Niche marketing is the practice of targeting a group based on a shared trait, need, or interest. This can be anything from single parents to wine lovers, and each month we’ll add a new niche below to help you learn to identify, target, and market to different niches to attract buyers and sellers with specific needs.

Many agents are reluctant to position themselves as a specialist for fear of limiting their earning potential, but in reality, targeting a broad audience takes far more time and resources than most agents are able to allocate to their marketing efforts, so choosing a dedicated niche makes sense. In addition to helping you differentiate your services from other real estate agents, you can build credibility and focused expertise that will make you the obvious choice for people in your niche instead of just one of hundreds of agents who don’t specialize in your niche. 

Seniors

Many people buy a home to raise a family, but after the children grow up and move out, a large home and a big backyard sometimes becomes more of a burden than a benefit. Seniors may also begin thinking about cashing in on the equity they’ve built in their home over the years. If you would like to help this group of buyers and sellers figure out what’s next, working with seniors may be the niche for you.

Who They Are

Seniors often already own a home, so when you work with them, you’ll be able to help them with both transaction sides. Some seniors may also be relocation buyers looking to move closer to family or friends or to a more desirable location. Seniors may be looking to downsize to a home with less upkeep or seeking amenities that will better suit their lifestyle.

How to Find Them

Many seniors are on social media, so growing your online presence is a good way to start connecting with local seniors. You can also join, volunteer for, or start a group for seniors so that you can build personal relationships that can lead to referrals and business opportunities. Retired seniors may also be attracted to classes or events, so depending on your knowledge base, consider running or hosting gardening, cooking, or other classes for seniors.

How to Market to Them

A big selling point for many seniors is lowered home maintenance requirements, so advertising an “easy upkeep” or “low maintenance” featured search on your website can make it easy for seniors to find what they’re looking for. Market updates and examples of other people who have cashed in on their home equity can show potential sellers the benefits of selling without being too pushy. 

Architecture

Every buyer has their own set of must-have and like-to-have features in a home. For many, it’s just a certain number of bedrooms or a certain school district. Others however, want a specific type of home. Whether they want a home from a specific time period or built in a specific architectural style, with strong knowledge of the area and the kinds of architecture available, you could make a career of selling specific types of homes.

Who They Are

There are a lot of reasons someone may develop a preference for a certain type of house. Perhaps the layout is particularly well suited to their lifestyle. Maybe they grew up in that style house and owning one of their own would bring back memories of childhood. They may have visited a friend’s house and loved it or seen that type of house on TV and grown fond of the style that way.

How to Find Them

Many people who prefer a certain type of home may not even realize that they have an architectural preference. They may think they prefer homes with arches or large porches without realizing that the homes they like best all fit into the same category. Get proactive in educating members of your community about the different house types in your area to prove you’re the expert and attract those buyers.

How to Market to Them

Ranking your top ten favorite contemporary, Tudor, or Victorian homes on the market can give those listings a boost and generate goodwill with the sellers and agents of the homes. Sharing examples of famous tv or movie homes that fit your niche can draw in a wider audience online, and if you turn your examples into a poll asking which of several different options they would rather live in, you could generate some great engagement. Each type of home is also likely to have different upkeep and maintenance needs. Tips to fit your niche could prove useful to your followers. You can also share decorating tips that fit with your niche to generate engagement.

Check out the Common American House Types Infographic here!

Renters

Many renters wrongfully assume that they can’t afford a home or that they won’t qualify for a mortgage. Other renters are correct that they can’t currently afford it or wouldn’t currently qualify, but they could by the time their next lease ends. Working with renters can be a great way for patient real estate agents to find and nurture future buyers. And, because rental leads are a long-term investment, they can offer vast rewards and less competition than other niches.

Who They Are

Very few Americans buy a house when they move away from home for the first time. Most people start off as renters until they understand the value of buying a home and get more established in their jobs and personal lives. A renter may decide to buy a home for any number of reasons, but some of the most common are a change in job, family situation, or the need for a larger or smaller home.

