Top-producing real estate agents typically employ a multi-faceted strategy for prospecting and business development. Most of these agents will focus on newly-expired listing leads as the foundation of their prospecting outreach. Secondarily, they may prospect For Sale by Owner (FSBO) leads, knowing that most FSBOs (90% or more) eventually turn to a real estate professional after going it alone for several months.
Another revenue source for top performers is targeting specific neighborhoods or sub-divisions. This neighborhood approach is known as either geo-farming or circle prospecting. Most agents use these terms interchangeably, but technically, they mean different things, as discussed below.
In this post we’ll cover the essentials of real estate farming and provide tips to help you become the neighborhood expert in your area.
REAL ESTATE FARMING
The basics
Becoming a neighborhood expert is an excellent way to differentiate yourself as a real estateAre there particular neighborhoods you are in and out of all the time? Do you want to be the neighborhood specialist who comes to mind when homeowners are ready to sell or know someone who is? Geo-farming is a long-term strategy designed to establish you as the “go-to” agent in a particular area.
The approach to geo-farming includes:
Consistently market to homeowners in your selected geography to keep your name top of mind with them.
Your marketing strategy may involve direct mail campaigns, door-knocking, sponsoring local events or charitable organizations.
You may also phone prospect using advanced technology, such as Espresso Agent’s NEIGHBORHOOD SEARCH TOOLS, which are discussed below in more detail.
Geo-farming is a strategic approach designed for agents who would like to be known as the “go-to expert” in a particular area or neighborhood.
CIRCLE PROSPECTING
Leveraging your recent activity
Circle prospecting is a more immediate strategy that capitalizes on an agent’s recent activity in an area, notably:
Just-listed outreach: When one house goes on the market, another in the neighborhood typically goes on the market within 2-3 weeks. When you take a listing with a Espresso Agent expired, FSBO, or FRBO/Investor, call around it in order to grab the next listing! Let homeowners know you are a trusted agent in their neighborhood. They may be open to selling, and they may want to hand-pick their new neighbor by bringing you a buyer.
Just sold outreach: You (or a colleague) just sold the home down the street! Your credibility with neighbors is at an all-time high when you make these calls. Neighbors may know the real estate market is strong, but they may not know what it means for them. Hearing that the home down the street sold at a record-high neighborhood price or in record time could be the catalyst a potential seller needs to take action.
The circle prospecting strategy includes:
Calling or sending flyers/postcards to homes within a relatively tight radius of recent activity.
Highlighting your success as a listing agent to see if the homeowner might be interested in selling their home soon.
Or, asking the homeowner if they have friends or families who might be interested in moving to the neighborhood.
Again, circle prospecting is designed to leverage recent sales activity to secure additional business in a given area.
So, let’s summarize the difference between these two real estate prospecting approaches.
Geo-farming is a longer-term strategy involving ongoing marketing to build the agent’s reputation as a neighborhood specialist.
Circle prospecting is tied to recent sales activity and is designed to more immediate results.
In the next section, we’ll define geo-farming and discuss the benefits of becoming a neighborhood specialist.
WHAT IS FARMING IN REAL ESTATE
Towards an understanding of geo-farming
As we said in the previous section, an agent might focus on geo-farming in real estate to establish themselves as a specific area of an MLS.
Let’s look at a few of the characteristics defining a geo-farming strategy.
A value proposition: You provide value to the residents of your areas through market updates, home valuations, and referrals to home improvement specialists (e.g., landscapers and painters).
Building your personal brand: Through ongoing marketing and involvement in local community activities, you can imprint your name as someone to trust with the sale of a home.
Continuous marketing: You’ll need to invest time and energy to keep your brand top of mind in your chosen area. This marketing outreach could include phone prospecting (using Espresso Agent’s Neighborhood Search tools), direct mail campaigns (postcards, newsletters), door knocking, local events, social media advertising, and online marketing tailored to that geographic region.
Benefits of geo-farming.
Real estate agents can realize a variety of benefits through geo-farming. Here are a few:
Local credibility: Consistent marketing and listing success in a specific area establishes you as the go-to expert in the neighborhood. This credibility can be enhanced as you gain a deeper understanding of local trends, property values and issues that might be relevant to future home buyers.
High-quality referrals and leads: As you establish your brand and reputation, satisfied customers will likely refer you to friends and family. This allows you to build your prospecting pipeline over time.
Community goodwill: Investing time and energy in your local community builds goodwill, which ultimately translates to being a real estate agent that people will trust with the biggest financial decision they might ever make.
Competitive point of difference: Real estate is a highly competitive business. As such, if you position yourself as a neighborhood expert, you create a distinct point of difference versus other agents in your area.
BECOMING THE NEIGHBORHOOD EXPERT
A strategic approach
As outlined above, there are many ways to succeed in real estate. Increasingly, many agents are embracing becoming their area’s expert, go-to agent. The neighborhood expert niche can be lucrative. But it’s important to understand that it’s a long game (relative to prospecting expireds). You need to build your personal brand equity as an expert, including developing a pool of satisfied customers who would gladly recommend your services to friends and family members.
