Quality marketing counts more than ever in tougher conditions, claims firm

Estate agents need to concentrate on quality marketing more than ever before as mortgage interest rates rise and lenders become ever more cautious, according to FocalAgent.

With some analysts fearing a house price fall of 10% or more over the next year – following the market reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-Budget – and a market slowdown, FocalAgent claims that prospective buyers with access to finance will have plenty of choice when it comes to purchasing their new home.

“Sellers are going to have to stand out from the crowd,” Lee Wainwright, the company’s CEO, said, adding that the use of video images to complement traditional stills in house sale listings can boost enquiries by 400%.

“And they can help landlords and letting agents, too. Our Matterport 360-degree room-by-room viewing tool offers buyers an opportunity to view a property from the comfort of their living room. This is a huge advantage to people leading busy lives,” Wainwright added.

He said there is a strong likelihood that the marketplace is going to get a lot tougher as interest rates increase and lenders put a squeeze on mortgages, and called on agents to use all the tools at their disposal to achieve sales.

Wainwright believes this should very much include digital tools, with over 70% of property searches now taking place on a mobile device.

“We are living and working in a digital world,” he said. “And that needs to be reflected in the way we operate as businesses. We have to embrace new technologies as they emerge.”

Wainwright says the fully ‘immersive sensation’ offered by the 360 degree Matterport 3D virtual tour is an example of the changing way buyers are approaching the property market.

“They are incredibly popular,” Wainwright insists. “Buyers and renters no longer have to wait for a viewing day to be shown around a house. They can have a walk-through online on their laptop or mobile at a time to suit them.”

However, while encouraging the use of the latest technology, Wainwright also calls on agents to not turn their backs on traditional methods.

“Everyone still uses stills. And most are using video, too,” he explained. “Short videos are really good at showing the area in which a property is located. They can feature local services and points of interest which all help to market a property to its fullest potential.”

The importance of visual marketing was shown recently by research from US multi-national conglomerate, 3M, which found that visual information is processed in the human brain 60,000 times faster than text.

“That’s why it’s vital that both letting and selling agents take a quality approach to visual imagery when making marketing decisions,” Wainwright concluded.