Keeping Up with Consumer Trends: Local Love

Whether it's sponsoring local events, tailoring products to a specific area or recognizing standout individuals who are making a change in the community, it's become clear in 2014 that consumers love local! In fact, 61% of consumers state that they would like their favorite brands or companies to play a bigger role in their local community. We've been keeping an eye on consumer trends that can affect your real estate business, and this time around, we will be exploring the concept of Local Love.

Keeping your competitive edge in the real estate industry requires constant monitoring of your market and everything that goes on around it. To provide the most value for buyers and sellers, you must be up-to-date on information regarding local schools, events, entertainment and anything that can make a community a more desirable place to call home. This demand for community involvement presents real estate professionals with a great opportunity to show off your local expertise!

Local governments generally focus their attention and resources on "big picture" projects, so they may overlook smaller issues that have a big impact in certain neighborhoods or smaller portions of the community. A great way to show that you are getting involved and helping improve your community is to identify what it's lacking and find a way to provide it. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to fund it, as there will likely be plenty of other local businesses that would be happy to get involved.