Farming Works
I am referring to a territory that a sales person will work within the boundary. This is considered their farm. Let’s narrow the field and focus on real estate sales. Farming is an older and more complete term for prospecting for new clients to work with. A few years ago the term “Prospecting” was replaced with the term “Lead Generating.” These two terms don’t encompass near as much as “Farming.”
Real estate is very territorial. Having a license to sell real estate in Alabama permits one to sell anywhere in the state but common sense tells us we can’t provide quality service from one end of the state to the other. A person can have license in multiple states but that doesn’t mean they can provide quality service from their home town. I live in an area that only a few miles separate Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Some people hold a license in each of those states. You can’t sufficiently service a county, not even a city within a county.
If a person really wants to be successful in selling real estate, they should select an area of a city, or a subdivision to be their territory. They are going to farm this territory by focusing all their efforts on this territory much like an agricultural farmer tends to his crops. When concentrating on a small area, one can make it a priority to learn everything about that particular area. They should become the most knowledgeable person for that area which makes them an expert. Then they can advertise that they specialize in real estate sales in that area and no one possesses more knowledge about the area. The only problem in doing this is once you make such strong statements; you must be able to back it up. Common sense tells us that if we focus on a small area, we can track sales more easily so we can have a better sense for determining the current value. In a smaller area, you can get to know, personally, everyone living in that area. I think you can see the importance of focusing your efforts on a small area compared to a larger territory.
How do I decide which area is best suited for me? This question can be a little tough to answer. I think we have to begin the selection process by determining how much money we need to make annually. The more money you need to earn, the more expensive real estate you need to sell. The way I select an area to farm is spending time driving until I find an area that speaks to me. It has street appeal. It has a good lay-out, well groomed, and pride of ownership is displayed throughout. I really like that area; I would like to live in that area. I would rather live there than anywhere else. If I believe in this area to that extent, I can sell in that area. If I like an area and don’t believe in it, I would be successful selling in it.
Over the next few weeks I will continue to give you a step by step process for generating income by farming.
Should you have specific questions concerning various issues, please let me know and I’ll research the answer for you. I also want to encourage you to subscribe to our “News & Updates” weekly report so you can stay abreast of issues that might affect you when buying or selling real estate. If you haven’t visited my website, please go to www.AlabamaRealEstateInstitute.com and view previous articles.