Millennials are entering the real estate industry in force. As the next generation of first-time home buyers arrives, real estate agents need to develop ways to engage with this new target audience. As a real estate professional, you likely have your niche that you specialize in, whether that’s first-time homebuyers or military relocations. Whatever your niche, you need content that attracts qualified leads to your website.
Real Estate Blog Post Ideas
The millennial generation has its own interests, concerns, preferences, etc. For real estate professionals to connect with them and hopefully conduct business with them, agents need to put out content that will grab their attention and make them want to seek out more information. To help with this, we have provided ten blog post ideas to attract first-time home buyers.
Address and Take Down Stereotypes
All prospective first-time buyers want to know that their real estate agent understands their situation and circumstances. Millennials have experienced unique challenges, perhaps the most notable being two major economic recessions and the burden of immense student loan debt. Many have eyed the housing market for years but have been barred from entering due to debt, rising home costs, etc.
Prominent figures in the media have perpetuated the so-called “Avocado Toast” stereotype, in which it has been suggested that millennials are simply irresponsible with their money. For this reason, they are looking for an agent that can understand these hurdles and how to overcome them. If you want to attract potential customers, you should show how you can help them buy their first house despite the many obstacles they may face.
Conversational Explanations of Common Real Estate Terms
First-time home buyers, especially millennials, appreciate authenticity in business interactions. Naturally, they want real estate agents to be knowledgeable, competent, and enthusiastic, but they also want to interact with you as a person. Growing up with social media, they have a less formal definition of business interactions. They prefer an honest assessment of the homes and which homes would be in their price range. Additionally, they want you to skip the jargon and explain what things like “escrow” mean in layman’s terms.
Perhaps because of the general disenfranchisement described earlier, first-time homebuyers may be inherently suspicious of disingenuous conversations or being misled when it comes to their money. So, be yourself! Have frank, relaxed conversations with them about their best options. They will appreciate your honesty.
Helpful 101 Blogs
Every real estate agent has encountered a potential buyer whose enthusiasm has outweighed their actual industry knowledge. There is no Real Estate 101 course in high school, and typically university students graduate in their specific fields without any training in how to buy a home. Most first-time buyers enter the market with very little knowledge of how to proceed.
To help with this, writing a series of real estate 101 blogs can be enticing and helpful to potential first-time home buyers. The types of blogs can vary from determining a property’s value, defining a mortgage, deciding what’s suitable for a mortgage interest rate, etc. They are interested in learning, so all you have to do is put out engaging, educational content! A couple of real estate blog ideas include how the selling process works, what to look for in mortgage rates, and your advice for real estate buyers in your local market.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Blog
Having a FAQ blog is essential for any real estate firm. Like the Real Estate 101 blogs, an influential FAQ blog can help answer first-time buyers’ most common questions. For the more complicated questions, they will most likely want to rely on your expertise, but for the basic foundational questions, they will want to know for themselves. A FAQ blog can show them that you understand the questions and needs of a first-time buyer and can provide comfort to them because most first-time buyers have the same questions.
Preferred Forms of Contact and About You Blog
The new generation of home buyers prefers different contact forms than the previous generation. They are not fond of phone calls. There have been countless articles about this in the news, so this probably won’t come as a surprise. However, many real estate agents know this about millennials, but they fail to implement it into their communication methods. Sometimes, even the best professionals get stuck in their time-tested methods and forget to adapt to their new potential clients. Trends are gravitating away from traditional phone calls and towards texting and the use of social media channels. This doesn’t mean never making a phone call, as all agents know sometimes the best choice. Instead, it means that agents need to familiarize themselves with new forms of contact and determine which channel the client feels the most comfortable with.
Social Media’s Role in an Agent’s Marketing Strategy
The natural state industry is steadily moving online. More and more real estate listings are being seen and pursued through social media. Millennials are the first generation to grow up with social media, and several recent studies of newly purchased homes showed that most buyers first saw the listing on social media. Therefore, real estate agents need to be savvy in navigating the uses and conventions of each social media platform.
Instagram and the Local Real Estate Market
Real estate agencies would benefit from a blog demonstrating their content on their Instagram page. Instagram should prioritize the appearance the beauty of the home. People interact with this platform visually, so the pictures should be professionally done, and any accompanying writing should be brief. The corresponding blog should feature some visuals and make the reader interested enough to give your page a follow. This is an excellent opportunity to show off your professional photography marketing materials!
YouTube Explanations
Like Instagram, Youtube prioritizes the visual, but you can also include other elements. Many popular YouTube channels provide full tours of homes for sale. Some of these videos receive views in the millions. Your blog should advertise your YouTube channel and demonstrate to the prospective buyer that your agency offers fun and thorough tours of homes in the area. YouTube also can be an opportunity to show your audience your personality. Potential clients are drawn to a competent, charismatic personality. Have fun with it!
Facebook Posts
On Facebook, you can present a well-rounded listing. While this isn’t quite a blog post idea, the conventions of Facebook allow an agent to show pictures like Instagram. Additionally, Facebook allows for more written descriptive content. It is not uncommon to have a complete photo album of the property and an extensive bullet-point list of all the essential information. You can link your blog to the social media post. So, your blog should also include this content and provide easy link access, so the viewer can smoothly transition over to your Facebook page.
Surrounding Attractions in Your Farm Area
New home buyers are interested in more than just the home and the property–they also want to know about the attractions in the area. Perhaps more than ever before, new home buyers want to know what the site can offer. They are excited about natural beauty like lakes, hiking trails, access to water, and more. Homebuyers are excited about local restaurants, mainly if they have been featured on the Food Network! They are excited about the local nightlife: popular dive bars, dance clubs, etc. Effective real estate agents have been incorporating more of this into their listings and the more traditional elements like schools and public transit.
Student Loan Debt (Debt-to-Income Ratio)
As mentioned earlier, this new generation of first-time homebuyers is, in general, saddled with substantial student loan debt. Often, they approach their first home with a great deal of trepidation, as they are unsure how to navigate a new home’s finances and the burden of student loan payments. Many first-time buyers would benefit from a blog and a direct conversation about how to manage their debt-to-income ratio and still be able to finance a new home.
