Get Going or Get Left Behind: What Every Agent Should Know About Buyers and Sellers In 2017

I was catching up with National Association of Realtors on Twitter and came across this stat they recently twitted.

We see tons of real estate stat roundups and trends come out at the beginning and end of each year.

But how easy is it to turn them into usable data to buff up your lead generation and marketing strategies for the coming months?

To get you ahead of the game, I dug up 5 real estate buyers and sellers stats that you can use to empower your daily efforts and future-proof your business.

No agent left behind!

Let’s check them out –

2016 Young – Buyer Stats

Let’s break these numbers down.

Nearly ALL young-buyers enlisted the help of a real estate pro like you to complete the home-buying process.

We millennials may be young and entitled, but we’re not dumb!

This stat clearly proves that people of all buying generations are still investing in the help of agents.

And this isn’t going to change this year or the next.

In fact, Gen. Y accounts for 68% of all first time home buyers.

Also, it’s 35% cheaper to buy than rent in America. #JustSaying

Why do you need to know this numbers?

via GIPHY

Well, you need to know who your leads are and you you’re talking to online.

Making yourself available to subsets like these is only going to make your services all the more valuable.

Buyers and Sellers Agent Retention

Not too bad, eh?

My first question to you as a real estate agent ready this, is: Are you surprised by these stats? If so, did you expect those numbers to be higher or lower?

Really, 70% is good.

My next question is that when comparing the buyers and sellers numbers here, did you expect them to be so close?

These stats matter.

A lot.

Especially considering how much of the market first-time buyers are making up.

Your happy clients are your hottest leads.

Sellers Weigh-In

When it comes to being a seller’s agent, they need that personal touch.

Sure, this is true for any real estate transaction, but selling a home can be a stressful, scary and overall emotionally-daunting process.

It makes perfect sense that the majority of sellers found their agent through a personal referral.

This is as close to a promise as they can most likely get.

So, does this mean that you’ve been wasting your time targeting sellers on Facebook?

Absolutely not!

If anything, you’ve got another leg up.

Especially if your testimonials are shining nicely on your real estate website.

FSBOs Are Still Here…Just Barely

Good news, right?

Here are the methods The National Association of Realtors found FSBOs use to market properties:

• • Yard sign: 33%
  • Friends, relatives, or neighbors: 21%
  • Online classified advertisements: 10%
  • Open house: 21%
  • For-sale-by-owner websites: 7%
  • Social networking websites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.): 9%
  • Multiple Listing Service (MLS) website: 13%
  • Print newspaper advertisement: 3%
  • Direct mail (flyers, postcards, etc.): 2%
  • Video: 1%
  • None: Did not actively market home: 41%

And here’s what they find most difficult:

Getting the right price: 18%.

via GIPHY

Remember that FSBOs are not a lost cause.

Many of them will eventually sign on with an agent.

They just may need a nudge in the right direction.

Knowing these stats can definitely help you get the conversation started with them.

Here’s a few more things they struggle with during the process:

• Preparing/fixing up home for sale: 13%
• Understanding and performing paperwork: 12%
• Selling within the planned length of time: 3%
• Having enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale: 3%

First-Time Buyers Dominate

We’ve pretty much drove this home in every stat.

And it’s really the most important takeaway from this buyers and sellers roundup.

Buyers, and sellers, are particularly cautious in today’s market. And it really is completely up to you to see them through the transaction relatively unscathed.

You’ve now also got a more clear understanding of the type of content that is going to be more valuable to your leads.

Have you made a guide for first-time home buyers that you can giveaway on your site?

If not, use this one: CLICK HERE

Just click file, copy, save it to your own drive and you can swap our our sample info for your own.

Before we finish up here, I have two more staggering statistics for you that will make a huge impact on how you reach these audiences.

BONUS ROUND

91% of realtors use social media to some extent

“to some extent”

Why isn’t this at 100%???

Social media is

FREE

MARKETING

While some traditional marketing strategies may still be of use to you, they’ll never compare to what you can achieve in the digital world.

But, this isn’t the statistic that left my jaw on the floor.

It’s this revelation –

Only 9% of Realtors use social media to market their listings

More questions…

Why is this number so low?

AND what the heck are the other 91% doing online?

via GIPHY

While you shouldn’t rely on your social networks alone to promote your listings, you should definitely be marketing them on these platforms.

You know…

These

FREE

MARKETING

sites.

It couldn’t hurt is all I’m saying.

Plus, with 52% of all home buyers using an iPhone in their home search, you can be they’re going to be swiping through Facebook.

Wrapping Up

What stats would you add to this list?

I hope these have been helpful for you!

This should give you enough information to start your own hyper-localized research so you can get a better idea of who you’re serving in your community and what kind of clients are making up the current market.

Feel free to share these stats on your own blog as well!

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Tyler Zey

Hey! I'm Tyler with Easy Agent Pro! We provide top notch marketing content for realtors... And we do it for FREE! I get excited about sharing tactics and strategies that can be implemented TODAY.

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