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How To Turn Renters Into Homebuyers

— Michele Watson


Despite the myth that renters are not a valuable lead source, 46% of renters are actively considering a home purchase. If you are anything like most real estate brokers, you understand that with careful and strategic targeting, a great deal of those renters can be converted into long-term clients that will buy, sell, and refer your brokerage to their friends and family. In today’s post, the experts at Weichert are sharing their tips to help you turn those untouched renters into a cash cow for your real estate business.

Which Renters Are Ready To Buy

Randomly targeting renters will usually result in a poor return on your investment of time and energy, which is why many real estate agents have come to think of renters as a bad niche. Therefore, it is important that you invest the resources upfront to gather data about the demographics of the local community to find the highest concentration of potential buyers that are currently renting. Once you have the data revealing the right people to target you will be better able to reach and attract them both on and offline.

Lead With Education

One of the biggest reasons that people rent rather than buy is that they don’t think they are able to afford a home. The best way to combat this concern is through education. As a broker, you need to make sure your agents are up to speed on the very latest financing options. Then run marketing campaigns targeted specifically at renters all based around the idea that “Yes, You Too can Afford Your Own Home”. Flooding your real estate blog, newsletter, and social media platforms with information on financing and entry level inventory that educate renters on how to buy and how much they can afford is key.
If you want to connect with renters in an even more personal way, consider holding first-time-homebuyers’ workshops that explain the process of getting pre-approved, finding the right property, and the value of hiring a Realtor to protect their best interests. The more education you supply with the right renters, the faster your pipeline will fill with leads.

Be Patient & Consistent

While some of the renters you target may convert right away, many will take time. Be patient and remember that you must continue to remind them that you are there to take care of them when they are ready. Connect with them in as many ways that you can to help make this easier. For example, invite them to follow you on social media, invite them to attend any events that you host, drop-by when you are in the neighborhood, etc.. You may be surprised how many people won’t respond to your efforts until they are ready to buy so don’t assume their silence is a lack of interest.

You Need a System to Target Renters

Having a clear cut system for following up with renters, and the right tools to help you do so, will dramatically increase your success with this market. Make sure you have a schedule in place for regularly staying in touch with all of your renters, no matter how hot or cold they appear. Remember that when renters decide or discover that they are ready to buy a house, they will likely do it with the agent that is front-of-mind and that they feel most familiar with at that time.

One of the biggest reasons that Weichert brokers are so successful with the rental market is that they leverage proven processes for generating renter-to-homebuyer leads. It also doesn’t hurt to be able to leverage things like the Weichert Rental Network, a national service for relocation rentals for both individuals and corporate clients. Renters that come through our network, have a much higher likelihood of contacting your team when they decide to buy.

For more information about the full suite of tools and lead generation system that Weichert offers, go to https://www.weichertfranchise.com/

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