Google is Changing the Way Buyers Look for San Mateo Homes
The internet in general and Google more particularly has brought about a new twist on searching for homes. It use to be that prospective home buyers would use simple phrases like “San Mateo homes for sale” or something more specific like “Baywood homes for sale.” They, of course, receive results showing all homes currently for sale and often homes recently sold as well, and they would have to cull through the data to find homes that conformed to their price constraints. And, to make matters more annoying, hitting the print button before discarding the unsuitable homes just wastes paper, ink and time…and you still have to weed out the undesirable homes.
San Mateo Home Buyers are Getting More Specific
Recently, we’ve seen a very clear trend toward more focused searches based upon price range and location, such as, “San Mateo homes $500,000-$600,000” or “Sunnybrae homes $600,000-$729,000.” What a novel idea… let the search engine to the sorting. Range pricing searches allow us a better understanding of the value pyramid in a neighborhood and more efficiently organizes one’s choices in terms of affordability.
How Should a Seller Price their Home?
All this raises the question of how homes are priced. The old method of pricing homes, such as, $599,888 actually works against the seller now. The computer savvy home buyer generally searches in round numbers, such as; “San Mateo homes for sale $600,000-$700,000”. That buyer would not see the owner’s home priced at $599,888. And, consider the opposite effect when the home owner prices his or her home at $605,000. Buyers searching for homes priced from $500,000 – $600,000 never learn about the home priced at $605,000 because the search engine has already culled the property from the search results.
What Else Can You Do to Make Your San Mateo Home Stand Out?
Google has made the process of marketing a home and finding a home for sale much more efficient, and there are tricks of the trade that can work for you. For a home owner it’s extremely important to have at least 8 photographs (the maximum number allowed) on the MLS Listing. Studies have shown that homes with 8 photographs or more sell faster and for more money. Similar studies and focus groups of prospective home buyers indicate that listed homes with few, poor or no photographs are discarded and not previewed just because of the lack of photography.
We Go One Step Further with Custom Home Websites
We build our sellers a custom website (not your run of the mill templated website) with hundreds of professional and amateur photos of their home, a professionally designed virtual tour, interactive floor plan, neighborhood guide, mortgage information, detailed pages for each room in their house and disclosure information. These sites go much further than your typical template website and have proven to be an effective method of selling homes.
Find Out What Your Home is Worth
Get an idea of what your San Mateo home is worth in today’s market with our neighborhood market reports. Get a sample report here.
Need to Sell Your San Mateo Home?
Contact us at (650) 655-2500 or email us at info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com to schedule a no obligation consultation. We’ll help you understand how thinking like a buyer will help sell your San Mateo home for the highest possible price in the fastest time.
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Raymond Stoklosa, Chela Stoklosa and Rebecca Williamson are Realtors with The RayChel Realty Group specializing in Santa Clara and San Mateo Real Estate.
Raymond Stoklosa, Broker/Co-Owner
Chela Stoklosa, Realtor/Co-Owner
