Market Insights - BC Waterfront Real Estate

Getting your luxury property ready to sell is about more than cleaning up the exterior, decluttering and calling in a photographer. Rather, to successfully market real estate online, you need to bring together photo captions that capture attention, copywriting that builds an emotional connection and video that tells a story to express the lifestyle value of the property.

Here, we reveal the insights we’ve gathered over many years working with waterfront and luxury real estate experts and seeing hundreds of properties posted on our site, Waterfront West.

1. Captions are King.

It’s no surprise that the photos of your property in your listing will capture the most attention, but did you know that captions are equally important for drawing in buyers? Your main property photo will likely appear in many places online and high-quality photos and will be front and centre in your print advertising as well, so having beautiful, professional shots will elevate your digital marketing campaign well above the pack. While the majority of agents understand the importance of using high-quality images to showcase their luxury properties, adding photo captions to these images is often overlooked as an opportunity to hook buyers.

“Don’t neglect your photo captions, which are arguably the most important piece of text in your entire listing,” Chip Conley, Airbnb’s head of global hospitality, recently told New York magazine. “People read photo captions more than they read the listing, so put the most important information in them.” While Airbnb is a hospitality website, real estate portals are similar in that buyers are looking through hundreds of listings to get a quick understanding of the basic features of the property, so this is one simple and free way to make your own listings or properties stand-out to website visitors.

It’s also important to use the photo caption to build on the lifestyle potential of the property. For example, if you shoot one of your photos in the golden glow of twilight with some kayaks in the background, mention the brilliant sunsets and outdoor activities that come with oceanfront living.  Below, see the stronger impact of the same photo we used above with a caption:

 Enjoy afternoon sun and captivating sunsets on your oceanfront patio with Western exposure.

If your property photos are intended to capture attention, then your photo captions should aim to convert attention into interest and drive the buyer to read the listing where you can engage them in a longer conversation. 

 Tip: While professional photographs are the preferred way to go, if they are not in your budget, brush-up on your own skills with an online course like this one.

2. Choose Your Words Wisely.

So you’ve captured attention with beautiful images and spiked the buyer’s interest with photo captions. Now it’s time to seal the deal with a well-written listing that drives home both the bricks-and-mortar features of the property and the lifestyle component of the home. 

Copywriting is more important that you might think. Well-known US property portal Zillow recently published a study of words that correlate with increased (and decreased) sales values based on data from their site.

Homes described with the words "luxurious," "captivating" or "impeccable," for example, sold for more on average than expected, while lower-tiered homes with the words "potential" or "investment", in the listing descriptions, sold for less than expected on average.

Besides your choice of words, the key here is to encourage your buyer to feel an attachment to the property before they even see it in person. To achieve this you need to build emotion and help your readers envision themselves living in the property. 

Think of your listing as a tour guide. It should draw your photos, floor plan and video together to create a walk-through experience that encourages your readers to imagine themselves exploring the home. 

While it is important to include the basic features of the property in the listing, you need to also create a narrative that speaks to the lifestyle potential of the home.  

For example, don’t simply list the features of a ‘gourmet kitchen’. Rather, describe how the kitchen flows to a central living space that’s bathed in natural light and opens to a lakeside deck for alfresco entertaining with friends and family.   

3. Say it With Video - Promote Your Listing, Your Neighbourhood and Yourself.

An online listing gives you the opportunity to showcase a property not only with photos and text, but also with video content. According to information on Mashable, 73 percent of sellers want to list their house with an agent who uses video. When you consider that according to a recent study by an Australian Real Estate Group, listings with video attracted 403 percent more inquires from buyers than those without video, it becomes clear that realtors cannot afford to ignore video when it comes to marketing luxury properties. 

Your videos should be more than a simple slideshow of the photos you have already posted as part of the listing. Just like the text in the listing, the video should tell a story about the property. 