How to Find Them

Helping renters find their next residence is one of the best ways to identify individuals and families that are getting ready to buy a home. Working with rentals also means that you know when someone will be moving and gives you an ideal opportunity to start building a relationship with that person. Many real estate portals, like Homes.com, offer agents the opportunity to advertise to renters searching for homes. 

How to Market to Them

Pamphlets, images, and flyers explaining the benefits of owning versus renting can help shift current renters into a buying mentality. Education is also a key component of the rental market. Consider creating a first time buyer hotline or dedicated website renters can access for answers to all their local home buying questions.

Multi-Generational Families

Whether it’s for health reasons, financial reasons, or just personal preference, some families need a home that can accommodate multiple generations or branches of a family. Homes that will suit a multi-generational household tend to be larger and are often worth more than those that will accommodate a smaller family. However, there are often more people who have to approve of the home before they are ready to make the purchase. If you enjoy working with larger homes and can handle more decision makers in the purchasing process, multi-generational families may be a good niche for you.

Who They Are

A multi-generational family will often be composed of one or more grandparents, parent, and child. There are many reasons they may choose to live together: to help raise or care for the kids, failing health, to stay close as a family, to save money, etc. Siblings or other family members may also choose to join households. 

How to Find Them

Create a featured search on your agent website with homes that would suit multi-generational families. Share advertisements linking back to your search via social media to help attract more searchers to your targeted listings. You can also find multi-generational home buyers by creating relevant content on the topic. Start a blog and/or social media group dedicated to successfully living as a multi-generational unit. This can include topics from what to look for in a home to incorporating the furniture from multiple households into one household. Downsizing, meal planning, scheduling, and other topics that will help keep peace may also be popular.

How to Market to Them

Whatever the makeup of your client’s family, there will often be a desire for privacy within the family, so homes with mother-in-law suites, converted garages or basements, split floor plans, and other accommodations that allow more privacy will often appeal to multi-generational families. Also offer ways a home could be modified to fit the needs of your niche. Is there a great spot to add a kitchenette or an additional bathroom in one of your listings? Share some ideas for making the home more multi-generationally friendly.

Urban Farmers

There’s something to be said for eating fresh produce grown in your own yard. Many find knowing exactly what chemicals were used on their food comforting. Others enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that comes from planting and nurturing their fruits and vegetables from seed to table. Whatever the individual reason, urban farming allows individuals to enjoy the benefits of farm-fresh food from a city or suburban location. If you’d like to help people achieve their urban farming and home-ownership goals, this niche could be for you.

Who They Are

Many people choose to garden. Urban farming takes gardening to the next level with a larger investment of time, money, and resources. The produce urban farmers grow can be used to help sustain or even fully provide for a family’s produce needs. Urban farmers may also sell extra produce their farm provides. 

How to Find Them

You can always meet lovers of fresh produce at farmer markets. Strike up conversations with attendees and booth-holders to meet people who may be in the market for a new home with plenty of yard space. You can also find current and would-be urban farmers via social groups based on area farming, swap-meets, or fresh produce. Find out what groups your area already has and depending on the reach and rules of the group, either join an existing group or start your own!

How to Market to Them

Aspiring urban farmers may not know what they need from their yard to create a successful urban farm. Take some time to create resources with your recommendations for lawn size, amount of sunlight, and the pros and cons of different urban farming methods. More experienced farmers may be interested in knowing the pH level of the soil for listings you’re promoting or be interested in contacts you may have who can help them grow or improve their urban farms. Share these resources along with homes that may be suitable for urban farmers to attract would-be urban farmers.

First Time Buyers

If you want to try niche marketing, but don’t want to narrow your focus too much, first time buyers may be a good fit for you. Each year, roughly 33% of home buyers are first time buyers, making them a fairly large portion of the buyer population, so chances are good that you’ve already worked with some first time buyers and know what to expect. The only difference is that, if you choose this group as your niche, you will make them your main business focus.

