Blog Archives - Professional Property Copy

ChatGPT and Copywriting – Why Human Copywriters are Still Better Than AI

We’re copywriters.

So, we’re a little bit biased when it comes to ChatGPT. Yes, we strongly believe we can provide more value than AI.

This belief doesn’t come from sticking our heads in the sand. We strive to stay at the forefront of our industry, testing ChatGPT as well as a range of other AI writing tools, assessing for ourselves how they work and the quality of copy they output.

As a result, we’ve experienced first-hand the benefits and the downsides of copywriting with ChatGPT.

Our position? ChatGPT and other AI copywriting tools can be good writing assistants. But AI isn’t ready to replace copywriters just yet.

Who knows what the future will bring?

Below we share our top five reasons why you shouldn’t just rely on ChatGPT to write your copy, some of the ways AI can help you write, and the skills you need to learn to get the most out of the AI writing tools.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Be Cautious About ChatGPT Writing Your Copy

1, Factual Errors

If you’ve been keeping up with the news on ChatGPT, then you’ll know it tends to state totally incorrect facts confidently.

Famously, a lawyer found himself in hot water after relying on fake cases in legal proceedings. Then there’s the scary example where ChatGPT made up false harassment claims against a person, citing completely fake news stories as evidence. And an Australian Mayor might file the first defamation case against ChatGPT because of misinformation it has claimed about him.

The other point is that the data that the free version of ChatGPT was trained on only goes up to September 2021, so depending on what you’re writing about, the information it provides can be outdated.

The takeaway: your reputation could be on the line if you rely on AI to do your copywriting without fact-checking and doing your due diligence. At worst, you could find yourself in hot water for giving people false information.

2, Passable, But Not Great Writing

ChatGPT and other AI tools can write passable, grammatically correct writing. Out of the box, it sounds ok but pretty robotic.

AI writing tends to be:

Verbose
Repetitive
Reliant on cliches
Lacking in specificity

To get the best out of ChatGPT, you must heavily edit and fact-check the output. Copy editing takes time, but it’s worth it.

Your copy is one way people judge your reputation, so you want it to stand out for all the right reasons.

3, Lack of Empathy

At the very heart of copywriting is empathy.

One person understanding the passions and pain points of another person to relate to them on an intimate level.

Humans can incorporate personal anecdotes, genuine feelings, and real-world experiences into their writing. AI can’t answer the question, ‘How do I want my reader to feel?’ It can’t write from the heart.

4. Privacy Concerns

One way to improve ChatGPT’s responses is to feed it specific data to work with.

But in a world of increasing privacy concerns and data leaks, we have to be very careful about what data we’re giving ChatGPT (and, therefore, everyone else who is using ChatGPT).

Italy has gone so far as to ban ChatGPT because of privacy concerns.

We all need to be cautious about handling sensitive data in our prompts and putting it into the public domain. Here’s just one example from an excellent article by The University of Sydney:

“For instance, an attorney may prompt the tool to review a draft divorce agreement, or a programmer may ask it to check a piece of code. The agreement and code, in addition to the outputted essays, are now part of ChatGPT’s database. This means they can be used to further train the tool, and be included in responses to other people’s prompts.”

When writing ChatGPT prompts, it’s important to think very carefully (or get qualified advice) about the information you provide in your prompts.

You don’t want to compromise your company’s private information (and undermine its competitive advantage) or give away a client’s confidential information, potentially resulting in legal action.

5. Learning Curve

It’s not all doom and gloom – there are benefits to using AI as a writing assistant.

To get the most out of the tools, you need to know and use good ChatGPT copywriting prompts. And that’s a new skill to learn.

If you like learning new skills and have the time, that’s great. But as a busy real estate agent, learning prompt engineering is just another thing on top of a long list of tasks already keeping you busy.

As copywriters, it’s our job to learn prompt engineering, on top of being experts in copywriting, fact-checking, and copy editing (skills that predate AI).

How AI Copywriting Tools Can Help Write Copy

So, after all those warnings, how can AI be used to help with copywriting?

AI is helpful for generating headings. They will need to be edited and tweaked, but if you’re stuck for catchy heading ideas, ChatGPT can help.

AI can help you with alternate ways to say something. Do you have a clunky sentence that doesn’t sound right? Have you written a paragraph that sounds boring, but you’re unsure how to fix it? ChatGPT is like a swipe file on steroids – it’s good at helping you generate ideas, rewriting paragraphs, finding synonyms, and finding different ways to say what’s on your mind.

Again, those paragraphs will need editing, but it’s more efficient than staring at a blank screen or scrolling through your swipe file.

4 Vital Things You Need to Do When Using AI Writing Tools

1. Fact Check

This can’t be over-emphasised: you need to fact-check everything that ChatGPT or other AI writing tools write.

As noted above, ChatGPT is notorious for making up facts. If you ask it to provide sources, it has been known to make up fake sources. Therefore, it’s vital to fact-check all writing independently of AI tools.

2. Always Consider Your Target Audience

AI can provide generalised copy based on averages. But it can’t consider your unique target audience and write directly for them.

When copywriting, you want to write for your audience and consider your unique voice and tone, as well as the unique features of your property. In a world where writing will be increasingly robot-written, stand out by letting your humanity shine through.

3. Edit Your Copy

This brings us to the next point. If you use AI to help you write, it’s important to edit it well.

When editing your copy, you want to edit for the following:

Clarity
Conciseness
Tone and Voice
Rhythm
Spelling and grammar

AI is pretty good at spelling and grammar but not so good at understanding the rhetorical devices used in good copywriting.

Again, those paragraphs will need editing, but it’s more efficient than staring at a blank screen or scrolling through your swipe file.

4. Learn Prompt Engineering

To get the best results from ChatGPT, you need the right prompts.

Prompt engineering has quickly gone from being ‘not a thing’ to an in-demand career. There’s an art and a science to writing prompts to get the best results out of AI. Popular YouTubers may claim that you just need to ask ChatGPT to write your copy for you, and BOOM, you have a perfectly polished piece of prose in under 30 seconds, but it doesn’t work like that.

Decent AI copy requires multiple targeted prompts. You’ll need to learn what prompts work, what data to feed ChatGPT, and the order of prompts to get usable copy. All of which takes time to learn.

Time is money when you’re a real estate agent.

Even if you use AI to help you write copy, you will still need to do extensive prompting, copy editing, and fact-checking. Time spent copywriting, with AI or not, could be time spent prospecting and generating a much larger income than the cost of outsourcing your copywriting.

We’re here to help you maintain your professional reputation by producing professional copy that generates interest in your properties and impresses your clients. With over a decade in the business, we can help you get your listings up efficiently by writing polished copy that stands out from the crowd.

Interested? Call or email for more information.

woman doing real estate walk through video on phone

Easily Create Sleek Real Estate Walk-Through Videos (Tik Tok, Reels, Shorts)

Blog / By newppcadmin

In 2021, TikTok helped Melbourne-based Collings Real Estate sell a property in just six days. We’ll look at the video, what they did, and the takeaways you can use in your own videos below.

If you’re wondering how TikTok and the short-form video trend could help sell real estate, consider that 43% of home buyers are millennials, and they watch a lot of online videos – up to 10-20 hours a week for some.

The pandemic saw real estate walk-through videos explode as people couldn’t go to in-home inspections. And this trend hasn’t slowed. With new apps and social media networks coming onto the market every day, like the new TenSixty app – basically TikTok exclusively for real estate – it pays to use video as part of your marketing mix.

