This post is part 2 of 6 detailing what my partner and I went over during our annual meeting this year. The point of this meeting was to come up with a plan that will create a more consistent and profitable business for 2013.
The items we covered in our meeting are listed below. To view prior posts related to this series click on the link for that topic.
- Budget
- Sweet Spot Areas
- Sweat Equity
- Mail Campaigns
- Education
- SI Lead Manager
Sweet Spot Areas
Scaling back the counties
In the past year, we focused on 8 counties in NJ. Warren, Somerset, Sussex, Mercer, Morris, Union, Middlesex and Hunterdon. Some of these counties are around where I live and others are around were my partner lives. We had thought this was a good strategy, it allowed us to cover more area and market to more people. Looking back however, it might have worked against us because it watered down our marketing efforts. To cover all these areas, with in our budget, we had to spread the mailings out a bit to far (3 months). So what we decided to do was to eliminate Union, Middlesex, parts of Morris and Sussex. Basically all the northern counties.
Lowering the Median Home Price
Also in an effort to focus on motivated sellers, we lowered our median home price areas from $450k to anything under $350k. The idea is that there will be more motivated sellers in lower end areas. Making sure we get more bang for our buck.
Where Our Buyers Are
Lastly it occurred to us that our buyers are buying in particular areas because that is were the good deals are most often. So we talked to our buyers and found out were exactly they are willing to purchase a property in. The cross area of the counties we selected and our buyers’ area is where we will be focusing our money on.
All in all we probably cut our Out of State owners list down by about 35% to 40%.
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Comments 5
Scott –
Taking these steps and looking at each item in this way is a fantastic idea. I think that will really help narrow down successful areas; ones that are working, and the other areas that need revamping. I really like the way you broke everything down. Great job. I’m going to take a look at my business.
Author
It is very helpful for sure to take a close look at your business. I would say I don’t do it enough and it has cause my partner and I to lose focus.
Narrowing your focus to where your buyers are is a great idea. Targeting specific areas is always a good way to go.
I guess our counties are a lot bigger in Texas. I’ve always just focused on a single county. I also feel for you with those higher median prices. Dang.
Author
Yea, the house prices are crazy but when you do find a deal the profits should be higher as well so it kinda evens out. Only thing is that there is much more risk involved!
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