Posts Tagged ‘real estate marketing’

What’s Your Competition Up To?

Jul 18, 2008 Marketing

Real estate is a highly competitive field, which is why it’s always a good idea from time to time to take a look at what your competition is up to. Here are 5 things to check out to see what your competition is up to and decide if there are ways you can offer the same or better to help give you the competitive edge over listing appointments.

1. Their Website: Does their website outrank yours in search engines for your real estate market’s keywords? Do they offer an easier search page with more features? Does their website entice them with any specials that yours doesn’t? Do they have a personal site or blog?

2. Promotions: Is there something they’re offering that you could but aren’t? Discounted commission rates, flat fee listing services, guarantees, and other incentives may automatically entice the budget concious and financially wary consumer into working with them over you.

3. Their affiliations: What groups does the agent belong to? Are they actively participating in community organizations or business networking groups? See if there are others you could join that could help you network into more contracts.

4. Their primary market: For some reason, all agents tend to flock to one market while others go insanely underserved. Does this agent have listings all over the place or does it seem they are all targeted in one location? Finding a location to specialize in that iisn’t over saturated with agents could provide you with years and years of listings with little to no competition.

5. Their marketing efforts: Do you see their name everywhere you go? Is there face on the billboard above a busy interstate exit? Do they send out mass mailers? Or are they doing none of these things and instead concentrating on networking and relocation buyers?

There’s a lot to learn by looking at your competition and seeing what ways you can do what they’re doing - only better. Take a little time today or within this week to see what the competition is up to and how you can improve as a real estate professional.

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FIND Tip #1: Choosing a Farm

Jun 9, 2008 Marketing

This post is the first in our series Farming is Not Dead. (Farming IS Not Dead=FIND)

Choosing the right area to farm can be the most crucial decision of them all. You do not want to be stuck putting in a lot of effort, time, and cost into an area that does not have a high turnover rate or is already over saturated with real estate agent marketing material.

Here a few things to do to help you find the right neighborhood to farm:

1. Choose a price range: The primary goal of a farm is to earn more in commission. You will need to decide which price range will result in the most commissions for you. Many agents think they would fare better with only high end listings. However, if high end listings do not turn over as fast as low or mid end listings, you may be cutting yourself short.

2. Research, research, research: Once you’ve settled on a price range, it’s time to choose the neighborhood that best meets your farming needs. Ideally you will want a neighborhood that regularly has 3 or more houses for sale in it each month. Every market will vary, but the more active a neighborhood is, the more likely you will see business. Go through your multi-list and scan for neighborhoods that seem the most popular and have regular sales.

3. Consider oversaturation: Chances are, there are already 3 or 4 agents trying to farm the neighborhood you’ve chosen. You can have a confidential meeting with your office manager to see if anyone else is farming that area, or if you have a friend in that neighborhood ask them what kind of real estate mail they receive. If you’re faced with choosing between neighborhoods, you may fare better overall choosing the one that receives less attention from the real estate community.

4. Accessibility: Will you be able to walk through the neighborhood? Do you know people who live in the neighborhood? Being able to meet the residents face to face will significantly increase your farming success.

These 4 tips should help you easily decide on the right neighborhood for you. If you’re still stumped, don’t be afraid to ask your office manager for suggestions. Our next post in the FIND series will cover creating a plan for sucessful farming.

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