There’s arguably no one as dependent on lead statistics as real estate agents.
After all, your livelihood depends on numbers like how many homes are sold in a quarter, your commission rate, and the all-important lead stats.
Any change in such variables has the potential to impact your life.
The statistics, especially when it comes to leads, are informational. They serve to help you understand the industry and then go forth and craft a strategy that will boost your bottom line.
So, what does the year ahead look like for your market? Fortunately, most agents in the industry are optimistic about 2018, according to one special report from Inman.
But, it’s not optimism that’s going to keep the market going.
So, to help you clearly define the industry, we present 10 lead stats you should know about and how you can turn them to your advantage.
1. Homebuyers that Find the Homes They Purchase Via an Agent
The number here is 33%. Despite the fact that just over 40% of buyers tend to find their homes online, agents still account for a third of home discovery. So, if you’re not marketing yourself and garnering new leads, you need to be.
2. Millennials Selling their Homes
A staggering 75% of this generation who are selling their home are actually first-time sellers. They’ve likely only owned the one home up to now. Here’s an exceptional opportunity for you to present yourself as the seller’s agent in the area, specializing in Millennials.
3. Homebuyers Who Purchase a Multi-Generational Home
13% of baby boomers whose children have either moved back or who are looking after elderly parents account for the majority of multi-generational property sales. There’s a great opportunity for you to garner leads in a rather niche market. In fact, it’s worth noting that baby boomers make up the largest section of the market at just over 20%.
4. Average Time it Takes to Find an Agent and Buy a Home
The answer here is anything from several weeks to several months. We know that this industry comes with a rather long sales cycle, but you only have a small window in which to get your foot in the door. So, start thinking of ways to leverage your marketing strategy to reach leads when they very first begin looking for a property.
5. Drone Use
Here’s a stat worth knowing: real estate is expected to account for more than 20% of all drone use by 2020 – that’s just two years away. Yet, more than 55% of real estate agents do not yet make use of drones, with around 22% of agents reporting their agents do use drones.
What’s more, more and more buyers are expecting video footage of properties, which can be difficult to capture for higher-end listings like farms, commercial properties and those larger estates on your books.
Yet, drones can effortlessly convey the enormity of a property and offer potential buyers the perfect bird’s eye view, while helping you and your team stand head and shoulders above the competition and help to skyrocket your business.
6. Buyers and Sellers Most Likely to Find You Via a Referral
100% of all buyers and sellers, regardless of their age, are most likely to find you through a referral. Word-of-mouth remains extremely important, as does social and online marketing in this day and age. Don’t miss out on the golden opportunity to potentially triple your leads.
7. Homebuyers That Notice Yard Signs
50% of homebuyers notice yard signs. In fact, while 44% of homebuyers do find their next home online, more than half of buyers search for yard signs as information resources. In any case, the majority of online searches lead to a drive-by anyway. So, make sure you’re putting those yard signs where they can be seen and that they include the relevant contact details.
8. Renting Before Purchasing
Did you know that a rather large 44% of homebuyers actually rented before they bought the home they now live in?
Just because your leads and prospects are renting, doesn’t mean they are not ready to buy a home. That means you can start developing targeted marketing campaigns to send to those renters who are more than ready to be homeowners.
9. Response Rates to Direct Mail Campaigns
In the past year, customer response rates have increased by a whopping 43%.
While many agents continue to clamor for space on Zillow and leverage social media platforms, the savvier of agents are sticking with tried-and-true marketing methods to entice and reel in leads.
10. Photo Listings Really Do Sell
Listings that have high-res photos tend to sell about or just above the list of the price around 44% of the time. What’s more, 64% of the time those properties will sell within just six months.
This means you need an excellent camera and high-quality printing, so your listings can be displayed in brilliant detail.
Make These Statistics Work for You
With these stats, you can go forth and develop a well-targeted, solid campaign that will reel in those leads and convert them to homebuyers or sellers.
Need help nurturing your leads? Get in touch with Verse today.