Pros & Cons of Choosing a Real Estate Niche

When it comes to real estate professionals, it is important to stand out from the crowd. What makes you different from the rest?

There are a lot of options out there for real estate investors, homebuyers, and sellers; you have to make sure that they know you’re the one who can get the job done. Some real estate professionals try to create success by keeping their focus as broad as possible. Others find a niche and stick with it.

Finding a niche is a somewhat counterintuitive strategy that can actually pay off very well. However, it is not without its drawbacks. Here are some of the pros and cons of niche real estate.

PROS

Buyers will seek you out, rather than the other way around.

Developing a niche is akin to having a specialty – you’re automatically the go-to person for a people with very specific needs. If your niche is multi-family dwellings in a specific neighborhood, for example, you will quickly develop a reputation as the one to come to for anyone who is looking for such a property, and buyers will begin to seek you out rather than the other way around.

You can build a higher level of expertise.

If you only have to learn about one market and one property type, you can learn a lot more (in a lot less time) than if you had to study all the facets of a much larger market.

Your expertise will build trust in your niche clientele.

A person with skin problem feels more comfortable seeing a dermatologist than a family practitioner. Why? Because it is much more likely that the dermatologist has studied or treated their condition, and can deliver an appropriately specific treatment. In the same way, your expertise in a very specific market inspires trust in those looking to buy in that market. They reason that you will have better information than a general seller.

You will likely always have clients.

Because you are catering to a specific type of client, you will likely always find people who need what you’ve got.

CONS

Niche marketing may not work in small or low-volume markets.

In a wide market with many sellers, it makes sense to have a niche, so that you can corner the market on a specific subset of potential clients. However, in a small or slow market, it may make much more sense to try to be all things to all people.

The market changes frequently.

Say your niche is foreclosed fixer-uppers. What happens when the market improves and the foreclosures dry up? You will have to shift your focus quickly and relearn an entirely new market.

Having general knowledge makes you more versatile.

Sure, as a niche seller you know everything about your forte. But what if clients who previously bought an urban condo from you suddenly want to buy a suburban home in an area of town you’re unfamiliar with? Will you be able to represent them well, or will you have to hand over their business to someone else?

In the end, while a niche focus does tend to be the better choice, there are benefits to either approach, and you have to find the one that’s right for you. Many investors find it is beneficial to discuss it with their mentor or coach. This may take a bit of thought, planning and trial and error, but it will be worth it to watch your business grow.