Not every video has to be a high-end production. If you check out the 1060 app, you’ll see many of the videos are a basic walk-through done on a smartphone. Creating property videos yourself can add value for your clients without going to the expense of hiring videographers. Professional videos are great for luxury and high-end homes, but everyday homes can benefit from video, too, with the tips below.

If you’ve never shot a video, short-form video is an easy place to start because done and uploaded is better than perfect. But if you’re looking for ways to outshine the competition in the video space without spending a lot of money on videography, this comprehensive guide has you covered.

The Benefits of Short-Form Video

The great thing about short-form video is that it’s, well, short—just sixty seconds.

Short-form video:

is quick and easy to produce – use your phone, no special equipment
has a low barrier – anyone can do it and then repurpose it on multiple platforms
is low cost/zero cost. It doesn’t have to be a high-end production (but it can be)
it’s an excellent way to sell you, the realtor, along with the listing
is fun and flexible, with less pressure to be ‘buttoned-up’.

It can be something as simple as a sneak-peak introduction to a new listing, a complete walk-through video of a home, or a first-class marketing promo.

Best Platforms for Sharing Your Videos

You can shoot short-form video once and share it on multiple platforms, including:

TikTok
Instagram Reels
YouTube Shorts
Facebook Reels
TenSixty App

Which platform should you focus on?

The best platform is the one your potential clients are using. Instead of spreading yourself thin, focusing on just a couple of platforms is best. If you’re not sure which ones, experiment to find the best marketing channels for you.

Shooting a Pro Real Estate Walk-Through Using Your Phone

Before we get into how to shoot video, here’s what you need to consider before you start rolling the camera.

Consider Marketing Fundamentals

Short-form videos allow you to be fun and relaxed, but at the end of the day, you’re still trying to sell a house. So it’s essential to keep the basics of marketing in mind. These include:

Who is your target audience?
What are the best features and benefits of the home?
What is the lifestyle picture you’re trying to paint?
Given the property and the audience, what tone do you want to set? Fun? Sophisticated? Executive?
What is your call to action going to be?

Equipment You Might Need (Besides Your Smartphone)

To take a basic video, all you really need is your smartphone.

However, for a more professional-looking real estate video, there are a few inexpensive pieces of equipment you can add to your kit. These include:

A Gimbal – this will help stabilise your phone, creating smooth shots. You can get a handheld smartphone gimbal for around $100.

Extra storage – video footage can take up a lot of storage space. An additional storage card for your phone with online backup ensures you won’t run out of room while shooting.

A microphone – if you plan to talk in your videos, a microphone is a must. You can use the microphone on your air pods or invest in a wireless Lavalier mic for around $40.

Wide Angle Lens – not essential, but a wide angle lens attachment for your phone is an inexpensive way to get those wide room shots and improve your video footage.

Video editing App – (see below) free or low cost, editing your video footage will give it a professional polish, elevating it above the competition.

Video Settings

Video settings are consistent across all the platforms, so it’s easy for you to shoot and share one video on multiple channels.

Before you start recording, check the following:

You’re shooting vertical for short-form video, not in landscape
The aspect ratio is set to 9:16
The resolution is set to 1080×1920
You save the file as an MP4 or MOV file.

Create a Shot List

Pro videographers will tell you a shot list is a must!

Whether you do this in your head or on a piece of paper, a shot list will ensure you capture all the video you need.

You will want to film each room from one or two angles, as well as the outside, garden, driveway, and any lifestyle or location shots you want to add, including drone shots, if using.

You will also want to plan how you shoot each location. Before you start videoing, walk through and consider the following:

From what angle(s) should you shoot each room?
Are there any features that should be highlighted, maybe by zooming in on them?

Don’t forget to highlight the home’s features that will stay with the house, like a fireplace or kitchen, rather than the decor.

Before You Shoot…

Before you take any videos, make sure to:

Tidy up and stage the home
Turn on lights and open blinds
Close closet doors and loo seats
Add lifestyle props you want to use

Film Quality Real Estate Walk-Through Videos With the Following Tips

Now that you’re ready to start shooting, here are some tips that will elevate the quality of your videos and make them stand out.

Move Smooth

Make your videos interesting with movement rather than static shots of a room. Have the motion be slow and smooth so viewers can take in the details. This is where a gimbal can help. You might consider walking towards or away from features or zooming in and out to create interest.

If you only have still photos, you can ‘cheat’ by adding movement in the editing app.

Consider the Walk through Flow

As you pan from one side of a room to another, consider the home’s natural flow.

For example, if an ensuite is to the right, pan the camera from left to right, ending at the ensuite with the next shot inside the ensuite, creating a logical flow to your video.

Take Many Short Videos and Stitch Them Together with Transitions

Consider transitions as you shoot.

A transition is when an effect, like a fade, is added between two shots. Video editing apps allow you to add these as you edit a video.

If you watch other walk-throughs, you’ll notice some editors use speed (a slow pan finished with a super quick transition) to stitch together shots.

You can film transitions, too, by ending a shot at a column or blank wall before starting in a different room.

Set the Scene, Tell a Story

Many Hollywood movies start with aerial shots of a city or area to quickly tell viewers where the film is set.

You can do this too with drone video, stills of the home if you have them, or even a shot of you walking or driving up the street and into the driveway.

It’s also helpful to add videos of location highlights like the local beach, shopping centre, or school. When taking footage of location highlights, make sure not to video people without their permission – early in the morning when no one is about is a good time.

Top tip: keep this footage and reuse it in other listings to save time in the future!

It’s also a good idea to tell a lifestyle story in your video with simple visuals.

For example, turn the fireplace on and place a throw rug, a magazine and a cup of coffee in the shot to paint the picture of how the space can be enjoyed. Or put a cheese platter and some glasses of wine on the table in the alfresco.

Support the Visuals with Music

Music can give your video another dimension of interest and reinforce the mood you’re trying to set.

For example, music for a family home with a pool might be fun and upbeat, while music suited to an elegant luxury property might be slow and sophisticated.

While many short-form videos use popular and trending music, it’s better to use music you have permission to use. Look for royalty-free music that can be used in commercial videos.

Video Editing Apps - Easily Get Your Video From Phone to Web

While you can shoot videos with the native video recorder inside TikTok or Instagram, your videos will turn out A LOT better if you take a little time editing them.

Many free and low-cost video editing apps are available to help you easily edit and polish your videos. Some of the more popular ones include:

FilmoraGo
InShot
Vimeo Create
Adobe Premiere Rush
LumaFusion (iOS)
iMovie (ios)
KineMaster

The key feature is to be able to trim and stitch your clips to sixty seconds to end up with a more polished video. Instead of making the viewer wait while you walk from one room to the next, you can stitch a kitchen shot with a lounge shot, a bedroom shot etc., producing a tighter video.

Adding Microcopy/Text Overlays

Microcopy is small snippets of copy that aren’t essential but help the viewer get a better understanding of what they are watching.

While you don’t have to add text to your video, some well-timed microcopy can give viewers info they can’t get from images alone.

Here’s a great example of text used sparingly in the video to add an extra layer of information to the walk-through:

What we love about this video:

Great use of drone and outdoor shots to set the scene
Use of running water sound effects to highlight the fountain and shower
Well-timed microcopy to give viewers extra information (in a font that suits the home)
Evening shot with fires lit to add lifestyle benefits and a give a sense of story (ending at night)
End card with a call to action letting buyers know the next step to take

Talking in Your Videos? Consider a Script

Talking in the video – describing the features and benefits – not only increases accessibility (great for those with vision impairment), but the video does double the work – promoting both the home and you as the agent.