Here's an interesting number from NAR: 86 percent of buyers who used video in their home search were looking for neighbourhood information. What does this mean?  Don’t be afraid to stray outside the home – show people enjoying the nearby lake, vibrant local coffee shops and strolling down the town’s picturesque high street. This will create a strong vision of the property’s lifestyle potential and help to build an emotional connection to the home.  

Moreover, if you are an agent, why not give those buyers what they want by making an informational video about your niche neighbourhood? This will allow you to showcase your knowledge of the area and introduce yourself to new clients.

Here's  an entertaining video that showcases the home and neighbourhood.

While having professionals do the work for you is always an excellent choice, it doesn't have to be expensive to create original video. We found a nifty app called VideoShop that is only $2.79 to download. You can use it to create your own videos with the photos and video from your phone and upload them to social media or YouTube immediately. Remember to make sure you have the right to use the music and photos in the digital media that you create.

With new apps to simplify editing, making real estate video can be quick and easy.

4. Amplify Your Listing.

While print advertising still plays a role in real estate sales, the internet is swiftly taking over as the go-to place for property searches. According to the National Association of Realtors, 88 percent of home buyers used an online website in their home search. In addition, 43 percent of buyers found their home online in 2014 compared to only 8% in 2001.

Luxury properties are also ideally suited for online marketing. Take advantage of niche web portals, as well as free listing sites such as Craigslist to get your listing out to buyers. Listing your waterfront estate on a speciality property portal, such as Waterfront West, connects you with a niche audience of upscale buyers who are specifically searching for homes that match the profile of your property. 

Likewise, creating a microsite for your luxury property allows you to drive traffic from your online listings to a dedicated website that draws together all your marketing collateral to create a digital presentation that showcases the home in all its grandeur and directs buyers to a clear call to action.    

5. Strike While the Iron is Hot.

With a red-hot marketing campaign pulling in leads, it’s now up to the Realtor or seller to capitalize. Response time is critical here – in a recent study by PCMS Consulting, almost 75 percent of real estate leads generated online were lost due to realtors not responding within an average of eight hours after receiving an online enquiry. 

 Lead response time is critical for online leads.

It’s a cliché but nonetheless true – Realtors or property sellers must strike while the iron is hot. If you’ve got it right, your listing will have used a combination of photography, captions, text and video to sell the lifestyle that comes with the given property and create an emotional connection with the potential buyer. 

This, of course, creates a sense of excitement that drives the buyer into making first contact with you; however, this excitement has a strict expiration date. Fail to respond within eight hours and the buyer will likely move on to the next property that catches their eye.    

If you have any questions about marketing your waterfront property, please comment below or feel free to email or call us at 1-866-799-9378 for more information.

As the weather warms up, many of us anticipate the long, lazy days of summer and look forward to spending time at the beach with family and friends. One of the things I look forward to the most is time at the lake.  Almost every year since I was 13, I have been going to a vintage lakefront resort with my best friend's family as they make their annual pilgrimage to this beautiful spot. I have many fond memories of endless summer days spent in my teen years lounging on the dock in the summer sun, listening to the creak of the dock as the gentle waves lapped up against it. Ahhhh, those were the days: the days of few cares, filled with laughter, swimming, playing cards late into the evening, lakeside campfires and marshmallow roasts, chasing boys and watching the sun set at the end of a spectacular day. Now, my friend and I take our own families there and the next generation gets to enjoy lakefront living, even if only for a few precious days each year.

 Summer at the Lake (Photo courtesy of Miranda Dittmer)

About 10 years ago, the rustic old cabins and units at the resort came up for sale starting at....can you believe this...$60, 000. Well, my husband and I thought about buying one, but didn't bite the bullet. To this day, I still pine for that lakefront lifestyle and keep my eye open for a lakefront "deal" or some way of recapturing my fond childhood memories. In the meantime, I continue to visit the lake and pay out monstrous sums of money to rent a cabin for a few days. Hindsight is 20/20...

