With 50% of buyers finding their homes online and a sea of online listings, floor plans stand out to buyers. Additionally, they close faster and impress sellers, too! The #1 thing sellers look for in an agent is a great marketing plan, and floor plans are an important piece of that plan.

What Counts as a Floor Plan? 

With so many marketing real estate tools online, the lines between products and services are constantly getting blurred. Is it a virtual tour, a 2-D drawing, a 3-D rendering or something else, entirely?

Most simply: a real estate floor plan is a 2-D blueprint of a home. It is usually a black-and-white .j-peg image featuring a home’s dimensions and visual spacing.

Floor Plans Beat Out Popular Real Estate Listing Tools 

These simple, black and white .jpeg images are beating out fancy tech across the board. It is surprising to many real estate agents, but the effectiveness and helpfulness of floor plans beat out:

• Virtual Tours
• Drone Photography
• Drone Video
• And even Realtor Contact Info

Many agents are spending hundreds a month on virtual tour software and drone services, but floorplans are actually way more helpful for finding a buyer.

Why Floorplans Matter to Sellers 

Sellers are usually buyers, too. They have been spending countless hours scouring the internet to find their next home. During that time, many sellers have come to form their own opinions on what makes a good listing. The NAR data that applies to buyers applies to sellers also, since they are most often buying another home, too.

But floor plans are rarely ever featured during the marketing portion of listing presentations. This is a missed opportunity for agents to win listings. As we have covered in the past, data shows that the most effective online real estate marketing features stunning photographs, strong property descriptions, and helpful floor plans.

Creating Floor Plans Easily Online 

The good news is, there are tons of easy, cost-effective ways to create floor plans for real estate marketing online. Below, we have gathered the best options at various price points.

SmartDraw  

SmartDraw is the easiest and most cost-effective option. For only 9.99/mo real estate agents can create beautiful 2-D floor plans and even add virtual staging. Smart Draw’s integration with G-Suite and Microsoft Office make it perfectly tailored to fit real estate life.

RoomSketcher 

RoomSketcher creates beautiful 2-D renderings of properties for $49/yr. This floor plan maker is a hidden gem because they offer creation services for agents. Their team will create 2-D floor plans, 3-D floor plans, and virtual tours all-in-one, for agents. It is a huge timesaver.

SketchUp 

SketchUp is by far one of the easiest floor plan tools to learn. It also allows for simple 2D floor plans and for 3D floor plans, too. It’s price point of $399/yr may be off-putting to some agents, but for agents looking for a floor plan tool that is insanely easy to use, this is one to use.

Showcasing Floor Plans Online 

After creating floor plans for real estate marketing, agents can easily show them off with the rest of their marketing materials. Single Property Sites are one of the best ways to showcase floor plans during a listing presentation.

Floor Plans for Real Estate Marketing 

Floor plans are often overlooked as real estate marketing tools. But the data shows that floor plans are actually one of the most effective and helpful features of an online listing. There are plenty of tools available to easily creating floor plans as well as tools for winning listings with them, too.

The post Floor Plans for Real Estate Marketing: Why are so many real estate agents missing out? appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Media Showcase

The Media Showcase is real estate agents’ one-stop shop for sharing property listing videos, photos, floorplans, drone photography and videography, virtual tours, panoramas, and any other type of listing media imaginable.

Now every piece of media related to a listing is housed under one roof. And, the Media Showcase is embedded in the Single Property Sites agents already love.

The Media Showcase is great for:

• Real Estate Marketing Plans – The NAR reported that 73% of homeowners are more likely to list with a real estate agent who provides video of their home. Showing off video and media is a surefire way to win every listing.
• Making Online Home Shopping Easy – Instead of sending home shoppers down a rabbit hole of different links and sites, all listing content and information is embedded on one, simple site.
• Viral Sharability – Every Single Property Site comes with a simple URL of the listing address (like 1122mainstreet.com). Online sharing has never been easier. Every photo, video, floorplan, drone capture, virtual tour, panorama, open house information, property details, map, and more are all housed in one place.
• Saving Listing Agents Time – Uploading content only takes seconds. Everything is uploaded in one, simple dashboard. And agents only need to use one, simple URL to share on the MLS listings and across their social media channels. It marketing made simple.