If you talk, especially in short-form videos, then a script is a must – even if it’s just a few bullet points jotted down for you to refer to.

Below is a great example of a tight, well-scripted real estate video. Compare it to this one that goes for 15 minutes. That’s way too long, even for a YouTube video. Don’t lose your audience by waffling on.

What we love about this video:

The script is tight, relevant, knowledgeable, and without waffle
There’s plenty of movement while the agent talks to keep viewers interested
The agent describes the layout and features succinctly and with enthusiasm
The video supports what the agent says (there are shots of local amenities when she talks about location)
There’s a call to action at the end of the video telling buyers what the next step is.

How to Make a Viral TikTok Real Estate Video

The Collings viral real estate video mentioned in the introduction of this article wasn’t shot on just a smartphone – it was a full-scale production.

But there are some important takeaways that you can implement in your own real estate videos. First, here’s the video in full:

In this video, they jumped on the trending hashtag at the time (#dreamschallenge) where people were sharing videos of themselves skating while drinking cranberry juice.

This cleverly defined the target market, showed the local surrounds, and painted a lifestyle picture. Adding the trending hashtag increased the video’s exposure.

The takeaway: what trending topics can you naturally incorporate into your videos to help them get exposure?

Here’s what we love about the video:

Use of an actress to create a different and more interesting walk-through video
Slow pan shots of every room
Cuts between clips rather than a single long video
Great use of text overlay as a DM to list the local attractions
Text overlay naming the local surrounds they skate through
The storyline starts with waking up and having breakfast, ending with watching the sunset
Viral skateboarding shot to jump on the social trend.
Story, lifestyle, and property walk-through all in a two-minute video.

You’re not going to be able to jump on a social trend for every video you produce, but if there is one relevant to the property you’re videoing, adding it can be a great way to increase exposure.

You can go overboard with this. For example, in this video, Collings Real Estate used a James Bond theme to show the house. Fun and viral, definitely. But perhaps too much? What do you think?

The pandemic made walk-through videos an essential part of the marketing mix. And with a tightening market, the most successful real estate agents are using marketing strategies that reach their potential buyer, many of whom are millennials or younger.

Creating a short-form video is much easier than a full-scale professional production, but it still takes time. We can take some of the load off by writing your listing copy, other marketing collateral, and even video scripts! Call or email us to find out how we can help you, or check out our ‘how it works’ webpage for more details.

calendar with goals help with time management for real estate agents

Time Management For Real Estate Agents – 8 Ways Agents Can Save Time

Blog / By newppcadmin

The life of a real estate agent is BUSY and fast-paced.

While the public might think real estate agents spend the day cruising around in fancy cars (thanks, Lux Listings!), we know the reality is a lot of phone calls, paperwork, and time online, often at night and on the weekends.

Real Estate Agents at the top of their game are not spending 50, 60, 70 hours a week grinding. They have found ways to work smarter, not harder. And with technology at your fingertips (or in your pocket), it’s never been easier for real estate agents to work smart and save time.

The nature of the real estate industry means your income is a direct result of how productive you are, with the ultimate aim of closing more deals in fewer hours. The following time management tips are proven to increase productivity, and they’ve been specially tailored for busy real estate agents who need to remain flexible and responsive.

1. Schedule Like a Boss With a Cloud Calendar

Using a digital calendar to schedule appointments is a must. Be in complete control of your time, and never miss a meeting by adding appointments (including travel time) into your calendar straight away.

A basic cloud-based calendar like the iPhone calendar or Google Calendar means you’ve always got your schedule and can adjust it on the fly as necessary.

A more sophisticated alternative is Calendly or similar, which allows clients to select open meeting slots from your schedule and book a time with you. All you have to do is send the client a link that lets them book an appointment – it saves you time and makes it easier for clients to book. You can even customise the app to give you travel time.

Depending on your CRM, it might have a built-in calendar and appointment booking feature, which is one less tool and one less expense.

2. Manage Your To-Dos with a Task Manager

When juggling a bazillion tasks, it can be easy to let some slip through the cracks. That’s where task management or project management software comes in.

A task manager is a sophisticated to-do list, while a project manager offers more complex project planning, allowing you to organise, plan, collaborate and deliver projects.

As with the calendar option above, your CRM may also have an integrated task manager, reducing apps and saving money.

For a basic (free) task manager, you’ve got cloud-based software like Todoist. One of the key features of Todist is their phone widget that allows you to quickly capture tasks on the go, so you don’t forget them.

If you want a more complete project management software option that your CRM doesn’t fulfil, many on the market are free or low-cost – ClickUp and monday.com are popular. There is a slight learning curve, but once you’re set up, they can prevent time loss caused by disorganisation.

3. Time Block and Task Batch

Consistent prospecting increases leads. It’s often recommended to dedicate one or two ‘golden hours’ to prospecting every day.

A study by Baylor University shows it takes approximately 7.5 hours to complete 209 calls, leading to one qualified appointment or referral (or 1 in 59 answered calls). That’s about 1.5 hours, five days a week.

The current median house value is $738,975. If your commission is 3%, your return on investment of time (not including all other costs) is $2,955 per hour – not a bad ROI.

However, you have to do the leg work to get there.

That’s where time blocking comes in.

Time blocking is blocking off time in your calendar to dedicate to one specific task without interruptions. In the case of prospecting, it would mean blocking off one to two hours a day.

Because of the nature of real estate work, you might still need to have some flexibility with your time blocking.

A good way of looking at time blocking is to not micro-manage every task and every moment of your day but to think of it on a weekly scale and leave plenty of room between time blocks to deal with the unexpected.

Mondays might be for paperwork and meetings, Wednesdays and Fridays might be for appointments, and mornings between 10 and 12 you might block off for prospecting.

4. Prioritise Your Tasks and Stay Laser Focused

While writing out a task list is a good way to ensure nothing is forgotten, it can become overwhelming if it stretches on for miles.

That’s when a priority matrix helps you decide which tasks to do first.

The Eisenhower Matrix breaks tasks into four categories:

Important and urgent
Important but not urgent
Urgent but not important
Neither urgent nor important

Ideally, you want to focus on the first two quadrants of the matrix.

Important and urgent tasks might include uploading a listing or preparing a contract.

Important but not urgent tasks often further our business and career but get pushed aside for all the urgent tasks. Prospecting is a good example.

What happens if you have a lot of urgent and important tasks on your list?

That’s when you break your task list down a little further.

What are your 3 MITs or Most Important Tasks for the Day?

How can you apply one of the four Ds:

Do
Defer
Delegate
Delete

Let’s talk focus and distraction for a moment.

Multi-tasking is inefficient. And for every interruption, it takes around 30 minutes to get back on track and refocus. So blocking out time and staying focused on your MIT saves you time.

But then…

The phone rings.

You can’t ignore it. It might be a new client!

Instead of letting it derail your focus, one idea is to send a text letting the person know you’re in an appointment, and if it’s ok, you will call them back in an hour. Put a reminder on your task list if you’re worried about forgetting. Then get back to what you were working on.

5. Leverage Technology and Tools to Assist and Automate

If you’re not yet in a position to delegate tasks to another person, technology can automate a lot of the grunt work, streamline processes, and increase productivity.

