The property market can now utilise the internet’s most popular social network, as we are introduced to Facebook Marketplace.
For years now, as you will have probably seen, estate agents have been posting property advertisements within ‘Buy & Sell’ groups on Facebook. If you’re an agent you may have felt like you’ve been going round the houses (so to speak) to get into these private groups.
But that’s all about to change.
Facebook has now launched a brand new extension to its app, called Marketplace. It’s a new area of the social network dedicated solely to buying and selling within your local community and among your friendship groups. When Marketplace opened its doors earlier this month Director of Product Management, Mary Ku, announced:
“Facebook is where people connect, and in recent years more people have been using Facebook to connect in another way: buying and selling with each other. This activity started in Facebook Groups and has grown substantially. More than 450 million people visit buy and sell groups each month — from families in a local neighborhood to collectors around the world”.
Much like Gumtree, you can buy and sell pretty much anything – from furniture to fishtanks (just no hedgehogs, please). But most importantly, properties can be advertised – a feature that the likes of Craigslist has banned.
Facebook allows both private sellers and agents to post listings, whether it be a room to let or a property to sell. Facebook Marketplace is opening the door for new opportunities within the property market on an easily manageable platform.
It means that estate agents will now be able to share their available properties in a proper and appropriate setting, gaining a wider audience reach without having to repeatedly try and post in local groups. Listings are monitored and have easy contact functions – all in the convenient and recognised space of Facebook.
It’s clear to see that Facebook have set their sights high for Marketplace, as they’ve displayed it in prominent place on the centre of the app’s navigation bar. At the moment, the function is only available on the mobile app in US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, with a desktop update to be introduced within the coming months.
Great! But how do I post a property advert?
That’s the easy part. Simply head to Marketplace on your Facebook app and (much like updating your status) there you can add images, a description and a price through a few short steps. You can then adjust the location and category of your post (for properties this would be ‘Housing’) to suit your needs. That’s it.
People looking in your area will then be able to see your listing and contact you using the ‘Message Seller’ and ‘Make Offer’ buttons. Whilst Facebook Marketplace clearly states that it “does not facilitate the payment or delivery of items in Marketplace” – the function is a great tool to get sales leads and begin the process with interested customers.
