House of Horrors: The 4 Scariest Real Estate Agent Mistakes

When trying to sell a house, close a deal, or attract new leads, every action counts. One slip-up can easily scare away potential customers (and commissions).

Here are the real estate agent mistakes that can haunt your business and spook leads.

Don’t get booed by your potential customers; avoid these pitfalls at all costs!

1. Sharing unprofessional property photos

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Property photos can help buyers fall in love with their dream home. However, if those photos are horrible, viewers may quickly reach the conclusion that a property is actually a house of horrors.

Before you whip out the camera, make sure each property is clean and tidy. Clutter, litter boxes, or dirty dishes that appear in the photo can ruin the atmosphere.

Additionally, remove distracting objects that may appear in a shot, such as massive artwork on the wall, or piles of knick-knacks.

Try to stick to this list of property photo best practices:

• Showcase natural lighting
• Feature attractive views from the property
• Mimic an actual tour of the property by organizing photos to feature the outside of the property first, then moving inside, working your way upstairs, etc.
• Try a new arrangement for the furniture, or even employ a staging company to make each room look more inviting

When in doubt about whether your property photos are flattering or frightening, you can consult these posts:

• How to Hire a Real Estate Photographer: Expert Tips for Agents
• Real Estate Photography Tips: How to Shoot Perfect Listing Photos
• Beautiful Real Estate Photos (And What Makes Them Work)

2. Attaching your name to a sub-par website

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Your real estate website is likely where leads will develop their first impression of you and your services. As real estate agent mistakes go, a hair-raisingly bad website is pretty high up on the list of things that will scare potential business away.

Is your online marketing tricking or treating visitors? To find out, compare the features of your website against this checklist:

• Crisp, clean, mobile-friendly design
• Clear, non-pixelated photos of properties and the community where you work
• Information on your background, skills and certification that provides a detailed picture of your background and qualifications
• MLS integration that allows visitors to browse available homes in your region
• Easy navigation, including menus on the site’s header and footer
• A page that offers a contact form and other ways to connect with you

If you suspect that your website needs some sprucing up, explore the following resources to transform it from ravaged to ravishing:

• 12 Tests to Improve Your Real Estate Website
• Making Your Real Estate Website Work for You: Realtor Marketing Tips from Blake Showalter
• Developing High-Converting Real Estate Website Pages
• Real Estate Website Design Tips From BrandCo’s Ken Granger
• 10 Expert Real Estate Website Optimization Ideas for Agents

3. Doing social media all wrong

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While being active and present on social media is important, it’s crucial that you promote your real estate services the correct way so you’re not doing more harm than good.

Mistakes made on sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram carry even more weight because they occur in full view of a massive social audience.

And unfortunately, in this list of 4 critical real estate agent mistakes, social media mismanagement is often the most common.

To avoid being ghastly on social, make sure your posts hit the following points:

• A healthy mix of images and video in addition to text
• Content from clients and community members, such as positive reviews or photos from recent buyers of their new homes
• Fun or informative posts that don’t just exist only to sell your services
• Questions and content that encourages followers to get engaged by liking, sharing or commenting on a post

The following links will help convert your social media from horror show to lead-generating machine:

• 15 Social Media Mistakes Real Estate Agents Must Avoid
• Instagram for Real Estate: 20 of the Best-Run Agent Accounts
• The Agent’s Guide to Creating Real Estate Social Media Images
• The Real Estate Social Media Marketing Time Management Guide for Agents

4. Failing to spotlight your community

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When you market your real estate services online, you’re not just promoting yourself. You’re also selling the region where you live and work.

Home buyers aren’t just browsing for a new place to live. They’re also trying to learn more about the area to determine if it is where they’d like to settle down.

If you’re only helping them explore homes, and not highlighting what makes your region unique and special, then you’re only doing half your job. After all, what makes a home stand out isn’t just the structure, but also the community surrounding it.

Don’t be haunted by missed opportunity. Try these strategies to establish yourself as a local expert:

• Dedicate a portion of your marketing to celebrating awesome aspects of your community
• Create a section of your website to share your favorite stores, restaurants or activities in the area, listing local hidden gems, or praising the culture of your neighborhood
• Spotlight local schools, businesses, amenities and other factors that motivate buyers

Real estate agent mistakes are easily avoided if you follow the advice in these additional resources:

• How to Create Area and Community Pages for Your Real Estate Website
• Cracking the Real Estate Content Marketing Code with Keller Williams Realty’s Barbara Woyak
• Five Online Marketing Priorities of a Top Producer in Real Estate

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