Hundreds of tech tools are available for real estate agents, but as you already know, the most important one is good Customer Relationship Software (CRM).

Streamlining lead gen, marketing, listing uploads, and client communication, a CRM can help save time and increase productivity. There are many CRM solutions on the market; Homely shares a few of the more popular Australian ones. Depending on your chosen software, you may not need other digital tools; the CRM may incorporate a calendar app, project management and emails.

But if your CRM is not all-encompassing, other tech tools to consider (besides your calendar) include:

A cloud-based note-taking app that you can use on your phone
Voice dictation/recorder like Otter.ai to record meetings and dictate notes on the fly and have them automatically transcribed to text
Email automation for drip email campaigns
Social media scheduler
Video conferencing software
Electronic signature software
Video tour software
Cloud storage like DropBox

6. Take Time Now to Build Checklists, Templates, and Workflows

“In a complex environment, experts are up against two main difficulties. The first is the fallibility of human memory and attention, especially when it comes to mundane, routine matters that are easily overlooked under the strain of more pressing events […] A further difficulty, just as insidious, is that people can lull themselves into skipping steps even when they remember them. In complex processes, after all, certain steps don’t always matter. Checklists seem to provide protection against such failures.” The Checklist Manifesto

Creating checklists, templates, and efficient workflows (and documenting those workflows) is one of those tasks that takes a bit of time upfront but pays you back in dividends for years to come. It’s a simple yet powerful way to save time and ensures you never miss an important task.

Not only that, when you decide to outsource tasks or hire staff, it is very quick and easy to train them in your workflows when everything is documented.

Good CRMs will allow you to create and save checklists, templates and workflows (although you should always back these up in the cloud if you decide to change CRM). Otherwise, you can create checklists in a basic document and store them on Dropbox or Google Drive.

The easiest and most efficient way to create checklists and workflows is to document what you do, as you do it.

Once documented, use your checklists and update and adjust until you’ve created a workflow that maximises efficiency. Any time your workflow changes, update your documentation to reflect that.

Then don’t forget to use them! Even when we’ve done the same tasks for years, busyness, stress, and distraction can cause us to make mistakes. Using your checklist will ensure you look like a pro every time.

Marketing and social media template creation is one of those jobs that are perfect for outsourcing. Pay once and reuse the templates again and again for years.

7. Delegate and Outsource

Delegating is absolutely vital to simplifying your schedule and freeing up time. Between delegating tasks that others can handle, automating routine tasks, and systemising the tasks you have to do, you can see significant productivity increases.

A team or a full-time personal assistant may not be viable if you’re just starting. That’s where virtual assistants, freelancers, and agencies with specific expertise can bridge the gap and ease the burden.

Outsourcing can reduce labour costs (compared to hiring staff) while improving overall productivity. The more productive you are, the more time you can spend generating sales.

Jobs real estate agents can outsource include:

Bookkeeping
Administration Support
Scheduling
Sales Support
Lead generation
CRM management
Data entry
Photography/Videography
Home Staging
Marketing
Graphic Design
Floorplans
Social media management
Email campaigns
Research
Website management
Content writing
Copywriting

When deciding what to outsource, consider first what tasks you shouldn’t delegate. What are your strengths as an agent and what activities have the best return on your time? What activities do you enjoy doing, and what mundane activities do you loathe? The ones you loathe are the best ones to outsource.

8. Keep and Analyse Data to See What Activities Have the Best Return on Investment

Good time management isn’t just about saving time; it’s about increasing your returns – i.e., generating more leads and closing more deals in fewer hours.

For example, when it comes to prospecting, do you know which activities bring in the most leads?

The study above analysed the effectiveness of cold calling, but does it work for you? Do you track the data to decide where your time is best spent?

If social media is bringing in ten leads for an hour’s worth of work, and cold calling is bringing in one lead for three hours’ worth of work, which one should you spend more time on?

The thing is, you can’t tell which activity has the best ROI without tracking and analysing the data. Your CRM will probably track data for you. If so, set time aside each week to analyse it. If not, a simple spreadsheet can mean all the difference between slogging for nothing and slogging with results.

Technology has reduced a lot of the grunt work of being an agent, and outsourcing means you can maximise your productivity even further without the cost of hiring staff. This means you can spend your time on what you do best, finding leads, communicating with vendors, and closing deals.

If you want to save hours on every listing, consider hiring a professional copywriter, like the team here at Professional Property Copy, to write your marketing collateral and real estate listing descriptions. Call or email us to find out how we can help you, or check out our ‘how it works’ webpage for more details.

In the meantime, tools, tech, and time management techniques will save you time and increase your productivity.

5 Reasons Why the Most Successful Agents Outsource Real Estate Copy

Blog / By Natalie Atkinson

Every one of your real estate listings builds your reputation as an agent.

The question is, are you building a good reputation or a bad one?

When it comes to marketing a property, you know great photos are vital these days. You know home staging can work wonders.

But did you know that nearly 63% of online viewers are frustrated by the lack of detail in real estate listings, and 59% of people don’t trust that companies who make spelling and grammar mistakes can provide a quality service?

People judge what you write in your listings, so professional real estate writing is more important than ever in the online market.

Crafting compelling copy takes time. You outsource your photography and staging to professionals, here are five good reasons why it pays to outsource real estate copy as well.

1. Outsourcing Saves You Time and The Headache of Writing

So much of your time is invested in prospecting, winning appraisals, organising marketing, photography, video, and conducting open homes.

And then you need to write the property description. Often at home, at night, after a long day at work.

Maybe you’re an agent who enjoys the creative process of crafting compelling copy that sells the benefits of the property. If that’s you, great. Many agents also have finely tuned copywriting skills!

But copywriting is usually the least popular job for agents. If you find yourself staring at the blank screen or hitting the backspace key more than writing, that’s when outsourcing can save you the headache.

By outsourcing, you get your property to market faster, while freeing up your time to do what you do best – sell properties!

Don’t just take our word for it! Here’s what one of our clients said about outsourcing:

“I have often thought about outsourcing the marketing copy, as I find it frustrating and time-consuming, and I don’t always get the best feedback from my vendors. I just didn’t know where to start or who to entrust with it, as it is quite a specialised task, and time is always of the essence. I gave PPC a go after receiving some correspondence with them, and the quality was first-class. I cannot believe the writer caught the essence of the property so effectively without an onsite visit. Very impressive”.

Ray White Agent, Canberra.

2. Good copy makes you stand out from the crowd and capture buyer’s attention

When people are deciding whether to come to an inspection, professional photos catch the ‘eye’ of the buyers, and the description then fills in the gaps and appeals at an emotional level, creating a ‘sense’ of the property.

So to stop prospective buyers from scrolling and get them out the door to an inspection, enticing copy is vital to keep them interested.

Buyers want plenty of relevant details in the listing so they can make informed decisions about whether a home is right for them. Good copy also describes the lifestyle benefits of a property that creates a connection with the buyer.

By providing detailed and emotionally compelling copy, you’re making vendors and potential buyers happy, which will help sell your property.

3. Professional copy creates extra value for vendors

Word-of-mouth or referral business is still one of the best ways to get clients. HAPPY clients beget more clients!

Vendors want their homes sold as fast as possible, for the best possible price. That means going above and beyond with a great marketing campaign that includes professional copy.

It only takes 26 seconds for someone to make up their mind about a property. If you’ve gone to the trouble of getting professional home styling and photography, ensure you don’t blow that first impression with a poorly written real estate description.

