10 Topics Realtors Should Talk About in Blog Posts
In order to captivate the right audience, realtors should consistently blog about these topics.
When well-crafted, a real estate website will build a realtor's brand and become a go-to resource for current and potential clients. Through this channel, realtors can provide valuable information while establishing themselves as a trustworthy source of insight into the world of real estate. The good news is that the scope of topics available to write about is broad, encompassing the financial aspects of home-buying, general and regional real estate topics, and local information that will appeal to the target audience. Real estate blogger Teresa Boardman, writing in Inman's Broker Notebook, says her blog brings in an average of 12 transactions each year. Below are ten sample topics to jump-start creative blog-writing ideas.
See also: Scripted's Topic Marketplace
1. What X Dollars Can Get You in Your City
This topic has perennial appeal, and The New York Times regularly features similar articles as front-page content. Everyone enjoys a chance to match specific local houses with their current price tags, while local homeowners thinking of selling can gain insight into their property's potential value. This type of content is often shared, because (depending on the property) such posts often elicit a certain amount of enthusiasm and/or outrage.
See also: What Makes Someone Share a Blog Post?
2. Local Events and Festivals
Creating a community information page is a great way to highlight a region's attractions for readers who live elsewhere and are exploring the possibilities of moving there. This type of information can also draw the regular attention of local readers, who will begin to see the site as a helpful resource for finding out what's happening in the neighborhood.
3. How to Prepare for a Mortgage Loan Application
Inexperienced buyers often encounter a number of bumps along the road to being approved for their first home loan. Realtors are in a position to help people plan ahead, advising them to postpone other large purchases and try to reduce their debt-to-income ratio. The post can also explain the negative effects of applying for loans over a period of months, tell about first-time home buyer programs, and otherwise pave the way for buyers to experience financial success.
See also: 5 Ways Content Marketing Can Help Realtors Succeed
4. "What Not to Do" Scenarios
Readers can have a lot of fun with blog posts in which a realtor recounts disasters from his or her past professional experience. As long as enough details are changed so that no real person is recognizable -- or you have permission to tell that story from the source -- a lot of mileage can come from out worst-case scenarios, as well as reader education.
5. Housing and Architectural Styles Common in the Area
Potential buyers interested in learning about an area will be eager to understand its history and culture. Various parts of the country often feature unique architectural styles, and this topic lends itself to an image-rich post. It can discuss the historical and practical reasons for specific home designs, such as the cooling qualities of Louisiana's "shotgun" houses or the stabilizing function of basements in regions where the ground freezes.
6. Home Remodeling and Valuation
While getting too far into "how to" technicalities isn't optimal, realtors can provide helpful insights on the value of specific types of remodels. It's helpful to explain how certain changes add substantially to resale value, while others really only fulfill the dream of one particular owner. One advantage of this topic is that the realtor can approach a homeowner for permission to publish a photo of an especially excellent remodel or repair. This is an easy way to establish casual contact with someone in the neighborhood, and potentially be contacted again when that remodeled house is ready to go on the market.
7. Local School Information
Families contemplating a move always need up-to-date information on schools, and a realtor's website can become a real resource for these people. If they offer a readable, compact directory to every school within certain boundaries, together with useful links to district and administrative sites, blog posts will be shared and bookmarked by a wide collection of interested families.
8. Home Staging Tips
Home staging is a big topic, and sellers typically need a significant amount of guidance in this process. Realtors can address the psychology of potential buyers, or provide a walk-through checklist for the seller to review. They can also discuss the pros and cons of paying for professional home staging, and give helpful tips to those who plan to do it all themselves.
9. Alternative Energy Options
Are there homeowners in the area who are feeding power back into the grid from rooftop solar arrays? Is wind power a viable source of extra energy? The cost of new solar panels continues to drop, and with new leasing options many homes are becoming more energy-independent. Sellers may be curious to know how solar panels will affect the value of their home, and a website can provide links to business which lease and install such equipment.
10. Answer Readers' Questions
Once their blog is launched, realtors will be able to begin engaging in online conversations with their readers. If one of them (or any client) asks a question that would hold interest for a number of other people, that question (and the questioner) can be featured in a special blog post.
Once the blog has some great content posted, it's important to maintain it and add new information frequently. "Freshness" is needed for a site to earn high rankings on search engine results, and new content will also encourage users to keep visiting the site. While there are a zillion generic real estate sites, a realtor can still craft one that is uniquely expressive of his or her expertise and connection to the community.
What do you think are good topics for realtors? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
