Real Estate Marketing SEO Blog

Realtor Group offer Specialized Loans to Hispanics

Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty has announced a new 103% Loan-To-Value (LTV) loan product designed specifically to meet the needs of Hispanic homebuyers in Northern California. This flexible, affordable loan was developed by The Home Loan Group, a joint venture with Chase Home Finance, and is now being offered exclusively in Northern California.

“After conducting an internal study of the Hispanic market, we saw significant gaps between the type of loan products currently available and what is an underserved market,” said Ed Krafchow, president of Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty. “We shared our information with The Home Loan Group and together developed a flexible, affordable loan geared to Hispanic home buying trends.”

“The 103% LTV Loan was designed to help Hispanic homebuyers, one of the youngest segments of California’s population, move beyond their perceived hurdle of an 80% conventional loan,” said Tom Borrelli, senior vice president, Chase Home Finance. “This is especially important in the expensive Northern California market.”

California’s Hispanic homebuyer spends an average of 28% of their monthly gross income toward qualifying income ratio – which includes principle mortgage, property tax and insurance (PITI) - payments, according to California Association of Realtors’ 2004 – 2005 State of the Housing Market report. By contrast, non-Hispanic households only devote 24% of their monthly gross to PITI payments.

Gay Real Estate

Real Estate Agents that cater to the Gay community are tapping into a very loyal and above average-wealthy niche.

I recently posted about the spending power of the gay community.  As luck would have it I have found even more compelling information about this powerful group.

• Readers of gay newspapers in 10 major media markets have an average individual income of $47,083.00. That is almost more than twice the average of the general population.
• 94% of readers surveyed said they are likely to buy products or services advertised in gay publications.

 

In 2002, gays and lesbians spent $55 billion on travel; they travel three times more often than heterosexuals, says Robert Wilson, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association.

They're less likely to have children, which means they possess more discretionary income. They place greater emphasis on luxury and they're willing to pay for it. And, when a business shows support for gays and lesbians, they support the business by displaying strong brand loyalty, he notes.

Many Hotels like the MGM in Las Vegas are becoming gay friendly and in fact, some are advertising in gay publications.

Home Builders are ven getting in on the action as RainbowVision Santa Fe (RVSF) will be the first resort/retirement community specifically targeted to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community, a growing segment of the population, according to Jay Geisinger, COO of RainbowVision Properties Inc.

"You will see a lot more [of these projects] from us because the demand is unbelievable. And it is not just domestic--we are getting calls from all over the world," he said. "It is something that the GLBT community has looked forward to for many years."

In Realtytimes.com Blanche Evans discussed the Across America Real Estate Network (AAREN), which is run by Mark Kasper, (gay). The site specializes in placing gay and lesbian clients with supportive agents -- gay and straight. His advice to agents is to be aware of gay clients' concerns. Being gay isn't a prerequisite, Kasper says, but you do need to be supportive as an agent.

A "supportive" agent is more than just comfortable dealing with openly gay clients; it's an agent well-versed in the issues important to his clientele. For example, what may be a "safe" neighborhood for a heterosexual customer may be unsafe for a homosexual customer.

Kasper further cautions that urban art communities won't appeal to every homosexual client. A substantial portion of gay homebuyers are interested in suburban communities; that market is approximately 75 percent female and 25 percent male.

Another thing to remember that I have found in my research is that gays tend to favor extreme loyalty to advertisers in gay publications.

RIches in the Niches

In the online marketing community many experts recommend niche marketing where instead of casting a wide net, you drill deep into a market. Target Marketing makes your marketing much easier.

In past blogs I have mentioned the Hispanic community as a widely untapped, underserved niche for the real estate professional.