4. Professional Copy Builds Your Brand Reputation

While your primary focus should be on selling the property, it’s important to know it’s not just buyers who read your listings.

Future vendors are also reading your listings and deciding whether you’re the right real estate agent to sell their homes. If you want to make a good impression, your current listings need to shine.

Here’s a sobering fact: 74% of online users say they tend to notice spelling and grammar mistakes and it puts them off buying from that company. So getting your copy correct is essential, not just for selling properties but for your reputation as an agent.

When you outsource real estate copywriting to a professional copywriter, we provide you with a polished description. What’s more, we can ghost-write it remotely so you can claim all the credit.

“I’ve been using PPC since mid-2013, and my sellers have always been delighted with the copy. Whilst other agents generally include it in their marketing budget, I actually pay for this myself and don’t disclose it has been done by a third party. I enjoy the accolades. Not even my colleagues know, and PPC are very discreet.”

Agent/Principal, Western Sydney region

5. Great Copy Improves Opportunities for Free Editorial Promotion

When you outsource your property copywriting to a professional, you don’t just save precious time; you also increase your chances of receiving additional free marketing.

Most local newspapers have a weekly or bi-weekly property supplement; the editors are always seeking slickly written copy to publish. All you need to do is submit your property editorial with a high-resolution image for their consideration.

If published, you will not only increase that particular property’s exposure and delight your seller; you will also increase the exposure of your profile/brand. Even better, there is no charge from the newspaper!

Whilst there is no guarantee that any submission will be published, it doesn’t cost you to submit, and it only takes a few seconds to send an email. Don’t give up or be despondent if your first few submissions don’t get published; be persistent (but not annoying)! If you DO invest in professional copy, you WILL increase your chances significantly.

Make sure, if your piece DOES get published, to flick a ‘thank you’ email to the editor – it will be appreciated, and of course, let the owner know…don’t waste the opportunity to look proactive!

If your vendors are unsure about the value of outsourcing copywriting, we’ve produced a flyer that lists the benefits of professional copy. You can download it here.

Save time and build your reputation by outsourcing your real estate writing to professional copywriters. To find out how we can help you, go to our how it works page or contact us, and we can run you through the details over the phone.

How to Write a Standout Real Estate Description That Will Make Buyers Fall in Love with Your Property (With Examples)

Blog / By Natalie Atkinson

You’re showing buyers around a property – what do you tell them?

You might talk about how great the covered patio is for barbeques or point out the views from the master bedroom. You might mention how close the school is – just around the corner!

Except, you no longer get the chance to chat about a property’s benefits.

Thanks to online listings, most buyers have decided long before viewing a property whether they like it.

Statistics reveal that 97% of people looking for properties start their search online – and of those under forty, 99% are searching online.

And that’s why good real estate copywriting has never been more crucial.

While great photos, video, and accurate data help buyers narrow their selection, the listing description is what differentiates and ‘sells’ a property. All those things you would have pointed out during an inspection need to be in the property description.

We buy with emotion and rationalise our decision later. Good copy creates an emotional connection to the property, helping buyers imagine themselves living happily in the home.

A photograph might show the covered patio, but the real estate description helps the buyer imagine sitting there with a glass of wine, laughing with friends. It’s THAT picture, the picture buyers paint in their imagination, that sells.

And that picture comes down to copywriting.

To write a real estate description that will entice buyers and sell properties, here are eight things you need to include.

1. Ask These Essential Pre-Writing Questions

Most people skip these pre-writing essentials.

If you want to make your copy stand out, ask yourself (and your seller) these critical questions.

Ask yourself: What type of buyer would be interested in this property?

In other words, who is the target market?

There’s an old maxim: when you sell to everyone, you sell to no one.

How you position your copy will depend on the type of buyer you think the property will attract.

For example, if it’s a family home, you will want to talk about how close it is to schools and parks.

If it’s an apartment aimed at downsizers looking for a lock-and-leave property, they’re not interested in schools – you’ll want to talk about security and proximity to the airport.

Targeting a particular buyer means you write SPECIFIC details. Don’t worry; those details will resonate with other buyers as well. By all means, mention that this home would also suit investors or first home buyers, but write the overall copy for one audience.

Ask the seller: What do you love about the property?

The information the seller can give is copywriting gold. They can tell you details like how the sun warms the front living room in winter and how beautiful the spring cherry blossoms look in the yard.

When it comes to painting a picture and selling the benefits, the current owner is a wealth of information.

Ask yourself and the seller: What sets the property apart?

In copywriting terms, this is known as the Unique Selling Proposition or USP. What makes this property stand out from others?

You will want to include these standout details in your headline and the all-important first paragraph (see below).

2. Write an Enticing Headline

The headline does a lot of heavy lifting.

It’s the first impression your copy creates, and it’s there to entice readers to continue reading.

No one wants to read advertising copy. A headline with a compelling promise draws the buyer into reading further.

Tips for writing a compelling headline include:

Incorporate your USP (above)
Aim for short and simple but include specific information
Include a benefit – connect it to buyers’ desires
Create emotional appeal

Typical example: What a great location!

A better headline: Modern, Spacious – Walk to Shops and Transport.

For more information on writing headlines, check out our guide on How to Write Attention-Grabbing Real Estate Headlines.

3. Hook the Reader with Your First Paragraph

The purpose of the first paragraph is to hook the buyer with the key features and benefits of the home.

Ideally, you want them to keep reading the rest of your copy, but if they only read the first paragraph, they will have a good idea of the property and whether it’s right for them.

Here are two examples:

Typical example: [Real Estate Agent] presents this beautiful home suited to families, first home buyers, or investors.

A better first paragraph: With multiple living spaces, a large backyard, and the local primary school just five minutes walk away, this updated home offers easy family living in a prime [suburb] location.

4. List the Main Features, Sell the Benefits

When we surveyed our agents, one of the main challenges they have when writing copy is effectively highlighting the benefits.

Let’s first start with the difference between a feature and a benefit.

A feature is what is included with the home. For example, a dishwasher is a FEATURE.

A benefit answers the question: “So what?!”

The BENEFIT of having a dishwasher is easy clean up after meals.

It’s important to list the main features, so people know what they are. You don’t need to list every one – just the essential elements that make the home stand out and are important to your buyer.

When listing features:

Be accurate
Be specific
Use adjectives wisely (don’t overdo it)

We BUY benefits, so it’s also essential to incorporate some key benefits.

You don’t need to list all of them. Instead, focus on the benefits your target buyer would appreciate. For example, busy buyers will appreciate a low-maintenance courtyard.

You will also want to point out features and benefits that are not obvious from the photos. Recent renovations, eco-friendly features, and location features help sell the property.

For the main benefit (your USP), create an emotional response by crafting a scene. The storytelling advice of ‘show, don’t tell’ helps engage the buyer on an emotional level.

Telling: the covered patio is great for entertaining.

Showing/storyselling: swap stories with friends over a glass of wine in the undercover entertaining area while you watch the kids play a game of backyard cricket.

5. Give Information About The Location

Not all buyers will be familiar with the local area. Some key details about the location will help buyers feel at home.

What amenities are nearby? Are they within walking distance, and is it actually walkable? If the only way to get to school is down a busy freeway with no footpath, it’s not really walking distance. Keep your credibility by being real and accurate in your descriptions.