Supported Platforms

Supported Platforms Include:

• Matterport
• Youtube
• Real Estate Shows
• Vimeo
• RTV
• Wellcome Mat
• Immoviewer
• Veoh
• Real Tour Vision
• Obeo
• Agent Casts
• Google Video
• Flickr
• GlideTour
• Photobucket
• mydeo
• Viddler
• HelloWorld
• Yahoo Video
• DVLS.tv
• VScreen
• Vidego
• And, any direct link, virtual tour URL, or photo slideshow

See it in Action

To see Single Property Sites and the Media Showcase in action, check out 1122mainstreet.com.

Closing

Single Property Sites is now the premier service for all-in-one real estate marketing. Single Property Sites includes property websites, sign riders, lead capture, print marketing, and social media marketing that agents love. And now, Single Property Sites offers the Media Showcase, too.

The Media Showcase keeps every virtual tour, listing video, photo, drone capture, panorama, and every form of media all on one slick, listing website. The Media Showcase saves agents time, makes real estate marketing easy, is super sharable, and makes home shopping online simple.

Best of all, the Media Showcase is included with the same Single Property Sites price as always (starting at $12/mo).

Have another great idea you want to be added to Single Property Sites? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Single Property Sites Launches Media Showcase appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

You’ve come to the end of a listing appointment; you’ve introduced yourself, shared information about your group, toured the property, smiled, and politely answered every question. This is the moment. The homeowners look at each other, trying to gauge each other, and there is an awkward pause. You ask if they would like to list and the sellers tell you that they need to talk it over… you can already tell you’ve lost the listing. Winning listings can be tough. Nervous sellers, stiff competition, and a small window of opportunity are all working against you. But take heart, there is a way to knock your listing appointments out of the park. Check out five ways to win every listing.

Present Your Sales History

Most sellers will be anxious about the unknowns surrounding the listing of their home. Sellers top questions include, “Will my home sell?” and “How long is it going to take to sell my home?” If they are already under contract on another home or they are crunched for time, these “what ifs” will be even more overwhelming. In order to overcome this apprehension and build trust with sellers, it is important to bring information about your sales history to the initial appointment.

The more concrete you are in presenting your data, the better. Charts and graphs can be great accompanying tools. Show the seller the percentage of listings you have sold in the two weeks or less, and in a month or less. If you have gold star clients in the area that can give personal references, even better. Creating a testimonial section on your webpage to direct sellers to is a great idea, too.

Be Confident of Your Value

It is no secret that more sellers have been opting to list their homes on their own. This shift has made your confidence in the value that you bring to the table more important than ever. Since agent services are intangible, making your worth concrete for the seller is key.

Walk your seller through all of the things you will do to add value to their selling experience. Make sure to highlight your strengths. You bring so much value to your clients, including:

• negotiating skills
• industry knowledge
• a marketing plan
• staging techniques
• your professional network

Confidently presenting what you plan to do for the seller on a daily basis will build their trust and win their listing.

Come in with a Customized Marketing Strategy

Telling your sellers about your value is one thing, but demonstrating your value is the best. Every homeowner wants assurance that you will be able to sell their home. Do your prep work ahead of time and make a detailed marketing presentation before sitting down with the seller. Tools like Single Property Sites even allow you to create a custom website of a seller’s property before you even step foot in their home.

You should also be clear about everything you plan to do to maximize their listing reach. With apps aiding buyers, it’s easy for a home to get lost in a sea of listings. Show your seller how you will ensure that their home is well marketed. This includes:

• staging
• custom websites
• industry photography
• your network
• virtual tours
• a targeted online presence

Make sure to use an industry photographer for your presentation. You may also consider using a “before and after” example of a listing with seller photos and no staging/marketing savvy and compare it to an “after” listing that you have created. Include all the bells and whistles you utilize (drone photography, virtual tours, etc.)

