2. With the summer buying season winding down
as students return to school and cooler weather
starts creeping up on us, it’s more important
than ever to get (and stay) in front of new and
existing clients. A home buyer seminar is a great
way to do this.
3. Real Estate Is a Contact Sport
As in other businesses, much of the success you
have in real estate depends on the amount of
time you spend face-to-face with people.
Postcards and emails are excellent ways of
maintaining relationships, but there is no
substitute for a captive audience. A home buyer
seminar gives you a chance to tell them why
they need a good real estate agent and why
you’re the one they should be working with.
4. Assembling Your Team
Having a team of professionals
you can present as part of your
services will go a long way in
adding to your credibility. And
having a mortgage professional,
a real estate attorney, a home inspector and
possibly a credit repair specialist rounds out the
list of services you can provide to potential clients.
5. Even if your clients wind up using professionals
other than the ones on your team, the message
you’re sending out by having them available
speaks volumes about how far you are willing to
go to help your clients. Another benefit to
having a team is that all will share in the
marketing expenses. The larger the budget, the
larger prospective audience you can reach out
to.
6. Where to Have It
Using a neutral location to hold your seminar is
a good idea. Holding it at a
real estate office sounds
great in theory, but
potential attendees
may perceive this as
some type of hard-sell
presentation and may
opt to pass on it. Good ideas for reasonably
priced or even free locations include community
centers and large conference rooms in libraries.
7. Unless you have a large budget to spend, keep it
simple at first; you may have a low turnout the
first time around. Once you get an idea of what
turnouts you can expect, you can do the
seminar on a larger scale.
8. When to Have It
Because most people work in the daytime hours
and during the week, the times you can expect a
large audience will be limited to nights and
weekends. Friday nights are probably out, as
most people want to wind down from the week
and may be less inclined to spend the evening at
a home buyer seminar. Monday through
Thursday nights are best, and the period from
6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. works for most. Any later
than that and attendees may pass you up in
favor of bedtime – theirs or the kids’.
9. Who Do You Invite?
For a maximum turnout, you want your invitees
to live as close as possible to your seminar
location. People living in apartment complexes
and rental properties are an obvious target
audience. Your MLS likely provides rental listing
information, and you can target renters whose
leases will expire in coming months.
