The New First Impression in Home Selling

As an ASP Home StagerŽ I know how important curb appeal can be in making that critical first impression when selling your home. However, with the growth of real estate advertising over the web, there is another first impression that you should consider when marketing your property. Web impression. Does your property have a great one?

Over the past few months I have spoken with realtors and home sellers who have all been saying the same thing. "The listing is getting a lot of web traffic but there hasn't been much buyer interest". They say this without even realizing that they have just contradicted themselves. The web traffic that the listing is receiving actually is buyer interest. If the number of home showings isn't as high as expected compared to the web traffic received, there must be something from the web listing that is turning the buyer off. It could be price. It could be location. But it may also be that the pictures of the property have given a poor web impression.

I hesitate in using the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" but it is. It is also worth something else, in this case. Buyer interest. I've suggested it to the realtors and home sellers that I spoke of earlier and I'll suggest it to you, now. If the photos of your house, which are out there for all to see, are not showing your property at its best, you should re-shoot. Make sure the rooms are dressed and gleaming and then simply re-shoot.

When Barb Schwarz created the concept of preparing a house for sale, she called it Home StagingŽ because of the similarities it has with setting a movie stage. Imagine you are setting the stageŽ for your home's movie debut. Be the director of a best seller. Before your cameraman sets up, make sure your stage is set. Remove the clutter, put out your best towels and bedding, turn on all the lights, draw up the curtains and then let the cameras roll, preserving the image for all to see over the World Wide Web.

Of course re-shooting, not only, takes extra time and money, but you may not be able to regain the interest of those who have already passed the listing by. If your house isn't quite ready for its debut, I strongly advise waiting until it is before shouting action.

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Amie Walton is the president and founder of Xstream Realty, a Virtual Agent? for managing private real estate sales over the internet. As an Accredited Staging Professional, Amie also operates Xstream Staging, a Home StagingŽ business located in Nova Scotia, Canada.