With the pandemic as a challenge to overcome, the Sri Lankan Real Estate companies and agents need to be catching up on the evolving trends and still keep reaching out to their customer base to tap the needs for housing and property sales / rentals.

Addressed below are some of the main areas to improvise for any real estate agent or company:

1. Paper to DIGITAL

COVID-19 has definitely made everyone go digital and the need to stand out online where everyone is looking for technological options that has filled the void of tasks typically done face-to-face.

From home tours to virtual open houses, from document signings to no-contact closings are various ways of making a tour for a property to an interested buyer and further targeting the right audience through an active social media presence.

A study done by the National Association of Realtors[1], 9 of 10 home buyers rely entirely on the internet as their primary research sources and 52% go to the web as their first point of action hence it is a tool to be used effectively.

In today’s online world people expect information the moment it’s available, immediately. If you as a real estate agent are not tech savvy, there is a huge chance that you will lose out on a huge clientele base and be late into getting the quick closure on deals whether it be as an individual agent or through a real estate agency.

Here are a few ways in which you can turnaround the routine tasks to impress a client:

• • Pre-recorded walk through videos

The layout of the home and spatial awareness, rather than images allows a client to view it from the ease of home and also a sense of familiarity.

• • 360 virtual tours

These are also known as 3D walkthroughs which help to get a sense of the layout, zoom in on different areas of the house / apartment giving insight to the overall floor plan. This would help clients view it with their family members or those that they want to share with in order to get an informed purchasing opinion

• • Live, video-chat tours

The agent could walk through the house on LIVE stream, making it an interactive session with the client, providing detailed and honest feedback about the property. This is also a chance to leverage on by being absolutely upfront about the experiences that cannot be achieved virtually – like sounds, smells and the ambience of the house / apartment / land.

2. Put YOURSELF out there!

Since Sri Lanka is also a saturated market for real estate companies, a huge opportunity cost lies in being a sole real estate agent, who can personalize the process and be more freely available to the buyer / client.

A real estate agent who has his own personal branding and a personality built on being trustworthy and pleasant, would have the edge to attract clientele who look for personalized service to make sure that they are at ease when buying a house on the market.

Creating a visual representation of your values virtually will speak to the target clientele who look for a healthy dose of creativity. Millennials being the more economically vested generation, would start seeing the value proposition in a personally branded agent who knows to communicate well.

Take time to establish your message associating it with your professional persona and control that voice by giving it a touch of your essence in what you believe in.

A few ways to focus on creating content that highlights your properties are; podcasts, virtual webinars for buyers and sellers as well as walkthrough vlogs.

3. Make it an EXPERIENCE!

To increase the value of a home and to facilitate a quicker and well informed sale, staging creates an experience giving prospective buyers a better imagination of the livable space.

Staging a home does not require a massive amount of expenditure but can be worked on to decorate with second hand furniture or just moving around a few pieces, and most importantly with good lighting. Making a good impression to entice the buyers who come for viewings or even have a virtual tour is where you can create a dream setting, add character to the place and give a variety of looks from minimalistic to layered features.

There are also various 3D rendered versions that can be made to understand how a house/land could look like in terms of building a new house in a bare land too.

Experiences create a memory that is etched in a client’s mind, which in turn is a psychological need that is satisfied.

Level up your real estate strategy and make a pivotal strategy that would increase your business as well as offer your clients an exceptional experience – by creating an EDGE!

[1] https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/Study-Digital-House-Hunt-2013-01_1.pdf

Erandi Narangoda

Erandi is a Social Media & Research Consultant, Event Planner, Entrepreneur & Business Consultant. She has been a consultant operationally for many startups to get to functionality and running in various aspects.

Erandi Narangoda

Erandi is a Social Media & Research Consultant, Event Planner, Entrepreneur & Business Consultant. She has been a consultant operationally for many startups to get to functionality and running in various aspects.