Housing starts are off, model tours are virtual or by private appointment, and depending on location, your construction team may or may not be currently classified as “essential.” The coronavirus pandemic has challenged homebuilders to reach deep for resourceful, innovative strategies to sell houses. Some builders are finding success in focusing on their inventory of quick move-in homes. And since sooner is always better, here are some ideas for moving that standing inventory a little faster.
Promote what buyers want.
More than ever, buyers want their home shopping experience to be clean and safe. So keep your marketing messages about the value of new versus resale front and center. The idea of an energy-efficient, healthy home that has never been lived in before will resonate with today’s buyers. Combine the opportunity of historically low interest rates with a limited-time promotion on select homes and you up your odds of motivating the right buyer to pay attention. While you want to be keenly aware of hitting the right tone given the current COVID-19 environment, builders are advertising and buyers are responding.
Make it real.
Your move-in ready homes’ website descriptions should help the buyer visualize themselves living in that exact home. Capture their attention with quality photos or videos and hold their interest with graceful copy. Your website has to work harder than ever right now. Take the time to craft the right words that sell one gorgeous home at a time and you’ll not only help conversions, you’ll also boost SEO.
Bring your engaged buyers closer.
Identify the people who are most engaged with content for a specific neighborhood – in your CRM and in social media – and then invite them to a virtual open house event to showcase your move-in ready home and all its fabulous features. Depending on the comfort level and experience of your team, opt for a Facebook or Instagram Live event, or give yourself a little wiggle room for planning and editing with Facebook Premiere. Provide scheduling opportunities for in-person private tours during a specified time frame and encourage participants to sign up. If the home doesn’t sell during that time frame, share the Live event via email to the neighborhood email list and invest some ad dollars to promote the Live event in social media to a new and expanded audience.
Make your video assets count.
Whether it’s part of a Live event or not, a guided video tour with one of your top sellers and storytellers is a must-have for quick move-ins right now. Showcase the tour in email communication to your interest lists, in social media to drive traffic and on the website.
Keep things fresh with short video updates that help people learn more about the home and surrounding community. If the home is still under construction, video (or static image) updates help to keep people engaged and closer to taking action.
No video assets? No problem! Gorgeous model photos plus a little creativity and video editing skills, and you’re there. Tip: Show your logo in the first six seconds.
Remove the friction.
Make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for on your website. Give them virtual tours, interactive floor plans, photos, compelling copy and whatever else will help them satisfy their research needs so they won’t get frustrated and head to one of your competitors’ sites instead. Parents are juggling work, homeschool, child care and other responsibilities in a way that is even more demanding than usual. Offer online scheduling for virtual or in-person appointments to let them take action when it’s most convenient for them and you’ve demonstrated empathy and maybe earned a little loyalty, too. Make it easy to complete a pre-qualification application, of course. And if you haven’t figured out how to allow your buyers to reserve – or even buy – a move-in ready home online, that’s a good place to put some resources right away. Do you have contactless or keyless entry capabilities for your move-in ready homes? Instructions should be clear and accessible, and assistance readily available when buyers are on site and have questions.
Communicate.
People are time-crunched and stressed. If they’re making time to shop for a home in the midst of COVID-19, then they are expecting and will appreciate your responsiveness. Make life easier for them any way you can. And when they’re ready to visit in person, don’t make them guess about anything, especially not safety. Ease their concerns by making your protocols around social distancing and cleanliness easy to find and a natural part of your pre-visit conversation.
One last tip? Even the smallest kindness or courtesy goes further than usual right now. Look for the opportunity to make someone’s day. They might become a buyer, they might not. But it’s the right thing to do, and it just may help someone find their way home.
