Everyone knows the real estate market has been in the proverbial crapper for more than two years. So of course my wife
and I decided to put our house on the market in February (a cold and dreary month in NC) of 2011.
After 91 days and 10 showings we had an offer and accepted that offer early this month.
Why do I bring this up you ask? Because I am confident that an integrated social media strategy helped sell my home.
But first, let’s bring it back to 2010.
Choosing a Forward Thinking Real Estate Firm
I began to work with 1st Signal Realty (Disclaimer: 1st Signal Realty is a client) in September of 2010 when their owner, Will Dyson, and I sat down to discuss
his business model moving forward. Will has been a successful entrepreneur in a few industries and he wanted to meet with me because he understood
the importance of social media but simply didn’t have the ability to implement a strategic plan.
We spoke for a few hours and I came away with the feeling that I could come up with an integrated strategy across the web that included website updates, a local blog and a local focus on a few specified social networking sites.
Since that meeting, Will and I have been working together to not only help sell homes but to create a community of friends and clients online. It has helped grow 1st Signal as well as encourage home buyers and sellers to choose a real estate firm that is progressive and always evolving for their clients.
How Social Media Helped Sell My Home
Fast forward to late January of last year when my wife and I decided it might be a good time to sell our home in order to take advantage of the low interest rates. Will counseled us on how we should approach this decision and we had our home on the market by Super Bowl Sunday.
Since 1st Signal had a strategic and integrated social media plan in place for 5+ months at the time I knew my home was, at the very least, going to be in the upper eschelon of local homes in that prize range as far as visibility goes.
Because we had already created a community, when our house became available it was shared everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, Real Estate Forums and more.
We didn’t beg folks to buy our home or even ask them to “please, please tell everyone about our home!” Instead, thanks to the commitment 1st Signal made to social media – our home was able to stand out from the rest of the pack.
Do Your Research
Make sure the next time you decide to buy or sell a home that you find a local real estate firm who is offering a marketing strategy that includes an integrated social media plan. There may be a bigger real estate firm that has more agents or a longer list of achievements – but I can almost gurantee that won’t sell your home.
How do I know? Social Media sold my home, that’s how.
