5 Free Tactics To Use To Sell More Houses

In the competitive world of real estate, getting your listings to stand out from the rest can seem like a daunting and expensive task, but it doesn’t have to be.  There are a number of free, yet effective, tactics you can start implementing today to quickly drive more exposure to your listings and get them under contract faster.  

#1 Zillow Video Walkthroughs

It’s shocking how many agents do not take advantage of Zillow’s video walkthroughs.  It’s free, only takes a few minutes and, according to Zillow, listings that feature videos receive approximately 2x more exposure than listings without videos.  

Creating a Zillow video walkthrough couldn’t be any easier.  Simply download the Zillow real estate app, find your listing and take a video tour.  It’s that easy.

#2 YouTube Video Tours

While we’re on the topic of videos, let’s discuss YouTube.  We’ve all heard of YouTube, but do you use it to promote your listings?  YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world and receives over 30 million visitors per day.  

While it may seem redundant to create a quick video tour of your listing for YouTube when you’ve already done it for Zillow, it’s not.  Zillow video walkthroughs appear exclusively on Zillow.

When you publish your video tours on YouTube, put the property address as the title.  This will help your video appear for people doing local searches for houses on YouTube and also on Google.  

The impact of creating YouTube & even Zillow property tours can be seen by doing a search on Google for something like “homes for sale [YOUR CITY]”, and then click on the videos option.  

As shown in the screenshot below, you’ll see videos being pulled from Zillow, and most of the time, from YouTube as well.  The point is that when you do a video tour on Zillow and YouTube, you have the opportunity for increased exposure on multiple platforms.  

#3 Weekday Mini Open Houses

How many agents do you think hold 30-60 minute open houses during the week over the lunch hour?  Not very many.

Don’t assume that weekends are the best time for all home buyers to visit open houses.  Did you know that according to slate.com, over 25% of Americans work nights, and close to 30% of Americans have to work on the weekends?   

Scheduling open houses during the weekday lunch hour is beneficial for several reasons.  

  1. It creates an opportunity for home buyers to check out a property they like over their lunch break.
  2. Every time you schedule an open house, Zillow & Trulia will bump your listing to the top of the search results leading to more exposure and potentially more showings.
  3. Buyers who have opted in to receive daily open house alerts from Trulia will be notified by email about your open house.

#4 Get Your Listing On Facebook Marketplace

What began as a glorified version of Craigslist where folks could buy and sell used goods, Facebook Marketplace is now a place for homeowners & agents to sell and rent property.  To list a property for sale, simply log into Facebook, click on Marketplace > Housing > Property For Sale. You can add a photo, property description, and a link to the listing details on your website.

What makes Facebook Marketplace unique is that you can quickly make a personal connection with the people you interact with because location, Facebook profile, cover photo and friends in common are shared.  

#5 Take Advantage of Free Sites

MLS does a great job of syndicating your listing to the major real estate sites.  However, since maximum exposure is the name of the game, promoting your listing on other free sites your MLS doesn’t syndicate to can only help.  

A simple internet search will help you uncover these sites, but here’s a list of 10 of them that you may not have heard of:

Think outside the box, and employ effective strategies to get deals done faster, this will help you find more success in your real estate career.

Author Bio
Brandon Jones is a licensed Realtor, real estate investor and founder of RealEstateHacks.net.  He resides near Springfield, MO with his wife and two sons.