This is the second in a series – see all the posts

Are You Surprised? 

I was pretty surprised by the results from the NAR Profile when it comes to what buyers want most from their real estate agents.  This is how the buyers identified the things they most wanted help on:

• 49% Finding the right home
• 13% Negotiating contract terms
• 11%  Negotiating price
• 9% Completing paperwork
• 8% Identifying comparable homes and their final sales prices
• 5% Identifying how much to spend on a home
• 4% Find and acquire financing

• 3% Other

Are you surprised?  No?  Take another look at the results.

Here’s what surprised me.  First, 49% of the buyers said they most wanted an agent’s help to find the right home.  That surprised me because evidently despite all of the places on the Internet where consumers can go to look at homes, almost half of them still thought that an agent can do a better job of helping them find the right home.

The second thing that surprised me was that so few buyers thought that negotiating contract terms or price was the most important thing an agent can do for them.  Granted, I’m not a real estate agent, but I’ve bought and sold homes, and worked with enough real estate professionals to know that very often, finding the right home is the easy part.

Negotiating contact terms and price, and keeping the deal together until you reach the closing table can be a challenge.  And, while some consumers are probably good negotiators, I think this old saying applies to real estate as much as the law:  “A lawyer who has himself as a client is representing a fool.” Or you could say, “A Buyer who has himself as a client (in negotiations) is representing a fool.”  There’s just too much emotion and too many details.

So, what is the real estate marketing lesson learned?  From my perspective, I think we need to get better at educating the consumer on the critical role an agent plays from the time the right home is found through to the closing table. 

Think About This!

If the most important thing an agent can do for a buyer is find the right home – and — It’s becoming easier all the time for consumers to access MLS listings, take virtual tours, and so on,

Then

How important will an agent be over time?

What do you think?

This is the first entry in a series – See all posts in this series

In November, 2007, NAR published its annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2007.  There is some very interesting information in the report that I believe can help real estate professionals in defining their marketing strategies.  This “Lessons Learned” series will highlight some of the findings resulting from the study, and provide a brief analysis of how that information might be interpreted.

Methodology

In case you’re not familiar with this report, here’s a brief summary of how the results were generated.  NAR obtained the names and addresses from Experian’s national database of recent home buyers.  They then sent an 8-page questionnaire to 150,000 of those people identified as home buyers between July 2006 and June 2007.  That mailing yielded 9,966 valid responses.

The majority of the report deals with home buyers.  The information about home sellers comes from those home buyers who also sold a home.  Therefore, the sample size for the seller information is smaller than the buyer information.

I recognize that no survey of this type should be taken literally.  However, it is one of the few opportunities we have for reviewing this type of information, and I think there is merit in looking at the results from a global perspective.

The Lessons Learned Series

Rather than organizing this information based on the statistics, we’ll look at the statistics in terms of the insight they provide and how you can structure your marketing to utilize those insights.  Any statistics cited in this series come from the NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2007.

Real Estate Marketing Insight:   Getting Chosen as a Buyer/Seller Agent

The first thing that interested me was the insight about how buyers and sellers find an agent, the factors they use in selecting an agent, and what they want from their agent.

Finding an Agent

The most common way for both buyers (43%) and sellers (41%) to find an agent is when a friend, neighbor or relative refer someone.   This fact reinforces the importance of 1) staying top of mind with your past clients and sphere of influence, and 2) asking for referrals.

Some of the least common ways of finding an agent is through the newspaper or Yellow Pages  – less than 1% for buyers and sellers.  Direct mail is used less than 1% by buyers, but 3% by sellers.  That’s something to consider when sending direct mail to a farm area, for example.  Your message may be more likely to be effective if you target sellers.

Selecting an Agent – Buyers

Buyers rated the factors they use when selecting an agent like this:

• 28%  Honest and trustworthy
• 22%   Reputation of agent
• 17%   Agent is a friend or family member
• 12%   Agent’s knowledge of the neighborhood
• 10%   Agent is a good listener with a caring personality
• 4%     Agent’s association with a particular firm
• 1%     Professional designations held
•  5%    Other

Take a look at the list above and compare it to your marketing message.  Are you finding ways to illustrate your honesty, trustworthiness, reputation, knowledge of the neighborhood and listening skills?   Are you using your association with your broker and your designations as added benefits rather than the key reasons why someone should choose you as their representative?

You’ll also notice that awards (Million Dollar Club, Top Producer, etc.) aren’t even on the list.  Maybe they’re included somewhere in the miscellaneous 5%, but these ratings provide a clear message as to the factors buyers think are the most important.

The next post in this series will address the other insights related to being selected as a buyers or sellers agent.  Stay tuned….