Monday, 28 April 2014

Representing Clients in Neighbourhoods That You Are Not Familiar With


No one ever wants to pass on a deal, and whether it be the result of online marketing or a referral from a friend or family member, sometimes you are approached by clients who have a home to list or are interested in a particular neighbourhood that you are not familiar with.  
 
Many real estate sales professionals have differing positions on this. Some real estate sales professional stick exclusively to defined areas and will not take on business outside of those areas. These real estate sales professionals may tell you that this is because they are acting in the best interest of their client and that no real estate sales professional should veer outside of territory that they know well. However, other real estate sales professionals may argue that this is not a luxury that one can afford – and so will offer representation outside of their usual area.

Fortunately, with the advancement of technology, it is not so risky these days to represent a client in an area you are not familiar with. There are things you can do to find out everything that will enable you to work with a client in an area that you don’t usually work in. 

·        Take advantage of aerial imagery – using different online tools you can view aerial imagery of a particular neighbourhood to identify both positive attributes such as parks, schools and transit, as well as negative attributes like train tracks, factories, highways and other issues that could be a concern for your client.
·        Test comparables – pull comparable sales of properties in the area in question to get a sense of what things are selling for.
·        Demographics – like aerial imagery, there are tools available that enable you, at the click of a mouse, to learn demographics information about a particular neighbourhood such as family make-up (couples, families, seniors), schools, income ranges, types of residents: owners vs renters, and more…
It all comes down to research, and fortunately the internet has placed the tools we need at our fingertips. This is coupled with the fact that the emergence of real estate apps for real estate sales professionals takes you from only being able to perform research in your office to being able to perform research on the go on your iPad. 

It seems that by embracing technology and both online tools and apps for real estate sales professionals, one can take on a client in a neighbourhood they are not familiar with and do a fine job representing them through performing the research required to do so.
 
For more information about how to access important demographics information, sales history information, aerial imagery on a property or area, visit www.geowarehouse.ca 

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