What kind of lifestyle does the location offer? Is it a quiet, family-friendly street or a vibrant inner-city location? Will weekends be spent riding bikes through nearby parkland or meeting friends at the bar?

These details help the buyer find the right property and imagine what life could be like when they buy it.

6. Format For Readability

Prospective buyers are probably reading your copy on their phones. So you want to make it as easy as possible to read. Vast walls of text that scroll for screens won’t be read.

Well formatted writing includes:

Short paragraphs, broken by lots of white space (forget what your English teacher told you – break those paragraphs up!)
Short, clear sentences. If your sentence goes on for many lines, add a full stop. Or two. (See what I did there?) Interesting writing has a variety of sentence lengths.
Add bullet points. Some people prefer to skip the text and go straight to easily digestible summaries.
Edit for grammar and spelling, and then read your writing out loud. If it’s hard to read, the sentences are probably too long.

7. Add a Call To Action

The whole point of your real estate copywriting is to get potential buyers to take action.

To make a booking, attend an inspection, put in an offer, or call for more information.

Don’t leave them dangling at the end of your copy; give them clear directions on what action to take next.

A good call to action summarises the main benefit, speaks to the potential buyer’s desires, and creates urgency. Life is busy, and we forget if we don’t act straight away. So a sense of urgency encourages people to take action right away.

For example: This spacious family home is zoned to highly sought-after schools. Don’t miss your chance to secure your child’s educational future. Call us today to arrange an inspection.

8. Optimise Your Description For Search

When people search online, they use filters and search terms to narrow down the selection. That’s why it’s vital to add targeted keywords (search terms) relevant to your buyer.

As a busy working mum, when looking at real estate, I use the search filters to out any properties without a dishwasher. I also work from home, so I want a house with a study or home office (ideally with a door)!

A single paragraph description will not cover all the search terms relevant to your property. If you haven’t added the home’s key features in your description – either in the copy or the bullet points, you’re making it harder to find online.

It takes time to write an engaging property description that includes all the right elements to make buyers fall in love with your property. When days get busy, this often becomes a last-minute, after-hours job.

Spend your evenings relaxing with friends and family, and let us craft your real estate descriptions for you. For more information, check out our real estate copywriting services page or call to book.

How to Effectively Proofread Real Estate Copy to Avoid Embarrassing Mistakes

Blog / By newppcadmin

In the quest to publish new listings in a timely manner, especially when agents and administration staff are ‘under the pump,’ proofreading your real estate copy can be overlooked in the rush to get listings uploaded.

But while errors are often invisible to the person who wrote the real estate listing, they stand out like a flashing neon sign to people reading the copy.

Clear, concise, and error-free copy ensures your reader isn’t distracted by mistakes. It also reflects well on you as a professional who is a cut above the rest – you don’t need to search too hard to find real estate copy that could do with a polish.

Nobody gets everything perfect 100% of the time – professional writers usually have professional copy editors to correct mistakes! If you’re trying to juggle it all as an agent, marketer, copywriter, editor, admin, and more, it’s hard to take the time to sit down and properly proofread your copy.

That’s why we’ve shared the proofreading techniques to make it easier and common mistakes to look for.

Proofreading Round One - Fact Check

The first round of proofreading should always include checking the accuracy of your writing.

People are relying on your copy to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their life, so the details must be correct.

Having the vendor read the copy as a second set of eyes is a good idea, so nothing slips through the cracks. Ask them specifically to fact-check, so they know what feedback to give.

Proofreading Round Two - Use a Spelling and Grammar Checker with Caution

Spelling and grammar checkers have come a long way since the early days. They now use AI to help you improve your writing and are invaluable for picking up a plethora of small mistakes.

So, the next step is to use a spelling and grammar checker (or two) to review your copy and check for obvious mistakes.

Before letting your spell check make changes, evaluate whether those changes make sense. Because while modern spelling checkers are good, they can also get things wrong.

Grammar checkers aren’t perfect at understanding context or Australian ways of speaking. While you should avoid slang in your copy, it’s ok and often recommended to use conversational English.

A great example is the word ‘verandah.’ Verandah, spelt with an ‘h,’ is considered archaic and rarely used, except in Australia and generally only by older generations. Your spelling checker may flag it as incorrect. Whether you spell veranda with or without an ‘h’ will depend on your target reader and vendor. As the writer, you need to know when to override the checker and when to approve its suggestion.

To make things confusing, if you use more than one grammar checker, they often disagree, which is why understanding the rules of grammar yourself is essential.

Did you know we offer proofreading services as well as copywriting? If you’re not sure about all these grammar rules, we can help.

Proofreading Round Three - Read Your Real Estate Copy Aloud

Reading your copy aloud helps you pick up awkward sentences, phrases that don’t make sense, and words you’ve repeated too many times.

When you read out loud, you can tell immediately if your copy is clunky, doesn’t flow, or just sounds boring. Good writing is like music, it has a rhythm, and you can hear this rhythm (or lack of it) when you read aloud.

If reading out loud feels awkward, or is inappropriate in a busy workplace setting, here’s a tip: plug in your earphones and use a text-to-voice service to read your copy for you.

Microsoft Word has a free read-aloud feature in the ‘Review’ tab, so you can listen to your copy. Take the time to adjust the tempo to get the voice to sound as natural as possible. As Word reads your copy, it highlights each word, helping you to focus and pick up more errors.

If you don’t use Word, there are dozens of text-to-voice services on the web. Many are free, and you can choose different speakers, including voices with Australian accents.

Like AI grammar and spell checkers, voice-to-text reading isn’t perfect, but the combined tools will help you pick up most errors.

Pro Proofreading Techniques

Three rounds of proofreading using the above steps will improve your copy. And if you’re under the pump, they are solid techniques for getting your copy done and done well.

But if you have extra time, here are a few proven techniques to help you proofread.

Take a few hours (preferably overnight) between writing and proofreading. It’s easier to spot errors with fresh eyes and a clear mind.
Ask someone else to read your copy. A second pair of eyes will pick up things your eyes gloss over.
Read your copy one sentence at a time, backward. Start at the end of your copy and read the last sentence, then the second last sentence etc. Reading backwards stops you from glossing over copy you’re familiar with, helping you spot errors you’ve missed.
Use a pointer on the screen or a ruler on the page. This forces your eyes to look at each word.
Take your time and read in a distraction-free environment when you’re most alert. Proofreading needs focused attention, which is why it’s good to do it after a night’s sleep.
Keep a checklist and look for one type of problem at a time. A systematic approach will help you spot mistakes.

Common Mistakes to Look For

We all have little writing foibles and predilections. Words we like to use a little too much. Grammar mistakes we make over and over. My little finger is trigger-happy on the apostrophe, even when I know one doesn’t belong. Bad pinkie!

When you know your quirks, you can keep an eye out for them and make sure they don’t slip through.

We see common mistakes crop up over and over, so here are a few things to look out for.

Common Grammar Mistakes

We’ve written a whole post on grammar mistakes that crop up in real estate copy, so rather than list them here, check out our article on the most common grammar mistakes.

In particular, look at the section on wrong word choice because spell check won’t always pick them – for example, complement v compliment or stationery v stationary.

Another thing it won’t pick up is the overuse of adverbs and adjectives. Real estate writers are particularly prone to adjective abuse when writing property copy. Readers won’t trust your copy when it’s bursting with adjectives, so it’s good to comb some out during proofreading.

