet as a favorite where you can get an alert once it gets listed. You can also specify the fixer-uppers and homes with views that you want when you search. It has a “Last Call” option that updates you when a competing buyer gives a bid so you can counter. As a home buyer, you can view a home in person with a Redfin agent and they also have free home-buying classes if you are in their area of service.

    3. Realtor. This listing is available on every state in the US. Realtor is sponsored by the National Association of Realtors which gives you access to hundreds of multiple listings services. You are sure that with this site, you are looking at a credible real estate resource that is frequently updated throughout the day. Their listings provide adequate marketing summaries to your chosen neighborhood, as well. The site is a good information resource and has useful services such as finding a realtor and search assist wherein you are matched to a real estate professional in a specific area.

    4. Trulia. It is a user-friendly real estate listing site that allows you to view listings in map formats or in photos. You can get information on the neighborhood of your choice, like its price trends, school reviews, crime reports and others. Trulia also has interesting features, such as find an agent, compare it, and price reductions. It has an online community where potential buyers and home sellers can interact and discuss the buying and selling processes. Users can also blog about their experiences.

    5. Homes. If you just want the basics, then Homes.com is where you should look. It has an easy way to look for properties for rent, homes for sale, the home values of recently sold properties, and a directory of real estate professionals in different areas. The site also has demographic information about different neighborhoods. The great thing about Homes.com is that it has different mobile search options no matter what your device is. Its mobile site is also robust so you can easily drive around the neighborhood and search for available homes.

  • A Guide on How to Optimize Your Real Estate Listings

    A Guide on How to Optimize Your Real Estate Listings

    With the internet becoming an indispensable platform for selling, you cannot afford not to be found online as a business owner. Especially when you’re in the real estate industry, the competition can be tough. You need to be ahead in the game to outsell your competitors and reach your market faster.

    In order to outsell your competitors and reach your market faster, you need to establish a strong presence online and make your listings accessible to potential buyers. Aside from just posting, you also need to ensure that your listings are optimized.

    Here are some considerations that you need to take into account in order to optimize your listings:

    1. Add relevant content.
    Make sure that you have effective copy and text for your listings. This is a must if you want to sell your properties quickly. Aside from that good copy also ranks well with search engines. Make sure that you add an adequate description of the property and include the address. Use local keyword phrases, as well. This is necessary especially if you are servicing a specific area or state. Use common local search terms and customize these depending on your specific area. Making sure that these are included will help buyers find your property easily online.

    2. Include reviews.
    As a business, it is essential to establish your credibility with your potential customers. To do so, add positive reviews from previous clients. Make sure that you have solicited feedback from happy clients every time you make a sale. This is something that many potential buyers look for when checking out listings. They want to know if you have a good reputation as a broker and have given home buyers many positive experiences during the long grueling path to home purchasing.

    3. High-quality real estate photos and videos.
    Do not underestimate the power of good property photos and videos. These are necessary in order to encourage potential buyers to check out the property in person. The majority of the buyers get persuaded by the photos and videos featured in listings. Most consumers are visual. So having photos will definitely help your bottom-line, as well. Relevant images and videos also help you in improving your online search ranking. Make sure that these enhance the visitor’s experience and encourages them to take a look at the property. Take advantage of the professional photos and videos that you have invested in and might as well ask some help from real estate photo editor to make your photos stand out.

    4. Put listings on major sites.
    Posting your property listings on the major listing websites can also help in optimizing their visibility. These sites are usually credible and are high ranking in most search engines. Having credible links to your listings will help boost your own ranking. This also helps in making a sale faster and gets your property to as many potential buyers as possible.

    5. Incorporate your social media.
    If your business is active on different social media platforms, it’s also best to incorporate these into your listings. This helps build client relations and act as a key platform for addressing customer service concerns. Make sure that you are available on the major social media platforms that your customers are using. Posting available properties on social media platforms also will help to spread the word. This optimizes your listings and links back to your listings.

    6. Keep your listings (on your site).
    If you are running your own website, don’t delete previous listings. Mark them as sold and keep the content and images on your site. If you can get reviews from buyers, then update your listing to include status and the feedback from the buyer. This helps in optimizing your site, especially in keeping relevant keywords on your website. This also shows potential buyers the properties that you had success in selling and gives them a glimpse of the type of service that you provide.

  • Top 3 Secrets: How to Sell Your Home Fast

    Top 3 Secrets: How to Sell Your Home Fast

    For every homeowner, taking on the challenge of selling one’s home can be tough. This can be frustrating especially if you’re in a rush to close the deal. It can be difficult to wait day after day for the perfect buyer who’s going to put down the money for your home. You have to stand out especially if you are in a competitive market.

    However, there are some tricks that you can do in order to sell your home faster than usual. Although there is no one solution for all real estate needs, you can do what you can to improve your home and be smart about the investments and the choices that you make for your home.

    Here are the top three tricks to sell your home quickly:

    1. Improve curb appeal. How your home is presented often speaks a magnitude of its value. Never take shortcuts on the appearance of the exterior of your home. The curb appeal can be everything. It is the first thing that people see. Give potential buyers an positive experience as soon as they see your home, drive into the driveway and walk up to the front porch. Make sure that your yard is tidy and that you have a good-looking lawn. Invest in fresh paint, new walkways, or pressure washing the exteriors. Add color to your home with flowering plants or new shrubs to make your home extra inviting. You can also ask suggestions from real estate professionals or from friends to look at your home for a fresher perspective. While your home is out on the market, you need to make sure that the landscape is in tip-top shape. An inviting exterior will most likely encourage more potential buyers to take a peek in your home.

    2. Have professional photos and videos of the property. Hire a professional to stage your home and ready it for photos and videos. This person looks into your home from the perspective of the buyer. A professional stager will enhance your property’s strengths and cover its flaws. This ensures that your house is given a makeover in a marketing perspective to make it appealing to potential buyers. Once your home is beautifully staged, you need to hire a professional real estate photographer and videographer to take images and videos of your home. Having professional photos is a game changer, especially if you’re posting your listings online. Great photos make up for more than 80% of the decisions made by buyers. Making sure that the photos depict your home and bring out the best in your property. Hiring professionals is an investment that you have to make, especially if you want to sell your home quickly.

    3. Put your listing on major portals. If you want to get a buyer real fast, then you have to put your home in all of the major portals in your area. This is a must to get maximum exposure for your home. Armed with your professional photos and videos, you have nothing to worry when putting your home out there to the public. Make sure that you post good photos and have plenty of them in your listing. Aside from the major listings online, it will also help to put your home on sale on social media or post it on your area’s online forum or community. The more eyeballs that you can get, the better. This increases the likelihood that people who are interested in purchasing homes can see your listing.

    In selling your home fast, you need to be ready all the time for surprises. Make sure that your home is in good shape 24/7 just in case you have potential buyers who want to see your home.

    Featured photo by huffingtonpost.com.