18 June 2021

HOW TO WIN REAL ESTATE LISTINGS FROM ANY BUILDER

Introduction:

If you’re a real estate agent, one of the best things you’ll be able to do for your career this year is to cultivate a way to win off plan listings from builders. This is never a bad idea, of course, but the payoff for doing so right now has never looked so good. 

Inman.com and the National Association of Realtors are both reporting huge increases in building permit applications across the world. When it comes to acquiring listings in the coming months, off plan projects are where the opportunities will be. 

The pandemic has changed the way that people shop for property.

As Zillow CEO Rich Barton recently said: “The tectonic shift has occurred.” Elsewhere Barton refers to this as “the Great Reshuffling”. 

He’s talking about the new dominance of virtual property marketing over traditional real estate marketing methods.  

The marketing methods that worked best before the pandemic are no longer the ones that work best now. The slate has been wiped clean. 

Proven track records and established relationships are less valuable than the most sought-after commodity on the market today - expertise in virtual property marketing.

• Virtual Staging has turned real world staging into the Blockbuster Video of the property marketing industry. 
• Buyers now would rather take a Virtual Tour of a property than see it in person. 
• Because of all the off plan projects underway, 3D Renders might even catch up to Virtual Tours as the most sought after marketing device of the year.

All of the above are aspects of our specialization. And all of the above digital products are important to keep in mind as you approach a builder for the first time.

Even if you are an agent with no experience selling property off the plan and have few connections with builders in your area, you can still be in a great position to pick up listings. 

It all comes down to your marketing proposal. If you can convince a builder that you are the best person to market their project to the post-pandemic buyer, you won’t need to have an established relationship with them. You won’t even need a proven track record in off plan sales. 

In this post, we’ll walk you through a perfect suite of virtual property marketing tools that are best suited for selling off plan. And we’ll show you how to use these tools in tandem to put together a marketing proposal that any sensible builder will want to be part of.

THE APPROACH

First, let us consider the wise words of Melanie Ostman from RE/MAX Executives. 

In an online forum, Ostman expertly summarizes the way you should approach a builder and what to prepare for:

“If you haven't already, learn as much as you can about new construction and the builder's product. 

“Second, I suggest approaching the builder(s) in person with a quick introduction and schedule a 20-minute appointment with them where you can discuss with them how you can assist them with selling their homes.

“Why hire you? That will be the biggest question. So have a concise marketing plan laid out that you can present to them in 15 to 20 minutes, and expect another 10 minutes of questions. This is all you should need to distinguish yourself from other agents/realtors.”

All great advice.

Getting the appointment is of course up to you. But if you can nail down such a meeting.  We would like to direct you to our FREE Builder’s Presentation Template. Download it, and use it as an attractive way to deliver your presentation to a builder.

What should go in there? The following items are a must. If you use our template to present the following strategy to a builder, you might walk away from that meeting with millions of dollars worth of fresh listings.

START IN THE SKY: THE AERIAL EDITING ADVANTAGE

As Ostman stresses, it is important to show a builder that you have taken the time to familiarize yourself with their project. Rather than simply telling them, show them an aerial photo of their development site that has been edited with drop pins pointing out highlights and selling points of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Our aerial editing services can accomplish this in an impressive fashion, with few words. 

Once you have the builder’s attention, the following virtual property marketing strategy is sure to transform this attention into interest.

THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS

In the USA, you’d call it a triple play. In Canada, you’d call it a hat-trick. In the UK and Australia, it would probably be a trifecta. This proven, repeatable formula will increase your chances of winning listings.

Why? Because it works. 

No matter where in the world you’re selling off-plan real estate, if these three steps form the backbone of your approach, you will be well-positioned to outshine your competitors whether you are seeking to win or sell a listing off the plan.

STEP 1: THE EXTERNAL 3D RENDER 

Obviously, if you are in your first meeting with a builder, you will not have a 3D render of their project to show them. But you should present them with examples of the sort of external render that would best suit their development - this applies to all of the materials we discuss below.

A quality external render should be one of the first priorities in a marketing plan. At BoxBrownie.com we can whip up the best renders in the industry with a two-week turnaround time so that you can start amazing the public long before ground is broken on your project.

External 3D renders also look great on site billboards/banners, which is why it is imperative to release them as early as possible after a project is approved. 

The release of your external 3D render should, wherever possible, be accompanied by an invitation to “come inside”, that invites the viewer to take a 360° Render Tour of the property.

If the release of an external render precedes the availability of a 360 Render Tour, it should be accompanied by an invitation to attend a render tour of the interior on a future date. This is a great way to collect an email list, while generating interest in the project.

STEP 2: THE 3D FLOOR PLAN

The 3D Floor plan is a sleeper in two major ways. 

First, with all the focus on fancy renders, virtual staging and virtual tours, the floor plan tends to get lost in the shuffle as a marketing device. Yet it is a total necessity in pre-selling your property and remains extremely powerful. 

Because every off plan project must include a floor plan in its marketing materials, talk of a standard floor plan will get you nowhere with a builder. But a 3D Floor Plan as an eye-popping upgrade to this sales staple might catch their interest.

Secondly, the 3D Floor Plan remains underused in the industry. Most projects are still marketed using 2D floor plans which dryly convey important layout information to potential customers. 

Any developer looking for an inside edge should be intrigued by your suggestion to take the tired old floor plan to the next dimension, and literally, we might add. 

It’s a point of difference in a pre-sales package that could distinguish you from other agents who are competing to list this project.

STEP THREE: INTERNAL RENDER 360 TOUR

Buyers and builders alike will be amazed at the way a 3D Floor Plan comes to life in a 360 Render Tour - the grand finale of your virtual marketing platform. 

If you’ve yet to take a 360 tour, TAKE ONE HERE to experience their power.

Immersive, gorgeous, enjoyable and so captivating as to be almost addicting, 360o Render Tours are so lifelike that when you’re on one it's easy to forget you’re touring a home that does not yet exist in the real world. 

Once a buyer can visualize a property from the outside and conceive of its general layout, nothing will convince them to commit to buy like a 360o Render Tour. 

Projects that don’t offer one, will be hard-pressed to entice potential buyers over this final hurdle. 

When we create internal 3D renders for your project, our prices include a 360o Render Tour. Not only do you get the still CGI representation of what the development will look like, you get the interactive version as well. 

What builder would not be moved by such a proposition?

BoxBrownie.com has a Builders Presentation template available for download here. Showcase how you can market and sell a build at any stage of concept or construction.

In March 2021, BoxBrownie.com was named to The Real Estate Almanac’sTech 500 as a world leader in Virtual Property Marketing. Virtual Tours, Virtual Staging, Image Enhancement, are our specializations.

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