Repetition

Repetition is when you use the same word repeatedly in your copy. Maybe you’ve described the layout as spacious, the bedrooms as spacious, the kitchen as spacious, and the yard as…spacious.

Repetition is easy to pick up when you read your copy out loud or have a text-to-voice service read it for you.

Another technique is to use the ‘find’ function in Microsoft Word to look for words you tend to overuse. It will show you how many times a word is used in your copy and highlight each iteration to make them easy to find and fix.

An online thesaurus can help you find synonyms, so you’re not repeating the same word. But you may also want to rephrase your copy with specific details that show, not tell. For example, instead of saying the backyard is spacious, you can give the exact square meterage of the block and let the facts speak for themselves.

American Spelling

When you use a grammar checker, it’s important to set it to Australian spelling. If you’re writing for an Aussie audience, you need to use Australian spelling.

Organise, not organize. Colour, not color. Neighbourhood, not neighborhood.

Australians also have a few different grammatical conventions to Americans that a grammar checker may not pick up. We sometimes use prepositions differently. For example:

Australian: The office is open Monday to Friday.

American: The office is open Monday through Friday.

We prefer the present perfect tense to the simple past tense in Australia (although either is fine). For example:

Australian: The photographer has taken photos.

American: The photographer took photos.

We also use quotation marks differently, punctuate quotes differently, and don’t add full stops after titles (Dr, not Dr.). And the Oxford comma? It’s an essential but controversial piece of grammar that court cases have been won and lost over.

Non-Inclusive Language

Inclusive, non-discriminatory real estate copy is essential. While good copywriting speaks to a particular target audience, it’s important to do so without discriminating.

One example that is very common in real estate writing is the use of the word ‘master’ when talking about the main bedroom, which is considered non-inclusive language.

Another example, which we see crop up surprisingly frequently, is a reference to mum in the kitchen or the workshop being perfect for the ‘man of the house.’

Talking about sipping a cool drink is more inclusive than talking about drinking wine (not everyone agrees with alcohol consumption). Referring to family celebrations is more inclusive than referencing specific religious celebrations like Christmas.

This language is not as precise; it doesn’t paint as vivid a picture, but your copy will be more inclusive.

Cliches

Cliches are difficult to avoid when writing property copy – there are only so many ways to describe a kitchen. But if you can substitute a cliche with an original phrase, your copy will sound less generic.

One way to avoid cliches is to be specific.

Instead of ‘close to transport,’ write ‘500 metres to the nearest bus stop’.

Instead of ‘location, location, location,’ state exactly what is so good about the location. For example, ‘five minutes to the beach’ or ‘walk the kids to school.’

Cliches are shortcuts that communicate a lot of information in a few words, so they have their place. But use sparingly and combat with specificity.

Taking the time to proofread and polish your real estate copy will mean your vendors are happy, and your professionalism will shine through all your marketing materials.

If you’re short on time, we can write polished copy for you, taking all the hassle out of writing, editing, and proofreading.

It’s our job to know when to use the Oxford comma, when to hyphenate a compound modifier, or when to use a semi-colon, so you can rest assured that all your real estate copy will come to you proofed and polished.

Visit our real estate writing services page or contact us for more information.

open home in winter with fireplace and copywriting tips text

Selling a House in Winter – Copywriting Tips That Spark Interest in Your Winter Listings

Blog / By newppcadmin

Winter is a traditionally quiet time on the property market. However, there are many good reasons for selling a house in winter.

If you live in Melbourne or Sydney, research shows that July averages the highest sales prices, so don’t be put off by winter selling.

There’s less competition with fewer homes on offer, so you’re more likely to get your asking price. And if buyers are braving bad weather to come to your open home, you know they’re motivated to make a purchase.

Selling a property isn’t about finding the perfect time but working out how to best present a property in each season. And this is where effective real estate copywriting comes into play. People shop online first, and your copy needs to show your listing in its best possible light no matter what the season.

Below you will find six copywriting tips to help your winter real estate listings sell. Pro tip: don’t stuff your copy with everything listed below, but find the most relevant ones for the home you are writing about.

1. Features and Benefits - Highlight the Underrated Pleasures of Winter

Think about all the things to love about winter.

Lying in on a Sunday all cosy under the doona, taking a long soak in a hot bath, snuggling under a throw rug on the sofa with a loved one while watching a movie, sitting in the garden soaking up the winter sun. Consider sprinkling a cosy winter scene or two into your copy.

You want to show how comfortable the home is during the winter season, which will be at the forefront of buyers’ minds.

2. Don’t Forget to Mention the Heating

Does the house have a fireplace?

Then you definitely want to draw attention to it in your winter copy. Set the scene by describing sipping a quality shiraz from the Barossa Valley in front of the fire or curling up with a hot chocolate and a good book to evoke the feeling of ‘this is where I want to spend my winter nights.’

If there’s no fireplace, then you can highlight in your copy how the ducted heating (if relevant) will keep the whole home cosy throughout the winter months.

Again, evoking warmth and comfort is a primary objective in winter real estate copy.

3. Draw Attention to the Winter Aspect

What aspect does the home have? Which rooms get the most sunlight?

If the living rooms are bathed in winter sun, or the yard enjoys a northerly aspect (southern hemisphere), you will want to talk about that in your copy. A west-facing living room might be hot in summer, but it gets all the sun in winter, so this is the time to highlight it.

If you have done your pre-writing prep, the current owners will be able to tell you exactly which parts of the home are most comfortable in winter.

When writing real estate copy, the aspect might not always be something you want to draw attention to (if it’s not good), but it is something to keep in mind.

4. Highlight the Great Indoor Lifestyle the Home Offers

We all tend to stay indoors more during winter, especially if it’s raining, so the functionality of the indoor living space is at the forefront of buyers’ minds.

In your copy, highlight how the indoor space is perfectly designed for winter living. You can talk about watching movies in the media room, playing board games with the family in the fabulous games room, or hosting a dinner party in the formal dining room.

Christmas in July has gained momentum in recent years, and perhaps the property you have just listed would be the perfect venue for this!

Inject some of these scenarios into your copy – it helps the buyer visualise living there and creates positive vibes associated with this home.

5. Is Your Property an Outdoor Winter Wonderland?

Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean we have to ignore the great outdoors!

Winter can be the perfect time to highlight sweeping views if they are less obstructed by deciduous trees. If the property has a sunny yard, you can mention sitting on the patio and enjoying the warm winter sunshine. Or maybe you can talk about toasting marshmallows over the firepit on clear, crisp evenings. Does the alfresco area have cafe blinds? You can mention how prospective buyers can enjoy it all year round with a patio heater.

You don’t have to ignore standout features – like a pool – that are more applicable to summer. Instead, talk about ‘getting ready for the summer months’ and emphasise the home’s cosy aspects.

6. Now is the Time to Home-In on Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is not the kind of information buyers can glean from the photos, which is why your real estate copy is so important.

We all know that heating can be expensive, so it is essential to draw attention to any energy-efficient features. Does the home have instant gas hot water? You can talk about how everyone can have a shower without the hot water running out. Maybe there are solar panels, zoned heating, solar or heat pump hot water. Then talk about how much this can save the new owners in winter bills.

Anything already installed that will save the buyer money is worth highlighting. It not only makes the property more attractive to buyers but also adds value.

Finally, Don’t Forget to Refresh Your Copy for Spring

Hopefully, with great copy, winter staging, beautiful photography, and an open home that offers a warm welcome (literally and figuratively), your property will be sold quickly.

