When you’re selling a home – either as a listing agent or a buyer’s agent – understanding what is really motivating those who are buying a home can be the difference between success and failure.

1. Realtors: Buying A Home Is About Much More
Than Buying A Home

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The problem with selling a
home generally isn’t the home.

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The problem with selling a
home generally isn’t the home.
It isn’t the person selling the
home (well, most of the time).

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The problem with selling a
home generally isn’t the home.
It isn’t the person selling the
home (well, most of the time).
And you know, it really isn’t
even the price.

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The problem with selling a home by and large comes down to
the first rule of marketing – something that applies to home
selling just as much as it does to soda pop selling, car selling
or anything-else selling:

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The problem with selling a home by and large comes down to
the first rule of marketing – something that applies to home
selling just as much as it does to soda pop selling, car selling
or anything-else selling:
“it’s not about what the seller wants to sell; it’s about what
the buyer needs to buy."

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In other words, it’s not about the features you have - how fast
you are or how well you can clean or, in the case of home selling,
how many bathrooms you have.

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In other words, it’s not about the features you have - how fast
you are or how well you can clean or, in the case of home selling,
how many bathrooms you have.
It’s about what the person you’re talking to, the person whose
hard-earned money you’re trying to get them to fork over,
what they want to buy.

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In other words, it’s not about the features you have - how fast
you are or how well you can clean or, in the case of home selling,
how many bathrooms you have.
It’s about what the person you’re talking to, the person whose
hard-earned money you’re trying to get them to fork over,
what they want to buy.
Or better yet, what they need to buy.

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Curiously this is something that
most marketers – and this applies
to big Fortune 500 brands as well
as little mom-and-pop startups –
rarely think about, but it is why
most marketing, and therefore
most selling, is unsuccessful.

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So, put yourself in the shoes of
someone buying a home.
What are they looking for?
Photo By Manki Kim on Unsplash

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Could be something as simple as
what George Carlin used to call “a
place for my stuff.”
Could be buying a home is really
code for “buying a status symbol.”
Or buying a home could be “a better
investment than just leaving my
cash in the bank.”
Photo By Jesse Roberts on Unsplash

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Or it could be something more substantial.

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Or it could be something more substantial.
It could be buying a home is about more than the four walls.

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Or it could be something more substantial.
It could be buying a home is about more than the four walls.
More than the yard.

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Or it could be something more substantial.
It could be buying a home is about more than the four walls.
More than the yard.
Even more than the memories you will make there.

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Or it could be something more substantial.
It could be buying a home is about more than the four walls.
More than the yard.
Even more than the memories you will make there.
It could be that, in a sense, when people are buying a home,
they really aren’t buying a home at all.

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They’re buying a community.
Photo By Breno Assis on Unsplash

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They’re buying a school
system for their kids. But a
school system that teaches
the kinds of things they want
taught the way they want
them taught.
Photo By Santi Vedri on Unsplash

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They’re buying a place
where they feel safe –
whether that’s “in a city”
because they think the
countryside is “too quiet”
or the countryside if you
think that’s crazy talk.
Photo By Scott Webb on Unsplash

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They’re buying the way they
want to shop for things and
the kinds of stores they want
to shop at – from big modern
mega malls to old-fashioned
downtowns with mom-and-
pops.
Photo By Marcin Kempa on Unsplash

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They’re buying proximity to
the kind of healthcare
facilities that a particular
family member might need.
Photo By Amauri Acosta Montiel on Unsplash

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They’re buying access to a
place of worship that might
not exist in every town.
Photo By Liam Macleod on Unsplash

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They’re buying access to a
place of worship that might
not exist in every town.
And literally everything in
between.
Photo By Liam Macleod on Unsplash

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They’re buying a place
that feels right to them
in the right way they
want to feel right.
Photo By Brian Babb on Unsplash

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Now, if that’s what people are buying,
really buying (instead of just the
number of bathrooms or the amount of
acreage for their poodles), then how do
you – as either the listing agent or as
an agent that’s helping a buyer find a
home – frame up a house as being the
one they need to buy?
?
Photo By Evelyn Paris on Unsplash

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You need to sell it in the context of the community.
Photo By Mitch Lensink on Unsplash

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And the thing about this context is, it’s not purely rational, right?

