As real estate agents become neighborhood specialists, they need the best neighborhood search tools

With the rise of the big real estate portals, it’s becoming very obvious to the local real estate broker or agent  that listings are just not enough.

As the developers of the SpatialMatch lifestyle and neighborhood search engine, we’ve been saying this for years.

Consumers can find listings anywhere. What are you doing that separates you from the pack?

Now other people are saying it as well. Here’s what the New York Times mentioned in a recent article: “while agents are still featured prominently on most sites, they have generally been recast as neighborhood specialists as opposed to the listing gatekeepers they once were.”

Neighborhood specialists. That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Listing gatekeeper. Not so much. Sounds like a gatekeeper doesn’t do much but control the gate. And we know now with the Internet, those gates (to information)  once controlled solely by travel agents or car salesmen are not as strong as they used to be. Information flows freely from a gazillion websites.

Now, before you throw your hands up in the air in frustration, here’s the big advantage you have over the big portals.

As a local real estate agent or broker, you live in your neighborhood. You know your neighborhood. You know the ins and outs of your neighborhood more than any portal will know.

That’s the unique value proposition you bring to the table.

That’s your competitive advantage.

Use it.

Say it all over your website.

But talk is cheap. You need to back up your local knowledge value proposition with the right interactive hyper-local search tools that show you are truly the neighborhood specialist.

SpatialMatch is one of those tools. It’s an enormous map-based data widget you can add to your site with a ton of hyper-local information.

Schools, businesses, parks, golf course, roads, municipal boundaries – it’s all there. Embedded on your site.

Recent homes sales. Got it.

And if you want, you can integrate IDX property listing data right into the neighborhood maps.

So if Mrs. Jones likes House A but is not sure about the price, you can point out to Mrs. Jones that House A is also a half-mile from the Sunny Smiles Yoga Studio and wouldn’t it be nice to walk there every morning and stretch without climbing in and out of a car and driving through traffic?

Or, perhaps Mr. Jones is a diehard golfer, but House B is on the other side of town away from all the best courses, but if he considers House C, it’s a perfect fit for him and his lifestyle.

Here’s the really fun part. Sure talk is cheap. But many agents wonder how they can possibly compete against the big real estate sites with their resources and army of programmers.

Home Junction, which developed SpatialMatch, recognizes this dilemma. That’s why they are now providing the SpatialMatch lifestyle search engine for a really cheap price. How about ZERO?  Totally FREE.

(In the spirit of disclosure, their strategy is that they believe you will like the gigantic SpatialMatch data widget and colorful, user-friendly interface so much that you will want to add an integrated MLS search with lead generation hooks to generate customer leads for you.)

That’s a deal.

That’s how you enhance your marketing strategy.

That’s how you compete with the big boys.

That’s how you prevent others from coming into your market. That’s how you protect your turf.

To read the NY Times article, click here.

Click here for the free SpatialMatch lifestyle search tool.