real estate – The Property Writers

How to get attention in real estate marketing – light it up!

July 8, 2016 No Comments

How long is the average person’s attention span?

This is what I found on Google:

How long is the average person’s attention span?

If your audience is still paying attention after the first 8 seconds, you have approximately 4 minutes and 52 seconds until their attention spans are exhausted. The average adult attention span has plummeted from 12 minutes a decade ago to just 5 minutes now, according to a Fortune.com article.

Wow, not long! And what has caused the plummet?

We could certainly take a wild guess. The (rising) influx of technology and tidal waves of services that are designed to make our lives easier are perhaps contributing factors. No one has any time any more.

From when we rise in the morning, until our heads hit the pillow at night, or even the early hours, we have information directed at us, choices to make and information to process.

It certainly is tiring.

When it comes to marketing, specifically real estate marketing, the key is standing out, while not demanding too much from weary home-seekers or investors.

My husband is an electrician. He has always said that lighting is everything. We’ve renovated numerous houses together and he has always done the lion’s share of the major changes, including lighting. I must say, his choices have been spot on.

Modern lighting has a way of evoking different vibes and moods, depending on the look you are going for. And is such a value-adder.

At The Property Writers, we just love fawning over a lot of the stunning lighting that we see in property photographs that come through our inboxes.

Indoor lighting, outdoor lighting – even candlelight! To be able to see anything, the first port of call for our eyeballs is processing light. Our eyes are drawn to light. It’s instinctive.

Perhaps one of the best examples of utilising lighting for advertising and marketing is Times Square in New York City. I remember I visited in 2006 (Ten years ago?! It’s been way too long between visits) and I felt just like a character in a movie. Cliche, but true. I was totally smitten as I took in the immense lit-up signs. I bet they’re even more spectacular ten years on.

So it was only a matter of time until these mammoth, illuminated billboards trickled down into real estate/realty marketing.

I know they’ve been popping up all over the country lately and have been showcased at trade shows. But I must say it was a real treat to recently spot an illuminated sign at night, out the front of a property.

I spotted it whilst driving, around a week ago. It was a listing for Ray White, in Largs Bay, South Australia. And it looked magnificent!

This lit-up sign made me slow and pull in to the curb to read it.

The image and words were perfectly and crisply illuminated, the darkened street around it providing the ultimate shadowy backdrop, much like a stage.

These solar powered and otherwise real estate signboards are only going to become more prevalent and accessible – that’s our prediction.

Fast forward a year from now and I’m thinking they will be absolutely everywhere.

An image from "Digital Central", a company offering illuminated signboards. Copywright lies with Digital Central Real Estate Signage Company. — *An image from “Digital Central”, a company offering illuminated signboards. Copyright lies with Digital Central Real Estate Signage Company.*

It’s awesome to see the industry utilising such technology to stand out and do the absolute best for their vendors. It would be great to see costing eventually become accessible across a spectrum of price ranges.

I think these signs should capture up to the 4 minutes and 52 seconds allotted for average adult – plenty of time to note the name and number of the agent and phone them!

Does anyone else have any thoughts on these innovative signboards? Or are you a business who offers them as a service? Let us know on Instagram or Twitter.

Note: this post is NOT sponsored or endorsed by any company or business, it is our expressed view on a product and service.

Business, Marketing, Real Estate

Making Lemonade: Finding the Fizz in a Sour Listing

June 30, 2016 No Comments

A real estate listing popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday. It was, from the outside, an unassuming brick maisonette in a nondescript Adelaide suburb. So why was my friend, who lives interstate with no plans to move, sharing it? And then it popped up again. And again. It popped up on Twitter by that afternoon. I clicked on the link and looked at the home.

It was extraordinary, for all the wrong reasons. The carpets were brightly patterned and clashed spectacularly with the walls, which in every room were papered with pictures of cats. More pictures dangled from the ceiling in makeshift mobiles. There were shelves and cupboards lining every wall, stuffed full of dolls, toy cats, and more dolls. Bright frilly decor added to the effect, which should have come with a warning for anyone prone to epilepsy.

Kurralta Park 1/realestate.com.au — Wilson Real Estate West Richmond via realestate.com.au

Don’t believe me? Here it is.

Looking at it, I wondered what the real estate agent was thinking. Had he tried to persuade the vendor that she’d do better to clear out the personal items and pull down the ‘wallpaper’, only to be met with refusal? Or – and this is what intrigued me – had he decided to keep it as it was?

We all know the standard wisdom for home staging. Paint the walls a neutral colour. Rid the rooms of personal items. The less you have inside the house, the bigger it looks. People want to be able to see past your life and superimpose their new one onto the rooms. It’s usually good advice.