According to statistics from our website, I am not the only one out there wishing for my own piece of lakefront bliss. Some of the top Google search terms used to find our site are lakefront related and the lakefront search buttons on the site are consistently amongst the most clicked. Our stats show that April - September is the time when B.C. recreational property buyers are out in force.  Every year, traffic to our site starts increasing as early as January, but the busiest time for the site is typically in the Summer, with the highest traffic in July and August. All to say that now is the perfect time for lakefront sellers to do their due diligence and get their properties out there in front of a captive audience....and a great time for buyers to be on the lookout for new listings.

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 Key Search Terms Used to Find our Site in the Last Month

With this in mind, I decided to ask three well-known and respected members of the B.C. recreational real estate industry to answer some questions about how to best prepare your lakefront property for sale and they have provided some excellent and unique tips for marketing lakefront. In addition, for any eager buyers out there, I have included a few spectacular B.C. lakefront spreads for sale, as well as a couple of lower priced B.C. lakefront properties that might be of interest.  

The Experts:

Lora Proskiw of the Jane Hoffman Group

Since 1985, Jane Hoffman has firmly established herself as the Okanagan’s most knowledgeable and respected lakefront real estate specialist. Jane has leveraged this experience in leading the real estate sales and marketing professionals of Coldwell Banker Jane Hoffman Group. Along with an impressive list of awards and achievements, Jane Hoffman Group takes most pride in being awarded the Coldwell Banker’s coveted 'Ultimate Service Award' for theteam with the most positive client satisfaction ratings.

As a licensed Realtor®  and an integral part of the Jane Hoffman Group, Lora Proskiw has been with the  team since 2004 and enjoys the fast-pace environment of Kelowna's Real Estate Market. A long-time Kelowna resident, Lora has watched Kelowna grow and change over the past 30 years and enjoys educating and introducing her clients to the lifestyles, amenities and opportunities that Kelowna has to offer.

Rudy Nielsen of NIHO Land & Cattle Company, Landcor & LandQuest

With over 50 years of real estate experience, Rudy Nielsen is a highly regarded expert in the industry. He has occupied the roles of developer, appraiser, entrepreneur, landowner, real estate consultant, speaker and deal maker. A skilled negotiator, Rudy has successfully closed many notable deals and worked with thousands of individuals on buying and selling real estate. Rudy is also an innovator and a trailblazer, anticipating the needs of the real estate and financial industries, and developing products to serve those markets. He's also a really nice guy and a very entertaining speaker.

Rudy is the founder of no less than three of British Columbia's major real estate corporations:

• Landcor (President & CEO):  One of Canada’s top-tier online real-estate companies, specializing in an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) for real estate data analysis and valuation.
• NIHO Land and Cattle Company (President & CEO):  One of British Columbia's largest private owners of recreational property, with over 40 years of experience in buying, selling, managing and developing all types of recreational property and real estate throughout the province. 
• LandQuest (Founder & Partner): A unique real estate company specializing in marketing rural, recreational and investment real estate for sale throughout British Columbia. With a large database of listings ranging from small bare land acreages to large trophy ranches in all price ranges. 

Rudy is a designated fellow of the Real Estate Institute of B.C and an accredited member of the Appraisal Institute of Canada. 

Dave Koszegi of The Dave Koszegi Personal Real Estate Corporation

One of Canada's top-ranked RE/MAX Realtors, Dave was born and raised in the Alberni Valley and started his real estate career in 1993 at the age of 20.  He has attained several sales awards through RE/MAX including the Diamond Award, Hall of Fame, Lifetime Achievement and the prestigious Circle of Legends.  Dave's designations include International Real Estate Specialist and Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (member of the Million Dollar Guild).

Dave and his team have specialized in selling lakefront real estate on Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island for over 10 years and are the sales leaders in this market.  Dave resides at Sproat Lake with his family and having marketed and sold more waterfront properties there than anyone else, has acquired the knowledge and expertise required to work with buyers and sellers in this specialized market.  

Without further ado, here are the expert questions and answers:

Dave Koszegi: The most popular features that buyers are looking for in a lakefront property are southern exposure and a relatively level topography (for a lakefront property that would mean a gentle slope with easy access to the lake).  Having said that one thing I've learned is one buyer may prefer a Roy Vickers and another might want a Trevor Goodall.