Look at the numbers:

• eMarketer projects the number of Hispanic internet users in the United States will rise from 13.3 million in 2004 (7.6 % of all internet users) to 16 million in 2007 (8.4 %).
• eMarketer cites an America Online/RoperASW survey of U.S. Hispanic at-home Internet users' online activities: 54 percent of respondents research health care products, 52 percent make travel arrangements, 43 percent shop online, To sum up, they're online, they're bringing their peers with them, and they're spending money.
• Hispanics are actually from 22 countries and although they pretty much all speak Spanish, they prefer English, according to comScore Media Metrix.
• So translating your real estate website into English may not be your best bet. But this is the hard part. Hispanics searching in English are harder to target.
• comScore reports there are over 2 million U.S. Hispanics online who prefer surfing in Spanish, presenting a large enough sample size for research purposes.
• AMount spend by Hispanics online in 2003: $5.6 billion
• They tend to use the same major search engines that everyone else uses.
• One of the sources of this blog noted that "mortgage" is "hipoteca" in Spanish. Overture's Search Term Suggestion Tool reports there were 1,255 searches for "hipoteca" in July 2004 (1,277 for "hipotecas") - hardly a massive base of searches, but a good enough size for testing purposes. Six advertisers bid on the word, one for $1, one for $0.40, and the rest for well under a quarter.
• Hispanics command $575 billion in buying power

The article pointed out an interesting tool to gather data to influence offline marketing.During month 1, it may try the copy, "No venderemos su información personal." During month2, it may try "Consultacion gratis" Consider this hypothetical application: Ameriquest may have a direct mail campaign going out to 500,000 Hispanics in California, New York, Texas, and Florida. From the tests in Overture, it knows the word "gratis" works better on the East Coast but the other phrase, allaying fears of selling customers' personal information, plays better further West. The marketer now has a wealth of data from search to inform the larger campaign.

"Geographic targeting is going to be a great opportunity for SEM marketers because 72 percent of all U.S. Hispanics seem to be concentrated in the top 20 markets (Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago alone making up 32 percent)," says Hernandez.

Most aggressive niche marketers understand the path to market domination is by covering the niche on various angles.

The article goes on,"for the keyword "hipoteca" in Google, the lender runs an ad in English. Look at how many more variables that involves. It's a different language with different possibilities for the copy. Perhaps it turns out that English ads convert three times better in Florida than New York, and the Spanish ads receive more clicks in California. The marketing director uses this information to test a TV ad on Telemundo in Los Angeles. Before long, results from relatively small search buys are influencing a campaign spanning six different media that's seen by tens of millions of people. This isn't science fiction. Some of the more sophisticated marketers tapping search are getting very savvy with this strategy.

A site that speaks to the online hispanic marketing and issues is www.elmensajero.blogspot.com

Another great souce is ttp://www.hispanicbusiness.com/ which recently reported that:  U.S. Hispanic Media Markets, 2000-2007. Advertisers spent an estimated $3.09 billion in 2004 to market their products and services to U.S. Hispanics, an 11 percent increase from the previous year.

Real Estate Niche Market 2.

It has always been known amongst Realtor's that the lady of the house makes the buy decision to purchase a home. This knowledge alone could guide a marketing campaign.

However, some startling numbers have emerged of late that indicate that not only are women making more decisions, they are able to make these decisons independently.

• In the last 10 years, the US Census bureau has reported a 15% increase in the number of stay at home mothers.
• 1 in 3 US kids under 15 has a mom at home full time (Washington Post 2003)
• The Census Bureau even reports that women own 38% of all small businesses in the US alone.

According to InternetBasedMoms.com "It's clear that more mothers are coming home to be with their children, but in today's economy, she often needs to supplement the family income or she may even be the sole bread winner for her family. But here's the most important FACT --- Moms don't think like you're average entrepreneur and they aren't motivated to buy your products for the same reasons."

Real Estate Niche Market 3.

Consider the 65 and over market. According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Americans over 65 who use the Internet have jumped by 47% since 2000, making them the fastest-growing group to embrace the online world.

This group has jumped 25 % online this year, to a total of almost 10 million surfers, while 55- to 64-year-olds increased their numbers by 15 %, to almost 16 million, according to a new study by Nielsen/NetRatings.

