Ever wonder what first catches the eye of potential homebuyers when they look at your online real estate listings?
In “20 Seconds for Love at First Sight,” the Wall Street Journal reports that nearly all, more than 95 percent of users, will first look at the exterior photo of the home for about 20 seconds before their eyes move to other parts of the listing, researchers with the Institute for Behavioral and Experimental Real Estate at Old Dominion University have found.
Consumer viewing patterns usually follow a “Z” pattern, starting at the exterior photo of the home at the top left of the screen, before moving to the property description in the upper right corner and finally dropping to the bottom of the page.
Including good, eye-catching photos can make the difference in grabbing and keeping a consumer’s interest in the property, according to Professor Michael Seiler.
Overall, when viewing an online real-estate listing, home buyers spend about 60% of their time on photos, 20% on the property description and 20% on the real-estate agents’ remarks section, Seiler told the Wall Street Journal.
