New construction homes, also called new home builds, are homes that have never been occupied. While potential buyers can capitalize on budget-friendly prices, flexible payment options and customization, home builders must sell units quickly to ensure the project’s financial viability.
Real estate agents should consider partnering with a builder to sell new construction homes. You can earn attractive commissions and bonuses and close deals more efficiently with the help of a builder's established sales team. However, this relationship only works if you have a solid real estate lead generation strategy that will produce a consistent supply of leads.
Getting your online marketing strategy right is crucial to reel in first-time buyers, those looking to downsize and forward-thinking investors. In this article, we will explore how to forge beneficial relationships with builders and share tips for realtors on how to sell new construction homes in the digital world.
How to Connect with Home Builders
Home builders prefer working with real estate agents with success in a specific market and with a real estate lead generation system to effectively achieve sales targets. You must forge connections proactively, seek lead opportunities wherever possible, instill trust and nurture relationships gradually.
Here are a few tips to develop meaningful relationships with builders:
- Develop strong relationships with builder representatives. They are employed by builders to interact with prospective buyers and facilitate the sales process.
- Follow builders on social media platforms and review details of recently announced or upcoming projects, including site photos, construction timelines, floor plans, 3D renderings, etc.
- Generate a full pipeline of qualified real estate leads who are looking for new homes in a builder’s market.
- Attend events, gain a thorough understanding of a builder’s project, become a specific area expert and get face time with builder reps. Try to get your hands on relevant documentation like broker packages and price lists.
Let’s go through some online marketing tips that are effective for real estate lead generation for new construction.
Real Estate SEO
As per the National Association of Realtors, 97% of home buyers use the Internet at least once when searching for a property. So, having an effective website is necessary to compete in a dynamic new construction market.
But a website is not enough. You should embrace Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which can help you rank higher on relevant Google searches and drive organic real estate leads. When homebuyers search for a new home using specific terms or phrases (keywords), your web pages must appear as close to the top of search results.
While SEO requires you to put in long-term and consistent effort, it offers the following benefits:
- Increased online visibility among prospective buyers
- Enhanced brand awareness and credibility
- Less dependence on paid ads, and hence, more significant ROI
- Better website traffic, regardless of investment in digital ads
To get started or refine your real estate lead generation strategy, try the following:
- Conduct keyword research to understand the terms buyers typically use to search for new construction homes and the competitiveness of those terms. Consider incorporating long-tail keywords (low search volume and less competitive) to better rank high.
- Remember that most people don’t use the word ‘construction’ when looking for new homes. So, consider keywords that are connected to new construction homes but are more familiar among potential buyers. For instance, optimizing for keywords like "new homes for sale in X", "new houses for sale in X", and "new homes for sale near me" can help more people land on your website when they search.
- Optimize your website by using keyword-rich meta descriptions and header tags apart from adding images (always with alt text) and videos.
- Ensure the website is compatible with mobile devices and all the pages load fast.
- Start a blog and regularly share useful and interesting posts to give Google more pages to rank. Weave relevant keywords in all posts.
- Use backlinking to boost your Google visibility. A backlink is a referral from one website to another. For example, if another website hyperlinks “new construction homes” to your site, Google may reward you with a higher ranking for a relevant keyword.
- Monitor your website’s domain authority. This metric indicates your website’s relevance and performance. Developed by Moz, it is a search engine ranking score that determines your probability of ranking on the results pages.
Website for Real Estate
A website is instrumental for generating real estate leads, but you need to optimize it efficiently. We have already covered how SEO helps your site to rank high on the search results page. But how do you keep visitors engaged and aid decision-making once you draw them to your website?
Here are a couple of crucial tips for realtors you can utilize:
- Make sure visitors find what they are looking for on your site easily. A website’s structure, design and layout should be intuitive so that a potential buyer knows everything about your new home projects and how to contact you. In other words, keep the navigation simple. If the visitor has to fill out a form, request basic details that don’t consume too much time.
- Make your website content original and engaging. Use videos, 3D tours and 360 street views to hook your audience fast and keep the text to the point. Reserve separate pages for each project and have one that covers any awards or accolades you have received. This can build buyer confidence. You can create videos for different listings, real estate tips, advice for first-time buyers, client testimonials etc., to position yourself as an expert.
Google Ads for Real Estate Agents
Google Ads for real estate agents can work wonders for your lead generation. These ads are text-based and keyword-rich and appear at the top of appropriate search results and follow a pay-per-click (PPC) model. They are scalable, targeted and a strong investment to generate real estate leads.
