Buying and managing a property development project is only half the battle for developers – without finding buyers for your completed project, the whole financial viability of a project could be threatened.
Traditional forms of on-market advertising have been around for decades, but there are also several other tactical methods that enable you to find buyers for a real estate development through off-market means.
In fact, Neil Cooke from Savills says about 70% of development property transactions are completed off-market, with a faster sales process and reduced fees being the main incentives to sell a property using this method.
Below, we’ve listed some of the methods developers use to locate buyers for their real estate projects.
How to Find Buyers for Your Real Estate Developments
1. Create Your Own Website to Generate Leads
Having your own website puts the power of selling in your hands entirely. Here, you can list all your most recent developments and garner attention from potential new buyers.
Having a visually appealing website and drawing potential new buyers to it is great, but the real power in having your own website is to generate potential buyer leads. This involves capturing your visitors’ information to build an database of investors who have expressed interest in learning about future property investment opportunities.
This generated database gives you firmer control of the marketing of your real estate, because you can target potential investors directly with selected property offerings.
There are several ways you can build such a database, but a common one is to offer value-added content or information in exchange for the prospective client’s email details.
2. Go Down the Traditional Route
Spread awareness of your most recent property investment opportunities through traditional media advertising. This could mean going all out with print media ads as well as online ads within relevant targeted publications and websites.
3. Use the People Around You
There are a host of people in your industry who will have worthwhile connections to potential buyers. Building inspectors, appraisers, solicitors, property managers, and real estate agents all have business relationships with high volume buyers.
Network your connections to see if they know of any investors actively looking for new opportunities so you can pitch directly to them.
4. Try One-on-One Pitches
You’ll undoubtedly know some potential investors yourself, whether through your buyers list, your networking or just naturally through your line of work.
Many property developers sell their real estate off-market by directly contacting key investors. You can grab their attention by creating a one-page property prospectus report to email them, or by calling them directly to tell them you’ve found a property investment you think suits their needs perfectly.
5. Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Many property developers promote their real estate opportunities through their business pages on social media – be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.
But you can harness a more direct line to potential property investors through targeted property investment and property development groups.
For example, search “property investments Australia” on Facebook and you will find a crop of potential groups where you could post your real estate opportunities and garner more interest.
6. Advertise Your Property Developments on a Dedicated Portal
An easy way to get your property development in front of interested buyers is to advertise the opportunity directly on a dedicated site, such as Development Ready.
Using a dedicated portal solely for development-approved and development-potential properties gives you access to a constantly evolving pool of investors looking for new opportunities – a database you might otherwise struggle to build alone.
7. Create a Display Suite with a Difference to Showcase Your Real Estate
It can be difficult to find buyers for off-the-plan properties. Many developers use computer generated images to find buyers.
But it’s those developers who offer something a little different who often achieve far greater success. Building an architecturally-led display suite with a strong design element is one such strategy.
Jonathan Richards, director of interiors with architects SJB, says a display suite gives potential buyers a way to visualise space – but it’s also a perfect way to advertise a lifestyle in your new property.
Many developers now offer experiences in their displays suites by providing a café service and encouraging people to visit without the pressure of a sale.
The strategy you choose to use to find buyers for your real estate properties depends on many factors. But it’s beneficial to test a few off-market ideas if it means you’ll speed up the sales process and save on fees.
Or if you’re got a development site which you are keen to sell, advertise your properties on Development Ready’s portal today to get access to a huge database of potential investors today!
