When I know I'm beaten..... social media is going to rule my life!

November 3, 2014 by Rob Kahl

My article this week on leigh-on-sea.com has taken a slightly different angle to the normal one’s! That means, I am going to try and not moan AND look forward into what is fast becoming a social media driven world!

... I know, i'm as shocked as you!

Back in the day, (yes I am more mature than some of you), as an Estate Agent, once you had put the pretty picture of that new property you had just taken in the window of your shop, hoping to attract a passer by of course and then called the people on the mailing list that it may be of interest too, there was really only one other way to promote a property… and that was by advertising in the local press.

These adverts had to be produced at least a week in advance and were hugely expensive so for most agents were often only printed in black and white or had loads of property details on each page so as to keep costs down. Nowadays, and especially in current market conditions, the property market is so much more fast paced that by the time the property pages in the newspaper have been released, most of the properties have already been sold.

I think I can confidentially say that the majority of estate agents would like to ditch all forms of paper advertising as it really is quite rare that a property actually sells from someone seeing it in the press. Anyone seriously looking for a property would have seen it days before on-line, therefore making the whole paper advertising a little redundant!

Most agents really only use their property adverts now for marketing purposes to attract new clients with properties to sell, showing them how their property would be displayed and how prominent they are in the town.

Reality is, the majority of people now find their new home on-line on one of the numerous portals with the lions share of enquiries being via the behemoth that has become rightmove.

Just to give you an idea of how switched on I am, when rightmove was first introduced to the market, my old company was one of the trialists and they used us as guinea pigs to see how it was going to work. I wasn’t sure that this new fangled internet thing was going to catch on so didn’t really pay it much attention. Now it is in the top ten of most visited websites in the country only beaten by the likes of Google and leigh-on-sea.com and our properties are seen by thousands of people seconds after they are uploaded.

That said, rightmove is slowly starting to lose its monopoly on the property sector though due to other forms of social media! Hallelujah....... Shouts every estate agent as we are squeezed just a bit more by rightmove. For us Estate Agents (and many companies actually), the rise of social media is a quick, efficient and a low cost method of talking directly with potential applicants, purchasers and vendors. 

To give you an example, just this week a new rental property came on to the market. Having valued the semi detatched bungalow on the Highlands Estate in Leigh at £950 per month, Daniel, my colleague, decided to post some brief details on Facebook about it before making his way back to the office. In the short space of time it had taken him to drive back to the office we had received 5 enquiries, booked in 4 viewings for that day and it eventually went to the first person that saw it within 4 hours of Daniel’s initial visit. Crazy I know! 

I must admit that I am not on Facebook (so don’t try and find me for any drunken photos) and I don’t tweet (I can see the shock on your faces now), so I am a bit out of the loop with it all. That said, it does seem that people can’t live without Facebook & Twitter & Snapshot & Pinterest & Instagram (dare I go on) and are on these combined social media sites 24 hours a day. So, what I am trying to say, that as a way for us to communicate with them and to promote ourselves, Facebook in particular seems a fantastic tool and one I am quickly embracing...... and trying to work out how to use!

So, I think having wrote this blog this week, I have talked myself into joining the 20^th Century (social media) and im going to give it a go! 

If you are looking for a new home or just want to catch up with whats going on at Scott and Stapleton don’t forget to ‘like us’ on Facebook and if you are in the tweeting camp, don’t miss @leighonseacom for all the latest news, events, vouchers and so much more!... that's a start isnt it!????

This Article is by Rob Kahl at Scott & Stapleton
To discuss your propoerty, please call Rob on 01702 471155