How To Carve a Niche In Real Estate & Stay In-Demand

The real estate sector is a highly competitive sector. Breaking into it is difficult, to say the least. In fact, it’s commonly shared that 87% of new real estate agents fail within the first five years.

The reason? Most new real estate agents don’t make the sort of income they need or want in order to continue in the business.

While real estate will always be a competitive business, there are several strategies you can adopt to give yourself a leg up. Perhaps the most productive and least utilized of these is creating a niche — a sort of area you specialize in and promote that attracts new and relevant customers to you.

What is the benefit of having a niche?

A niche creates the ability for you to more easily build trust among potential clientele, which increases the likelihood of you gaining new clientele and therefore closing more deals.

For example, if you become an expert on waterfront properties and all of the particular issues that surround those type of deals and properties, then owners of waterfront homes (as well as those looking to buy them) are far more likely to trust your expertise and judgment when it is offered.

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If a buyer believes you understand flood insurance better than most other agents, they would be more likely to use you as their agent.

A niche sets you apart, which creates opportunities for branding and marketing.

There is an almost unlimited amount of niche. Establishing yourself in one can be instrumental to your success in the real estate business.

Classic Examples of Niches

Creating a niche requires a great level of commitment and consistency in self-promotion. I would love to break it down in the following ways:

1. Social Niches

Social niches are those that you create in your non-real estate life.

Are you a sports fan? Do you watch football matches during weekends?

Pick out a very good viewing center where the range of people you’d love to have as clients frequent.

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Forming bonds with the people you see matches with can be a fantastic opportunity to gain clientele from the person or relations of the person. Pay for their match tickets, or their drinks. Make yourself seen and heard. Try to always subtly chip in what you do when having conversations during and after matches.

This type of a niche is not dissimilar to leveraging your spheres of influence for your business, but it requires a higher level of commitment and self-promotion.

2. Geographic Niches

Geographic niches — focusing on a particular neighborhood, development or part of town — can be incredibly powerful. Success in this type of niche, more than others, requires two things: focus and expertise.

Focusing on a town as a whole is not a niche. A niche is a neighborhood, a few streets, an apartment complex. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t take or pursue business outside of your niche (of course you should!).

I’m just saying that gaining expertise in a very particular area and then marketing that expertise to the area is more likely to result in new business than marketing yourself as a generalist to a much larger area.

Drilling down to a particular niche/area in real estate will perhaps be the most significant step you will make for your business

So How Do I Create a Niche For Myself?

The most successful real estate agents typically aren’t jacks of all trades. They have a specialty, or a niche. When you become an expert in a specific area, you’re better positioned to serve clients seeking your specific knowledge.

Read on for six ways to create your real estate niche.

1. Pinpoint your passion

Why not turn your personal passion into your real estate niche? Think about what you love about real estate. Do you love historic homes? Modern, energy efficient construction? What do you know really well? What part of your job do you always enjoy discussing with others? What designations or certifications have you received that set you apart from other real estate professionals?

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Whatever area of the real estate profession comes to mind when answering these questions is likely where you will find your niche.

2. Analyze and zero in on a specific geographic area

One way to find your real estate specialty is to research demographic trends.

When a person decides they want to sell or purchase a home, they often find a real estate agent through a referral, online, or if they know of an agent who is active in their area.

By focusing your marketing efforts in a specific geographic area, you can increase your market presence there so that your name is top of mind when your services are needed.

3. Identify your favorite client category

Identifying the type of client that best matches your skill set is a very effective strategy for finding your real estate niche. For example, there are certain agents who only work with sellers and list exclusively, while on the other hand there are buyer agents who do not list at all. Whatever the case may be, the happier you are with a specific client category, the more successful you will be at providing them the services they need.

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4. Tap your existing networks

It’s important to consider the other organizations you belong to when attempting to define your real estate niche. For example, are you involved in any sports clubs, school groups, church groups, youth groups, or community support groups? If you are, it’s likely that you can use your involvement in these organizations to your advantage. Creating relationships with those in your community is great way to develop your niche. It also provides you with the opportunity to market yourself, and your skills, as a real estate professional.

5. Earn a professional designation in a specific real estate niche

Once you’ve determined your real estate niche, one of the best ways to explore it is by earning a specific designation.

School of Estate offers professional designations for real estate agents who wish to master a particular aspect or market segment of the real estate industry.

Examples of designations include:

• Real Estate Business Course (REBC) – The purpose of this training is to equip real estate business owners with practical knowledge required to be successful in the real estate market space.
• Real Estate Development Program (REDC) – It offers a wide view on planning of affordable housing, environmental and legislative framework associated with real estate development.
• Property Management – recognized for their expertise in comprehensive, efficient property management systems.
• Real Estate Digital Marketing Program – recognized for their expertise in leveraging technology, social media and general digital marketing in real estate brokerage.