How Do Realtors Demonstrate Community

June 30, 2008 · Comments

community Through a conversation in Twitter, I happened across Life in Bonita Springs, a blog by Chris Griffith (aka Twitterzilla). The first post that caught my eye was a beautiful shot of a public area called Coconut Point, with a really small dog in the foreground. The blog post was about a “small dogs only social.” Wow, I thought. Now that’s something you don’t see every day. It got me thinking.

Realty Has a LOT to Benefit From With These Tools

There are lots of ways social media can be applied, but look at real estate. If your job is to sell community, you can do lots of things. Create a videoblog of interviews of people in the community you’re trying to sell into. Build an events page or community site where people can gather, share their stories, post events, and express themselves. Take mountains of photos on Flickr, showing off the best in community art, as well as some of the finer homes.

But How Does It All Tie Together?

If I’m reading a community or realty blog, how will I convert from a blog reader into a home buyer? What are the right ways to convert me gently? For example, on Chris’s blog, I see the sidebar has ways to connect me to her. If I’m an RSS subscriber, I won’t ever see that, and there’s nothing in the post to connect me to business.

This is great, if the only goal is to keep people in the community aware of what’s going on in the community, but if another goal of the blog is to sell homes, is there a way we could gently convert me?

Or should you?

What’s Your Take?

Technically, we’re all prospective customers of realtors. What would attract you, were you to stumble into an interesting blog about real estate, or about a community?

Further, if the community where you lived right now (is it a community? Do you know each other?) had social media tools in place, how could you see them being used?

Curious to see your take on this.

–

The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.

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Photo credit, Kevin Dooley

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  • Chris:
    What Chirs Griffith is doing is building relationships with consumers by demonstrating who she is and what she knows. On-line real estate consumers are on-line to some degree because they wish to be anonymous while they tsart there search for real estate Social Media lets people know who we are so they can decide if they want to meet us IRL when they start the physical portion of their search.
    Readers of Chris' blog will earn through reading that she knows her area, has a well balanced sense of humor, a pleasant outlook on life, and I believe that will translate to comfort and confidence in her integrity and ability to take them through a stressful period of their life.
  • Real estate blogs offer the consumer a wholly different approach in real estate media. Blogs provide a much more in-depth perspective on real estate markets and the home buying and selling processes that supplant the old 'Call today before this beautiful 3 bedroom home is gone!' schtick.

    It will be interesting to see what your readers think, but my readers are appreciating the difference, as evidenced by the business that has developed from my blog.
  • Don't know how it works in other countries, but in Denmark the realtor's client, the one paying his bills, is the home seller. So her primary blogging audience should be sellers, not buyers. That said, of course it's a balacing act - because the realtor is selling her services to the seller, but she is selling the property to the buyer.

    I think there is a common factor here, that allows social media to bridge the gap: local knowledge. As a seller I want a realtor that knows the area better than anyone! As a buyer I want to know my destination, my future home area. If the realtor knows how to tap into the local community, I can think of no better way of demonstrating local knowledge to the seller, and no better way to "sell" the local area (with it's people) to the prospective buyer. Know that's what I call a win-win.

    Think I'd better go sell that idea to my realtor client.
  • Hi Chris,

    Thanks for your post. I completely agree that Realtors can definitely use the tools available. The turnaround time for adoption varies, sometimes due to personal or professional funding for newer tech or upgrades, sometimes due to a lack of comfort in the technosphere, and sometimes due to being so freaking busy on other real estate stuff (envision paperwork, continuing education, meetings, appointments for listings and showings). Of course, more 'automatic" marketing may help winnow down the time spent doing traditional real estate business.

    Point being, tech/media is of great value in touting one's community, in engaging people so they see the value, and ultimately in helping the real estate agent build their referral base for future business.

    People like to be included, to be considered, to be listened to. That value comes in not considering the tech/media world to be "impersonal" but instead, to be highly personal/personalized. Willingness on the part of the community to share information has to be realized as well.
  • it's cool to see an industry as traditional and conservative as real estate adopting techmedia. 4 years ago the number of real estate bloggers was pretty slim, now it's a widely adopted tool.

    realtors are also doing a great job winning business with twitter, too.

    in a potentially mysterious and confusing world like real estate the level of transparency provided by techmedia fosters feelings of trust and security for the consumer and builds expert status for the agent.
  • Chris,

    This is one area where I was surprised to see such adoption. The most obvious example is the presence on 2.0 sites like Zillow and Trulia. Trulia is giving realtors the ability to host and promote their properties in addition to answer questions related to their region or specialty. While there is a fair amount of self-promotion, it is virtually obligatory for them in this environment.

