Four steps we take to promote your property through the sales funnel
The market for selling off-plan property has become a little more stressed lately. Take Brexit as an example. It’s weighing on people’s minds. The media is not doing the market any favours, either. Every good news story (and there are a lot of them) is introduced with the prefix ‘despite Brexit’. It makes many homebuyers and investors hesitant to buy property because they perceive that we’re all waiting for the economy to implode because of Brexit.
Further, in some areas, especially those that are being regenerated, so-called market experts have started talking about a glut of new properties, as the number of transactions in the property market slows down.
Despite all this, we aren’t experiencing a big slowdown in interest from our investors. Why? Because just like we did through the Global Financial Crisis, when we market your property development we do so to make it stand out from the crowd.
Here are four things that we do to stay at the forefront of investors’ minds, remind them of the long-term benefits of investing in the UK property market, and promote your property to interested investors.
1. Identify the appeal of a development to identify off-plan investors
How can you develop a marketing plan if you don’t know who the potential residents will be? When we examine new developments for their potential to sell, uppermost in our considerations is who will want to live there. We want to know who the development is aimed at. It means understanding the location, and its appeal to residents.
We gain a deep understanding of the fabric of the local economy and community. Will it appeal to young families, empty nesters, or single professionals, for example? Is it in a bustling area with an eclectic nightlife, or does the location offer benefits to those seeking a rural, more gentle way of life?
It’s not enough to say a property or development is an ideal investment; we must show why it is so. Our investor clients are long-term investors. They want to know that there will be demand for rentals as well as from homebuyers. When we know who the target residents are, we can show investors that demand. Most importantly, we can market your development to the right investors in our database.
2. Support investment decisions with regular property investment content
Property investors want to feel loved. They want to know that their property investment company cares about them. And we do. So, we provide a wealth of online content to investors. Content that educates informs, and builds relationships. From videos to blogs to eBooks, our material is continuous and consistent.
We publish content that takes an investor (and potential investors) on a journey from considering investment in the UK, to deciding to invest in a specific location. Throughout this journey, we are gathering information about these investors and website visitors. The last piece of the puzzle, of course, is to market directly and selectively to the most interested investors – those who have travelled all the way through our sales funnel.
We’ve found that our blog content for investors (see the Gladfish Academy) is one of our most powerful marketing tools. We publish five blogs every week, and the Gladfish blog is ranked in the top ten of the best real estate investment blogs on the planet.
3. Highlight what makes your development different
At the stage of direct marketing, we expand our message by highlighting why an area is so good for investment, to why your development is the prime property in its location.
We figured out a long time ago that to sell best, a development needs to offer something that makes it stand out from the crowd. We explain to investors the main selling points and features of your development. For example a sustainable community; features such as 24/7 concierge or residents’ gyms; proximity to transport hubs; or within catchment areas of great schools. We then link these features to the properties for sale and the target residents. It helps make your development stand out as a great investment proposition.
4. Reiterate the financial benefits of investing in your development
Now that we’ve taken investors from concept to reality, we show them how the numbers could stack up. They’ve already become excited by the prospect of capital growth and rental income, but we find that when they see this potential in black and white, it cements their interest.
We provide a two-year cash flow projection and cover different scenarios within those projections – rising interest rates, void periods, and so on. The investor now has a deep realisation that we have taken the investment view, by helping them answer the investor’s golden question, “How much return could I make by investing in this property?”
Property investors are no different from other investors. They want to know why they should invest, where they should invest, how they should invest, and what their investment is likely to return. In a crowded and uncertain market, our approach stands out from the crowd. It’s this approach that helped us to continue to sell and grow our business through the worst of the GFC, and its why our investors aren’t concerned by Brexit, Trump, or any other banana skin that the politicians throw at the market.
You don’t have to suffer from media-induced apathy in the property market. Call the Castlereach team on 0207 923 5680. Our partnership will help get your new build and off-plan development sales to where you need them to be, whatever the market conditions.
Live with passion
Brett Alegre-Wood