4 Strategies for Smarter Virtual Selling with Your Property Tax Data Tools

We're in a moment of transition right now--some areas in the U.S. are coming out of quarantine, and some are still sheltering in place. While we're all dealing with uncertainty, one thing's for sure: how we buy and sell real estate has changed.

The past two months have seen the real estate industry respond creatively to the pandemic's impacts, much of it driven by technology that enables Realtors to conduct business from a distance, from virtual open houses to virtual closings and beyond.

Today, we're going to show you how to use your MLS's public records/property tax data tool to prospect and stay in touch with your sphere—both during quarantine and after. These ideas are courtesy of the property data experts at CRS Data, who are working to help agents stay proactive as they navigate this new market. For a more in-depth look at executing these ideas, check out the video webinar below and explore new webinars from CRS Data here.

1. Show that your market is still active

One of the biggest quarantine myths that real estate agents are up against is that home sales have ground to a halt. While home sales have slowed (by 17.8% in April, according to NAR), the housing market is still active.

The catch? Potential buyers and sellers may not know this. It's up to you to let your prospects and clients know that both you and the housing market are still open for business.

You can do this by sending out a mailing that shows homes that have sold in the last month, current area listings, or pending listings. Use your property data tool to select the area you serve and pull a list of homes that meet your criteria. You can not only mail this information out via postcard or flyer, but you can also share it on social media, via email, or on your website.

2. Stay top-of-mind with personalized property reports

It's always been important to brand any reports you give to clients with your headshot and contact information. But it's especially important now when you can't physically be in front of your buyers and sellers.

"It shows who you are and it reminds your client that you're there with them through these tough times as you continue to look for the home of their dreams or sell a property that they intended on selling this year," says Nikki Morgan, Sales Executive for the MLS Tax Suite, in the webinar above. "We want to make sure that your client knows that you're still doing business and you're still providing them all of this great information."

If your MLS provides CRS Data's MLS Tax Suite, you can also add a personalized note to any of your property reports. Nikki suggests adding a "positive, reinforcing statement" to let clients know you're with them through thick and thin.

3. Tap into mapping to show neighborhood features

Different buyers have different needs. Some may want to live in a bustling neighborhood, while others may long for a quieter locale. With lockdown still in place in many areas, your clients may not feel comfortable touring a neighborhood. Fortunately, you can still convey important neighborhood information to your clients.

Advanced property data tools like MLS Tax Suite have maps with multiple layers that show exactly what you need to help a buyer understand how well a particular home suits them. For example, is a listing close to a major road with restaurants or a shopping center? That may be perfect for your buyer who wants to live in an active area, but less so for the buyer who wants a quiet neighborhood. You can use map layers to zoom in and discover exactly what surrounds a listing.

Even after quarantine is lifted, this strategy can still be an asset to your business. You can cut down on unnecessary showings by narrowing down which listings best fit your clients' needs before embarking on a tour. This new tutorial from CRS Data delves into all the functions you can leverage in their large map search.

4. Optimize your prospecting with simplified mailing and labeling tools

Time is money, even in the middle of a pandemic, and you can save both by using the prospecting tools available in your property data platform.

In CRS Data’s MLS Tax Suite, for example, you can select an area you want to prospect in by radius, zip code, subdivision, county, and more—or even by drawing a target area on a map. But it's rare that you'll want to send a mailing to every address in an area, so tap into filters to remove properties that don't fit your criteria. You can refine your list by removing absentee owners, commercial properties, recently sold or currently listed homes, or narrow your list down.

Once you have a list of desired prospects, CRS Data will let you export and print those addresses on mailing labels from the comfort of your home office. Then you can reach out to let clients and leads alike know that now is still a great time to buy or sell a home.

To learn more about CRS Data’s MLS Tax Suite, visit CRSData.com. Want a demonstration of how to execute the strategies above? Watch CRS Data's recent webinars:

• Optimizing Your Realty Business in the Age of Coronavirus
• Property Report: Tips and Tricks for our Virtual World
• Results the Way You Want