There are many technical aspects in selecting a neighborhood to farm, including the size of the neighborhood, historical turnover, demographics of the owners, as well as your marketing budget for the entirety of the area. Given all those critical factors to consider, we wanted to provide a few that might be overlooked or are undervalued. Before you narrow down an area to farm, below are some further considerations to take into account.

Find an area with a mutual fit: Personality, skills, and experience are all components of how you build connections and relationships in the real estate industry. As you are, where will you be the most successful at establishing connections? Select where you can lean into your strengths as an agent, and be realistic about them.

If you aren’t feeling 100% about your skillset, working with a mentor to help you identify your strengths is a great starting point. This could also be an opportunity to perform a personal SWOT analysis before moving forward with the questions below.

• Are you familiar with the area? Do you know enough to be considered an expert? If you have an existing relationship with the area, leverage this.
• Examine the demographics. Will you feel comfortable marketing your genuine self?
• Is your experience applicable to this area’s market?

Don’t let high-end commissions distract you from your success because it could detract from it. Being self-aware about who you are as an agent is a key component of your success. If the area you’ve selected is one you feel comfortable in, your conversion rate will likely be higher.

Message intentionally: Avoid canned messages and irrelevant content. Marketing yourself requires a significant investment of your time; why not do it thoughtfully?

• Define your message specific to the farm area.
• Provide value in your messaging by being informative or educational. If you’re representing yourself as the “neighborhood expert,” prove that you are.
• Know the difference between embellishing and lying and avoid the latter. Coming across as phony could be a huge detriment to your success.

When building a brand and image, ask yourself, why would you work with YOU? Answering this question could lead you towards honing in on the right messages.

Go above and beyond and get proof: Word travels fast and even faster when it’s negative. When the opportunity to engage with a client presents itself, commit to this opportunity fully. It could be your only shot. Remember, you’re creating a network of contacts and prospects who should like you and ultimately trust you.

• Be genuine in your desire to help the client and when the deal is closed, get a top-quality testimonial.
• Use this testimonial as a gateway to the neighborhood and leverage it within your marketing.

In marketing, there is a term called “social proof,” which translates to people imitating the actions of others through reviews, reactions, and recommendations, or in this case, a testimonial.

In the current extremely low inventory market, adopting a well-thought-out, and consistent farming strategy could help curb gaps in your sales. For best results and your success as an agent, it’s important to tackle even the simplest of tasks with a strategy and game plan. With these few steps, you, too, can farm with purpose.