Real Estate Farming Explained

If you're a new real estate agent just getting started in the business, you've probably heard the phrase real estate farming and are wondering what it means. If so, you've come to the right place. This section of the Marketing Encyclopedia explains the promotional farming techniques used by modern real estate agents.

Let's start with a basic definition. Real estate farming takes place when an agent promotes himself / herself to a defined geographical area, also referred to as a "farm area." Of course, this has nothing to do with agriculture. It is a marketing system through which you plant "seeds" to grow your business.

Real Estate Farming Tools & Techniques

Agents use a wide variety of techniques to support their real estate marketing / farming programs. Really, anything that gets your name in front of people in your area could fall under this umbrella definition. This might include such things as public relations (to get your name out there), marketing letters and postcards, email newsletters, etc.

If you want to use direct mail for farming purposes, be sure to check out my book on the subject: The Real Estate Postcard Book

Some real estate agents use cold calling, but we do not recommend this. The National Do-Not-Call Registry makes telemarketing an inefficient and risky marketing technique. You would have to check the registry before calling people to ensure they're not on the list. If you call somebody who is on the list, you can be fined by the FCC. Even if somebody else gives you a list and say, "You can call anyone on this list," the ultimate responsibility lies with you, as the caller. This is why we recommend avoid cold calls as a real estate farming technique.

Internet marketing can also be used as a real estate farming method. But here, you are engaging in a technique known as "pull" marketing as opposed to "push" marketing. When you send a direct mail postcard to people in your farming area, you are pushing your message out to them. But when people find your website while actively researching real estate in your city, then you are pulling them into the site. There's a big difference in the consumer's mindset now, because instead of having your marketing materials thrust upon them, they have found you through their own efforts. As a result, they'll be much more likely to contact you. This is website marketing should be a key component in your real estate farming campaign.

Setting Yourself Apart - The Key to Success

Depending on where you live and work, there could be a lot of real estate agents working in the same area. So before you launch a marketing / farming program, you should ask yourself the tough question — "What makes me any different?"

Do you offer collateral services such as home staging for sellers? That could certainly set you apart?
Will you position yourself as a home buying expert and seek buyers as clients?

I'm just brainstorming here. It's not my job to tell you how to set yourself apart. That's something you must come up with on your own. I can only tell you that it's important to do so, if you want your real estate farming system to produce results.