Work Out the Listing Price

Ah, the listing price. As the old saying goes, “the wise man is the first to listen and the last to speak.” Sellers will go into the listing appointment with certain expectations surrounding the listing price. Where and how they came up with their price point is always interesting. Listen to the homeowner as they describe their selling desires. Are they closing on a new home in a month or are they casually looking to downsize? Are they expecting an unrealistic profit? These clues will help you know how to steer the conversation.

In preparing for the listing appointment, you should do detailed research in gathering your comps. While most buyers turn to the major listing sites when coming up with their price, tools such as Real Quest and RealEstateABC can give you a more comprehensive look at any property.

Colorado listing agent, Heather Charbonneau suggests listening first and then presenting a price range, encouraging the seller to choose a price somewhere in the middle. If a seller is really fixed on a specific price, work with them, allowing them to set their price and explaining that most homes should sell in a few weeks. Let them know that if the home doesn’t get any offers in a certain time frame, you can revisit pricing together, later. Be sure to never set the price yourself; leave it in the seller’s hands. If you list at your chosen price and the home doesn’t sell quickly, the blame will fall squarely on you.

Close the Deal Immediately

You should close your deal at the listing appointment. Make sure you are prepared and bring all of the paperwork with you. Don’t wait for the seller to ask for a contract and don’t be afraid to suggest making your working relationship official. If the homeowner needs to sell quickly, all the better. Remind the seller of their own timetable. At the end of the appointment, try saying, “you said you needed to sell in the next month, are you ready to get started?”

If your seller seems apprehensive or standoffish, try asking, “Is there any reason you think I might not be the right fit for you?” If the answer is yes, overcome their objections. At the end of the appointment, offer the seller an agreement. Make sure to offer to answer any questions or concerns. If the seller is holding multiple listing appointments, make sure to find out when you will hear back and follow up immediately with a personalized “thank you.”

The post 5 Ways Real Estate Agents Win Every Listing appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Using the right technology will help you demonstrate your value to sellers.   Technology-based Real Estate marketing tools like Single Property Sites can dramatically affect your bottom line by helping you to impress every seller and win more listings.  You will be able to come alongside your clients, show them how important their listing is and give each one a showcase treatment from listing presentation, to contract signing, closing and beyond.

Use Technology to Set Yourself Apart and Demonstrate Your Value to Sellers

You will also be able to demonstrate to your customers a higher level of service and marketing skill focused on their property, which will set you apart from your competition. This means the tools you use can have a direct impact on who wants to list their property with you.  When you are presented with new tools, do your due diligence, and like the UltimateIDX blog cites, you can take your marketing up ten notches.

If technology (aside from email and social media sites like Facebook) is not already a part of your marketing plan it can feel intimidating.  But it doesn’t have to be.  Contact us to learn how uncomplicated it is.  Also, we would love to hear your thoughts on what your clients would think about a website dedicated to selling their property or any other technology-based Real Estate marketing tools you use.

The post How To Use Technology-based Real Estate Marketing Tools to Impress Sellers and Demonstrate Your Value appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Highlights of the Cadence theme include:

• Responsive real estate website theme
• Minimalist design showcasing large high-resolution images
• Multiple color choices
• Single scrolling page with some background image parallax effects
• Best used with a high-resolution photo set

To use the Cadence theme, click “Edit and Promote” for your property – then select Cadence theme in “Design Themes”. The next step then allows color choices.

The post New Cadence Theme for your Single Property Sites appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Highlights of the Rhythm theme include:

• Responsive real estate website theme
• Multiple color choices
• Single scrolling page with some background image parallax effects
• Some animation effects
• Best used with a high-resolution photo set

To use this Rhythm theme, click “Edit and Promote” for your property – then select Rhythm theme in “Design Themes”. The next step then allows color choices.