    Considering that many of the first time home buyers over the next twenty years will have 'grown up' on sites like Facebook and MySpace, if realtors don't figure this social media thing out now, their competitors will.
  • Having had some experience working with Realtors in the use of blogs for marketing purposes, I have to say that many in this industry are beginning to grab on to the use of these tools and really make them work to generate new business. RE.net as it's called is taking off.
  • Thanks for this article it is quite enlightening. Will use some of your methods on my site.
  • Al Gorithm
    Chris,

    If you like the author of an article/ book you just finished, would you not search out more works of literature from this writer?

    This author is doing a soft sell of herself and community character. This might be a soft porthole to her business, but I think the meaning is to describe her love for this community and the experiences and adventures that she has along the way and to share this with others in the community or maybe a curious passer “buyer”. (This author is definitely internet savvy, her influence is all across the blogger networks and an internet search pulls her sites to be viewed on the front page, and I know that is not by chance.)

    Sorry if I am bias: I love this site because of the humorous and down to earth and straight forward nature in which these articles are written. The author puts her personally on display for all to view and to maybe judge. Maybe to judge to distinguish if they would like to enter into a well suited business relationship.

    Sometimes you can sell, by selling yourself then selling your product.

    Thank you for your articles as well.

    Have fun,
    Al
  • I'm in the process of buying a home right now and would definitely appreciate a real estate agent making every attempt possible to connect with me! Here in Chile, customer service is not quite what I'm used to in the US, but when I'm going to be spending thousands of dollars I think the least someone can do to earn that money is reach out to me. I have let apartments go because although they looked nice, the realtor couldn't be bothered to even e-mail me back in a timely fashion.

    Aside from personal experience, it's been interesting trying to share Needish with real estate professionals. You'd think they'd jump at the chance to have clients sent to them, but instead they say "oh, I use my cell phone, I don't really work on the internet" and "I already have lots of clients, I don't need to change my style." Totally ridiculous position in my opinion when clearly more areas of life are moving online each day. Congratulations to Chris and others like her!
  • In case there was any question, I *love* what Chris Griffith has done here. I'm a big fan of this kind of media making to build community. My questions are around what ELSE one might use and do. : )
  • Thank you, Chris. No doubt in my mind that you were being complementary. I'm flattered you thought enough of my "little dog" to make him a star on your blog.
  • disclaimer: I work for Wetpaint.

    I've actually heard good things about using wikis to create this effect.

    I've spoken with several creators of sites based on their community or small town. It's worked wonders for their communities. It gives neighbors an opportunity to come together and meet virtually, where in reality they may keep to themselves.

    Unlike a social network, the community is creating content as well as socializing, so it gives prospective (and current, for that matter) residents the opportunity to see how the community ticks, good restaurants, crime, and a general pulse.

    Here are some examples:

    www.castlehillscommunity.com
    http://rpwiki.wetpaint.com/
    http://hyattsville.wetpaint.com/
  • I am a Realtor who has been blogging about my local market in Reno, Nevada, since 2005. The driving force behind my blog has been to answer this question: What is the truth of the marketplace?

    I put myself in the shoes of the consumer and asked, if I didn't know anything about this area, what would I want to know? If I were about to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in an unfamiliar environment, what would I need to know to make a smart financial decision?

    So I covered the neighborhoods, added some pictures and video, but in all honesty it's inadequate because most of my time is necessarily spent working with actual clients rather than developing an amazing website.

    That said, I also covered the numbers, what was really happening, and never attached to the outcome. All I wanted was to understand the truth, which has been the key to my blog's success.

    My site isn't perfect. In fact, it needs a lot of work. But what I've cobbled together in my precious spare time is better than most of my competitors, who didn't have the advantage I did growing up on the internet.

    I've been 100% honest, given consumers the inside scoop, good, bad or ugly, and the result has been a community of anonymous contributors who have gathered around it, sharing their expertise and wisdom. This has turned my site into the local watering hole around the topic of real estate, and an amazing source of personal business and local media exposure. I can't overemphasize the importance of the contributors, as their unique insights have made us all smarter, even though I've only met two of them.

    In the real estate industry, more than 80% of buyers and sellers begin their searches online. To survive and thrive given the changes technology is forcing our industry through, one must be a leader online. And I think change is good.
  • REALTORS should be about community all the time. It is the nature of our business. What we do is literally build communities.

    The beauty of blogging is that it can successfully be used to appeal to both buyers and sellers. On the buyers side, you can provide information about the community, and insight into the real estate market. On the sellers side, you can provide information about the community and insight into the real estate market. . .hey, whaddyaknow!