In this section, we’re going to take a look at strategies you need to employ to build your presence and expertise in your area:
Master the Local Market
Study Market Trends: Analyze recent home sales, average prices, days on the market, and price per square foot. Stay updated on market shifts.
Know Inventory: Familiarize yourself with every listing in the neighborhood—active, pending, and recently sold properties.
Understand Local Value Drivers: Know what makes properties desirable in the area—school quality, walkability, public transportation, parks, or shopping districts.
Build Relationships in the Community
Engage With Residents: Attend local events, join neighborhood groups, and be an active participant in community activities.
Talk to Local Businesses: Forge relationships with local shop owners, restaurants, and service providers. They can be valuable allies for referrals and insider knowledge.
Create a Network of Professionals: Partner with landscapers, contractors, home inspectors, and stagers who can help you offer more value to your clients.
Establish a Strong Local Presence
Sponsor local events, such a school programs, charity runs or street markets to improve your visibility.
Volunteer: Contributing to local causes builds goodwill and reinforces your connection to the neighborhood.
Build a Reputation as the Go-To Resource
Answer Questions: Be available to answer inquiries about the neighborhood, from housing trends to the best coffee shop.
Offer Neighborhood-Specific Guides: Create downloadable guides for potential buyers with maps, school info, and amenities
Be Consistent: Ensure your communication style, branding, and presence remain consistent across platforms and interactions.
Stay Visible
Frequent the Area: Make yourself a regular in the neighborhood—people will start to recognize you.
Signage: Have a noticeable presence with professional and consistent yard signs.
Connect with HOAs or Neighborhood Associations: Partner with local homeowner associations to attend meetings and stay in the loop.
Leverage Testimonials and Referrals
Ask for reviews: Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews that highlight your neighborhood expertise
Share success stories: Highlight how your knowledge helped past clients secure the perfect home or sell quickly.
Be Authentic and Approachable
Listen to Residents: Their insights and feedback can help you understand the community better.
Engage Authentically: Build genuine relationships rather than focusing solely on transactions.
NEIGHBORHOOD EXPERT MARKETING TIPS
Building your personal brand
As discussed above, becoming a neighborhood expert is a long-term strategy, but one with significant potential. You must put in the effort to build awareness of your “personal brand” over time. Here are few suggested marketing tactics to get you started.
Hyper-local social media campaigns.
Weekly updates: Share quick stats about your area.
Neighborhood highlight: Showcase local businesses, parks, events.
Client success stories: Post testimonials from client in the areas
Community event sponsorship
Neighborhood clean-up days: Organize a clean-up event
Seasonal celebrations: Host a party for key holidays, like Halloween
Workshops: Offer free workshops on relevant topics, such as “How to Prep Your Home for Sale.”
Custom Neighborhood Guides
Overview of the neighborhood’s history.
Top-rated schools and nearby amenities.
Insider tips: best restaurants, parks, and shops
Monthly Newsletter
Upcoming local events.
New listings and recent sales.
A “Featured Local Business” section.
THE ESPRESSO AGENT GEO-FARMING/CIRCLE PROSPECTING EDGE
Get verified, reliable leads that convert. Choose standard data for the best industry data results or experience our premium data upgrade which provides more robust on-demand data (More cell numbers and verified emails).
Save time with quick, ready-to-call lead data: Instantly kickstart your real estate outreach by quickly building a targeted contact list with our neighborhood search tool. Begin dialing your desired contacts right away.
Seamless workflows: All your tools in one place. You can effortlessly import and manage your entire real estate database, thus boosting your lead generation potential.
Superior targeting
Espresso Agent gives you the ability to identify common targets for real estate farming, including:
Likely to List: Target homeowners who fit the profile of someone likely to sell in the near future. With Espresso Agent’s predictive analytics, you’ll be the first to know who’s getting ready to move, giving you a competitive edge.
Absentee Owners: Absentee owners are often motivated to sell, especially in competitive markets. Whether they are landlords or out-of-state owners, this group presents a golden opportunity to secure listings.
Empty Nester: Many empty nesters are ready to downsize, making them prime candidates for your outreach. Our system identifies these homeowners so you can offer solutions that meet their changing needs.
High Equity: High-equity homeowners are sitting on valuable property investments. With Espresso Agent, you can easily connect with this group, offering them insights into how they can maximize their return by selling in today’s market.
Free and Clear: Homeowners with no mortgage debt often have flexibility and financial freedom to sell. Espresso Agent helps you pinpoint these opportunities, making it easier to connect with sellers looking to cash out.
Preforeclosures: Preforeclosure properties represent a time-sensitive opportunity to assist homeowners in distress by reaching out before the bank steps in. *These leads are currently only available for non-judicial states.*
CLOSING THOUGHTS
You can do this!
The best way to maximize the promise of real estate farming is to employ the advanced technology offered by Espresso Agent. In addition to our superior neighborhood search data discussed in the previous section, you can get:
Comprehensive CRM software to keep you organized and on-task with your follow-up.
World-class dialerthat allows you to make significantly more calls than by manually dialing.
The best and most responsive customer service team in the industry.
TODAY’S BREWbrings you interviews with some of the top-producing agents in the industry who share their tips for listing success.
