Take one

Create property fliers that attract more buyers.

by Ward Lowe   Today’s homebuyers have more information at their disposal than ever before, primarily due to the Internet. But property fliers can still play an important role in showing a listing to buyers. Think of them as a low-tech virtual tour that you can mount on a for sale sign.

Instead of panoramic photos and Web-site gadgets, words must attract the buyers. However, you need not be a professional copywriter to appeal to consumers; the right information presented in a well-organized format will produce a high-quality property flier.

Don’t be cheap

Before you begin creating your flier, commit to two things: color printing and good paper. Even a professional-grade photo will look grainy and cheap when photocopied in black and white on flimsy paper. And your sellers don’t want “cheap” associated with their home.

Most ink-jet and laser printers on the market today can print color fliers and can easily churn out the amount needed for a listing. However, if you’d rather not deplete your printer cartridges or have only a black-and-white model, outsource the printing.

TAR partner Xpressdocs makes it easy to create property fliers for next-day delivery via the company’s online ordering system. Visit TexasRealtors.com and select My TAR > Marketing Materials > Postcards & Brochures for more information. Copy shops like Kinko’s can also handle property fliers for about $1 per page for a single-sided color copy on high-quality paper.

A picture is worth …

Just because you can’t dazzle homebuyers with interactive photos and other online tools doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put an eye-catching picture of the listing on the flier. Get close to the house and bring out the property’s details. Also, try to shoot the photo on a sunny day to avoid a dull-looking or washed-out picture. For more tips on taking listing photos, check out “Think before you shoot” from the June 2002 issue of Texas Realtor®, available at www.texasrealtoronline.com.

Take your well-framed listing photo and put it at the top of the flier along with a descriptive headline. Don’t oversell the home in the headline—you have the opportunity to describe enticing details elsewhere in the flier—but pull out some facts that make it sound appealing: “Updated three-bedroom ranch in central neighborhood” instead of the less-descriptive “Must-see three-bedroom charmer in great location.”

Use your words

Some marketing experts suggest sticking exclusively to facts on the flier, letting the consumer draw his own conclusions about the home. Real estate-magazine publisher and veteran ad writer Hal Douthit disagrees and thinks you should put a narrative in the spot beneath the listing photo.

“Writing successful ads, which is what property fliers really are, begins and ends with emotions,” he says. “Every good ad—without exception—addresses first the right brain, the emotional side, and then the left brain, the logical side.”

As an agent, you possess excellent verbal communication skills. Transfer that expertise to the written word by picturing yourself selling a listing to prospective buyers. Tell them about the great location, the spacious kitchen, the cozy fireplace in the master suite. Write down what you would say to interest them in the home—there’s your narrative. Pick out something interesting in the history of the house or neighborhood. Listen to the sellers—ask them about the home. The features that attracted them to the property likely will appeal to others.

Douthit adds, “People are buying a lifestyle, not just the brick and mortar of a house. They’re buying a house that’s going to do something for them, or they’re going to do something with the house. So you have to go beyond the plain and simple facts and help them see that lifestyle.”

The quick and dirty

Alongside the brief narrative, provide a bulleted list of features the house has in order of importance. Use your experience as an agent to pick out what goes on the list. These features should be included in your narrative, but not everyone will take the time to read your carefully crafted prose.

Many people arrive at the property with a good idea of what to expect. They don’t need to be sold on the town or neighborhood. These people want specifics: Does it have a swimming pool, master suite, fireplace, or eat-in kitchen? Provide the list for these people. “There is a certain group of consumers who want material bulleted and quickly presented, but these people won’t be turned off by extra narrative,” Douthit says.

Pick out features that make this house unique for the top of the list. For example, every house in the subdivision may have a two-car garage, but this listing boasts one for two cars and a golf cart.

Tell them the price is right

Prominently display the asking price and, in smaller type, explain how you and the sellers determined it. Don’t be defensive. This information shows buyers that you are a knowledgeable professional and didn’t pluck the number out of thin air.

If your sellers want $250,000 for their three-bedroom home with a pool, do some research and arrive at a statement like this: “In this subdivision, four three-bedroom homes without pools this year sold with an average price of $250,000.”

And, of course, list your contact information at the bottom of the flier. Mention that interested parties can call you for a showing or visit your Web site for similar listings.

Ask the experts

Once you’ve put together the perfect flier—property photo, brief narrative, bulleted feature list, and your information—show it to your sellers. The sellers liked the house enough to buy it, so they represent part of your target audience for the flier.

“The same kind of house often appeals to the same kind of person for the same reasons,” says Douthit. “If the seller says, ‘Yeah, that’s great,’ then chances are you’ve written a good narrative and put together a good flier.” ?

Photo © Picturequest.

home   current issue    top 10    resources 

discussions   contact us   search

Buyers & sellers, visit www.texasrealestate.com.
REALTORS®, visit www.texasrealtors.com.