But those homes, unless they’re spectacular in their own right, don’t generate social media shares. So, faced with a completely ordinary home in a completely ordinary suburb, did the real estate agent make a very smart decision to leverage the one extraordinary thing about it?

Kurralta Park 2/realestate.com.au — Wilson Real Estate West Richmond via realestate.com.au

But Tanya, you say, if you’re inclined to talk to blog posts, what is the point of exposure if the house puts people off? Well, you’d be surprised what attracts people, for a start. I’ve already seen someone comment on how bright and kitsch the home is, and if she was looking to buy it would be right up her alley. For people who value quirky kitsch in their lives, it’s easier to imagine themselves in a home someone else has already demonstrated can be made to stand out. With hipsters entering the market, retro or ironic furnishings can be a drawcard.

And there’s a second group of buyers that listings like this attract: the bargain hunters. Never underestimate this group. They’re on the lookout for homes that are presented badly, in hopes that they’ll be the only ones who look past the decor to the bones of the structure. Ironically for them, there are so many people in this group that homes which look like bargains can sometimes go for more than the equivalent.

In February of 2016, a Sydney home made the national news when it was discovered that a dead body had been inside for eight years. The place was completely derelict, as the deceased owner had lived there alone and increasingly unwell until her lonely death. Photographs of the home’s interior, with layers of grime, mould and grim disrepair, were shared widely.

The place was auctioned as-is, with no attempts made to clean it up (save, of course, for removing the body). Bids started at $600,000 and were expected to finish at around $700,000. Instead, the tidal wave of publicity saw ten interested bidders turn up and compete fiercely, all believing that they were about to grasp a bargain – after all, how many places in inner Sydney would be in this bad a condition? In the end, the house sold for $1.1 million, not far below the median price for an equivalent home in tip-top condition.

Sometimes, a house which is poorly presented looks more attractive to bargain hunters than one which has been done up. So next time you’re landed with a vendor who doesn’t want to spend the money on staging, or a plain old ugly duckling, think outside the box. If nothing else, you’ll get a reputation for honesty, and you might just walk away with a fat commission to boot.

~ Tanya Ashworth-Keppel

Business, News, Real Estate

Why real estate is still exciting

June 2, 2016 No Comments

You can’t swing a cat lately without reading about or hearing about the cold water potentially being thrown on negatively geared investments, here in Australia.

A hot news topic, like the weather here lately (hello, winter!), it’s cast a bit of a gloomy shadow over the industry.

In the build up to our Federal Election, property investment and some related tax breaks are being scrutinised more than ever.

While change is always inevitable, in any field and political climate, the headlines splashed around lately have tended to focus chiefly on the Labor Party’s intent to reform negative gearing.

But, as we know, there are so many other facets to property investment here in Australia. Positively geared investments, of course, being an alternative that shouldn’t be sniffed at.

But nitty gritties aside (as the debate is a whole other post in itself), we felt like we needed to bring a little cheer to the grim forecasting and the industry itself.

We’ve had a few clients, friends and family lately who have been frowning a bit too much for our liking.

So, in no particular order, reasons why real estate is so exciting:

1> Real estate will not, despite the ‘battening down the hatches’ attitude of late, go away. It simply will not. Like a bottle of wine, that itself is a living organism, it evolves, changes and can improve. Of course, it can oxidise too (read: you can lose money), but it is not going anywhere. There will always be land, there will always be property and there will be a demand for both.

2> People involved in the industry are tightening their connections and affiliations – technology has brought us closer than ever before. Kinships between agents and agencies and marketing professionals such as ourselves are formed daily and this community is a fast-paced, vibrant and exciting one. Although scheduling conflicts meant we weren’t at the recent AREC conference in Queensland, we loved the buzz that we saw from our clients who attended and the positive empowerment that they experienced while attending.

3> Real estate is an industry that you can undoubtedly make and create your own opportunities in. A multi-faceted industry, there is something for everyone, depending on your wheelhouse. We ourselves are constantly learning about different aspects of this powerhouse of an industry. Owning property isn’t necessarily permanent, but the choices you make once you do own something, be it a starter unit, a knock-down job, or a stake in a new development, can play a big part in your future, financial and otherwise. And how enthralling is that?

4> The support and wealths of information that we have access to, in our country, are seriously phenomenal. Whether you’re an agency, agent, vendor, or buyer – If you’re not sure about something, during any process, you can be certain you can FIND OUT. How great is that? Whether it is through your own research, or a service that you call upon, a book you read, a convention you attend, or a course you undertake – knowledge is EVERYWHERE and knowledge is POWER! Information doesn’t always come from the four walls of a training environment either. Sometimes all it takes is shouting someone you meet a cup of coffee and asking them some polite questions about their niche for ten minutes. Chances are you’ll walk away with plenty of food for thought.

