Property Videos Help Increase SEO Rank and Sales

Every week we are seeing more signs of sustained growth in the Real Estate Market.   Nationally, NAR’s October Pending Home Sales Index was up 13.2% from last year marking the 18^th consecutive month of annual increases, and October housing starts were at their highest level in four years, marking improvement in residential construction. The latest figures from The Rhode Island Association of Realtors show single family home prices rose 10% in October compared to the same period in 2011; this is the first monthly increase since May 2011. Sales were up 24% from last October, marking the 16^th month of increased sales.  Distressed sales fell to 21% of total sales down from 25% last month. The Condominium and Multifamily sectors saw increases in both sales and prices. While this is great news, it is little comfort to people trying to sell their homes, so how do you differentiate your home in the marketplace? Ninety-eight percent of  home buyers  who searched for a home online say that photos were among the most useful features of real-estate websites. Make sure your Realtor takes quality professional photos and better yet take it a step further and have a video made. We have been partnering with Wellcomemat, the nation’s leading video platform for over a year now and have just posted our 200th video on our site. This Week's Real Estate Insight The first step in getting your house sold is understanding how people shop for houses these days. Most start their search for a home on the Internet, original content like videos greatly increase the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and will help you get on the first page in a search query. Next is perception, first impressions have a big impact on a buyers' decision making process and a video makes a great first impression.