Alex Capozzolo

By: Alex Capazzolo

Although real estate agents have long capitalized on technology to help sell homes, new and innovative options keep coming. Many technological advances make selling a home easier and more intuitive, especially when paired with a good marketing plan.

One thing is certain: technology keeps changing and advancing, so what should you use to sell homes? Here’s the latest:

Drones

Drones are changing the real estate landscape—quite literally. These unmanned aerial vehicles take beautiful, pro-quality pictures and videos of properties from a bird’s eye view. This gives potential buyers a unique perspective of the property that they would not be able to get from ground level. Drones allow the property to “make an entrance” online and captivate audiences with a perspective that prospective buyers don’t usually get. They’re also a great tool for virtual tours of a home’s interior and exterior.

Drone photos and footage make great additions to your marketing materials as well. The high-up views will help listings stand apart from real estate photos taken from the ground level. Drones have evolved in such a way that they’re easy to use and relatively inexpensive, making them an asset to add to your arsenal. As they continue to evolve, more real estate professionals will likely use them.

Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality

Virtual reality is becoming increasingly popular in the real estate industry. It is mainly used to allow potential buyers to take a virtual tour of a property, giving them an insider’s perspective without being physically present at the home. This is especially helpful for buyers do not live locally and wouldn’t otherwise be able to tour the property.

Augmented reality is similar to virtual reality. Instead of being fully immersed in a virtual world, users can see the real world around them with virtual objects superimposed over the landscape. An example would be having a potential buyer point their phone at a property, and when they do, information about the home shows up on their phones. You can also use augmented reality to stage a room virtually. Say a prospective buyer is touring an empty home. Augmented reality allows them to see what furniture might look like in the space.

Virtual Staging

Home staging is an effective tool in helping sell a home, as it can help to create an emotional connection between the buyer and the property. Plus, it doesn’t have to be done physically, thanks to virtual home staging. The process uses computer-generated imagery to furnish and style a home on the market digitally.

Virtual staging is a great way to give potential buyers an idea of what the property will look like with furniture and décor. It provides an opportunity to highlight the property’s best features. Virtual staging offers a viable alternative when traditional staging isn’t an option, like for properties that are under construction.

And then there’s the versatility of virtual staging. Typically, traditional staging means the way a home is staged is the way it stays until it’s sold. With virtual staging, you can change the look of a room, often with the click of a few buttons (and for less money). Help buyers see the potential of a space by changing up the look.

Digital Marketing

While digital marketing isn’t new, its importance can’t be overstated. After all buyers are online. The data proves it, so some of your marketing strategies need to be online, too. By using digital marketing tools, real estate agents can reach a larger audience and showcase homes in the best possible light.

Digital marketing tools include social media, email and real estate blogs and websites. All of these tools are unique in how they enhance your marketing efforts. For example, by posting photos and virtual tours of homes online, agents can give potential buyers a better sense of what the property has to offer. Social media, video marketing, email newsletters and blogs can also all be used to highlight properties and connect with your clients. Ultimately, by leveraging the power of digital marketing, real estate agents can sell homes more effectively.

To stay ahead of the curve, embrace the various technological advancements out there and implement what you can into your business. These technologies can help agents save time and money while also providing a better customer experience. You don’t have to use them all, but consider which ones might work best for you, and take some time to master them.

Alex Capazzolo is the co-founder of Brotherly Love Real Estate. He has been investing in real estate for +7 years and owns a small portfolio of 14 units. Alex works full-time as a real estate agent in Southern California and enjoys writing on home improvement, marketing strategies, and other real estate topics.