REALTORS are notorious for trying to be everything to everyone when what they really need is to choose and focus on a real estate niche.
What’s a niche?
A niche is a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service. Or, in plain old English, it’s targeting a small part of the real estate market that is of most interest and value to you. Your target market is your niche.
Types of niches
Geographic: do you love a particular part of the city and know the ins and outs of it? Make it your real estate niche. You can use Remine Pro (included in your MLS dues) to put together a farm list for direct mail campaigns designed to let everyone there know that you are the expert.
Buyers: does finding the right place for a buyer to live put you on cloud 9? There is not a single thing wrong with working with buyers only. It takes the dual agency discussion off of the table and allows you to become the go-to professional when it comes time to buy a house.
Sellers: if designing a listing marketing campaign is your jam, along with keeping up with pricing trends, (and you do it well, of course) then you can bill yourself as the listing virtuoso. This is not a niche for rookie agents, though. It takes time for sellers to believe that you can adequately market and represent them.
Condos: who needs a single-family home when you know every condo building, the ins and outs of the association rules, and which buildings allow pets? Condos are a different animal than home sales and being able to competently explain the pros and cons of each location will keep you busy year-round.
Rentals: there is money to be made in rentals, for sure, but you have to be willing to do a LOT of them to generate an income that’s on par with sales. If this is your calling, go for it. Using social media and leveraging the SEO of your website to target tenants and landlords is an underdeveloped niche, so your odds of success are good.
Property management: this real estate niche takes a certain type of agent because not everyone wants to be the person that gets called when the toilets start backing up in the middle of the night. A note about PM: be sure to clear this niche with your broker – additional E&O is required along with separate bank accounts for rents and deposits and you don’t want to go to real estate jail.
Benefits of having a niche
When you choose a niche for your business, it narrows your focus to what’s most important for that set of clients.
Marketing is easier to create when you have a clear vision of who your customer is and what they want and need.
Recommended reading: 7 benefits of niche marketing
Your knowledge doesn’t have to be all over the place. You can concentrate on learning everything you can about one specific niche instead of attempting to be a jack (or jill) of all trades.
It’s easy to ask yourself if any proposed change to your business would benefit your niche and/or improve your relationships with them. This is extra helpful when you get those cold-call sales pitches from the folks wanting to sell you leads or systems.
Need help designing your niche business? Call Lisa at 504-616-6262 for a confidential meeting.
