Is that a condo or a closet? Find out what homebuyers are looking for on Pinterest.

By Stephanie Sims

If you’re on Pinterest and not yet overwhelmed by all the “pins” and “repinning” and just how many categories you can pin ideas to, congratulations, because as an agent, Pinterest is a site that can help you not only market your listings, but also attract clients by figuring out what they want.

When homebuyers are searching for homes, they often have a list of must-haves they’re looking for that will make a property a must buy for them. These can differ, of course, depending on the person and the city/area, but this is why Pinterest is great – you can find out what buyers want if they have a pin board for it on their Pinterest profile.

What Do Homebuyers Want? Consult Pinterest

Agent Genius found a few pin boards relating to what homebuyers want. Here’s how to attract homebuyers in your area to your pin boards and listings:

Look at your listings. You should know by now what its major selling point is. Does it have a roof deck that the sellers have outfitted with sophisticated outdoor furniture? Is there a spacious, modern kitchen? Does it have a closet that could basically be a bedroom, like these?

Start creating pin boards by selling point. Pinterest is visual. While buyers probably take to Zillow, Trulia and even Google to search by city or neighborhood, on Pinterest, it’s all about the pictures. Pictures of homes, unless they’re all amazingly grandoise, are boring. The Goodlife Team based in Austin, Texas does a great job of this.

Make sure your pins link to your website. This is key – each pin links to where the user got it from, so for your pins, make sure you link to that listing on your website! It’s an easy way for someone perusing Pinterest who is in the market to buy now to see the listing right away, and for anyone who isn’t looking to buy now, your contact info is still linked to that photo.

Don’t forget to repin. As with any social media platform, engagement is key to attracting prospects as well as keeping yourself from looking like a spammer. Pinterest’s search function will find you all sorts of users’ pin boards from keywords; type in “garages,” “bathroom,” “bedroom,” “closet” or “staircase,” and most likely, you will find a plethora of users’ pin boards to repin images onto your own pin boards that fit within the same category. Users feel complimented when someone repins their images, so they, and other users who see you repinned the image, will be more likely to check out your pin boards.

Now, Pinterest is a medium that younger people use more than older people, but don’t get led astray – there are definitely young professionals and Gen Yers using Pinterest who are either ready to make their first home purchase or will be within a few years. If they repin something from your board onto their boards, they will have your contact info already because you’ve been pinning photos that are on your website.

Also, if you want to stay ahead of the game, a Pinterest-wannabe site called Wanelo is out there, so you could form pin boards on both sites to attract even more homebuyers.