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Stacey Moseley
A unique social media campaign that a seller used to help bolster his sale price by $135,000 did not remove the need for an agent, said the principal involved in the sale.
Social media expert and home owner, Kurt Opray, used Twitter, Facebook and blogs to generate buyer interest in his house, located in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.
The successful campaign achieved at least 40 hits to his blog per day, with the traffic more than tripling in size the day before the February 11 auction.
But according to selling agent Rob Elsom, director at hockingstuart Northcote, Mr Opray’s social media campaign worked with, not against, his own marketing techniques.
“Nothing will take the place of an agent, with experience, resources and knowledge but to combine it with personal blogs from the home owner is a great idea,” he told Real Estate Business.
“Kurt was able to offer a buyer a unique vision of his property. One thing agents struggle with when selling a property is if they are not familiar with how the suburb feels. Kurt’s blog gave reassurance to potential buyers that the home and area was very much loved by the owner.”
Mr Opray regularly updated his blog with images and first-hand accounts of nearby playgrounds and cafes. Photos taken months earlier showed off grapevines at their best in autumn colours and the vendor showed off jasmine plants.
At the same time, Mr Elsom went about his normal duties as a sales agent.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom home had a $920,000 reserve. It sold for $1,055,000.
“It was an average house on a great sized block with a nice garden, there was a lot of potential for the home,” Mr Elsom said.
Since the success of Mr Opray’s campaign, Victorian-based network hockingstuart is now exploring social media’s selling potential for other homes.
“Kurt’s idea is very simple, but clever. I have no doubt that this is certainly the way of the future,” he said.
“As the population ages in the next 15 years this type of marketing will increase. We plan to look at what Kurt has done for his home and then use that model to duplicate for other properties.”
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