House Hunting Gets Social

Buyers increasingly use social media when shopping for a new home.

“The bar is continually rising when it comes to visuals.”

—Kirsten Jordan, licensed associate real estate broker, Manhattan — TECHNOLOGY —

Whether you’re selling a home or shopping for one, Instagram, TikTok, and other popular platforms can be your best friend—or your worst enemy. Douglas Elliman experts share insights on how to make the most of them. by Bernadette Starzee

FOR BETTER or worse, social media has become an integral part of the home selling and buying processes. Savvy real estate agents know how to help their clients by promoting properties on social media, often creating a buzz about a property before it officially hits the market.

“Your best marketing tool is your iPhone,” says Senada Adzem, executive director of luxury sales and a realtor associate for Douglas Elliman in Boca Raton, Florida. “People are always looking at their phones, and if you have opportunities to promote your home and get a buyer’s attention, that’s key.”

BENEFITS FOR BUYERS

Before a property is officially listed, real estate agents often tease it on social media with a “coming soon” post. Especially in a hot market when inventory is low, buyers can get first dibs on new properties if they or their agent follow brokers who post premarket listings on social media.

A photo of a stellar view is more impressive than a description of one.

“With social media, we can test if the home would command a higher price.”

— George Sarkis , CEO, Sarkis Team, Boston

“Looking at premarket opportunities, especially in the super-hot Florida market, has been a very effective strategy for buyers,” Adzem says. “When I post a property on Facebook and Instagram as ‘coming soon,’ I get replies and DMs from people asking if they could please see it before it’s listed.

“Buyers and their agents should pay attention to these ‘coming soon’ notices to stay ahead of the curve,” she advises. “You should follow agents who specialize in the community you’re interested in. With social media, it’s all about your timing.”

George Sarkis finds posting ISO (in search of) notices on Instagram on behalf of buyers another effective strategy.

“There’s such a lack of inventory right now,” says Sarkis, CEO of the Sarkis team in Douglas Elliman’s Boston office. “I might put an ISO note on my story on Instagram that I have a buyer looking for a specific type of property, such as a house in Wellesley, Massachusetts, for under $2 million, and ask if anything is coming soon.”

Agents have written back to say yes, they expect to have something shortly that will fill the client’s needs.

“I might be able to get the buyers into the property the day it goes live, and mock up a deal for them before the entire city of Boston goes to see the property and it becomes a multiple-bid situation,” Sarkis says.

He also goes on Instagram and types #Bostonrealestate (or similar terms for other communities) and scrolls through the feed to look for “coming soon” notices, to see if anything coming on the market will appeal to his buyers.

STRATEGIES FOR SELLERS

Posting “coming soon” notices on social media allows sellers to generate excitement about a property, and since the home isn’t officially listed yet, the premarket social media tease period doesn’t count as days on the market. This is important because the longer a home sits on the market without selling, the more negatively its value is impacted.

The days-on-the-market statistic is one reason real

Stagers can help to streamline decor for better visuals.

“You only have one chance to make a first impression.”

—Dina Goldentayer, executive director of sales and realtor associate, Miami Beach

Choosing the right key words is crucial.

estate brokers counsel their clients against overpricing their homes: When a home worth $3.5 million comes on the market for $3.7 million, savvy buyers will overlook it because they know it’s overpriced, and the home will languish without selling. Social media can provide an effective way to try out higher price points before the home is officially listed.

“We don’t want to overprice a home when it comes on the market,” Sarkis says. “But with social media, we can test if the home would command a higher price. I tell my sellers, with the followers my team and I have, we are able to tease our listings at a higher price to see what kind of follow-up we get and to gauge if people are interested in the property at that price. You could wind up selling the home at the higher price without the risk.”

Sarkis says he recently sold five properties with “coming soon” teasers on Instagram.

POPULAR PLATFORMS

Because of its visual nature and popularity, Instagram is one of agents’ favorite sites for promoting homes. The platform allows sellers and agents to showcase properties in a variety of ways—posts, stories, slideshows, and videos.

“Instagram is very user-friendly for marketing a property,” says Jenna Yost, a realtor in Douglas Elliman’s San Diego office. TikTok, which is growing in popularity among younger users in particular, is another rising star, she adds.

And don’t discount Facebook. “It’s very important, especially to reach a slightly older demographic, who are more involved and engaged on Facebook,” Adzem says.

Facebook’s neighborhood, parent, and other niche discussion groups can help spread the word about a listing, says Kirsten Jordan, a licensed associate real

“Your best marketing tool is your iPhone.”

Social media provides a convenient way for buyers and agents to communicate.

— Senada Adzem, executive director of luxury sales and realtor associate, Boca Raton

estate broker for Douglas Elliman in Manhattan. Many agents also belong to user groups on Facebook, where they post “coming soon” and other notices, Sarkis notes.

QUALITY IS KING

The emphasis on digital marketing, which increased during the pandemic, makes high-quality photography and videography more important than ever—and the bar is continually rising when it comes to visuals, Jordan says.

Knowledgeable real estate professionals know you

“Instagram is very user-friendly for marketing a property.”

—Jenna Yost, realtor, San Diego

have only one chance to make a first impression, and they can help ensure that you get it right, says Dina Goldentayer, executive director of sales and a realtor associate for Douglas Elliman in Miami Beach, Florida.

Douglas Elliman agents use experienced professional photographers and videographers in their marketing. They also share a suggestion sheet with owners prior to the photo shoot, outlining tips to depersonalize and declutter the space to make sure the home photographs well, Goldentayer says.

Some homes lend themselves well to professionally shot lifestyle videos that can be posted on social media, Instagram in particular. “[These] videos give people a vision of what it’s like to live at the property,” Sarkis explains. “The lifestyle video might show someone driving up to the home, dropping off their bag in their home office, and going out on the deck to have a glass of champagne. It gives people an excited feeling about the listing if they can envision what it’s like to live there.”

For other properties, videography is not necessary or even advisable. “If a property is small, as many Manhattan apartments are, it’s difficult to make them feel as great as they are with a video,” Jordan says. Virtual staging, on the other hand, can be an excellent marketing tool, she says. It’s handy for both empty apartments and furnished ones because the software lets you place virtual furnishings over the actual items in your rooms.

“If the image is spectacular, you have a much higher chance of grabbing the attention of the perfect buyer,” Adzem says. Remember, when it comes to a social media post, “you have just a few seconds to get someone’s attention, and photos speak a thousand words.”