Who They Are

First time buyers are typically renters, but some may have inherited a home, had housing provided by the military, been living with family, or had other housing accommodations before they made the decision to buy. Not having bought a home in the past, they may need extra guidance and explanations as they make their way along the path to homeownership.

How to Find Them

As a larger group, first time buyers are pretty easy to find online. Create resources to answer common questions a first time buyer may need to know and share those resources online. You can also consider working with renters to have easy access to people who may become home buyers in the future. 

How to Market to Them

Focus your marketing around the reasons why it’s better to own a home than to rent. You should also provide plenty of basic, beginner-level information about what you need to buy a house: how much buyers should save for a down payment, what their credit score should be for different loan types, what paperwork they’ll need, etc.

Another great way to attract first time buyers is by hosting or co-hosting a first time buyer seminar. Talk about what’s involved in buying a home and invite other key players, such as lenders and inspectors to join your seminar and teach a little about the role they play in the transaction. Learn how to host a real estate seminar here.

Careers

There are bars, restaurants, shops, and even dating websites that cater to people in specific careers. Real estate agents can also specialize by career by focusing on the unique needs of the people in it. Some of the careers you could consider establishing a niche in include medical professionals, EMS workers, police officers, firefighters, or teachers. Each of these professions has specialized home buying and selling needs that the right real estate agent can help them navigate.

Who They Are

People who see their career as an important part of their self-identity are more likely to be attracted by the idea of a real estate agent who specializes in their career. But, before you choose what career niche you want to focus on, you need to understand the challenges people in that career face and find solutions to overcome them. Depending on the career niche you choose, the people you work with may work late hours or the overnight shift. Their schedule could be unpredictable or offer no flexibility. They may need easy access to their job or added security features in their neighborhood.

How to Find Them

There are likely a variety of establishments in your area that cater to your career niche. Reach out to those establishments and offer them a partnership that benefits you, them, and the community you’re looking to serve. Join or start a local Facebook group where members of the career niche you’re serving can share their experiences, ask each other questions, and receive special offers from local businesses. A lot of careers also have special get togethers or conferences that you can attend, speak at, or sponsor.

How to Market to Them

Focus on your career niche’s pain points and what you do to solve them. For example, If you’re working in a tight market where acting fast is critical, but your career niche is firefighters who often work 24 hour shifts, you could make recorded walk-thrus of homes a standard service you offer. Share your solutions via targeted ads that route to landing pages and free how-to guides that are specific to your niche. 

If you’ve been in the business for a while and are just now moving into a niche, check out the “Reinventing Your Business from Scratch” Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar with Real Estate Road Warrior, Shannon King.

Move-Up Buyers

In recent years many buyers stopped thinking of their home as a “first home” or “starter home” and hunkered down in what historically wouldn’t be considered a forever home. But, not everyone is content to stay in the first home they purchase. If you want to help people find a home that can accommodate a growing family or that reflects their personal growth, move-up buyers may be the niche for you.

Who They Are

Move-up buyers are typically inspired to action by a change in their life. This could be growth in their family such as a marriage, new baby, or a wish to accommodate multiple generations in one home. Move-up buyers can also be motivated by positive career changes such as a raise, promotion, or job change that would enable them to purchase a new home.

How to Find Them

The most obvious place to look for move-up buyers is in your CRM. Enroll people who bought a home from you five or more years ago into a drip email campaign targeted for move-up buyers. You can also call them and ask if their home is still suiting their needs: is it large enough, do they have enough storage space, do they need a bigger yard?

How to Market to Them

Focus on the motivating factors many move-up buyers will already be considering. Larger closets, more storage space, great yards, in-home offices, and family rooms may be big items on a move-up buyer’s list of must have features, so focus on sharing listings with these features. You can also take the opposite approach and offer solutions for homeowners with limited space. Encourage them to contact you when they’re ready for more room to spread out. You can also try appealing to their core reason for wanting to upgrade. Separate your move-up buyer leads by the reason they’re considering a move and create different email campaigns and ads based on whether they’re moving because of a new baby, aging parents, or a promotion/raise.