More stats about the over 65 market:

• Only 22 % go online
• 75 % of ages 30 to 49 go online
• 42% have used a computer
• 41% have a computer at home
• 31% have ever gone online
• 33% have Internet access at home
• e-mail is the top activity for this market
• 93 percent of wired seniors use e-mail
• 68% have checked the weather online
• 67% read news online
• 58% go online for hobby information
• 57% have bought a product such as books, clothes, or plane tickets online.
• 53% search for health and medical information
• 53% browse for fun

Real Estate Niche Market 4.

Do you know that if you made the gay community into a demographic that they are the most educated and affluent segment in America?

• Annual value of the gay and lesbian market is $515 billion.
• 21% of gay and lesbian households have income greater than $100,000 per year
• 28% have income greater than $50,000 per year
• 62% own a personal computer
• 71% of gay and lesbian online users have made credit card purchases online
• Has a greater amount of expendable income in comparison to the heterosexual population. (because they don't typically generate kids) (Visit this site which is where I got my numbers for a great marketing perspective on this market)

A niche must be fanatical and unserved. And a niche must naturally have spending power.

Some other groups that are passionate and begging to be served:

Christians-easy to identify and speak to. Many have defined themselves as the anthithesis in belief as our last niche. Many are well to do and well educated.

African Americans-Contrary to what many "well wishers" would have us believe, more and more Black Americans are upwardly mobil.

I wish I could find the source, but I remember listening to conservative-black radio talk show host Larry Elder. He was talking about the under reported wealthy blacks. He said that educated black married couples out earn educated white married couples. Inherant in this under reporting is the opportunity for your services.

New Home Developments- There are many areas of the country where new developments are popping up. In two or three years, these new homeowners will be the new neighborhood's first home sellers. Start now and you will own this "farm" until you retire.

Alumni Organizations-Many Universities are incredibly supportive of their family of past students. One of my early real estate brokers had spent his career supported by his family of brothers and sisters from his school. It brings to mind the saying, "it is not what you know, it is who you know". If you have access to this kind of organization, tap into it , and ride it as long as you can.

Hopefully, these groups or niches will spark ideas for you to dominate a small group and be everything to them, instead of being little to everybody.

Latino Real Estate

The Latino Community is proving that there are riches in the niches.

According to Tomas Rivera Policy Institute of the University of Southern California, in a survey of 1,400 Mexican Americans in Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles showed that at least 1.5 million Latino households will buy homes by 2010.

Here is the Giant scream for help from an underserved populatuion:

More than half of Latino homebuyers report that one of their chief barriers to homeownership is finding a trustworthy adviser who can guide them through the homebuying process.

The survey showed that the lack of trusted sources of information is a key barrier to homeownership facing Mexican American families. Other obstacles include unfamiliarity with the mortgage process, saving for a downpayment, and finding a trustworthy adviser.

According to NAR who announced the study, REALTORS® who help buyers overcome such obstacles will stand to gain in the coming years as minority populations and their buying power increase rapidly.

In another sudy released at the NAR convention, indicated that the combined buying power of the total minority group—including African Americans, Natives Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans—would exceed $1.5 trillion by 2009, constituting the fifth largest economy in the world.

More data from the article:

Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic population, numbering more than 12 million or approximately 4.5 percent of the total U.S. population, expected to triple in size by the year 2050.

If you would like to explore ways to capture market share of the Latino, Asian , African American real estate market, contact Spiderworkz.com

More references:

more resources on hispanic buyers, Pew Hispanic Center, How The Wealth Gap Impacts Real Estate,National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)

Homebuyers favor easy commutes

The prospect of lengthening commutes is leading more Americans to seek walkable neighborhoods in close-in suburbs and cities, according to the 2004 American Community Survey sponsored by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS(R) and Smart Growth America.

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The size of the existing-home market has doubled since the real estate boom began in 1992 and while sales may drop slightly from the record 6.55 million for 2004, the current real estate boom "will not bust," NAR Chief Economist David Lereah told attendees at the Economic Issues & Residential Real Estate Business Trends Forum on Friday.

