Using pictures in Home Building and New Home Sales isn’t a new concept.
There are a myriad of articles online detailing how powerful and impactful pictures are to prospective buyers in the resale market. In the resale market there is the widely used statistic from the National Association of Realtors that reported that 87 percent of home buyers rely on photos to help make their purchase decision. Trulia reported that 84 percent of polled buyers wouldn’t even consider a property that doesn’t have listing photos. It is clear that buyers want to see photos when making a purchase.
Although those stats are pulled from the resale market, I would argue that those same buyers that opt for a new construction home are even more influenced by photography during their home buying process.
Now, there are a few places in the buyer's journey in which utilizing photos makes sense.
The first place in which photos should be utilized is within marketing materials. Today’s buyers want to see marketing materials full of photos, virtual tours, interactive floor plans and plat maps, and video walkthroughs. Companies like Matterport, LotVue, Outhouse and others can help produce amazing and engaging content. Many people are ‘visual’ people and want to see what their home could look like and need the photos to visualize the end product. The more information and the more convenient you can deliver those items (through your own custom app ;)) the better.
The second and most impactful to buyers will be during the build process in the form of progress pictures. Buyers demand a better buying experience and I believe that convenient and timely updates on the progress of their home delivered through photos is the difference between a good buying experience and an exceptional buying experience.
Today, the building industry is facing several challenges to the buyer's experience. For one, builders are experiencing longer lead times with inventory and material shortages. Good and timely communication is incredibly important to keep buyers up to date. Even when updates are slow; an understanding buyer will appreciate the update and the forecast of what to expect in the coming weeks.
Second, through the pandemic we have seen many buyers relocating from other cities and states. Sending these visual updates is the solution to delivering an outstanding buyer experience through these unique challenges.
We know that for most people a home will be the single largest purchase they make in their lifetime and because the stakes are so high there is a serious opportunity to make a lifelong impact on their buyers.
Solutions:
With today’s margins stretched to accommodate those longer lead times and the inflation on materials and labor it is necessary to find the most cost effective strategies to enhance your buyer’s experience. Several companies have great solutions to this problem. Buildertrend is an industry juggernaut that combines its construction management software and a buyer portal where they can see day to day updates from their build team. My Home’s Story is a new solution that creates ‘a page for every buyer’ to keep their buyers up to date. We believe that a solid progress photo solution should utilize photo and video progress updates and offer additional features that deliver more to track and enhance your buyer’s experience before, during and after the contract.