How to market properties in today’s coupon economy

It’s no secret this country has gone through some tough economic times and is on the slow road to recovery.

A few years ago, jobs disappeared. Housing dropped. Wallets and pocketbooks shrunk.

Things appear to be getting better – the unemployment rate is declining and the demand for real estate listings in increasing in some parts of the country.

But budgets are still tight. We’re not experiencing boom times, that’s for sure.

In fact, it seems as though everybody is looking for a bargain these days. Stores are offering more BOGO’s (Buy One Get One Free). And there seems to be a deluge of coupons in the local newspapers and in the mail.

With a map-based, neighborhood IDX search platform such as SpatialMatch, you can help buyers who you can see are very cost-conscious.

For example, with SpatialMatch, you can point out all the discount stores in an area. Maybe a Super Wal-Mart is only five miles away.

As you know, it’s human nature to shop the places that are closest to your home.

So, living near a Wal-Mart can have tremendous appeal to a family on a tight budget. It will literally save them thousands of dollars over the course of a year. Pointing this out on your SpatialMatch platform could be just the tipping point that closes the deal.

Same thing with other budget stores – Costco, Sam’s Club, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Dollar Tree.

Take gas stations for example. Everybody needs to buy gas. But that darn price seems to rebound upward just when you think it is going to drop like an annoying badger. Just four years ago gas was less than $2 a gallon. Now it hovers around $4.

Someone on a tight budget would surely appreciate you showing them a few corners where the gas tends to be cheaper and the stations more competitive.

How about, is the location near a major highway that makes it easy for commuting? There’s a gas and time savings right there.

What about things to do for fun? Is a park located nearby? A family can have a ton of fun just hanging out at park all day with a soccer ball and a kit. Sure beats a day at Disney, dollar-wise.

Obviously, this is a sensitive subject for brokers and agents and has to be handled delicately.

Conversely, SpatialMatch can help seal the deal if your clients are well-to-do.

Ask them what they like to do for fun, what types of restaurants they prefer, where they like to shop.

If they want to join the most expensive golf club in town, only prefer to eat at a restaurant with a fancy, unpronounceable French name and shop at Nieman-Marcus-type places, well, SpatialMatch can point that out as well.

Again, hyper-local is a great sales tool. Pointing out that exclusive tennis club just down the road or that fabulous spa across the street could just be one more factor that tips the deal .

The point is, nowadays more than ever, location matters.

Your expertise as the hyper-local expert is going to matter.

And rather than telling people where things are, your ability to point them out with the use of a detailed, super-heavy searchable database of local amenities embedded on your web site is going to make a difference as well.

A local search tool such as SpatialMatch is not very expensive. But the rewards you can gain from it can be very lucrative, no matter what situation your clients are in.

Check it out here.