Are you ready to do more transactions in 2017 with less effort?
If so, begin by identifying your high probability success patterns from 2016 and then choose at least one strategy that can expand your business into a new area.
If you haven’t already completed your business plan for 2017, now is the time to do it. Your goal is to locate the top 20 percent of your activities that generated a closed transaction and then focus your prospecting activities and marketing dollars in those key areas in 2017.
Your high probability success pattern for 2016
Do you know your ideal client profile based on your actual production? To make this determination, follow the steps below to identify what was most profitable for you in 2016.
Begin by listing the following items in a spreadsheet or on a piece of paper: property address, price, lead source (referral, open house, expired, FSBO, etc.), age; family type (single, married, kids-no kids, multi-generational, investor), career, buyer or seller, moved from and moved to area.
Next, look for patterns — what are the top two areas where you had closed deals, the age group that you worked with most, type of family, etc.?
Use these to create your current ideal client profile. Spend your time and your marketing dollars here to increase your income in 2017.
The next step is to add one new component or niche to your business. Below are four major trends to consider in terms of what to add as well as what to delete from your 2017 business plan.
1. Single women are doubling down on real estate
According to NAR, in 2016, the number of single women buyers jumped to a whopping 17 percent — that’s one in every six sales.
Moreover, the percent of sales to single women was greater than the number of sales the percent for single males (7 percent) and unmarried couples (8 percent) combined!
If you have worked with single women in the past, 2017 promises to be an excellent year to expand into this important niche.
For example, if you’re a boomer, become an expert on helping women facing life changes such as the loss of a spouse or having to care for an elderly parent.
This can include finding people in your area who can help your client downsize if necessary and complete the move, as well as having local contacts for elder care such as A Place for Mom or Visiting Angels.
In terms of locating single women, Facebook ads allow you to target specific groups by age, marital status, location, magazine subscriptions and a host of other factors.
Make sure that marketing materials for this group coincide with their lifestyle.
One other important point here — a large proportion of these buyer leads will also have a home to sell, especially because some of them might be moving for health or financial reasons.
2. Unmarried couples — a goldmine for first-time buyer leads
Although unmarried couples only composed 8 percent of all sales in 2016, many of them are first-time buyers.
To locate these individuals, you can use REI source in addition to Facebook. REI source is available through most title companies, and it can provide you with a tailored list of contacts for about 10 cents per name.
What you will be looking for are high-end renters who have different last names and at least one or more children living in their rental.
Common triggers for these moves are care-taking elderly parents, cost savings or children moving back with their aging parents.
3. It’s time to stop wasting your time and money
Are you chasing for sale by owners (FSBOs) or paying for online leads? If so, did these two lead sources provide you with an adequate return for both your money and your time investment?
If not, 2017 might be a smart time to dump these activities and move your marketing dollars into the activities that did generate leads in 2016. Here’s why:
In 2016, the number of FSBOs was 8 percent with half of these being intra-family transfers. In other words, only 4 percent of all transactions took place between a buyer and seller that were not previously connected in some way.
The bottom line here is that if you are not getting an adequate return on your investment, scratch FSBOs and paying tons of money for online leads in favor of spending more time strengthening your sphere and staying in touch with your past clients.
Remember, to make more in 2017, focus on your strengths.
And if a prospecting activity is not generating an adequate return, dump it!
Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,000 published articles and two best-selling real estate books. Learn about her training programs at www.RealEstateCoach.com/
