Geographic Farm vs. People Farm

Geographic Farm vs. People Farm. Which have you found to be more productive?

[Jim Messenger]

Please define "People Farm".

An example of a "People farm" would be a database based on select "people" versus a database based on a select "area".

[Jim Messenger]

The only "farming" we've done based on that definition is to absentee owners. I believe, generally speaking, they are a quicker resource of income than a purely geographic farm.

What “people farms” have you had success with?

[kensmith]

A people farm would be any group of people that you can categorize. An example might be if you go to your class reunion and get the list of everyone you went to school with and you start farming them. Or church memebers, clubs, employees of a certian company and so forth.

I have not used this type of farming but have heard many speakers talk about it.

[saboy1]

I like the idea of farming absentee owners. I assume that you get the list from tax records, then do a direct mail piece to them?

thanks
John

[kensmith]

Originally Posted by saboy1 I like the idea of farming absentee owners. I assume that you get the list from tax records, then do a direct mail piece to them? thanks John

John if you want to farm absentee owners there is a great way to do it. Get the list of all of them in your town. Drive around and take pictures of each of them, make this the front of your postcard, then your message on the back. If they have any interest in selling you will stand out over the others that mail to absentee owners. It is a little more time consuming and expensive, but your response will be very good. Also who wouldn't read a postcard with a picture of their home on it?

[naplesrealestate]

When farming a geographical area - you should always do a complete analysis to determine if it is going to be profitable and knowing who the competition is.

People farming might be easier, since they know you already.

[kensmith]

Glenn you are so correct that you have to do some research for geographic farming. You need to know how often the homes turn over, what your average commission will be, how established the listing agents are that already have market share, a realistic market share you can take, and with all that you can figure out a realistic ROI.

To many agents jump blindly into farming and say "it doesn't work" while those that do some research swear by it and get a huge percentage of their business from it. The other thing, you can't just do it for 3 or 6 months. This is a long term investment, plan on at least 12 months.

[naplesrealestate]

Ken you are hitting on a very key issue for real estate agents - business planning. Over the years I have seen too many agents not invest in their business plan. They do some easy top level business plan to project the number of listings, sales, average commission and find their income. They never carry it forward for the expenses nor address any goals or objectives. Worst yet, they don't even think about their marketing materials they will be using in the new year.

MMMM- sounds like a good series of articles.