What's the Best Way to Do a Market Report? County? City? Neighborhood?
As many of you know, I produce a large number of market reports each month. Given Dick Greenberg's latest challenge, I think more of us should dip our toes into the market report wading pool.
The good news is there is more than one way to do a market report and to help you along, below is the best of the best when it comes to producing market reports:
What's My Lebanon OH Home Worth? Real Estate Update for July 2014 (City)
August 2014 Real Estate Market Report - Fort Collins CO (City)
Real Estate Market Report in Bonaire GA in July 2014 (City Infographic)
What's Going On in Your Favorite Zip Code? (Zip Code)
A Surprising Statistic for Loudoun County VA (County)
Southfields in Wellington FL | Market Report for July 2014 (Neighborhood)
Southfields en Wellington FL | Reporte del Mercado para Julio 2014 (Spanish Version)
What's My Kinnard Springs Home Worth? Market Report for June 2014 (Neighborhood)
As you can see, there is a variety of ways to write a market report. As a matter of fact, some of the titles don't even include the words "market report" within them.
I find there are three things that buyers and sellers are looking to find when they read these reports:
- What's the housing market like? Are we in a buyer's or a seller's market?
- What prices are homes selling for these days?
- What do the homes look like that recently sold?
I follow the market data with a brief explanation of what I observe in the market and a photo of a home from the neighborhood. In some cases, it may be of a home I sold or just an example of what's available in that particular neighborhood. Don't include photos that aren't from the neighborhood. Buyers often feel they've been duped if the house in the photo isn't anything like the houses in the neighborhood. Do away this those silly entrance signs. They do nothing for buyers. They want to see houses.
I personally don't use graphs and charts. I find the average buyer and seller really doesn't understand how to read them but for those who like graphs, they can set you apart. If you do produce charts or graphs, then make sure you have some type of explanation to go along with it. Consumers want to know what all the numbers mean and how they impact them as buyers or sellers?
Not only will consumers thank you, but you'll see better rankings from the search engines. Search engines don't read charts, they read content. When I first started posting market reports many years ago, I just provided a chart with all the data; no explanations. I didn't understand why I wasn't ranking with the search engines. It wasn't until I started providing an explanation of the data, that I started ranking for those market reports.
What do consumers want to know?
The number of homes recently sold, the average or median sales price, the average days on the market and the available inventory. I also provide the number of pending sales and the absorption rate. My explanation is just a few sentences to help buyers and sellers make sense of the numbers.
When buyers and sellers see this, they know I am the authority for my marketplace. Since I produce market reports for many Franklin TN neighborhoods, I can quickly pull the data up when showing homes or when I'm questioned about a particular neighborhood. I often include a copy of my most recent market report to sellers at listing presentations.
Along with a photo of a representive house, I provide links to my website that takes consumers directly to the page on my site for the homes appearing in the report. I also take them to links for information about buying real estate in Franklin TN and selling real estate in Franklin TN.
That's it. Everything a buyer or seller might want to know about the top ranking neighborhoods in Franklin TN. I close with a clear call to action.
What's the best way to do a market report? County? City? Neighborhood? It's all up to you.
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