With Google Ads, you can generate high-quality real estate leads consistently and regularly. Your ad is displayed when local users search for new construction developments or homes for sale in a specific area. You pay only if the lead clicks on your ad and they should all get routed to your real estate landing page. Your budget is under your control and the number of real estate leads generated is directly related to the amount you spend.
Google Ads checks the ad quality and bid amount before deciding which ads to display based on the keywords a potential buyer uses.
Here are a few other things to keep in mind:
- Ad quality depends on the quality of the landing page, relevance to the keywords and the expected click-through rate.
- Only those who fit the criteria you set will get to see your ads.
- You can connect with real estate leads based on their search intent, which means you don’t have to waste your money on those who are only browsing and not yet serious about buying.
- With Google Ads for real estate, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize ad campaigns and enhance the quality of leads you attract over time. Data and reporting will help you understand the effectiveness of your campaigns and identify ads that are performing the best and why.
Landing Page for Real Estate
A real estate landing page is a standalone page designed to drive conversions. When someone clicks on your search engine listing, your Google Ads for real estate or a link in your social posts, they should arrive at your landing page. Landing pages are clean, direct and characterized by:
- Attractive banner
- A strategic call to action
- Form for lead capturing
The aim is to prompt a prospective buyer to fill out the form on the landing page, so you can capture important details and get in touch with them to take the conversation forward. This real estate lead generation tactic helps you connect with those looking for an agent or a home in your market.
CRM for Real Estate
Generating real estate leads is just one aspect of selling new construction homes. You must also invest in a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to nurture them toward closing. CRM integrations can help you to:
- Monitor different kinds of real estate leads
- Communicate with leads at different stages of the sales cycle
- Manage your calendar and schedule
- Monitor your conversion rate
- Automate backend operations to streamline your nurturing and conversion processes
- Personalize the front end of your business
Here are some popular options you can choose from:
- Sierra Interactive: This real estate lead generator tool helps you position your brand uniquely and personalize the lead nurturing process. You get to showcase your expertise in the local market, boost your SEO strategy and automate messaging.
- Follow Up Boss: Though it lacks a website component, Follow Up Boss allows you to organize and engage your real estate leads while scaling flexibly and with minimal stress. This operating system also builds accountability in all your team members and provides unlimited support.
- Lofty: Backed by Artificial Intelligence, this award-winning platform automates marketing programs, boosts collaboration, streamlines sales processes and generates more real estate leads cost-effectively. You can even create social media posts automatically based on your landing pages, blogs and listings.
- Real Geeks: This is another AI-driven platform that offers intelligent prospect engagement and tracking, professional and conversion-ready websites, superior training and market-specific real estate lead generation options. It is easy to use and allows you to send push notifications to clients and track lead activity in real-time.
Drip Campaigns for Real Estate
When it comes to nurturing real estate leads, a drip campaign can be highly effective. It involves sending a sequence of automated emails to leads to improve engagement, stay top of mind and forge a personal connection.
Here are some ways that drip campaigns for real estate can benefit you:
- Send personalized video messages instead of boring emails to lend a human touch to connect with prospective buyers.
- Use newsletter templates to showcase your market knowledge, expertise, insights, voice and personality while staying connected to your leads.
- Consistently remind leads about your services and upcoming projects while driving their decision-making journey.
- Nurture real estate leads (cold, warm, hot, and even unresponsive) at every stage of the pipeline to lead to conversion.
- Ability to personalize the frontend
Start Selling New Construction
Selling new construction homes in partnership with developers or builders can help you grow your real estate business like never before. Forging positive and steady relationships with builder representatives, understanding the market in your area and generating and converting real estate leads are essential.
For those who want to boost their real estate business faster, work with Agent Launch, a top digital marketing agency that specializes in the new construction market with a proven real estate lead generation track record.
FAQs
What is the best way to close the sale of new construction homes?
To sell new construction homes, build strong relationships with builders and developers, be on top of new home developments, attend industry events and collaborate with their sales teams. Understand the needs of potential buyers and use online marketing strategies, like Google Ads for real estate, for effective real estate lead generation. SEO, landing pages, CRMs, and retargeting ad campaigns are effective at driving traffic, generating leads and converting.
What are new construction homes?
New construction homes are brand new and have never been inhabited. Everything about them is newly built, so homeowners have fewer maintenance concerns and don’t have to deal with wear and tear. These primarily draw first-time home buyers who have been phased out of the market due to the price of resale homes.
Is selling new construction homes lucrative for realtors?
Yes, you can earn strong commissions on new construction homes. Home builders are usually eager to sell off the units quickly and require agents and an abundance of real estate leads. Become familiar with the market, watch out for upcoming launches, learn about the project and neighborhood nuances, find out about the construction timeline and understand what prospective buyers need.