Conn. Realtors use social media to help gain a competitive edge
It’s no secret that the real estate market in the U.S. at large and at home in Connecticut has become something of a full-contact sport. Buyers are competing with hundreds of others for a single home, spurring bidding wars with some coming to the table with full cash offers. Realtors, however, also face some competition — the hunt for clients.
There are over 17,000 individual members of the Connecticut Realtors professional trade association, and it has 16 local associations and boards. With so many agents available for prospective buyers to choose from, standing out and building name recognition may be as difficult for Realtors as finding their clients the perfect house. But there are a few Connecticut agents who are trying to make a name for themselves, and they are doing so with the help of social media.
Judi Lake, one half of Westportbased Lake Videler Homes at The Riverside Realty Group, a recentlycreated partnership with fellow Riverside Realty Group in Westport member Liz Videler, uses Facebook to list and sell homes.
“Every year, I have a few listings that are not on MLS and depend completely on social media and word of mouth,” she said. “Actually, we did a few virtual transactions earlier last year where homes were sold, sight unseen. Our clients get to know us through these social platforms — it makes the whole process so much easier.”
Having the capability to close deals and raise the brand awareness needed to continue business on social media was important in 2020 for Realtors, who had to adapt quickly to the onset of COVID-19 last March — and to the market that ensued. Lake said she and Videler used Instagram and Facebook to give live home tours and showings.
Kamil Andrukiewicz, broker and owner of New Haus Group LLC in New Britain, has over 13,000 followers on his personal Realtor Instagram account. In accruing followers on both his personal account and his company account, he said he has made some changes to accommodate potential buyers who are browsing social media.
“We get new buyers from Instagram [and] Facebook all the time,” he said. “They watch our videos, see our listing and message us asking for price, location or sometimes a viewing on a specific property. We realized that most homes now sell online, [that] people look for real estate on their phones, so we had to adapt to that.”
In the height of COVID-19, Andrukiewicz made another pivot: adapting to virtual home showings. Not only did his company host video tours on social media, he said they even held personal video calls with clients based in New York. Also incorporating boosted advertisements on social media, Andrukiewicz said he has found that their strategy helped the New Haus Group generate new and even first-time business from clients.
In this booming market that has followed the pandemic, Lake said she and Videler continue to use their social media channels now to help expedite the home sale process, even to promote new constructions — like the home they currently have listed at 15 Salem Road in Weston.
Jody Peters, vice president of brand strategy and business development at Riverside Realty Group, said that with new builds, promoting the construction process might be all it takes to make the sale.
“We incorporate that into our social strategy by teasing with a rendering and work-in-progress shots but ultimately, we work to get things neat and tidy before we go all out on a social blitz,” she said. “In this market though, homes are selling so quickly. Lately, we haven’t even had the time to post finished projects before they sell.”
But gauging interest on homes and building relationships with clients on social media is something at the disposal of every Realtor in the state, which makes competition for business extend into the virtual space as well. For Andrukiewicz, this means making longer-term connections.
“Many new clients that contact us strictly through [Facebook] messenger [and] through [Instagram], some have followed us for a long time and liked what we do and now they are in the market to sell or buy and want to use us as their Realtor,” he said. “It’s been honestly one of the best lead sources for us for new business.”
Now that life is settling into a new normal and the real estate market is stacked with competition, Andrukiewicz said his group is beginning traditional forms of advertising again, including billboards, newspapers and the sponsorship of a youth soccer team.
But make no mistake: his presence on social media will be maintained. For Andrukiewicz, it’s far too valuable.
“Social media is not going away,” he said. “It’s the best way to market anything.”