The Value of Being A Neighborhood Expert

Some real estate agents call it “circle prospecting.”  Others refer to it as neighborhood farming (our favorite). Regardless of the moniker, the principle is simple: a strategy for focusing your business development and prospecting efforts on discrete groups of homes or specific sub-divisions.

In this post, we’ll review the benefits of neighborhood farming, plus introduce you to a game-changing new neighborhood search tool from Espresso Agent.

WHY NEIGHBORHOOD FARMING

Let’s say you’re planning an open house for a new listing in a highly desirable subdivision. The home is near great schools with easy access to major interstates and excellent retail offerings. Of course, the best way to maximize the revenue potential of that prime listing is to prospect in the same area-looking for either buyers or new sellers or both.

Neighborhood farming is a long-time staple of real estate sales. Top-performing agents often devote a portion of their time each morning to making neighborhood calls for a number of important reasons:

• Find New Listings: When one home comes on the market or is sold, it isn’t long before other properties in the neighborhood follow suit. By prospecting in a neighborhood you increase the chance you will make an important connection with homeowners who would like to emulate the success of their neighbors.
• Find Buyers: Homeowners who live in desirable neighborhoods often have friends and family members who suggest they’d like to live nearby. Neighborhood farming gives you the opportunity to connect with homeowners who might be willing to refer you to those potential buyers.
• Ask Good Questions: The longer you stay on the phone with a neighborhood prospect, the more rapport and trust you can build. Even if they aren’t interested in selling, you’ll feel comfortable and confident in asking for a referral. Or, asking when they might be interested in moving/selling. 
• Become the Neighborhood Expert: Whether you’re a new agent or a pro trying to break into a new area, there is tremendous value in being known as the “neighborhood specialist.” Know your data: homes on the market, pending, closed. But beyond the data, know as many details about the areas as possible in order to be a valuable resource to homeowners. 

Just as with calling new expireds and FSBOs every morning, incorporating time for neighborhood farming should be an essential part of your business development strategy.

ESPRESSO AGENT’S NEIGHBORHOOD FARMING SEARCH TOOLS: A GAME CHANGER

If like many LabCoat Agent members, you’ve been using Espresso Agent to drive your revenue production, you’ll now have access to one extra tool in your ever-expanding toolbox: Espresso Agent Neighborhood Farming Search functionality.

Espresso Agent now offers two versions of this game-changing, neighborhood farming capability:

GEOSEARCH

Using industry-standard data, GeoSearch offers:

• Unlimited lookups
• The ability to target any neighborhood
• The ability to draw on a map or perform a radius search
• Quick and fast results
• An easy-to-use folder system built around naming each search
• Simple dialing system 

EVERYBODY ANSWERS

Employing the highest quality, enhanced data, Everybody Answers offers:

• Unlimited lookups (750 enhanced)
• The ability to target any neighborhood
• The ability to enter an address, draw on the map or perform a radius search
• Quick and fast results
• An easy-to-use folder system build around naming each search
• Simple dialing system 
• PLUS single-address lookup
• PLUS bulk uploads

The Espresso Agent Neighborhood Farming Search functionality delivers a few other benefits:

• Do you have addresses in your database with outdated contact information? You can upload your outdated database files to Espresso Agent where we’ll refresh them with premium contact data: cell phone numbers, verified email addresses and property details.
• With Espresso’s neighborhood search function, you can alert neighbors about your open houses in advance, and on multiple occasions. Granted, you’ll get your share of curiosity seekers, but you may also get that neighbor who might be motivated and in the right frame of mind to list.
• Upload your mailing database to the Espresso CRM and print out your own mailing labels.
• The already included, built-in Espresso Agent dialer is the perfect tool for more efficient, and disciplined, neighborhood farming.

Espresso Agent’s Platinum and Gold packages include our Neighborhood Search function. Or, you can purchase Neighborhood Farming Search as a stand-alone product… With the Bronze package, you’ll get Neighborhood Search, in addition to Espresso Agent’s standard CRM and Dialer.

Neighborhood farming is a powerful, proven way to become the “go-to” real estate agent in the most desirable neighborhoods in your MLS. Make it a part of your comprehensive marketing and business development strategy.

Learn more about Espresso Agent pricing packages.

LEARN MORE about Espresso Agent Neighborhood Farming.