How to Make Your Home Listing Stand Out with Screen Appeal
The pandemic changed several aspects of our lives. Working from home became a celebrated norm, online shopping skyrocketed, and open houses even moved into the virtual sphere. Online real estate markets are a way for you to showcase your home to potential buyers without requiring them to step inside. Although open houses and in-person showings are back, 100% of homebuyers use the internet to find a house and start their journey. Therefore, what was once called curb appeal has been replaced with “screen appeal.” To help you maximize your pool of prospective buyers, we’ve put together a few tips on how to make your home listing stand out with screen appeal.
What is Screen Appeal?
As mentioned, your home’s screen appeal is the equivalent of curb appeal in the virtual world. Younger generations are becoming more comfortable making decisions and submitting an offer on a house they haven’t seen in person—given the 3D virtual tour goes well. In fact, according to Zillow, nearly 60% of millennials said they would be at least somewhat confident making an offer on a home they loved after seeing it online. Millennials are the first generation to grow up with the internet, so, understandably, they were able to adapt to virtual showings so quickly. By contrast, only 23% of baby boomers said they would be at least somewhat confident making an offer on a house they hadn’t seen in person.
Regardless of the increasing importance of screen appeal, curb appeal is still necessary. Without it, you won’t be able to make sure your home looks good online.
Advantages of Selling Your Home Online
Even with great real estate professionals at your side, there are some notable benefits of selling online, which include:
Stronger marketing tools
Wider online reach
Cost-effective solutions
Greater convenience
Flexibility in listings and descriptions
More transparency
24/7 availability
Data insights and analytics
Reduced environmental impact
Disadvantages of Online Showings
There are also a few downsides to online showings and open houses. These include:
Privacy or security concerns
Dependency on technology
Lack of personalized guidance
Limited visibility to certain demographics
Potential overwhelm
Less feedback from interested buyers
Trouble standing out
11 Tips to Increase Your Home’s Online Listing
Deciding how to sell your home is a personal choice, but taking the time to boost your home’s screen appeal can also attract potential buyers for in-person showings. Some of the most effective tips to maximize screen (and curb) appeal include:
1. Declutter Each Room
First, you’ll want to go through your home and eliminate clutter. Decluttering is essential regardless of whether you’re doing a fully online sale or if you’re having in-person viewings, so try to be thorough. Put away items like knick-knacks and try to approach a minimalist decor style. This can help make spaces like your family room or a dining room look bigger and more inviting. Pack away your excess belongings into boxes, label them, and take them to your self-storage unit or new home.
2. Remove Personal Objects
Depersonalizing your home is the next step. It can go hand-in-hand with decluttering, but it needs to focus on removing any personal items like family photos. This allows prospective buyers to pay more attention to your home’s features and imagine themselves living there. It creates a blank canvas, allowing their imaginations to flourish without reminders of the current inhabitants. Collectibles and any other personal objects that say names should also be removed.
3. Make Essential Repairs
Next, try to make essential repairs and get your home ready to sell. This doesn’t necessarily have to include fixing every little thing that’s wrong. But, if potential buyers see major issues, your screen appeal will decrease substantially. Some of the most important repairs to make include:
Problems with kitchen appliances
Problems with water features
Nail holes, dings, and dents in drywall
Chipped or cracked flooring
Faulty thermostats
Dings or dents in any doors
Missing shingles or tiles on the roof
Issues with eaves
Any problems with the structural integrity of your home
You can include recent repairs in your listing description, but if there’s anything major that homebuyers should know, you may also need to disclose it. Otherwise, you risk failing the home inspection and losing credibility online.
4. Perform a Deep Clean
Once you finish repairs, it’s time for a deep clean. To make a home look best, thoroughly clean every room, from the ceiling to the floor. Clean any spills or stains off the wall, dust hard-to-reach corners, wipe down all surfaces, and vacuum or mop every room. While you can tackle this on your own, you can also hire a professional if you don’t have the time to be thorough.
5. Use Natural Light Effectively
Natural light is a huge selling point for many families, even when they’re doing a home search online. Open the blinds and ensure rooms are arranged to work with the light rather than against it. For example, don’t place a mirror on the wall that gets direct sunlight, as this can cause a glare on photos or videos. A professional stager or real estate team can help you use natural light effectively to highlight each room.
6. Change Up Your Layout
If you’re planning on creating a recorded or live video tour, it may be a good idea to change your layout a bit. Keep things out of the way and create a clear walkway to navigate your home. Ideally, you want to avoid tripping over an ottoman while doing a live showing, so do a few practice runs ahead of time to ensure everything will go smoothly.
Additionally, removing excess or trying a different configuration can help you open up the space if you have a lot of furniture and feel like some rooms are crowded. Your home’s layout can have a major impact on your marketing success, so play around with it and see what complements each room.
7. Add a Fresh Coat of Paint
Adding a fresh coat of paint is another great way to boost your screen appeal. Doing so can help revitalize your space and prepare your home for showings. You don’t need to repaint the entire interior. Instead, focus on the rooms with the most traffic, such as the living room, kitchen, and entryway.
8. Hire a Professional Photographer
Although an iPhone may take great pictures of your living space, it’s better to work with a professional to make it shine in photos and videos. Real estate photographers understand how to angle the pictures and videos to complement your space and highlight your home’s best features.
9. Think About Virtual Staging
You want buyers to imagine themselves living in your home, which can be achieved with virtual staging. Virtual staging involves taking pictures of empty rooms and then having a graphic editor digitally add furnishings to your space to maximize the aesthetics. There are even apps to do this on your smartphone. This can make your listing stand out and help your home appeal to several demographics. Plus, it’s often more affordable than traditional staging and allows for unique customization.
10. Set Up 3D Virtual Tours
A 3D home video chat walkthrough allows buyers to “walk through” your home on their own schedules. It does take a little extra work, but this option can get you more views and saves on your listing. It allows buyers to envision themselves walking through your home in a more immersive way than pictures alone.
11. Partner with a Real Estate Agent
Trying to find the perfect way to stage your home, list it, and sell it can be time-consuming and vary based on current market patterns. To help you make the most out of your home-selling journey, partner with a seasoned real estate professional.
Whether you’re looking to buy a home or sell, First Star Realty can help. Our team of real estate professionals have years of practice and knowledge and always work to ensure you have an amazing experience. We truly believe we haven’t done our job if you don’t have an amazing experience with our realty services. If you’re ready to buy or sell a home in Northwest Arkansas, contact First Star Realty. Our experienced real estate professionals are dedicated to providing exceptional, personalized service to our clients. Call us at 479-267-1600 to get started, or fill out a contact form today.
