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What Should Real Estate Agents Invest in Marketing a Home?

Actually listing a home is easier than ever. With just a few clicks, you can upload photos and a property description to multiple popular listing sites. 

Seems like something that would save you a few pennies, right? 

Sure. If that was all you had to do. Here at DMD, we know better.

While listing sites do help to get the word out about open houses, yours is not the only listing up there. Competition is fierce, if you want your listing to stand out, you need the pictures to make that happen… but is it really worth investing in them?

Why Should Real Estate Agents Invest in Marketing a Home? 

Potential homebuyers move fast when they’re scrolling through listing sites. When they land on a listing’s photos, they will decide whether or not they are interested within 20 seconds. (Without photos, that number drops significantly - to two seconds!

Will the photos you’re using catch their attention? Will they capture the true size of the house and the potential for it to be someone’s home? 

Or will they just scroll on past? 

If you are looking to sell a home over $200,000, high-quality real estate photography can help you do so for up to an additional $11,000. That’s an extra $330 in your pocket and another happy client. 

Is Marketing Worth It? Let’s Crunch Numbers

There are two ways to approach your marketing budget, but they all fall within the same ballpark range. The number will depend on the value of the home that you are trying to sell. 

How Much Commission Are You Getting? 

One approach is to allocate 10% of the commission you expect to get from the home. Buyer’s agents and seller’s agents don’t always split commission, but traditionally, both parties get 3% of the home. So you would allocate .03% of the home’s value to marketing. 

Let’s say you are selling a home that is valued at $200,000. You expect to get $6,000 in commission, so your marketing budget would be $600. 

This doesn’t seem like much, but it can get you some high-quality photos that make a fantastic impression on potential buyers who are looking at your listing online. At DMD, $600 could get you a full photo package with leftover room for Facebook ads or other forms of marketing. 

An Easy 1%. 

Another general rule is to allocate .5%-1% of the home’s value. If the home is valued at $200,000, your marketing budget is between $1,000 to $2,000. 

That extra $400 to $1,400 can get you very far. You can invest in larger photo and video packages that include interactive or 3D tours. The extra cash could go to marketing events or creating a social media campaign. Get creative - you have the budget!

Get Started With DMD Real Estate Photography

Real estate photography is a marketing tool that pays off. A beautiful photo of your client’s home will get more buyers interested faster. 

Reach out to DMD today to learn more about package options, prices, and how to get started marketing your homes with high-quality photos.