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And the thing about this context is, it’s not purely rational, right?
Are big modern malls better than old time downtowns?

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And the thing about this context is, it’s not purely rational, right?
Are big modern malls better than old time downtowns?
Noisy neighbors more reassuring than crickets?

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And the thing about this context is, it’s not purely rational, right?
Are big modern malls better than old time downtowns?
Noisy neighbors more reassuring than crickets?
Of course not.

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And the thing about this context is, it’s not purely rational, right?
Are big modern malls better than old time downtowns?
Noisy neighbors more reassuring than crickets?
Of course not.
They’re totally arbitrary.

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Which is why selling is still an art
and not a science.
And why you need to arm yourself
with the best tools and tactics you
can, while still paying close attention
to the people you’re talking to, to
see what they respond to.

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According to a recent survey by WAV
group, some agents are relying on
blogs, neighborhood sites or Nextdoor
on an ad hoc basis.
Photo By Glenn Carstens Peters on Unsplash

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According to a recent survey by WAV
group, some agents are relying on
blogs, neighborhood sites or Nextdoor
on an ad hoc basis.
And an overwhelming number of agents
and consumers have indicated that
local knowledge is “very important” or
“extremely important” to them.
Photo By Glenn Carstens Peters on Unsplash

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And some companies are getting in to the act as well; Keller Williams,
for example, has even gone so far as to create Kelle, an AI-powered
virtual assistant which provides hyper-local market reports right to
their real estate agents’ phones.
On the listing service side, Trulia Neighborhoods is trying to solve the
problem (albeit currently with a small sample size) and AreaVibes, a
livability scoring site, has an affiliate relationship with Realtor.com

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But is there a more comprehensive, reliable and user-friendly approach to
delivering relevant community information that people are looking for when
buying a home?

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But is there a more comprehensive, reliable and user-friendly approach to
delivering relevant community information that people are looking for when
buying a home?
A system that can help the 7 out of 8 real estate agents cited in that same
report who admitted they aren’t actually specializing in neighborhoods –
despite knowing how vitally important it is?

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That can help by presenting
their listings in the context of
real, consistent, insightful
information about the
community’s home buyers are
looking at – to convince them
that these real estate agents
are providing the advantage
they need?
Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

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brokerages are looking for.
The community spotlight with the essential information that home buyers
seek – and that realtors can use to become the top real estate agents in
their market.
is precisely what real estate agents and
That’s where comes in!

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access to highly localized data
delivers home buyers a mix of highly
relevant insight at the community or
neighborhood level
’s unique

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access to highly localized data
delivers home buyers a mix of highly
relevant insight at the community or
neighborhood level
’s unique

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access to highly localized data
delivers home buyers a mix of highly
relevant insight at the community or
neighborhood level and even at the
listing level
’s unique

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Not just educating home buyers but
arming them with information that
allows them to compare and contrast
properties in ways that speak to their
real needs.
And in ways they never could before.

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Information about the
schools, the community, the
shops, the hospitals, the
doctors, and even home
inspectors and handymen –
information that usually
only people who already live
in those communities know.

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Insider intelligence about
the neighborhoods and
towns that you’re really
selling that will help the
home you’re representing
cut through the competition.

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That will convince people
buying a home that you are the
agent or brokerage they’re
looking for. And do it before
they even meet you, because it
can be seamlessly integrated
into your digital presence.

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In summary,
here are 3 tips for selling more than a home when
you’re trying to sell a home

49. Use your website to tell home buyers when
they are in the very first stages of research
that you have local community expertise –
and back it up with real information to
prove it
#1

50. Feed both the left and right brain
#2
LEFT (Rational):
• Market data Median home
price
• Tax information
• Etc.
RIGHT (Emotional):
• Proximity to health care
• Places of worship Dog
parks
• Shopping
• Etc.

51. Be an active participant online by
sharing your recommendations,
favorites, news and discoveries to
constantly remind the public that
they can count on you for expert
local information
#3

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Thank You!