Not All Estate Agents Are the Same: Here’s the Proof
How our Bournemouth listings are getting 28% more views than the local average, and why that matters when you sell
Every estate agent says their marketing is the best. It’s on every valuation leaflet and every website. But when you’re choosing who to trust with the sale of your home, promises aren’t much use. What matters is how an agent’s listings actually perform once they go live.
So we checked. We compared the listings from our Bournemouth office with the average agent across our area. The gap was bigger than we expected.
The numbers
Across our Bournemouth listings:
- +28% more property views than the local average
- 100% of our listings have five or more professional photographs
- 100% include a floor plan
- 79% have been updated within the last 14 days
- Every property has a premium listing
- Every property has a video tour attached
None of this is luck, and it isn’t down to a handful of standout homes pulling the average up. It comes from treating every listing as if it’s the only one that matters. To the person selling it, it is.
Why views matter more than ever
Buyers today search in a very different way from even five years ago. Most first viewings now happen on a phone screen, often in a few spare minutes on the sofa or the commute. People scroll fast and move on even faster.
A property that’s short on photos, missing a floor plan, or left untouched for weeks gets passed over, however good the house is. The buyer never sees the light in the kitchen or the size of the garden, because they never tapped on the listing in the first place.
It works like a funnel:
More views → more enquiries → more viewings → more competition → a better price.
Every stage depends on the one before it. If fewer people see your home at the top of the funnel, you have fewer buyers at the bottom, and less chance of finding the one who’ll pay the best price and move quickly. That’s why we pay so much attention to the very first step.
What goes into every Athertons listing
Professional photography, every time
Our own photographer shoots every property we list, and every listing gets at least five professional images. Good photography is the single biggest factor in whether a buyer stops scrolling, so we never cut corners on it. We plan the shoot around the home: the best time of day for the light, the rooms that sell the lifestyle and the details that make it stand out.
Floor plans on every property
A floorplan answers the questions photos can’t. Will the sofa fit? How do the rooms connect? Is the third bedroom a proper double? Buyers who understand a layout before they visit arrive more serious and better informed. Listings without floor plans are also easy to filter out, and many buyers do exactly that.
Video tours and drone footage
Every property we market comes with a video tour, filmed by a professional videographer. Where it helps tell the story, we add drone footage showing the setting, the plot and the local area. Full video tours go on our YouTube channel as well as on the portals, so buyers can walk through a home before they book a viewing, and serious buyers can share it with family.
Premium portal listings
Every Athertons property goes out as a Rightmove Premium Listing, and we use Feature Property placement to put homes in front of more buyers. Premium listings are bigger, bolder and more prominent in search results, which gives them an immediate edge over standard listings on the same page. We back this up with targeted social media promotion to reach buyers who aren’t actively searching yet.
Listings that stay fresh
79% of our listings have been updated in the last 14 days. That matters because a stale listing tells buyers something’s wrong, and a refreshed one keeps a property looking active and cared for. We review our listings regularly, updating photos, descriptions and pricing strategy where needed, rather than putting a home online and hoping.
Regular updates for our sellers
Every two weeks, our sellers receive a full update: portal statistics, viewing feedback and what’s happening in the wider market. You’ll always know how your home is performing and why, and if something needs to change, we’ll tell you straight away.
Complete compliance
Our Lifetime Legal anti-money laundering and proof-of-ownership checks are carried out from the start. Sales run more smoothly, problems are caught early, and you get complete peace of mind that everything is being done properly.
Selling in Bournemouth? Ask the right questions
If you’re thinking about selling in Bournemouth, Winton or the surrounding areas, you’ll probably invite a few agents round to value your home. Most will tell you about their marketing. We’d encourage you to go one step further and ask them to show you:
- How do your listings perform against the local average?
- How many professional photos does every property get?
- Does every listing include a floor plan and a video tour?
- Is every property on a premium portal listing, or just some?
- How often do you update your listings once they’re live?
- How often will I get a report on views, enquiries and feedback?
A good agent will have clear answers. A great one will have the numbers to back them up.
More exposure. More interest. Better results.
At Athertons, you deal with real local people who know Bournemouth and Poole inside out. There are no call centres and no upfront fees, just honest advice and marketing that gets your home seen by the right buyers.
If you’d like to know what your home is worth, or how we’d market it, we’d love to hear from you.
📞 01202 512348 📩 bournemouth@athertonsea.com 🏠 athertonsestateagents.com