If you think your business could benefit from working with move-up buyers, check out our library of free buyer and seller resources. These brandable guides and checklists are a great way to keep in touch with your current leads and past clients so that when they’re ready to buy a new house, you’ll already be top of mind.

Veterans

Who They Are

After serving their countries, many men and women are ready to settle down in a home of their own. Veterans often establish tight-knit communities, so if you establish yourself in this niche, referrals may provide a consistent source of business.

Also, those who qualify for a VA loan can typically afford a more expensive house than an FHA borrower with the same financial situation due to the waived mortgage insurance, 100% financing, and often lower interest rates.

How to Find Them

Housing loans are just one of the many benefits veterans are entitled to. Help veterans in your area access their benefits by sharing information about veteran benefits on your website and social channels. You can also get involved in local groups for veterans either as a volunteer or as a member if you are a veteran.

How to Market to Them

Ask for and share testimonials from veterans you’ve worked with in the past to show that you have experience working with this market. Creating lists or videos outlining what veterans and their families can expect if they plan to buy their home with a VA loan can also be effective ways to market to veterans. Topics such as the VA loan process, who can qualify for a VA loan, and what condition/features a home must have to qualify for purchase may be popular topics.

If you think working with veterans may be the right niche for you, visit SecretsofTopSellingAgents.com to learn more about VA loans and helping veterans buy a home.

Haunted Houses

While most people tend to see abnormal sounds and strange phenomena as detractors when looking to buy or sell a home, the thrill of a potentially haunted house can be a major selling point for some. If you’re interested in helping sellers escape an unwanted situation and finding buyers who revel in the intrigue of a haunted house, this may be the niche for you.

Who They Are

Most showings take place during the day, so buyers don’t always notice the unsettling feeling they get from the property until the documents are signed and they’re left living in a house that terrifies them. Whether the feeling crept up slowly or they discovered the home has a violent past, homeowners like this may be looking for a way out. And in this niche, you can help.

Another way you can enter the haunted houses niche is to work with buyers specifically looking to inhabit a haunted house. The unique history, attractive price point, and thrill of the unknown is a big draw for some buyers.

How to Find Them

Acquaint yourself with local history and keep an ear out for mentions of haunted houses and eerie encounters to break into this small, but passionate niche. With spooky topics on everyone’s mind, October is a great time to meet those looking to buy or sell haunted real estate. Hosting or sponsoring a ghost tour around your town is a perfect opportunity to talk about haunted houses in your area and mention how you’ve helped people who were unhappy with their housing situation. If you live in an old, historic town, a ghost tour may even be popular year round.

How to Market to Them

Before they sell their home, those living in a haunted dwelling may want to try to evict the spirits. Get your name in front of these homeowners by sharing information about various ceremonies and rituals they can try to remove unwanted spirits. Blogs and social posts about selling a haunted house and the necessary disclosures in your state can also reassure about putting their home on the market and show them that they have options. As a haunted house specialist, you can also help these homeowners find a buyer who can fully appreciate the unique charm their property offers.

For those looking to buy a haunted house, sharing posts about ghost sightings and pictures of historic homes may help attract new business. You can also consider starting a Facebook Group for local ghost enthusiasts where you can build a community and learn the latest ghost-related news.

For a little light-hearted ghostly fun, visit www.haunted.homes. Just plug in any address and we’ll share a fun story about whether or not the property is haunted! Have you had a spooky real estate experience? Share it in the comments below!

Homes with Rentable Components

In the last several years, vacation rental programs like Airbnb and vrbo have made it easy for homeowners to rent out their home or spare room. The convenience, along with the money-making opportunities has created a market for people who are specifically looking to buy homes with rentable components. This could be anything from a full mother-in-law suite to an extra bedroom, converted garage, or basement that they could outfit for paying guests.

