I recently put a new title under my belt: homeowner.
Yes. I bought a house!
That’s still crazy to say out loud.
Following my first-time home-buying experience, I can tell you that the real estate market isn’t for the faint of heart, especially in 2024.
There were so many facets to consider and things to do:
- Choosing what kind of house I wanted
- Learning new real estate terminology like loan origination fees, amortization schedule and closing disclosure
- Getting pre-approved and then trying to find a house before the window for that pre-approval closed (a very real possibility in this unpredictable market)
- Making sure I didn’t spend a significant amount of money that could affect my credit while I was under contract
- Scheduling a home inspection, appraisal, and initial and final walkthroughs
- And signing so many contracts
It’s enough to make your head spin.
But, surprisingly, one thing that helped me keep my sanity (besides my awesome realtor) was public relations, especially considering Bospar’s extensive expertise in the real estate space.
Our “politely pushy” team has delivered incredible value for our numerous real estate clients, like Kiavi, Lessen and REAL. This has resulted in media placements in Yahoo, Bloomberg and Business Insider for Kiavi and Lessen and an audience reach of 138 million for REAL.
I was able to take inspiration from the PR strategies that culminated in success for these brands during my own real estate journey.
Here’s what I did, and what you can try to get the best results in your life and with your public relations strategy.
Develop an in-depth understanding of the landscape
One of the many reasons Bospar’s public relations and content creation pros are successful is because they understand the ins and outs of the media landscape. They know what’s trending, what reporters are talking about, what will get media attention and what will be the next big headline. This comes from extensive research and keeping an ear to the ground on what relevant publications are covering, and what’s being said on social media and their personal circles. As a result, Bospar has a well-rounded view of the media landscape and can assist clients in making the most informed decisions.
I applied this same strategy to my home-buying journey. To deeply understand my personal landscape, I reviewed my finances, spending habits and debt-to-income ratio, thought about my needs vs. my wants in a home, and decided what I’d be comfortable spending on a monthly payment and in which area I wanted to live, throughout the real estate process.
Home buying is not the time to wing things. I had to know exactly where I stood so that I could streamline my search and focus on properties that aligned with my lifestyle and goals.
Additionally, I needed to keep up with the real estate market. That meant checking current interest rates, reading real estate-focused publications, researching which houses were available and even learning about the home-buying experiences of people in my personal circle. My efforts on these fronts provided crucial insights, giving me a well-rounded view and enabling me to make informed decisions.
Forge relationships with key individuals
PR is all about making and maintaining media/journalist relationships — it’s public relations, after all. Securing strong, consistent placements for our clients relies on the PR team’s ability to establish new relationships with reporters while keeping close ties with our media friendlies.
PR professionals build relationships in many different ways, whether it’s via a follow and ongoing engagement on social media, personalizing pitches to a reporter’s interests, inviting media pros out for dinner or coffee, or lending a helping hand when reporters reach out with a request.
Relationships are equally important in the home-buying journey.
One of the most important relationships is between the buyer and their real estate agent. A home purchase is one of the largest purchases I will make in my lifetime, so the agent who helped me in this journey had to be someone I trust and whose opinion I value. And the only way to determine that was through building a relationship.
After researching potential agents, I followed them on social media to see if we shared values and common interests. Then I reached out to them for a coffee chat to make sure we were like-minded and aligned on goals. That way, I could be sure that we would have a foundation that would set us up for success once we started working together.
Ultimately, I selected a realtor who went above and beyond for me during the process by helping me find suitable homes, providing counsel on how to make a compelling offer and leveraging her personal network to get me good deals on home inspections.
Create compelling content that gets you noticed
Creating compelling content is critical to attract the spotlight and demonstrate a company’s value to and understanding of its industry. Put extra emphasis on the word compelling.
Compelling content can mean the difference between getting media attention and not being noticed at all. To make content compelling, our PR and content team focus on the unique and valuable viewpoints, advice and value propositions of our clients, which strengthens their credibility in the eyes of the media and their target audiences.
We also ensure our content is succinct. Making article pitches (and, in cases when we submit contributed content for publication, the articles themselves) easily digestible and distinct are the keys to garnering coverage.
I used a similar approach when crafting my offer letter to the home seller. Here’s why: In today’s competitive real estate market, multiple offers and bidding wars are par for the course. Buyers who craft captivating offers can stand out among the competition. My offer letter strengthened my position and eventually led to me getting the house I really wanted.
When crafting my letter, I wanted to highlight what would differentiate me from other buyers. I focused on how I was unique so that I could catch the seller’s attention and make my case for why they should sell to me. For instance, the seller was a single buyer, so I made sure to mention that I was also a solo buyer and was ready to take on the challenge of homeownership just as they had done. I kept it short and sweet to make it as easy as possible for the seller and to enable them to quickly come to a final decision.
My home-buying experience had its ups and downs.
Sometimes the same is true when it comes to getting media coverage.
But with the right strategy, relationships and content, you can open the door to new opportunities.
