When I first got into real estate a mentor told me to pick a “specialty”. I thought, a “specialty”? But I am trying to make money, so I will go wherever the money is and work with whomever I need to, to make money! See my mindset was limited, I heard him saying “specialty” but I was thinking “limitations”. Looking back now, I see where I missed the ball. A niche is described as cornering a market while a specialty is likened to having a specific focus. I slowly learned after tons denied applications from renters, cancelled appointments from unqualified buyers and furious For Sale by Owners asking me to stop calling that being lost in this industry could be a tough game.
In real estate, not knowing your audience or who to talk to each day kills your drive. You need momentum to push through to another day. I would go so far as to day that a specialty is required in real estate sales. Many real estate agents don’t recognize the vast opportunities for us to specialize. Think about it for a second? There are many categories that your next real estate sale could fall into. For example, maybe you have a divorced couple needing to sell so that they can divorce and move on with their lives. Perhaps, you have a partner or friend in Human Resource that relocates employees every quarter. As a real estate professional, you could specialize in relocation sales or divorcees.
The truth is it’s easier to make 6 figures once you have identified who you are going to sell your service to. If you specialize and dedicate your business to working with first-time home buyers, this makes your business planning, marketing strategies and research easier. For an agent specializing in first-time home buyers, you know you need to provide tons of information on the buying process. It may be best to consider the idea of hosting Home Buying Workshops to aggressively target this core group of buyers.
Some questions you may want to consider as you decide to specialize or identify a niche market are “how can I best serve this group?”, “what information or service is the group lacking?”, “where can I develop relationships that serve this niche/specialty?”.
“Investor buyers” who only buy homes for pennies on the dollar. Investor buyers are looking for “deals” where they buy homes anywhere from $10,000 – $150,000, would this be your ideal buyer? Have you run the numbers to see how many commissions sales you would need to make each month to meet your six-figure income goal with an investor buyer? On the flip sell, you can work with sellers. There are also people that sell homes for many different reasons. Would you consider selling a home that was damaged by a natural disaster or fire? Would you consider selling a home outdated and the seller refused to do any upgrades? Maybe the seller is upside down on their mortgage and need to sell their home to escape financial trouble, would this be a listing that you would feel comfortable taking?
Think of the real estate agents in your area, if they dedicated their entire business to handling a specialty market or niche market like short sales and/or mobile homes. Could you compete with that agent? Having a niche market and specialty allows you not to feel the built-up urgency to compete while simultaneously gives you the skills needed to build a successful business. If you did need to compete because more than one agent serves that niche market, you will have a fair chance at winning. You certainly would be more equipped than a one-size fits all agent.
Use your hobbies to select a niche market. Make your life and real estate business fun! Don’t be afraid to have fun while you work, if you go to Yoga every Tuesday night everyone in your Yoga class needs to know that you sell real estate. If, you have 5 am Cross-fit everyone who attends needs to know that you sell real estate. Your hobbies could be your first opening into creating a niche market. The reason is it’s highly unlikely that other real estate agents will be attending cupcake cooking classes with you or hiking up mountains or whatever activity you like to do in your spare time.