    This property on Sproat Lake, currently listed by Dave Koszegi for $1, 899, 000, has a southern exposure, level topography and a dock; all attractive features to lakefront buyers.

Rudy Nielsen: One important feature that buyers look for in a property is that it has a view facing south. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west and you get a great view of the sun rises/falling from the south. Another key feature is the potential for agriculture. If the land is arable, it would be a very attractive feature. The property’s shoreline is also an important feature for some buyers, whether it is sandy or rocky. It may be up to preferences and what the buyer is looking to do with the land.

Potential buyers of waterfront property usually own a boat, so a property that has a dock is also going to be attractive. For this very same reason, having a marina nearby the property is also an attractive feature.

Lora Proskiw: Okanagan Lake offers a wide variety of waterfront,  from level 'hawaiian' sandy beaches to properties set above the water on rocky bluffs.  While the level lots seem to be the most desirable, many waterfront buyers see the beauty of being nestled above the water… watching the weather move through the valley and capturing the full 180 degree vistas of the Okanagan Valley.

When you live on the water, you want to enjoy the beach and the boating lifestyle, a boat dock is definitely a selling feature and most buyers see this as a must-have item.  Okanagan Lake  is a fabulous swimming lake - great for paddle boarding, skiing and jet skiing so having easy access to the water is a strong selling feature.

The high bank positioning of this spectacular Kelowna lakefront home offers sweeping views and privacy desirable to some Okanagan luxury buyers. Currently listed for $3, 695, 000 by the Jane Hoffman Group.

2. What is the most important thing, specific to lakefront or recreational real estate, that owners can do to their property/home to prepare it for the market and help it sell faster? 

Rudy Nielsen: Staging is very important—potential buyers need to be able to see themselves owning this property. The first impression is very important, so great care should be taken with the outside of the property. If a buyer is turned off by how a property appears on the outside, s/he is not likely to go inside. Make sure plants are trimmed and grow flowers to make the property look more inviting. For shaded areas, I usually go with easy-to-care for hostas plants. They’re fairly low maintenance; they don’t require any weeding and their leaves are light enough that they disintegrate into the ground when they fall during the winter.

One more thing I would do is to find the nicest area on the property and build a trail to that spot. You can build a trail using rocks, boulders or logs.  

Selling lakefront land? Rudy advises building a trail to the nicest spot on the property. This 40-acre property at Tsichgass Point is currently listed by NIHO for only $85, 000. Last remaining property on the lake.

Dave Koszegi: The one piece of selling advice I would give to sellers is tidiness and emotion.  Waterfront buyers now have wealth and are interested in rekindling their youth to share with their children or grandchildren.  For example, someone might see a vintage waterski in a home, which conjures up a feeling of "oh that's just like one I had".  I tell my sellers to display photos of their family enjoying activities a lake home can offer, such as swimming, wakeboarding, boating, etc. as well as photos showing the property in other seasons. This could be a beautiful sunset, roasting marshmallows on the beach or fishing in the off season when there is no one on the lake.  This is opposite to what I tell my other sellers but it gives the property more uses to a buyer in a non-evasive way.

Lora Proskiw: The best thing owners can do to prepare for the market is to keep their home in good repair, tidy both the interior and exterior and maintain the outside with nice landscaping. Little details such as sweeping the leaves off of a deck and tidying winter debris from the beach can add to the first impression a buyer gets when viewing a lakefront property. Our buyers want to know that the property has been well cared for and will be easy to maintain. With many of our waterfront owners only visiting periodically throughout the year, they are focused on enjoying their time at the 'lakehouse'. First impressions go a long way - wash windows, clean debris off patios, perform necessary repairs and tidy the beach area. These touches make a home feel inviting and give the buyer the security of knowing that the home has been well-maintained. 