But if it’s still on the market in spring, don’t forget to give your copy – and your marketing – a spring update.

There’s no need to shy away from the winter real estate market, especially if you live in Sydney or Melbourne. But to maximise your selling opportunity, seasonally appropriate copy can enhance the home’s desirability.

With all the tasks you need to juggle with a new listing, it can be hard to remember all the high-conversion elements to add to your copy. With over 15 years of experience writing real estate descriptions, we can take the pressure off and help you sell your property, no matter what the season.

Find out more about how we can help craft winning real estate descriptions for you.

Generating Content for Real Estate Blogs – Part 2

Blog / By newppcadmin

Last week we shared some tips for you about writing engaging real estate blogs. This week we have a few more for you to consider.

1. Focus on your areas of expertise.

While choosing broad topics is a great way to flesh out your blog and attract a wide range of readers, chances are the most valuable help you can provide centres on a more niche area. Write about what you know. The more you can translate your knowledge into real estate blog material, the more attractive you will be to readers who need specific, accurate information on the subject you are covering.

2. Blog regularly.

There is an ongoing argument about which is better – blogging frequently, like daily or almost daily, or blogging less frequently but focusing on more in-depth material. Bloggers have been successful with both strategies, so it is really up to you and how you want to do things.

But whether you blog once a week or every day, you do need to maintain some consistency to keep readers around. The more erratic your schedule, the bigger risk readers will forget about your blog or become frustrated and go somewhere else. Keep them in the know by having a solid real estate social media strategy. While creating fantastic content is crucial, so is promoting it.

3. Go for evergreen content.

The higher quality blogs you can create, the more likely that readers will appreciate what you are doing and come to rely on you for good content. Content that will be useful both now and a year from now is referred to as “evergreen”.

Such content can take more work to create, but it is worth doing if you plan on blogging over an extended period of time. It only takes one really great evergreen blog and some luck to have it shared for years to come, which means ongoing traffic to your blog.

4. Write topical content too.

While evergreen content is the backbone of most good blogs, you also need to blog about current issues that may not be relevant a month or a year from now. The market is always changing, and your readers will probably expect you to discuss what is going on now. Who knows what the market is doing in an area better than an Agent who works in that area?

Showing off your local expertise is always a smart move. Community pages are one of the better ways of letting people know you are the local real estate expert.

5. Encourage conversation.

When you are looking for clients, you want to have some interaction with the visitors to your blog. By allowing comments and encouraging your readers to discuss topics or give you feedback, you can develop relationships that may lead to work in the real world. There is a risk of undesirable comments, but you can always delete anything you feel is inappropriate or detrimental to your message.

Here at Professional Property Copy, we can write your blogs for you. Click here to find out more.

Generating Content for Real Estate Blogs – Part 1

Blog / By newppcadmin

If you do not have an online presence in today’s real estate market, you are not going to be as successful as you could be. As a real estate agent, having a blog is a big part of creating an online presence. But not all blogs are created equal. Some are much more successful than others. So, what’s the secret? How do you create a real estate blog people actually want to read?

People talk all the time about having quality content but what does that actually mean? It means providing information of value that people actually want to read, that can also drive business.

Below you’ll find some guidelines that will be helpful in starting your journey to creating a successful real estate article.

1. Provide SOLUTIONS to problems your readers have.

When someone searches for something on the web, usually that person is looking for answers to questions or solutions to problems – particularly when it comes to real estate. How do I handle multiple offers on my home? Should I sell my own home? What renovations will get me the most money? What neighbourhoods have the best schools? These are real life questions that people will put into their favourite search engine for answers.

The biggest goal of your blog will be to answer the questions and solve the problems of potential readers. The more useful your content, the more likely you are to have visitors and to get referrals from your site.

2. Write for the web.

A blog is substantially different from more formal types of copy, such as your old university assignments. Text is broken up into easily scanned blocks, with titles and formatting that guides the reader. Writing is more informal. You have less time to grab the reader, so titles are very important, as is formatting. Don’t save the best for last – or at least make sure you have interesting material up top to keep people reading.

People like to call an unattractive blog post a “wall of words”. This is because there is no semblance of any structure to the writing. A good real estate blog article should be broken down into ideas with a specific heading. Under each heading you should share your wisdom clearly and concisely.

3. Add some pictures.

Having awesome graphics is one of the most important aspects of having a successful real estate blog. Your graphics can quickly propel you into being remembered by a significant amount of people. In fact, it is usually the graphics that will cause someone to want to share your article on their social media channels.

While you can find stock photos that you can use for free – which will work in a bind – ideally you should take some pictures on your own, or at least use unique pictures that really add to your content. A nice diagram, infographic or photo of a concept is great for your readers, summarising information in a way words can’t. There are some great sites that you can purchase photos online.

Here at Professional Property Copy, we can write your blogs for you. Click here to find out more.

Does the Copywriter Need to View the Property to Write the Description?

Blog / By newppcadmin

Remote real estate writing services save you time and money.

One of the questions agents and vendors ask us, is ‘how does the writer create the copy without physically visiting the property?’

The answer is with the information you (the agent) give us and the extra research we do.

While some copywriters may need to see the property and are therefore restricted to a specific location, at Professional Property Copy, we write for agents across the country. We have clients in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, ACT, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia.

Our copywriters research the neighbourhood and the area to identify nearby amenities and other benefits of the location. We also research any additional relevant information that might be helpful. Research is a vital (and also fun) part of any type of copywriting.

This process has allowed us to provide copy to satisfied agents for over a decade. Not only does outsourcing save you time and stress, there are additional benefits to hiring a real estate writer.

Benefits of Remote Listing Copywriting

The four main benefits are:

A Remote Copywriter is More Cost-Effective

Onsite visits are charged at a higher rate. You’re paying for the copywriter’s time to inspect the property and travel costs. If the copywriter doesn’t live close, those costs really add up!

With a remote copywriter, you’re only paying for the writing they produce – that means more money in your pocket!

A Remote Copywriter is Less Hassle, More Convenient

You already have a lot on your plate scheduling all the real estate support services: the property stylist, photographer, floorplan designer, marketing and printing team, and everything else that goes into listing a property.

An onsite copywriter is just one more appointment to schedule. Avoid the scheduling nightmare with a remote copywriter – all you have to do is email us the details, and we’ll get on with writing your property description.

A Remote Copywriter is Less Disruptive

One less onsite visit means one less disruption for the owner or tenant. They don’t have to accommodate yet another stranger going through their home.

We Provide a Faster Turnaround

With no appointments to schedule, no travel time, and no property viewing, we can get started writing your copy without delay and, more importantly, get the copy back to you pronto so you can get your listing up as soon as possible.

In fact, under most circumstances, we have a 24-hour turnaround.

What We Need From You To Write a Property Description

By not requiring an onsite inspection, we save you a lot of time, money, and hassle, but there is some information we need from you to write a compelling and accurate description.

A floor plan (if available)
Images
Features list
Copy template (if you have a preferred structure and want us to work with your writing template).

Also, asking the current owners what they like about the property provides us with golden nuggets of information that enhance our copy.

A picture can tell us the property has an expansive alfresco, great for entertaining, but only the current owners can tell us that the local wallabies come down to the back fence every evening, and it’s those details that make each property uniquely special and makes the copy compelling.

If you have any questions about our real estate writing services, head over to our how it works page, where we answer all our frequently asked questions or give us a call to book your next copywriting job.