8 campaign ideas for finding more listings

Welcome back to our "Tips and Tricks Tuesday" series, which highlights articles around a monthly theme. August's theme is "Finding more homes for sale." Read on for tips and tricks for finding business even in challenging market:

This is the bottom line: Realtors are always looking for more homes to sell.

It doesn't matter what industry forecasters predict for the housing market, how much interest and mortgage rates have risen or fallen, whether home sales are up or down, or how the paradigms of the industry are shifting. The core of the real estate industry is home sales. So how do industry professionals find more homes to sell?

The key is smart prospecting, and one tool can help you in this endeavor — your MLS's property data tool.

Let's look at an example: CRS Data's MLS Tax Suite offers prospecting maps, demographic tools and property reports, and real estate professionals can find a wealth of information about residential properties they may want to prospect. The technology available allows Realtors to become not just familiar with certain neighborhoods or certain geographical areas, but to become experts. And what homebuyer wouldn't want an expert helping them make one of the most important decisions of their lives?

You can use your MLS's property data tool to identify prospects, create mailing lists and even print out mailing labels for marketing campaigns. (Check out this link to see how easy CRS Data makes it to build a prospecting list of homeowners who may be looking to sell.)

Need campaign ideas? We've got you covered! Here are eight marketing campaign ideas for drumming up new business:

1. Rising home values campaign - Record-high home prices go hand-in-hand with record-low housing inventory. Nudge reluctant sellers off the fence by reminding them how much profit they can make off their home if they sell now. Send out mailers that list how much home prices have risen in the area you're targeting. Be sure to include a call-to-action to contact you for a free home valuation, or to visit a dedicated landing page for a free online valuation (e.g., What's your home worth? Find out here!).

2. Sold listing campaign - After you sell a home, send out a mailer to homes nearby that shows what the home sold for. In today's market, that's usually a big number, so make that information prominent. If the home sold over the asking price or very quickly, mention that. You want your prospects to associate you with a potentially lucrative opportunity to sell their home. As with the above idea, include your contact information and a call-to-action. Your goal here is to capture potential seller leads.

3. New listing campaign - One thing you can count on with homeowners — they're curious about other homes in their neighborhood. What do they look like? How much are they worth compared to my home? Tap into this curiosity by sending a postcard or flier that announces your new listing and all its details: price, bed/bath, square footage, school district, etc. This campaign's goal is to build awareness of you as the go-to Realtor for selling homes in the area.

4. Expired listings campaign - If there's one thing expired listings have going for them, it's this: they want to sell their home. Something went wrong with their last attempt at a sale — the price was too high, repairs were needed, or maybe their previous agent wasn't suited to the task. Whatever the case, these owners are prime targets for prospecting. Send them or physically drop off a packet touting your experience and successes to encourage them to list their home with you.

5. Likely mover campaign - How long do residents in your area stay in their homes? If you know this piece of information, you can use it to target owners who have been in their home for around that amount of time — and statistically may be likely to move soon. A postcard or other mailer from you may help nudge them into listing. Just be sure to use your public records tool to remove active "for sale" homes from your list, as they obviously don't need your services — and you don't need to waste your marketing budget.

6. Renters/new buyers campaign - Do you enjoy working with first-time buyers? Consider targeting renters in affluent neighborhoods. Finding them in your property data system is a little less straightforward than finding current homeowners, however. Fortunately, your property data platform's "owner type" filter can help. For example, in CRS Data's MLS Tax Suite, you can filter results by absentee owner, out-of-state owner, in-state owner, and owner-occupied properties. All options except owner-occupied can help you target properties with renters.

Tip: Target renters in more prosperous areas or near major area employers, as these prospects are more likely to be interested in and capable of buying.

7. Open house campaign - As with the first campaign, the open house campaign is a brand-building venture. (You can also send these campaigns to your broader geographic farm.) When neighbors do show up to your open house, don't dismiss them as curious looky-loos. They may be more than just nosy; they may be thinking of selling their own home and are curious to see how their home stacks up.

This is a great opportunity to get their contact information so that you can send them a quick home valuation or comparative market analysis. You can email this to them, or even offer to deliver it in person if they seem especially likely to list!

8. Geographic farming campaign - Is there a high number of homes for sale in a specific area you serve? Put their MLS photos on a single postcard, along with their price and bed/bath count, and send it to homeowners in the neighborhood or to those who may want to move there.

Even if not all the listings on the postcard are yours, you can use them to bait potential buyers into calling you for a tour. For area homeowners, you can invite them to contact you to see how their home's value compares.

For more information about CRS Data, visit their website.

Not a CRS Data user? Contact your public records provider or MLS help desk for assistance. You can also explore more public records solutions in our Product Directory.