"You need a bubble to bust and except for a few local markets, we don't have one," he said. Lereah noted several reasons that with the exception of a few local markets, a real estate bust didn't exist. Housing prices may have appreciated faster than income in the last few years, but they significantly lagged income during the 1980s and early 1990s. "Now we're just playing catch-up," he said.

Home prices have jumped, with an annual average nominal increase of 4.2 percent between 1992 and 2004. Yet the real news is the average annual real increase of 2.5 percent, compared with only a 1 percent to 1.5 percent increase during the 1960s through the 1980s. "That's the real boom," said Lereah.

Even better news, he said, is that the continued expansion of the real estate market should last for another decade, fueled by several solid underpinnings: low interest rates, strong demographics, immigration, a lean housing supply, and recent innovations in housing finance. He predicted that between 2005 and 2014, existing-home sales should average between 6.1 million and 6.4 million units annually.

But while good markets will continue, the recent pace of price appreciation isn't sustainable, said Lereah. Recent average sales growth has been 7 percent for existing homes and 8.2 percent for new homes, while a healthy boom can sustain an average 5 percent growth. "We want healthy growth so the market can be sustained, not frenetic, double-digit growth that can't last," he said.

Some factors that could derail the boom include oil prices rising near $80 a barrel, interest rates rising to 9 percent, or a resurgence of inflation brought on by a burgeoning budget deficit. The deficit poses "the single biggest enemy to our industry," said Lereah. The current deficit of $420 billion represents 3.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, less than the all-time high of 5 percent during the Reagan years.

Other threats include pressure on mortgage-interest deductions as part of tax reform, a Bush administration that favors banks over real estate, and a weakening or privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Still, Lereah expects the real estate boom to continue for the next decade. He predicts that mortgage rates will not rise above 7.5 percent in the next decade and that existing-home sales will remain between 6.1 million and 6.4 million annual units as long as economic expansion continues.

Hispanic Real Estate

As an industry, Realtor's have been pretty slow to attract niche markets such as the Hispanic community.
In Los Angeles we are nearing a 50% population of Hispanic heritage. Many own real estate.

eMarketer projects the number of Hispanic internet users in the United States will rise from 13.3 million in 2004 (7.6 percent of all internet users) to 16 million in 2007 (8.4 percent). eMarketer cites an America Online/RoperASW survey of U.S. Hispanic at-home Internet users' online activities: 54 percent of respondents research health care products, 52 percent make travel arrangements, 43 percent shop online, and a somewhat surprising 19 percent buy pharmaceuticals online.

comScore reports there are over 2 million U.S. Hispanics online who prefer surfing in Spanish. According to MediaPost.com, Hispanics like to use the same search engines as the average person.

Key word analyze the traffic for "hipoteca" (which means mortgage) and you will see that the cost is only a $1 for top bid. Even though the term gets a relatively small amount of traffic ..1,255.
It is non-competitive traffic.

More data on Hispanic demographics:
~According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Hispanic buying power for 2002 totaled $580 billion, with a predicted compound annual growth rate of 8.7%. (The standard rate for non-Hispanics is 4.8%.)
~The center's study predicts that by 2007 the dollar power of Hispanics will rise to $926.1 billion.
~There are 39.9 million Hispanics in the US, and half of the adults among them are foreign-born.
~5.6 billion spent online by U.S. Hispanics in 2003

In a recent article in MarketingProfs.comthey point out that many of these foreign born individuals need to be educated as to the basics that we Americans take for granted. As an example, a tax preparer would point out that you must file taxes.

In the real estate arena, I am reminded about a news piece I read about a real estate agent who defrauded the life savings from a foreign born real estate buyer.

The buyer when asked why he trusated this unscrupulous individual replied, "I saw his California real estate license on the wall."

If you wish to expand your market reach consider marketing to the Hispanic community. Call us today to help you attract Hispanic real estate buyers and sellers online.

Much of this info is from Polling Hispanic Search Users.