Building quality relationships is the number one reason why most agents have a better close ratio compared to other agents. It is no longer about the sales, the market, or the inventory. If you want to grow your business in 2012 and be effective with your market strategy, and customer- relationship strategy, you must be clear about who you are trying to connect with.
Buyers
- 37% of recent buyers were “first time” buyers – a drop from 50% in 2010
- They typical buyer was 45 years old – up from 39 a year ago
- 37% of buyers were under the age of 31; 32% were over 55
- While all buyers use the internet to search for homes, for 35% of them, it was the first step in the process; 21% started by contacting an agent
- 21% of buyers were single females; 12% single males
- 92% said open houses were very- to somewhat-useful sources of real estate information
- 58% of buyers wanted to see videos when looking at property online
Sellers
- The average seller was a Baby Boomer (45-65 years old)
- 46% bought a larger home, 31% purchased the same size; 23% downsized
- 25% of sellers sold their home within two weeks of entering the market
- Job relocation and the need for more space were the primary reasons people sold their home.
- 61% of sellers were repeat clients or referrals from friends and family
- 66% of sellers only interviewed 1 real estate agent
- Sellers found their agent through the internet 3% of the time; direct mail 2%; newspaper 1%.
Technology
- Gen X’ers (35-45) have doubled their use of social media since 2008
- 1 in 6 minutes spent online is on Facebook
- $50,000-75,000 is the typical income range of a Facebook user
- 200 million consumers access social media on their smartphones
- After Google, consumers search YouTube the most (2 billion streams daily)
- 1 in 10 U.S. adults owns a tablet computer
- 44% of Gen Y’ers prefer texting to face-to-face meetings
- The typical Gen Y’er sends 3,000 text messages a month
- Gen X and Gen Y used web-based email 20% less last year
Knowing how the seller hand buyer has changes so drastically with the use of technology will help you redefine your target market. Based on these statistics, you are now able to figure out how much of your advertising dollars you will use for this year. You can spend more of your time on the internet building an online reputation, meaning now, you save advertising dollars as well as save time. Keep in mind, running a business the way the modern day consumer would like you too, can increase sales, profits, and quality relationships.