Image copyright Jim Davis

5> As per the above point, the different services and niches that exist within real estate are seriously cause for excitement. We are thrilled every time we meet someone who has started their own vendor advocacy, mortgage broking, property staging or property photography company, to name a few examples. These businesses are opportunities for people to work hard and reap rewards, while providing invaluable services to buyers and sellers alike. It’s impossible not to get excited after having an in-depth conversation with someone who has found their feet while working in real estate and the enthusiasm is totally contagious.

So how was that for a little cheer!? It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, but we think it counts for something that real estate employs many people, creates plenty of opportunities and acts as an umbrella for plenty of sub-industries.

If you yourself own or run a business within our ever-changing, utterly exciting industry, do say hello on Facebook or Instagram, we would love to meet you.

Business, Real Estate, Tips

How to work on the go

May 17, 2016 No Comments

Got your phone? You won't need much else!

If you work in the real estate industry, whether you’re an agent, property manager, or a developer, chances are you spend a lot of time in your car.

I’ve come up with a few hacks to make the most of your mobility and revel in your chance to work out of a mobile office.

All it takes is foresight, a little bit of technology and an awareness of how to best manage your time whilst not in your office.

Set aside time each morning planning your route and take note of places/areas in which you will likely stop. Having a plan for your day will empower you – of course things certainly don’t always go to plan, particularly in this industry! But it’s better to start the day with a framework, than none at all, and adapt accordingly.

Put together your work-on-the-go-kit. Picture your desk – what is on it that you use frequently that you may need to replicate in your car? It’s pretty straightforward, but if you keep a separate car charger for your phone/tablet, notebook, pens, diary and glasses if you require them together, in a bag or storage tub in your car, you’ll thank yourself for it. It means not having to grab extra bits and pieces before leaving your office. Knowing that you’ll have what you need with you if you have to unexpectedly stay out longer than planned will provide you with peace of mind. It sounds so simple, but the amount of times we’ve clients have said their phone battery had betrayed them, or they didn’t have their reading glasses has made us all the more aware of the importance of these basic things. (I’ve been guilty of forgetting so many of these things too.)
Get your kit sorted!

Cloud storage is your friend. It’s inevitable that being on the go so much, you’ll be creating or receiving documents. You will want these saved securely without you having to switch devices often, or wait until you return to your office. If they are streamlined across your devices, you ultimately save time.

As well as utilising handy cloud storage, there are plenty of apps that I use that I swear by for using while working on the run. That’s a whole other post in itself, but ones I favour are Evernote for word processing/note taking, Dropbox for saving and sending files and utilising Voice Memo (or the Android equivalent) for dictating.

Speaking of back-up – portable contents insurance – ensure that you have it! If you do have an unfortunate incident with one of your devices or contents, if it’s covered by your insurance policy, you’ll be glad to not have hassles when making a claim.
Before you hit the pavement make sure your belongings are secure and that you have insurance.

Coffee and snack stops. These are vital, especially if you are fuelled by caffeine, as I admittedly am. (What writer isn’t, really?) Packing your own food can often be healthier and more cost effective, but isn’t always a daily reality. For when you are making a stop, if you don’t mind repetition, go for somewhere with a loyalty scheme for your beverages, so you’re at last getting a free drink after several. If you like mixing it up, find somewhere different each time and aim to support small or local businesses to the area that you’re stopping in. And do your part for reducing your carbon footprint and aim to take in your own travel mug to fill up, if stopping for coffee is a regular thing. You can get some AMAZING ones online, or even your local stationary supplies store.
Image source: www.keepcup.com

Embrace podcasts! They are a great way to stay engaged and informed in your industry and stay mellow in traffic. As long as you feel like you can still concentrate while driving, podcasts are a seriously fabulous way to make the most of time spent driving. You could always use the time to indulge in podcasts aligned your own personal interests or hobbies now and then to mix up your day and drive.

Find an inspiring natural landscape, or backdrop, to stop and work at. Make the most of your position of not being fixed in the same working space day in, day out. Seek inspiration in the great outdoors. Fresh air and natural splendour do wonders for soul and can really help boost creativity. I love so many quotes from John Muir. A particular favourite, to finish on:

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. – John Muir

Find a natural setting to stop at and enjoy while you work.

What are your tips for working while out and about? And please do let us know of any podcasts we should be subscribing to. Visit us on Instagram and Facebook to give us your own tips and tricks.