Unquestionably, your real estate business plan is there to define your company’s milestones. It’s a roadmap and reference point to help you and your team stay on track and reach your entrepreneurial goals, but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If you want to develop a wise business plan, you need to combine focus with flexibility, so you’re malleable enough to respond to industry changes without being diverted off course. Take a look at these massive trends modifying the real estate industry and learn how you can incorporate them into your real estate business plan.
Technology-Driven Trends
Not using innovative technology is the equivalent of commuting to work by horse rather than the underground. Technology permeates every aspect of our lives, has altered the psychology of human behaviour, and forever changed the property buying process. It’s ruptured traditional marketing methods and puts the spotlight on purchasing convenience and user experience.
Having a slick optimised website that’s mobile friendly, as well as an active media presence is obligatory. The easier it is to navigate your website, the more likely you are to attract potential clients. You can spruce up your advertising strategy by using apps and adopting an inbound marketing strategy that creates online content to target specific buyer personas. When upping your marketing game, you need to use tech selectively and strategically so that it brings in the right leads.
The Millennial Mindset
Millenials are you biggest buying market. Despite how media has dubbed them as the most ill-equipped, and financially crippled generation unable to afford property, the reality is that they are slowly entering the property market. Does your real estate business plan aim to tap into this vast market of clients looking to diversify their assets? Do you know what they’re looking for when they search for potential homes?
In short; millennials love the vibrancy of the city but the convenience of leafy suburbs. They embody a start-up culture with co-working spaces, craft beer, bespoke fashion, organic food and artisan products. They want to live in trendy areas that have a strong cultural hub, where coffee shops double-up as galleries, buying groceries is a two-minute stroll to the convenience store, and socialising happens around the block at their favourite pub. At the moment, are any of your properties able to offer this type of lifestyle?
Going Green
By now we know that being eco-friendly isn’t a movement reserved for climate activists and happy-go-lucky tree huggers. Climate change is on the global agenda and trickles all the way down from speeches by political bigwigs to ordinary citizens looking to decrease their carbon footprint.
Have you ever considered the quality of the energy-saving technology in the houses in your property portfolio? We know it’s not always easy to adjust older buildings, but it is possible to expand their green potential. If you can sell the possibility of solar power, green roofing and skylight installations then you're halfway there.
Investors know that environmentally conscious tenants are willing to pay more for a green building because it lowers overall energy costs in the long run. It’s favourable for the environment and your real estate business plan to source properties that have an eco-friendly appeal. They improve your brand’s image and open your business to a new set of potential clients.
International Property Portfolios
With an optimised website you’ll have an international client base at your fingertips, so there’s nothing to stop you from having a global business. Furthermore, lifestyle buyers in sunny places like Mediterranean Europe have increased because the pound’s buying power is strong and property is a fairly low-risk investment. For example, you could easily market an apartment in Spain as a family holiday home or retiree residence. Regardless of who your buyer is, the foreign property they purchase will be an appreciating investment.
It’s never too late to rejuvenate your real estate business plan and achieve greater agility in the industry. Technology will continue to evolve in mind-blowing ways; more millennials will become first-time buyers, eco-friendly will be a lifestyle standard, and international property will have increased appeal. If you want to be an early adopter and take advantage of these trends before they become the norm, learn how to incorporate marketing into your business plan. Right now, the easiest trend to adopt is expanding your international property portfolio. At Grupo Esmeralda, we’ve got Calpe apartments on the Spanish coastline that are wonderfully appropriate for British lifestyle buyers.