The Experts Agree: Tidiness Counts. Make sure your interior and exterior are well cared for and maintained. Clear your beach of debris, mulch your garden and power wash decks. Perfect example above. Spectacular lakefront home currently listed by The Jane Hoffman Group for $3, 995, 000.

3. How have your marketing techniques changed with the advent of the internet and social media? If there was only one piece of selling advice you could give to agents or sellers for 2014 and specifically for marketing recreational and lakefront property what would it be?

Lora Proskiw: The internet has taken the business of marketing homes to a whole new level by making them much more accessible to people from around the globe. Professional photos are an advantage and they can be used on all forms of media. We have been adding video to our online listings recently. We work with a professional photographer and videographer to makes sure our properties are showcased in the best possible way.

We have found that social media is helpful for getting brand recognition, but when it comes down to it, the majority of our lakefront clients are in a demographic that still prefers verbal communication - we take the time to meet with our clients and get to know them.  Word of mouth as well as reputation is very important for us.

One other thing I can suggest for sellers and buyers alike is to work with an agent who is an expert in the lakefront market. There is specialized knowledge that comes with representing buyers and sellers of lakefront property such as being aware of riparian areas, setback requirements and dock licensing rules that agents who are well-versed in waterfront properties will be familiar with. Make sure your agent knows the details of these rules and regulations.

Dave Koszegi: The internet has opened up the ability to market easily on an international level.  Premier sites such as Waterfront West give buyers and sellers of waterfront properties easily accessible and up-to-date information on what's available and what's happening in that market.  Unlike the internet where buyers and sellers can remain anonymous, social media allows agents to reach out and maintain a more personal relationship with clients and potential clients. 

Rudy NielsenDepending on the number of properties you have, it might make sense to build your own website to list these properties. You can then use keywords and social media to attract visitors. If a property website isn’t economical for the number of properties for sale, the next best thing is to hire a really good real estate firm specializing in waterfront properties.

I’ve also found that a ‘for sale’ sign is still very effective. Your sign has to be eye-catching and positioned in a key visible area of the property with highest traffic potential.

So there you have it, the advice from the experts on selling your lakefront property. Thanks so much to all of our experts for helping me out with this article.

Now, here are a couple of B.C. lakefront properties our sellers and agents consider great value in today's market:

South exposure, private setting, great swimming with a rustic cottage and separate sleeping studio. What more could you want for only $299, 000?

LIsted by Dockside Realty Ltd., Pender Island. 

Updated 2 bedroom + loft character home  on almost half an acre of Vancouver Island south -facing lakefront. $379, 999

Listed by Sandy Stinson and Pat Duringer, RE/MAX Cowichan Lake

Being an interior design fanatic and having done a fair deal of design work myself, I have had my own Pinterest page for a couple of years now. I've used it for everything from decor and design ideas, renovations and landscaping to recipes, Christmas decorating, kids parties and business information.

Pinterest is an awesome tool for transforming spaces and making dreams a reality. For those not familiar with the site, in a nutshell, it is a way of bookmarking and organizing photos of things you see or like online. In the last little while, I have been doing a lot of social media for the business and I started to wonder why I haven't made a Pinterest page for Waterfront West. After all, who doesn't dream of owning a quaint lakeshore cottage or fabulous oceanfront home and want to start developing a plan for that dream?

With that in mind, I decided create a Waterfront West Pinterest page to serve as inspiration for buyers coming to our site and since I am going to use it as a sort of goal board for myself and my journey to waterfront home ownership (nope, not there yet!).

Being a potential waterfront buyer myself, I think I have a pretty good handle on what type of things waterfront buyers want to see, so I've started the boards with these:

• Looks Like a Deal! BC Waterfront Deals
• West Coast Contemporary Waterfront Style (and for sale)
• Tips for Waterfront Buyers
• Lakefront Cottage Decor & Design
• Oceanfront Beach House Style
• Waterfront Decks and Docks
• Outdoor Showers
• Cool and Quick Cabin Designs (and tiny homes)
• Inspiring Sayings for Beachfront Homes
• Pools

For our waterfront sellers and marketers, I am going to be pinning all sorts of good marketing info I have been finding out on Google+ University (my own term for G+). I have found Google Plus the all around best social network for finding excellent (free) marketing information and connecting with like-minded professionals (free plug Google, you can thank me by sending thousands more visitors to Waterfront West...Cheers).