    My point is that real estate always has and always will be a relationship business. The only thing that social media technologies have done is add another means by which to establish and grow those relationships, and make the process much more scalable.

    In the area I work, information about the community is woeful difficult to find, especially on the Internet. Our team has been working on positioning ourselves as the go-to source for information about local events and information.

    On the business side, we are trying to use social media (and specifically blogging) to build a community around our brokerage, our brand. We would like to strengthen our community of past clients so that they will be our best ambassadors. That way, converting prospective clients will be that much easier because they will have already spoken with others, or at least been made aware of us and what we do.

    As far as RSS feeds go, I don't think there is anything wrong with including a line like, "if you have more questions about (insert community here), or what it is like to buy or sell a home there, please get in touch!"

    Obviously, you can craft it to fit your style, but some people definitely need to be prompted to actually get in touch with you about buying or selling. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it fits into what you are trying to accomplish and the tone you want to set.
  • I think those beautiful pics would hook me right away, after that, probably the only way I would actually shop is if I was looking at the time and then location would play a role as well.

    My community is pretty small, and there is a great online community forum here, where a lot of people talk and are also neighbors.
  • Chris- I have been thinking the same thing. A blog is a great way for an agent to share new properties and community happenings. I know a couple of agents that send out paper newsletter but don't have an online presence.
    I am not totally sure of the legal aspects - I have been told that Realtors are not allowed to comment on certain things - like the safety of a neighborhood - I was just looking at some places and when I ask about a neighborhoods crime rate - a few agents have replied wh "as a licensed agent I can't comment on that" Maybe someone else can shed some light on that.
    I still think an RSS of new properties would be great and a blog is a great way to learn about an agent before you select one.
  • Hi Chris!

    Real estate agents around the nation are using many social media tools and communities to connect with each other and with consumers. Since real estate is a people business, this makes total sense.

    At Trulia, we have a real estate Q&A community called Trulia Voices. Home buyers, home sellers and real estate agents use our platform to communicate with each other everyday. It's a great place to go to ask your real estate questions and to share your real estate knowledge. Thus far, we have had some really great success stories from the community.

    The key for an agent, no matter what tool they use or what community they participate in, is to be authentic and provide useful information - listings, pictures, video, news etc. It's not about the hard sell. It's about sharing your knowledge and expertise. Answering a consumers questions is one of the best ways to gain their trust.

    At the end of the day, we're all consumers. Whether online or offline, treating others as I would like to be treated, has worked for me.

    Rudy
    Social Media Guru at Trulia

    http://www.retaggr.com/Card/trulia
  • Hi Chris,

    I am bit of a pessimist on this whole realtor as a service provider line of thought. As someone with a family in real estate, I have seen the true nature of the business (from a Canadian perspective anyways). With the limited amount of "communities" in the Canadian market, realtors simply offer an expertise in drafting clauses and managing staging and open houses on their clients behalf. With the incredible access to information online, most of the "research" can be self fulfilled. If you can't figure out how to do a comparable search simply by reading the paper, talking to people, going online and keeping your eyes open, then....

    In any event, creating online communities for realtors in the US market can surely be a distinguishing feature when someone is looking for a realtor in that particular area. With the vast amount of suburban choices, how does one know where to look when relocating. In Canada, relocation is far less common, so one usually knows the town or city they are moving to, as they generally already live nearby.

    Finally, there are many value adds a realtor could offer to make me want to work with them. From simple twitter like or RSS feeds of status changes on properties to true, historical reports available with no obligations for a particular area, I could be swayed to the dark side.
  • @Corby - The Twitter idea is compelling. What if you were looking for houses, and had a subscription to a local realtor's twitter feed. When she finds a potentially suitable home, she tweets it. If she hears that a seller is lowering a price, etc. Pretty neat concept, actually.
  • @Chris - Actually I was thinking more in line with subscribing to a property rather than an agent. Why must Twitter be associated to living beings when in fact many other inanimate objects have status changes themselves, from automobiles (service needs, recalls), to homes (price reductions, open houses, registered offers).....
  • @corby - the single property twitter feed is something i've been promoting. with many realtors going with single property websites it's a natural complement.
  • I run a neighborhood social network for the Willow Glen neighborhood in San Jose (http://willowglen.ning.com). One of the things that we've seen is that realtors have been some of our best users...not just as businesses, but as members of the community.

    I think that real estate is starting to understand what they can do online and how they can leverage social media, but we're still at the very early stages. The key factor for success is to be an expert in the area you work and to *demonstrate* that, either via your relationships, blogging, or however else. Like in any profession, demonstrating your expertise (social media) is worth an order of magnitude more than talking about it (advertising).
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