The post New Rhythm Theme launched appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Highlights of the Expression theme include:

• Responsive real estate website theme
• Multiple color choices
• Single scrolling page
• Dark serious looking initial view
• Best used with a high-resolution photo set

To use this Expression theme, click “Edit and Promote” for your property – then select Expression theme in “Design Themes”. The next step then allows color choices.

The post New Expression Theme launched appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

Highlights of the Modern theme include:

• Responsive real estate website theme
• Showcase for property photos
• Still looks great even if your property photos are not high-res

To use this theme, click “Edit and Promote” for your property – then select this theme in “Design Themes”.

The post New Modern Theme Launched appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

There’s probably no doubt that you’ve heard about the whole debacle between the ListHub listing syndication service (owned by Move, Inc) and Zillow (who also owns Trulia). The situation has been quite fluid and has changed quickly over the past few weeks.

In a court hearing yesterday (March 12th), the current temporary restraining order against ListHub was lifted by a San Francisco Superior Court judge and an agreement was reached to continue providing a data feed to Trulia until April 7, which is the same day a syndication agreement between Zillow and ListHub officially ends as well.

In other words, Trulia, the second most popular consumer-facing real estate website, now has less than a month to come up with a different data source for more than a quarter of its listings.

This news may not matter for brokerages and agents who are members of MLSs that already have agreements in place and feed listings to the major consumer real estate portals, but for those who have solely relied on ListHub in the past for listing syndication, the time has come to find another solution.

So if you’re in the group of agent or brokerages that are looking for a new way to make sure your listings continue to appear on all major real estate portals (including Zillow and Trulia) and be viewed by thousands of potential buyers, below are a few options to consider:

1. Manual input – Trulia and Zillow both allow you to manually input your current listings, including all photos and information. This can obviously become a very tedious process for an agent or brokerage with a large amount of listings, and can become a full time job all by itself. This is not very scalable.
2. Third party products –  Here at SPS Property Marketing, we provide individual agents and entire brokerages alike with solutions for marketing their listings, including syndication to all major real estate portals. While the AUTOMATED syndication piece is of course a big deal, we also provide all sorts of additional features and benefits for a nominal monthly or per-listing fee.
3. Contact your MLS – Many MLSs already pushes out data to all of these real estate websites, which is of course great for agents in those MLSs. But if your MLS currently does not have an agreement in place with Zillow / Trulia, consider contacting them. If enough of the agents and brokers in your area do the same thing, the MLS will likely have to listen (eventually).

Will YOU or your brokerage be affected by this change? If so, what solutions do you have in place to make sure your listings continue to be viewed by the masses of homebuyers out there?

The post Trulia will lose all ListHub data on April 7th, 2015 appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.

In order to provide our customers with a one-of-a-kind experience, we are constantly striving to update and upgrade our products and services. We have received a lot of feedback regarding the recently released new theme for your single property sites, and have completed a series of updates and bug fixes to the new theme.

Here is a complete list of all updates:

• Agent’s full address now shows up without error
• Description under property details showing
• The white label solution now shows correct credits at bottom of Agent profile page. If there is no agent tagline then this will not appear.
• Agent’s social media icons and links all work correctly
• “Assumptions and Disclosures” under financing options are now appearing
•  The Facebook share link has been improved, making it easier than ever to quickly share property sites to Facebook
• Image slideshows now included in menu under “Property Information”
• Video and Virtual Tours were experiencing problems when opened in Internet Explorer. This has been fixed, but you need to make sure that videos and virtual tours are not set to “auto-play” as the video will load straight away.

To see example sites for the new theme, click the links below:

• http://www.1122mainstreet.com
• http://5429flatford.2seeit.com/

There are still a few big upgrades we have coming down the pipeline, so please let us know how we can help make your experience the best possible.

The post MAJOR single property site theme updates and bug fixes appeared first on Real Estate Marketing and Property Marketing Blog by Single Property Sites.