Just Got A Builder Account - Any Ideas?

[Ryocheck]

Hello,

I just picked up a new home builder account in my area. Do any of you guys have experience working with home builders in your market? What type of marketing have you found to be most successful?

I am just looking for some new ideas that are not being used up here in Alaska that I might try. I already do the typical; web site, newspaper, mailings, real estate books.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[erogers]

Hopefully you have a contract that gives you something for EVERY unit sold in that community. If so, the best advertising you can do is agent-to-agent. Bring in the agents and show them you respect and want to work with them and they'll bring in the buyers.

[Bhamhomes]

Ryan - I've been a builder rep for 14 years...pm me or email with some questions and I'll give you some pointers.

[Ryocheck]

I do get a commission for every home sold so marketing to realtors is a great idea. I am just looking for some original ideas to my market that might set me and my builder apart. Maybe an agent bus tour during the week? Include some prizes? Or since we are only working with mainly pre-sales at this point a video presentation and get to know the builder and representative party?

[Jaysonnhs]

Ryan,

A couple of builders I used to work with found a lot of success highlighting only one or two homes at a time with a good incentive attached.

Always better results with events - "Pre-construction Pricing" - "Pre-Grand Opening Prices" -

A high co-broke will always clear some homes (or at least it used to) if you find a company with a good email list.

I'm sure you've done some local press but if not you might want to hire a company and get some

If you do a party, after showing the agents why your homes are in their client's best interest, you can hand out 4 or 5% commission flyers, cards....

Have you tried PPC (different landing pages with different incentives e.g. low interest rate, free landscaping, Pick 4 upgrades FREE, No closing costs, 6 months - 1 year no payments)??

[erogers]

Make registration as easy as possible. Allow agents to register their clients by phone, fax and e-mail. Even allow agents to register clients that have already visited the community up to 2 weeks after their first visit. Make sure you communicate this to the Realtor community. Market yourself and that builder as someone who wants to work WITH the Realtor community.

I've sold several new construction homes this summer - the best community I sold at they were very respectful of me and my client. I would bring back other clients without hesitation. Another community I visited with another client at the same time treated me very rudely and tried to screw me out of a registration. I will never return there with another client if I can help it.

[Bhamhomes]

I've sold several new construction homes this summer - the best community I sold at they were very respectful of me and my client. I would bring back other clients without hesitation. Another community I visited with another client at the same time treated me very rudely and tried to screw me out of a registration. I will never return there with another client if I can help it.

It's very important that all the Realtors in your market area know that the builder rep has an excellent reputation when it comes to handling buyers that walk-in to open houses and contacts with the builder rep. By this I mean...don't ever chase after a buyer knowing that they have an established relationship with another Realtor. You need the Realtor community, and the minute you cross that line, that's bad news and it travels fast.

With that said...about 30% the deals in our new homes community are written by me. That number could be a lot higher...but Id much rather sleep at nite knowing we did the right thing. Once you find out who they are working with, call the agent and let them know their clients stopped by. Assist the agent as much as you can, and in the end they appreciate it, and will bring you a deal if the buyers have an interest. Your reputation is very important when selling new homes...trust me...I've been doing it for 14 years!

[SLP-NYCT]

Make sure your web site is specific to the builder. You can link it or add it to your site for hits, but the site should be themed around the builder or community.

[Ryocheck]

Thanks for all the good ideas. I just registered a couple of domain names for the builders new communities. I really like the the no payments idea as well but I need to get with a lender and see how feasible that is here.

[Mark Cheng]

If it's a community with some different floor plans or locations, I would try to sell the hardest to sell homes first. You can do this by making them the model homes if you have multiple homes of the same plan, or by pricing the hard to sell unit(s) significantly lower than the rest, then adjusting the prices later.