Real Estate Internet Marketing: The New Consumer Hourglass Theory – Should It Be Part Of Your 2012 Strategy?

by Toni May | 1 comment | Posted Tue, 2011-12-06 10:58

If you haven’t heard of it yet, the Consumer Hourglass Theory is the idea that the highest income households have managed through the recession relatively unscathed, while the middle and lower classes have had, best case scenario, a rougher go of it. As the theory goes, this has put consumer spending into two categories: high end and low end. The middle and lower class are now spending less and opting to shop at stores and buy products typically targeted at lower income earners. This is while the highest income earners are still able and willing to shop at high end retailers and make “luxury” purchases.

There does seem to be some kind of truth to this theory, as the retailers that have seen the greatest growth in recent years have been at either end of the spectrum - luxury or discount. Even one of the nation’s largest household products maker (P&G™) has recently adjusted its product offerings and marketing strategy accordingly.

That makes sense for dish soap, sure, but does this theory apply to what is happening in your Real Estate market? I would venture to guess that it does. Of course every market is different, but if you took a look into the price points where you saw the most volume in 2011, you would probably find that where the volume was concentrated most are high and low ends rather than middle market. A quick (and unscientific) check of closed sales from my local MLS showed that somewhere near 65% of all sales this year fell into what I would consider to be the low and high to ultra-high end. Not groundbreaking numbers, but given other market factors like loan qualification, interest rates and loan limits, it’s quite possibly predictive of a trend we could see much more of in 2012 and beyond. Making 2012 successful may require adjusting your tactics to match the Real Estate marketing trends forced upon us all.

Upon taking a look into your own numbers for 2011, if you find similar distribution you really should consider adjusting your Real Estate marketing and sales strategy to accommodate what the market is telling you by targeting “sellable” properties. One of the best products out there that can help you do this is ListSource™. With ListSource you can generate a homeowner list in your selected markets (or any portion of) based on estimated home values, detailed homeowner demographics, estimated loan-to-value ratios and more. A tailored list such as this will help you to leverage existing broker technologies such as Real Estate lead software and Real Estate CRM tools. Using ListSource and being strategic in your marketing efforts can help you identify the types of homes that are in highest demand for your market – saving you time, money and hopefully helping you achieve your goals for 2012!

To learn more about ListSource and the great features it has to offer, go to ListSource.com or click here.

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