Who They Are

Renting out a portion of your home can be a great source of income for anyone, but single homebuyers and couples who don’t have young children may find the hosting lifestyle suits them better than those who need to work around the needs of small children or large families.

How to Find Them

As a newer niche opportunity, you may be able to find business in this niche by simply spreading the word about the opportunities renting part of your home provides. Start a Facebook group for local Airbnb hosts and share information about becoming a host, what’s expected, spots to recommend, etc. As your group grows, trickle in information about listings that would be great for hosts.

How to Market to Them

The best way to market to buyers looking for homes with rentable components is to become an expert on the subject and share your knowledge. Start by keeping an eye out for new listings with split floor plans, finished garages and basements, or other rentable components and publish a weekly list of these available properties. You could also find and share resources on how to convert unfinished rooms into livable spaces and interview contractors about what to expect from such a process. Live videos examining the best places out-of-towners may enjoy visiting or Pinterest posts showing off great guest rooms may also be a hit.

If you’re interested in exploring the homes with rentable components niche, but don’t know much about programs like Airbnb and vrbo, here are some resources that could help.

• What Makes a House a Great Airbnb
• How to Make Money with Airbnb – Best & Worst Cities.
• What You Need to Know Before You Airbnb Your Home

Green Homes

A “green home” is one that has a positive impact, or at least a very minimal negative impact on the environment. There are steps any homeowner can take to make their home more energy efficient or better for the environment, but most truly green homes are designed and built with that goal in mind. Green homes often use recycled materials, minimize construction waste, buy materials locally to minimize transportation-related pollution, and incorporate water and energy-saving technology and systems throughout the building process. Homes that meet certain rigorous criteria can receive a green home certification.

Who They Are

Anyone can buy a green home. They may be attracted by the energy efficient qualities of the home or have a passion for reducing their carbon footprint. Similarly, someone selling their green home could be doing so for any number of reasons: relocation, upsizing/downsizing, or even a simple desire for change.

How to Find Them

Network with hybrid and electric car dealerships in the area to reach people who may already understand the benefits of going green. You may also find volunteering for community cleanup projects is a great way to meet people with an active interest in preserving the environment. If you know of green or energy-efficient homes in your area, offering information on the certification process can be a great way to open a conversation about selling their home.

How to Market to Them

Energy efficiency is a popular feature for most buyers, but many buyers may not know what makes a green home special. Familiarize yourself with the myriad features, such as thermal barriers, R-value, air infiltration barriers, low emissivity windows, and advanced framing, and share their benefits with potential clients. Charts and graphs that show the lessened environmental impact and lowered heating/cooling costs can also be a good tool to use to convince buyers to go with a green home and show sellers that you understand their home’s unique value.

Learn more about the green home market and changes your sellers can invest in to make their homes more energy-efficient here. Nationally recognized green real estate investing expert Jim Simcoe discusses rebates, grants, and incentives for homeowners, how to increase your sellers’ profits, and how to become the green home expert in your area in this Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar.

Luxury Homes

In a career where income is based on commission, working with more expensive homes is an appealing option. Luxury homes, while defined differently depending on which city, state, or region you’re looking at, can generally be considered to start at the one million dollar price point. These listings are typically in a prime location, have top-of-the-line finishes, and may offer amenities not available at lower price points.

Who They Are

Because they are investing such a large amount of money in their home purchase, luxury home buyers will likely have very specific features and amenities they desire. The prestige of certain homes may also be a priority of these buyers, making listings built by notable builders or with an interesting history more attractive options.

How to Find Them

While most people would love to own a luxury home, those who are actually qualified to buy may be harder to find. However, once you get your foot in the door, affluent individuals often know others with similar purchasing power, making networking one of the best ways to meet new buyers and sellers in the luxury home market. You can also meet luxury clients by teaming up with someone who has already broken into the market or by purchasing local databases and mailing lists to get the contact information for the residents of luxury homes, country club members, or boat owners.