Here are some of the real estate marketing boards I am working on:

• Marketing Tips for Luxury Real Estate
• Social Media & Business Tips for Agents 

For those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest, here is an example of how I used these steps and some Pinspiration to reno my son's room:

Here is the before (beware the disaster area):

He wanted dark blue paint and I wanted a colour that would last and look good even when he was older. He liked the movie "Cars" at the time, but I tried to choose a scheme that would be perfectly fine for a teen or a toddler with a switch of a few pillows and posters.

Here is the board I put together for his room (disregard Pokemon party ideas-lol). 

YIKES!

Here is the After:

(I added a few more accessories after this pic but we did the entire reno in one weekend so this was Sunday afternoon):

Notice how I was inspired to create a reading nook by the pin I found on PInterest. Bonus: It doubles as an extra bed when he has friends sleep over!

 I bought the large Lightning McQUeen transfer I pinned and put it above his bed and incorporated some more rustic elements similar to the picture frame pin like vintage toys.

Another Before: 

Dinos and trains were the order of the day.

Another After:

Pics not up yet, but CARS is the new theme and he has a new homework space in his gigantic closet.

This is just a small example of how I used Pinterest to help and inspire a design project, but I have used it for other areas including my exterior landscape design, my vegetable beds, our basement reno, etc...

If you have never used Pinterest before, here is a way you can use it to create and realize your projects with the added bonus of being able to find and use hundreds of great ideas from people around the world for free: 

1.  Start by making a Pinterest account and a board for your project (be in a cabin, home, patio, pool, room or real estate deal), do a few searches and pin anything and everything you like.  Follow people with similar boards so you can see more of what interests you.

2. Once you have a bunch of pins for your space (eg. Cabin Ideas), you can sort through them looking for common themes. Do you notice a lot of west coast style buildings? Small modern cabins? A lot of green or blue? A certain type of pool you have pinned multiple times? Find what you are drawn to and whittle down your board or start a new, more refined one with your more complete vision in mind. This step is the key to unifying your design.

3. Look for pages that work with your vision and pin, pin, pin. Often I find cool ideas I hadn't thought of at this stage too. You should have a really good idea of what you want at this stage, so you can also pin products for the space and purchase them later and really refine your plan.

3. The transformation begins. Before the project begins, take another look at the board and take the elements (or properties) you like the best and incorporate them into your project. Take action! Start the project or move towards your purchase. 

4. After several days or weeks, you have made another dream into reality. Yay! 

We hope you will follow our Waterfront West Page or Boards on Pinterest to get some inspiring ideas for your BC waterfront dream home or cabin! Agents can follow us to get the latest social media and luxury home marketing tips we pin. Oh, yes, and please feel free to follow me and/or Waterfront West on Google Plus if you like!

Cheers 

Since we started the site, Canadians generally comprised approximately 75-78% of our traffic. While the number of Canadian visitors to our site is actually higher than last year, the percent of Canadian visitors as a total has decreased to about 67%. Meanwhile, traffic from other countries, namely the US and Germany has increased slightly. The increase in US traffic may be due in part to our alliance with Interluxe which targets mainly US luxury consumers. The two biggest states in the US for visitors to our site are California and Arizona followed by Washington State. Perhaps the low Canadian dollar is enticing those US buyers who have not been affected by the recession (or maybe a few of these visitors are Canadian snowbirds?)...

Interestingly, despite the poor economic outlook in Canada, the percent of British Columbians visiting our site for this time period has remained steady at 67% of Canadian traffic. Albertan traffic has dropped only slightly from 21% of our Canadian traffic to 18% and visitors from Ontario have increased from 4 to 6% of our Canadian traffic.