6 ways estate agents use property data to grow their business

Property data gives you the market intelligence to help your business grow and delivers your clients key information they need to make good, informed decisions.

When used with creativity, experience and best business practices, tools like Homesearch help you prospect and convert warm leads and attract more new instructions – positioning you as the absolute expert in your area(s).

Every day we speak to our clients across the country about how they use Homesearch to run their business and there are some common themes that emerge:

1. They use data to identify prospects who are most likely to buy. The best leads you can find are those who already have their homes on the market and are looking to switch agents. The majority of our clients use Homesearch to find prospects who may be looking for another agent. They look to see what properties are overpriced, have gone stale or are expiring and contact them directly through the platform. Most agents will have a sole agency instruction for 90 days. Agents using Homesearch look for properties that have been on the market for 60+ days (or sooner in some cases as they may convince a vendor to switch agents while still in their cooling off period) and begin the process of delivering exceptional communication to encourage them to switch to a fresh approach. Some clients even use it to access properties that have been listed but withdrawn from the market and reach out to homeowners who may be looking to get back into the market. The best agents are using Homesearch to increase their chances of getting listings based on statistics i.e. how long a property has been on the market or even people have been living in the property- they can then legitimately say to a potential seller that they know four buyers who missed out on another property and ask if they’d be interested in selling. 
2. They use data in their content marketing. Content marketing remains a buzzword in our industry and for good reason. Content marketing boils down to learning what information your potential clients are looking for and giving it to them. Whether that’s via post, email, social media or telephone. Our clients identify what their database values and then deliver it to them via customised reports from Homesearch, One of the key items their clients seems to value the most is the recent sales and recent instructions for homes like theirs in their area. Other key data sets that clients also value are: demand for suburb, income distribution of the suburb residents, rental yields, percentage of owned vs. rented properties in suburb, property types in percentages. All of which you can easily find on Homesearch.
3. They use data to look beyond their local area for new leads. Many agents tend to limit their sales and marketing efforts to their local area. However, with comprehensive and relevant data, you can widen the reach of your business. Some Homesearch users are selling properties that are 10 miles away from their office. With the information they get from the platform, they can instruct and sell anywhere and have confidence that their pricing and sales approach will often achieve more than local agents in that area.
4. They use data to measure their own performance. While some agents are using data to attract more  customers and gain leads, others also use Homesearch to track performance and identify their market share. They look at the properties sold in their area and if they’ve sold more than anyone else, then they know they’re on track for a good year. The data helps them stay on track and also shows them who their main competitors are. That kind of information could be really useful when you come up against them in valuations.
5. They find the needles in the haystack. Some Homesearch clients use the platform with their clients to show them opportunities they wouldn’t have access to with other agents or via the portals. In the last few years, we’ve all seen situations where sellers are reluctant to put their homes on the market because they can’t find anywhere to buy. An agent using Homesearch can overcome that objection in minutes with that client when they show them all of the opportunities available via our explorer tool. Their clients are often amazed at the volume of opportunities they won’t see elsewhere or on the portals. The client loves it and it wins the agent their instruction to sell. Many agents who work with us use Homesearch to really drive their marketing strategy. These are agents who used to do normal 2020 campaigns (like most agents out there), but now with Homesearch they find the homes that match what they’ve just instructed or sold and communicate directly with them. This strategy is working really well for them and setting them apart from other agents in their area.
6. They use data to negotiate on price. When it comes to pricing properties or negotiating offers, many Homesearch clients are using our data to justify pricing and to check homes both recently sold and those currently on the market. Both buyers and sellers will often question how agents came to a price. By using Homesearch to show them a report of homes recently sold and how quickly they’ve sold agents are easily able to justify their pricing.

There’s no doubt that data (particularly the quality and volume held within Homesearch) can help you grow your business. Once you have a defined strategy of how you want data to work for you, you’ll find it much quicker and easier to find what you’re looking for.

Having access to comprehensive property data is often the first step to getting a new client or sale and it can also be used every day in a variety of different ways to win more new instructions, increase your average fees and boost your conversion rates.