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Simon Parker
Providing as much information as possible in a listing isn't just a consumer expectation, it has the added benefit for agents of helping buyers find the property in the first place, a senior industry professional has said.
"I think there’s a need to provide as much information as possible, and I know that’s uncomfortable for some agents, but most of the information is really important in terms of the search process," Tony Blamey, general manager of real estate at Fairfax Marketplaces - owner of listing website domain.com.au - told Real Estate Business.
"You still need to have your property able to be found and then you want to have those consumers make contact with you, so enabling it to be found in the first place is really about making sure the content is there."
Mr Blamey added that branding is still important as it "gives credibility, so the more photos the better".
"And video – video engagement from consumers is about three or four times as high for properties with videos, so this is really important."
"And, where possible, listing properties with prices is also important.
"Now, that’s not always going to be appropriate, especially at the upper end and with auctions, but consumers are looking for that sort of information as well. I believe video is key. We see many more properties now having video and like I said, the engagement is much higher as this is what consumers are demanding."
Mr Blamey said consumers have become empowered through the internet.
“What we’re seeing is a more informed and empowered consumer during the property seeking process,” he said.
“In the past we saw that consumer behaviour was very industry-driven - so the Saturday classifieds would come out and Saturday morning was spent perusing the classifieds, organising your open inspections, finding what little information was available in those ads - and really it was the agent and open for inspection that provided consumers with more information.”
Mr Blamey claims the industry has changed very much since those days.
“We describe consumers as always on, so mobile devices and the internet has allowed a very market-driven process to take over in which the consumer decides where and when they seek information," he said.
“Certainly it means we have to be across more platforms, so mobile’s been key. Consumers are demanding that they have the information they want in a form or via a channel that’s convenient and accessible, and they’ll go for the channel that’s most accessible."
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