Just what content should a neighborhood profile have? Here are some items to consider to create a positive experience for your website visitors.

Demographics

It’s best to start simply, highlighting the basics like local demographics and market data. Buyers are interested in population, employment rates, and industries and employers in the area. You can always touch on these topics, then link to a city, county or other government site for more information. What is the cost of living in the area? Is it reasonable or not so reasonable? How crowded is the community? Are people elbow to elbow, or will the buyer have wide open spaces? Realtors typically list a population per square mile as a great reference point.

Market Data

Buyers are naturally going to want to know the average cost of homes in any particular neighborhood so they can set expectations accordingly. Most agents provide a price range, so that buyers can look at their candidate home to see if its price is at the bottom or top of that market.

Location, Location, Location

Of course, location is a key element that every buyer wants to know. If buying in the suburbs, highlight the home’s location relative to the nearest big city, so buyers can determine commute times and proximity to amenities that only big cities can offer. Point out the location of the suburb and surrounding suburbs as well, and be sure to point out proximity to major recreational areas or geographical features (“10 miles from Lake Such-and-Such” or “within walking distance to the Atlantic Ocean.”)

Adding a map is a great way to help buyers pinpoint the location. If possible, graphically show the neighborhood in relation to other areas (beach, downtown, transportation, landmarks, etc.) You can get the map you want from Google Maps, screenshot it, then save it to your site. Some agents even embed interactive maps for even more functionality.

Safety

Who wouldn’t want to know how safe a neighborhood is? Use local law enforcement sites to obtain data, or link to these sites for more information, but in general, buyers want to know about incidences of property crime as well as violent crime in the surrounding area. This is also a great place to highlight any novel police community programs or civic engagement groups trying to minimize crime in the area.

Topography

Is the neighborhood heavily wooded, or are there no trees in sight? Is the neighborhood more rural or more urban? These are details every buyer wants to know.

Transportation

Potential buyers want to know about transportation as well. How close is the neighborhood to a metropolitan area? What’s the traffic like? Is there a mass transit system of buses, trains or subways?

Schools

The quality of area schools is a major factor in home purchases for buyers with school-age children. What is the public school system like? How close are the schools to the neighborhood? Are there nearby private schools, and are they affordable? This is a great place to list some of the highlights about the school: unique curriculum offered, any awards the district has won, stellar athletic teams, and such. You can highlight features, then link to school or district sites for more information.

The Great Outdoors

What does the neighborhood have to offer in terms of outdoor amenities? Are there a neighborhood pool, bike trails, hiking, jogging trails, or dog parks? Is the neighborhood near the lake, a beach, or the mountains? Regardless of whether the buyer is an avid outdoorsman or just someone who wants to take a nice sunset stroll once in awhile, most buyers want to know about these kinds of amenities.

History

Writing about the history of the community is an added bonus. Interesting facts about settlers, town founders, famous buildings, or famous residents are great additions. How old is the neighborhood? When was it founded? Interesting tidbits and compelling stories about historical figures can’t hurt either. List any historical landmarks, such as historical markers or state or national parks, that happen to be nearby.

Local Attractions

Remember, buyers want to soak up as much information as they can about the neighborhood, so don’t forget to include local attractions. List tourist sites, professional sports teams, notable universities, cultural centers, and any other special attractions.

Be sure to include information about the arts, too, listing details about performing arts and museums in the area. Famous eateries and annual festivals are great to list as well.

Once you have all the details, write a lead-in paragraph that serves as an executive summary for that neighborhood. It can be short and sweet, but highlight significant details like the age of the neighborhood, architectural features, and historical significance. And don’t forget to include photos—a picture really is worth a thousand words!

The post How to Write a Neighborhood Guide appeared first on WolfNet.

Keep in touch after the sale through email.

Chances are that your past clients will be looking to make another home purchase in the future. Because of this, it’s important to keep in touch after the sale is final. You want to make sure that you’re the real estate agent at the top of their list when they are looking to buy or sell again.

A great way to keep this relationship current is through email. Emails are an easy way to connect and will not take much of your time. There are lots of excellent email tools available to you which make it easy to create the messages you want to send to our past customers in advance and schedule their delivery.  

It’s important to tailor your emails to your clients. You don’t want to send the exact same thing to each of your clients as each client has different needs and preferences. Most email tools can help you create dynamic email content based on the information in your client list.

Keep client preferences in mind when developing content marketing.

When crafting your emails, it’s important to tailor them as mentioned in the previous point. Your clients will have a wide range of preferences, a good practice is to segment the clients by their preferences in order to build content specific to each group. Segments may include first time home buyers, investment property buyers, retirees, etc.

If a family just bought a home from you, you don’t want to send them information on nearby listings. They won’t be looking to buy or sell right away and this information won’t be relevant to them. They may start ignoring your emails, which will make it more difficult to gain repeat business from them in the future. Instead, send them information about local schools and parks. They may also be interested in tips on gardening and how to winterize their home.

Reach out for referrals.

Asking a client for their feedback on your performance can really enhance your relationship as it tells them you care what they think. Most real estate professionals live by the motto “Your referral is the biggest compliment I could receive” and asking them if they would and can recommend you to a family member, friend or colleague is a great way to build trust with your clients.

Reaching out to your client for a referral also gives you the opportunity to touch base with them on their current situation. You can have a pleasant exchange and may learn that they will soon be looking to sell or buy a home. By maintaining this personal relationship, it will help you generate repeat business.

Connect with current and former clients through social media.

Social media is a great way for you to stay in touch with current and former clients. It’s important to interact with people on a regular basis on each of the major platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). By staying connected, you may also learn of new business opportunities with your clients as well as their connections.  You could also consider building a business page and invite your clients to Like your information as well as provide comments.  

No matter what you do on social media, important for you to make sure your responses are professional and fast.

If anyone makes a comment or interacts with you or your company, you should really respond within 24 hours. People need to know that you care about interacting with them, so it’s important to acknowledge as well as respond.

Partner offers to keep you top of mind.

While your clients may only need your services once or twice every couple years, home maintenance is a huge priority and a major endeavor for most home owners. As a real estate agent, you are very well positioned to assist your clients with this aspect of their lives, and as an added bonus, there may be some incremental income in it for you as well. Plenty of companies have partner and/or affiliate programs and home buyers are often a key target. Insurance and warranty companies, home services companies, telecommunications companies, etc.

Here are some examples of the types of programs you should be looking into:

https://www.hellosuper.com/realtor

https://business.comcast.com/partner/authorized-connector-program

Thank you for reading our blog! If you like this content, check out our guide for the Top 10 website features for selling real estate.

The post How to Generate Repeat Business in Real Estate appeared first on WolfNet.