How to Market to Them

Once you meet a potential luxury home client, you need to convince them that you’re the best agent to help them with their real estate transaction. A great first step is to become an accredited luxury home specialist; be sure to include this accreditation in your marketing materials and outreach attempts.

Focus on creating beautiful, professional marketing materials. When trying to win luxury listings or buyers, it’s important to use a professional photographer and designer instead of DIY options. Also, instead of promoting the features of a listing you’re selling or showing, focus on the benefits of the features. Try to show buyers the kind of lifestyle the property will offer and focus on the aspects of the home that will build the new owner’s prestige.

For more information about Marketing Luxury Homes, watch Jim Remley’s Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar. Remley is a bestselling author, co-founder of the Luxury Home Council, and an Accredited Luxury Home Specialist.

Inherited Homes

If you are looking for a niche where your compassion and desire to help people can be put to good use, consider working with inherited homes. Selling an inherited home offers several unique challenges including multiple homeowners, additional paperwork, helping deal with the deceased one’s possessions, and the strong emotions that are part of the grieving process.

Who They Are

An inherited home is usually passed to the descendants or heirs of deceased homeowners. When the sellers reach out to you, they will likely be in mourning. There may also be a large number of people who own part of the property, all of whom will have to consent to the details of the sale. The homeowners may not live in, or even be familiar with the area or home, so you often won’t receive the in-depth knowledge and maintenance history of the house you would get from most sellers. People who inherit homes can often be highly motivated to sell to avoid paying upkeep, taxes, and other fees on a home they don’t plan to live in.

How to Find Them

Because the owners of inherited homes often don’t live in the area, they don’t already have a go-to real estate agent. Creating and sharing useful guides and resources for people who inherit a home is a good way to build a reputation as an expert in this kind of sale, which will in turn help sellers find you. Another option is to connect with probate attorneys in your area and work out co-marketing deals with them.

How to Market to Them

Show inherited home sellers that you know what you’re doing and start building your credibility and reputation as the local expert for this kind of sale. Information about what to do when you inherit a home or the expenses involved with upkeeping an inherited home can be a great help for new homeowners. Try co-branding your guides with any probate attorneys you’re working with and leaving free copies for potential clients in their office or waiting room. Information about the local market and neighborhoods will also help sellers get a better idea of what to expect from their sale.

Setting yourself apart with free information is a good way to appeal to any seller. Download your free copy of the Homeowner’s Guide to Staging here! It has essential staging techniques for any time of year as well as season-specific tips to give your listing a spring, summer, winter, or fall feel!

College Housing

College apartments don’t have the best reputation; while some are great, many can be small, crowded, and loud. Furthermore, when you do find a decent apartment, the rental rates can often be high. Some parents find it makes more sense to buy a home or condo for their child to live in while they go to a college or university that’s away from home. They’ll save money each month, their child can focus on their education, and it’s a good investment that they can rent out or sell once their child finishes school.

Who They Are

Most of the time it will be the parents of the college student who buy the home to provide their child a secure living space. Some buyers will opt for a one bedroom condo while others may prefer a single family home so they can rent the additional rooms to their child’s friends or other students in the area. Typically, the buyers will live out of town, may not be familiar with the area, and will likely already own a home that they themselves live in.

How to Find Them

Networking with agents in other cities and building a relocation network with agents in different college towns will be a good way to get in touch with parents looking to buy into your market. You can also reach out to the colleges about renting a booth or setting up a table during school open house events, scheduled tours, and orientation.

How to Market to Them

Most people buying college housing from out of town or state may not be familiar with the area, so resources that make it easier for new college students to settle into the area are effective marketing materials. You can also share information showing the best areas for college attendees to live based on proximity, accessibility, resources, crime rates, and other factors parents will care about. Videos about the area, especially those with an emphasis on buying vs renting will also help you find and convert more of the college housing niche.

Many parents won’t initially consider the benefits of buying a home for their college student, so marketing on rental properties and investing in rental leads is a great way to connect with parents who would consider buying once they understand the value. Homes.com Rental Connect allows you to target the areas you think parents and students would be most interested in. Contact us to find out how we can help!

