Q: “Denise, we are getting a lot of people from out of the area moving here and while I hate giving such a substantial percentage of my commission to the relocation companies, I feel this is a market I should be catering to. Your thoughts?”

A: You can certainly set yourself up to work for this market by anticipating what this niche market needs and then deliver. Start by thinking about what you would like to get acquainted with an area quickly – fast enough to make a decision about housing. This list might include:

• A map of the different areas and neighborhoods along with photos of each, styles of housing found in each, shopping/restaurants, interesting facts, and possibly school district information.
• What would be even more compelling is a video of each area that shows you walking through, pointing out landmarks.
• Information on local parks, recreational opportunities, and sports.
• Real estate market information including appreciation rates by area (or at least changes in median sales prices over time).
• Examples of current listings, perhaps displayed in terms of, “What $xxx,xxx buys you” in the different areas (for example, $300,000 may get the buyer a three bedroom home outside of town, but in town that may only get the buyer a condo).
• Your general services for buyers which is supplemented by your specific services for relocating buyers. For example, could you Facetime a home tour? Would you take a video of a listing for a potential buyer? Would you measure each room so the buyers can determine what furniture can come with them versus what needs to be sold before the move? Put your mind to it and I bet you can find a number of extras you can provide.

I would have this information on your website. Have some of it in text on your website (such as the neighborhood information which you can then tie into an IDX feed for each area) and then offer a downloadable packet. Some people may put this packet behind a lead-capture form, but that choice is up to you. If it were me, I would have it available in the event they had not yet gone through a relocation company. If you can provide them with enough information, they may not need to.