| One of the most common mistakes agents make | | | | 8. They want as short a commute to work as |
| when marketing to home buyers is marketing only to | | | | possible. |
| the "aware". | | | | 7. They want a garage for toys and tools. |
| The problem is this: anyone who knows they want | | | | 6. They want space that can work as a home office |
| to buy a house and is serious enough to go to a | | | | den. |
| home-buyer's seminar probably already has an agent. | | | | 5. They want a "safe" neighborhood for their family |
| Let's face it, everyone in the united states has a | | | | to live in. |
| dog's-former-owner's roomate's neighbor who | | | | 4. They want to make their partner or spouse happy. |
| practices real estate on the side. By marketing to the | | | | 3. They want a yard that requires minimal upkeep. |
| unaware, people who have not yet taken any steps | | | | 2. They want other men to be envious and/or |
| toward actually buy a home you stand to gather a | | | | convey status. |
| far larger pool. While these leads take longer to | | | | 1. They want a place to call their own. |
| incubate into closings, this can be tracked in your | | | | ...and for women... |
| CRM program (Top Producer, ACT, etc.). Pre-sale | | | | 10. They want to live in a "good" school district. |
| leads who are sold on working with you should be | | | | 9. They want a safe neighborhood with similar-aged |
| "milked for referrals" simply by keeping in touch once | | | | children |
| every 21 days (three week contacts statistically | | | | 8. They want a certain number of bedrooms and |
| produced the highest number of referral leads). | | | | square feet. |
| A more appealing seminar title to "fish upstream" in | | | | 7. They want a home with a functional, modern |
| your marketing to home buyers by marketing a | | | | kitchen. |
| "Credit Score Seminar". | | | | 6. They want as much closet space as possible. |
| As a professional marketer, we've done several tests | | | | 5. Proximity to stores, entertainment, restaurants, |
| for marketing to home buyers. When offering a "First | | | | and a park |
| time home buyer seminar" or even just a "Home | | | | 4. They want a large yard for a growing family and a |
| buyer seminar", we had about 15 attendees, out of | | | | garden. |
| which only 2-3 leads on average were produced. | | | | 3. They want to redecorate to express their own |
| When we ran the same advertising for a "Credit | | | | personal style |
| Score Seminar" we had over 20 attendees, out of | | | | 2. They want a home that their mother will approve |
| which, on average sixteen people took the next step | | | | of. |
| to get preapproved for a mortgage or start looking | | | | 1. They want a place to call their own. |
| at property. | | | | As you develop your marketing to home buyers, |
| This is, of course, an excellent reason to partner with | | | | remember you have the power position: The |
| a car dealer, who may represent a great source of | | | | perception that you provide a path to what the |
| referrals. | | | | home-buyer wants. As you "set the bait" on the |
| Another common problem we see with agents or | | | | internet, via your flyers, via referral marketing and via |
| brokers marketing to home buyers is delivery of the | | | | rental-section advertising you then want to setup |
| message. All marketing comes down to message, | | | | some filtering systems so that the "cream rises to |
| media, and call to action. Generally, direct mail is too | | | | the top". This means the most qualified, most |
| expensive to realize a positive ROI, while small | | | | interested buyers are the only ones who actually get |
| classifieds in the rental section (tip: the rental section | | | | any of your real time, while the others stay in a |
| reaches the "unaware" with headlines like "$2k/mo | | | | "holding pattern" until they are ready to write an |
| 2bed foreclosure to own"). Another great option is | | | | offer and close. |
| flyers posted in apartment buildings. | | | | Easy ways to produce this are with automatic |
| The simple fact is almost everyone wants a new | | | | sequential followup autoresponders such as our kits |
| home, smaller home, or larger home than what they | | | | have, use of call-capture systems, and having your |
| have. Our job as professionals in a less active market | | | | mortgage lender pre-qualify the leads. He or she will |
| is to make these people realize how affordable it can | | | | appreciate the stream of leads, while allowing him or |
| be, or in the case of moving down, how much they | | | | her to filter them will have you writing offers instead |
| can save. | | | | of answering basic questions. |
| The National Association of Realtors did a study in | | | | Marketing to Home Buyers should be one of the |
| which they looked at the top 10 reasons men and | | | | pillars of any real estate business. These days, a solid |
| women buy homes. They were: | | | | buyer is a greater guarantee than a listing, and can |
| (Men) | | | | lead to double-ended transactions. Even the most |
| 10. They want an investment that's likely to increase | | | | seasoned agents who focus on listings can use |
| in value. | | | | marketing to home buyers as a means to increase |
| 9. They want a tax write-off to put their family | | | | market visibility, listings, while delegating incoming |
| financially ahead. | | | | leads to a buyer's agent o their team. |