Single Parents

Buying a home as a single parent can be challenging. They don’t have the benefit of a dual income, their credit is dependent on only themselves, and finding the time to do the necessary research to figure out how to buy or sell their home can be tricky. However, single parents can be one of the most driven and motivated niches you consider working with. Agents who hope to specialize in single parents will need to be able to handle scheduling flexibility, have a good understanding of area schools and neighborhoods, and be good with children.

Who They Are

According to NAR’s 2018 Profile on Buyers and Sellers, 27% of buyers are singles, and an unspecified number of these singles have children under the age of 18 who they are responsible for. As of 2016, 40% of children were born to single mothers. That’s not counting single parents, both female and male, who have been through a divorce or lost their loved one due to injury or illness.

How to Find Them

Finding single parents interested in real estate will be easier if you have children of your own. You can network at your child’s school, and clubs, and activities, as well as at the park and other locations frequented by parents. Another option is to form alliances with other businesses who regularly interact with single parents such as divorce lawyers and after school care. One of the best ways to find single parents who are actively interested in real estate is to set up and market a home buying seminar specifically for single parents.

How to Market to Them

Many single parents will look to buy a home to create a more stable environment for themselves and their children. Focus on the fact that with a fixed-rate mortgage, your client will know exactly how much their principal and interest payments will be for the entire mortgage term and how as a renter they have a landlord who could choose to raise their rent or not renew the lease, forcing them to find a new place to live.

You should also focus on the benefits of getting their children into a great school zone or the child-friendly community they could move into. Some amenities single parents may be interested in include a fenced yard, open floor plan, proximity to parks, and good schools.

Pet Parents

Niches don’t have to be large to be effective, and 1% of all home buyers’ listed a “desire for better home for pets” as their primary reason for purchasing a home according to the NAR 2018 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Additionally, a whole 15% of buyers cited convenience to a vet/outdoor space for their pets as an important factor when choosing their neighborhood, making it more important than public transportation, convenience to the airport, planned communities, and human health facilities. If you want to break into this niche, here’s what you need to know.

Who They Are

A 2017 survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of SunTrust Mortgage found that 33% of millennials bought their first home out of a desire to provide a better space or yard for their dog. That’s a larger percentage than those who bought because of marriage (25%) or a new child (19%). The large amount of millennials whose buying decisions are influenced by their pets may be correlated to their decision to delay getting married and having children.

How to Find Them

People who are passionate enough about their pets to buy a home for them are often the same ones who bring their pets with them around town. Bring your own pet with you to the local dog park, pet store, and other pet-friendly places. Find or start a group to get together and take your pets on outings. Advertise your group with apps like Meetup to help other pet parents find you. You’ll likely find yourself running into the same people over and over again. Start forming friendships with them, learning about their pet (this topic will be very dear to them), and find out what problems they have with their current housing. When the time is right, give them your card and let them know about some low down payment loans you could help them apply for.

How to Market to Them

One of the best ways to market to anyone is to solve one of their problems. As a renter, pet parents may struggle to find homes that accept their companions, and places that do allow pets often have breed and size restrictions. On top of that, renters have to worry about costly expenses such as pet deposits, non-refundable pet fees, and pet rent. Pet safety can be a concern too. Many homes have fences that aren’t suitable for keeping dogs in the yard or have maintenance personnel who stop by at the landlord’s request and accidentally let the cat out. Let pet parents know how owning their home can solve all of these problems.

Additionally, pet parents often want more than a yard with a good fence, but most housing only offers the most basic pet amenities. Create and curate plenty of content on creating your own dog wash station, cat rope bridge mazes, pet pools, and other projects that you can’t install in a rental unit.

Fun, pet-related quizzes, like Homes.com’s Dogs Digs test are another great marketing tool. Use this quiz as a fun way to get your potential clients thinking about what kind of home would best suit their companion!