first impressions
Issue 83 - May 6th, 2022
The first 3 photos on a real estate listing can make or break momentum when you first list a home on the market. Home buyers today get alerts as soon as properties go “active”, and they usually make a very quick decision on whether or not they “love” the home within the first few swipes of a photo.
If they love the first few photos, they may keep swiping and even read the description which then probably leads to a text to their spouse/family member/friend before scheduling a showing with their agent.
As we head into the Spring and a turbulent housing market in some parts of the country, home sellers need to dial in the small things that make your house shine online:
Plant flowers and clean up the lawn if selling a single family home
Clean off patios and outdoor areas prior to photos
Remove all items from kitchen and bathroom countertops - clutter kills the vibe in photos even if you love your collection of 17 cookbooks that no one else cares about seeing in the pictures
Make sure all lightbulbs work; buyers start thinking things are wrong with your house weirdly if a lightbulb is out in a photo
Less is more; reduce clutter in closets and generally make the house look cleaner and more organized
Change air filters, tighten up loose doorknobs, and do all of the handyman maintenance items you have been putting off for years
Keep the listing description short and sweet and just highlight key areas of the home. There is ZERO need to write out how many bedrooms, bathrooms, and other details there are in the home in the description - let the photos sell the home and entice people to come see it in person
Videos, floor-plans, virtual tours are a must have these days to stand out against other homes on the market
Make sure your pool doesn’t look like this:
Newsworthy Links To Share
Fueled by exploding food prices, two REITs specializing in farmland—Gladstone Land (LAND) and Farmland Partners (FPI)—notched returns of 22% and 18.3% in March. The ground-lease REIT sector was trailed closely by the booming healthcare sector (9.3%) and self-storage, which notched an 8% return. REITs that focus on shopping centers (7.6%), data centers (6.3%), industrial properties (6.3%), and SFR (6%) also posted strong returns in
March. (CRE Daily)Will Elon Move Twitter To Austin? With Twitter owned by Musk, industry analysts and Austin-area tech officials say it's not a stretch to think that he might move the company's headquarters from San Francisco to Austin, or at least create a much-larger corporate presence for the company in Central Texas, which has become a focal point for Musk's companies. (Austin-American Statesman)
For the first time, Elon Musk's tunneling startup, The Boring Company, has gotten the go-ahead to start working on a public-facing project in the Austin area. The company — which quietly moved its headquarters to Pflugerville in the past couple of years, and recently announced $675 million in funding — on May 3 was approved by Kyle City Council for a $50,000 professional services agreement to begin engineering work for a potential pedestrian tunnel. (Austin Business Journal)
Smart Office Buildings Can Help Sniff Out Viruses But Are Vulnerable to Hacks: The moment that Honeywell International Inc. employees enter their new headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., the smart building goes to work. A camera recognizes employees’ faces and hails an elevator programmed to bring them to their floor. Sensors on the walls measure particles and CO2 levels in meeting rooms, pumping in fresh air when levels rise too high. Higher levels of certain particles mean it is more likely that viruses could be present. In a control room, big screens show every floor in the 23-story building. (WSJ)
On The Links With: Allie Beth Allman’s Keith Conlon: Over a round of golf at Four Seasons Las Colinas, the firm president shares his thoughts on emerging DFW communities, home trading, and battling for properties in a hot market. (D Magazine)
How Austin Lured the Most Workers Back to Offices: This Texas city’s workers are putting in more face time than any other major U.S. metro area. (WSJ)