Neighborhoods - Putting them in the Prospects' "Ears" and "Eyes"  We've all heard the gem of a song "Penny Lane" by The Beatles . If not, definitely check it out , complete with a video that is characteristically 'Beatles': cheeky, odd, and fun. In the song, you hear John Lennon and Paul McCartney (joined by George Harrison and Ringo Starr, of course) sing about Penny Lane, a street in Liverpool. There are unique types of people living, working, and playing on this street. The ebb and flow of people provide glimpses into varying lives, even some of them who are "very strange". This mixture of life, movement, and unique personalities contributes to create a persona that the street adopts. Penny Lane takes on a life of its own, becoming a neighborhood that contains particular shops, people, and feelings. It is memorable: "Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes" even when not on the street.
I once read a quote that stated "people may forget what you've said or what you've done, but they will never forget how you made them feel." Penny Lane has certain emotions associated to it by The Beatles. We all have places that we instantly associate with a particular feeling, mood, or image. For places we've never been, though, we do not have this emotional reference and often rely on others to assist us in determining preliminary feelings towards the street or neighborhood. I've never been to Penny Lane, but if were ever to go to Liverpool, it would be at the top of my itinerary due to the feelings that "Penny Lane" has transferred to me from The Beatles. On your real estate website, you can be like The Beatles for your online visitors (no haircut or accent required). Since these online visitors may not know about the particular neighborhoods within a city, you can create your own "Penny Lane" for them! Considering that research shows that 80% of buyers will start online for their real estate transactions, and that the majority of them will choose a neighborhood that meets their lifestyle, work, and play needs prior to choosing a specific home to purchase, providing neighborhood information is essential. There are a number of ways to collect, assemble, and present this information on your website. Neighborhood Information Collection If you are already providing real estate services to a particular area, you likely already know a plethora of knowledge about the local housing, schools, parks, and other amenities. If not, you can always check out the latest Census of Canada and American Census Bureau for specifics. Neighborhood information that is important to most people includes the following: - Maps of the area - using Google Maps and then zooming in will eventually yield the city map with the neighborhoods noted. Taking a screencap (Control-Alt-Print Screen on your keyboard and then a Control-V into a photo editing program) will allow you to create an image that you can then insert into your website or blog .
- Transportation information - consider including links to the city transit system(s), phone numbers for taxi companies, ferries, or other interesting forms of transportation. Sometimes unique transportation-related information could be interesting to website visitors too: is there an annual car, motorcycle, or horse show? Can you get horse-drawn carriage rides around a local park?
- Parks and Playgrounds - most people are interested in knowing if there are local parks and playgrounds, even if they don't always visit them! The idea of having a park nearby provides comfort that there are areas that are not concrete or pavement where they can stroll, read, or play. For families with children, playgrounds also provide an opportunity for family time.
- Schools - proximity to schools is often important to all home-buyers, as there may be school-age children, post-secondary study considerations, or adult education plans. Since everyone cannot live beside an education institution, this school information also ties in with the transportation information. Are there buses that accessible that go directly to post-secondary institutions? Are transfers required? If so, how many? Having specific bus or subway routes and numbers would be fantastic, but knowing general information is a must.
- Amenities - probably one of the first things that people consider is the proximity to shops and entertainment establishments that are part of their everyday life. How close are grocery stores, movie theatres, big box stores, restaurants, etc? Sometimes buyers want to know this information to be close to them, while others want to know so that they can distance themselves from the traffic and commercial aspects. Again, transportation also ties into this information. How long of a drive will it be to access these amenities? How convenient will it be to 'pop out' for a jug of milk at 8:00 at night for cereal the next morning? They may seem like trivial questions, but they are definitely ones that will randomly roam through a buyer's mind.
- Jobs - since the job market in the neighborhood or surrounding area will be in constant change, it is not necessary to know all of the currently-available jobs. You can, however, help out your prospective buyers or online visitors by providing links to online job boards or phone numbers to local job-hunting companies. This provides those online visitors the information they require, as well as ensures they come to your website for it!
- Community Events - a lot of buyers will be considering the local 'environment' when considering a new home. What sort of feeling do they get when they are driving through the neighborhood or viewing pictures? Does it appear friendly or hostile? Are the people smiling? Do they see signs for community events like BBQ's, family fun nights, theatre, schools, etc.? Having this type of information on your website can be extremely valuable, as it shows what the people in the community do on a regular basis. After all, when you live in a community, you are really living with the other people, not just the homes around you. No matter how beautiful or perfect the house, if the community 'feeling' is not aligned with the buyer's expectations or needs, the buyer will not be happy with their purchase.
Consider some of the questions you get from prospective buyers regarding your market area. What information do they regularly want to know? What considerations do they have when determining whether or not they are going to purchase in the area? These questions and considerations provide a wealth of knowledge for you. If one person is wondering it, you can almost guarantee that others are too!
Assembling and Presenting the Neighborhood Information
There are a variety of ways that you can present the neighborhood information you collect. - One Page, Multiple Neighborhoods - using separate Custom Content Modules for each Neighborhood, include the specific information, photos, and links. Doris is a great example of this type of format.
- Separate Pages - at the Professional and Premium levels of membership, you have a large number of pages to work with, providing you with the opportunity to devote one page per Neighborhood. This also increases the amount of information you can showcase regarding that Neighborhood: links to relevant information, photo albums , etc. Mary has a lot of specific information, including videos, on the Neighborhoods in her market area.
- General Community Information - for a general overview, you can provide a generic 'community' page to provide information at that level, before you delve into specific Neighborhoods. Jane's site has a good example.
Other samples of community pages: Regardless of how you decide to present your Neighborhood information, and regardless of the exact points you cover, any Neighborhood information is better than neglecting to include it on your site. With many buyers looking to learn about the areas in which they may potentially live in the future, providing insight into these Neighborhoods will set you apart and showcase the knowledge you have gained regarding your market area. If they can come to your website and gain all of the insight they feel they need, then they will continue to come to you for other questions and considerations. This sets you up as their primary source of real estate information, fostering an online relationship built of respect and trust. When they are ready to make decisions regarding buying, they will more than likely go where they know their answers can be answered...you! "...and meanwhile back in Penny Lane..." I am going to have this song in my head for the rest of the day...
~ Tanya Spilchak, Education Coodinator
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