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What everyone is thinking about real estate but no one is saying

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Takeaways:

  • What millennials are looking for in real estate content.
  • Why being funny is better than trying to be motivational.

SAN FRANCISCO — If your idea of real estate marketing is posting motivational quotes to Instagram, you’re doing it wrong.

That’s according to the creators of real estate comedy blog The Broke Agent at Inman Connect today.

Slide from The Broke Agent presentation

Eric Simon and Wes Pinkston are both members of the much-discussed and sometimes poorly understood millennial generation. They’re also agents.

This generation has grown up with the Internet, is highly educated and is never far from a smartphone, they said.

“As a millennial, social media is not part of my life; it is my life,” Pinkston said.

“That might sound really crazy to you guys.”

[Tweet “‘As a millennial, social media is not part of my life, it is my life'”]

That means that agents have to make their content “catchy” and “relatable,” he said.

“We have to relate to you,” Pinkston said.

Motivational quotes and tweets like “Just sold a $2 million home!” don’t qualify.

A millennial might see that and think, “That’s great. I’m dying. I have to ask my dad for money,” Pinkston said.

There is more to real estate than motivation and tips on how to be a better Realtor — agents need to find their niche, he said.

That’s why The Broke Agent focuses on the humor of working in the industry. They have posts such as “10 reasons real estate agents drink” and “6 crazy requests from sellers.”

Such posts are more likely to get clicked, Pinkston said, and “What’s the point of putting time and effort into your media if you’re not getting eyeballs?”

Email Andrea V. Brambila.