Estate agent boards have proved a great marketing tool for a very long time, with some arguing they are an essential to sell or let your property; while others disagree.
With the increase of online marketing, is there still a place for these traditional estate agent boards in the digital age? With the saturation of social media, and more users than ever before searching for properties online, there must be a change to the impact that this traditional form of property marketing has.
What is clear is that there are plenty of vendors and landlords with their properties on the market who choose to not have a board outside their property. At Watsons, we recommend that boards are placed outside of properties, although there are still some who refuse outright, citing ‘I don’t want my neighbours to know I’m moving’, or ’I don’t want interested strangers knocking on my door’.
This is fair enough, but your neighbours will find out over time anyway. They themselves can often be a huge help to spread the details of your property for sale or lease by word of mouth. The quicker your local community find out that your house is on the market/to let, the more positive influence it can have on your marketing strategy – to sell or let your property as quickly as possible. Someone local may just want to buy it or rent it, and for a good price too!
However, if you’re serious about selling or renting your property, surely a board is key in helping you achieve this? By not having an estate agent board outside the property, are you indicating to potential buyers or tenants that you’re not serious or could pull out?
At a time when property enquiries can be made 24/7, agents like Watsons are always ready to respond; after all, it’s our job to help sell/rent your property as quickly and painlessly as possible.
A board outside your property not only allows you to be found quickly by potential buyers/tenants when looking for the address, but the signposting costs very little in terms of the overall marketing costs for a property and is still the best 24/7 advertising you can get.
Board Restrictions
Some local authorities and councils in the UK have gone as far as creating schemes to limit the amount of time they can stay in place, often complaining they are an eyesore (e.g. Southwark Council, London is launched their scheme in February and offer up fixed penalty fines of £100 for boards not being removed within two weeks of the sale/let date – and they follow in the footsteps of Camden and Wandsworth).
This crackdown is backed by the National Association of Estate Agents in cases where boards are left up for unreasonable periods of time after the property has been sold or let. Does this mean that other local authorities will follow similar steps in the future?
While the majority of those seeking to buy or rent browse through properties online, are estate agent boards really becoming obsolete? They do draw in passing traffic or foot-fall and generally the opportunistic types who may not come from the local area or haven’t seen the property online but are immediately interested.
At the end of the day, estate agent boards indicate in no uncertain terms that a property is for sale or to let, and in the 21st century they still play a key role in the wider marketing strategy. It also helps if they have great designs too, to stand out from the rest of the competition. Next time you’re out and about, see how many Watsons boards you can spot!
If you’re looking to sell or rent your property, contact one of our branches across the region or call 01603 226550.
