Updating your real estate ads

When placing an ad for a house you’re trying to sell, you know the importance of the wording and photos chosen.

This brief introduction to a house can make or break it to a potential buyer. Creating the perfect ad can be difficult, but Point2.com has four tips to make your ad stand out and sell your property.

1. Put Your Best Photo Forward
When you have the opportunity to include a photo, make sure to use the one that triggers the strongest response from prospects. This is almost always a shot of the exterior front of the house. One study found that 95 percent of viewers viewed the photo of the exterior of the home for a total of 20 seconds, more than double the time spent viewing any other photo.

If you have the budget, this is a great time to use a professional photographer—or to brush up on your photo skills. Of course, we recommend using a fancy camera, but if you can get great pictures using your smartphone as well.

2. Write an Attention-Grabbing Headline
No one’s going to read the fine print if they don’t like the headline. Appeal to the right buyers and stand out from the rest of the ads by writing a strong headline. You might want to create a few options that fit in the space allowed and then run them by your friends and family to see what works best.

If you’re selling an expensive condo, you could try:

• Lux Condo – View Today!
• New Listing: 2/2 in Gated Community
• Remodeled 2/2 End Unit, Peabody School District
• Move-In Ready: Remodeled 2/2 with Mountain Views

3. Use Real Estate Abbreviations Wisely
Real estate abbreviations save space, which is great, considering that you are usually working with a pretty strict character count. But not everyone can read real estate-ese, so be sure to throw in some real words, too. We recommend pairing specificities, like top materials and brand names, with words that will drive an emotional response, like “views” and “luxury.”

4. Always Include Your Website
In addition to a phone number, in today’s digital world, you should always include a website for people who want to learn more online before making contact. Include a link to the listing’s designated single property website if you have one. If not, include the web address of your real estate agent website. You can even use this to see how many leads you are getting from your ad if you use domains for lead tracking.

How do you create attention-grabbing ads? Any tips?