Specialists are the rarified few who have a major talent in one specific area and are paid handsomely for their unique knowledge. They are in demand and can be very successful.
You may have a General Practitioner doctor who is someone you see for a wide range of issues. He/she knows a little about a lot and can help you in most manners. And then there are docs who have spent time and energy focused on one particular specialty. They know a lot about a little (a single subject, that is). If you wanted a nose job, for example, you wouldn’t go to the same doctor who treats your cold. You would want a plastic surgeon. But if you are really looking for a perfect proboscis, you would seek out someone who specializes in rhinoplasty- someone who knows noses.
Great success can be found in any niche and that includes real estate. Take Matt Goyer. He is the wildly successful and eternally busy head of Urban Living in Seattle, Washington. What started out as blog journaling his attempt to buy a condo years ago has evolved into a successful career and a niche market business with staying power.
“So, when I moved here in 2004 and I started looking for a condo, there was very little information online. You had to buy the Seattle Times Sunday paper and see who was advertising in order to figure out which condos to consider purchasing. There was nothing online, so I started this blog that was basically a journal for myself of condo sales centers.”
VISIT htps://www.urbnlivn.com/about/ TO FIND OUT MORE.
Matt bought his first condo and then his second and then onto a townhouse, all the while writing about his journey. “I worked at a tech startup, but it was more known as a real estate brokerage called Redfin and I ran the marketing there, but I wasn't an agent.” After that, Matt did another tech start up and moved from office job to office job. “I just got tired of working in an office, doing meetings, all that corporate BS and was like, man, I just want to follow my passion.” Being from Winnipeg, Matt says he didn’t really have any passions besides skiing and hockey. Not really stuff he could turn into a career. “Oh, I write this blog about real estate that I've been doing as a hobby,” he thought. “Why don't I turn that into my job?”
Since Matt was already looking at condos, he decided to focus on those. He was specializing without even knowing it. Soon more people began to read his blog expecting him to go to more and more condo centers until he became known for his condo expertise. “I just kept chronicling what was going on in Seattle real estate,” he says. There are now thousands of subscribers as well as an email that goes out every Friday. He estimates close to a thousand people a day visit the blog.
The blog is what eventually became Urban Living - Matt’s own brokerage. After years of working as an agent for someone else’s brokerage, he managed to create one of his own. “I didn't like having someone else's name on my sign. I knew I always wanted to have my own brokerage. But you just can't go and start your own brokerage. You can't be a managing broker overnight,” he says. “I took the online courses and all that nonsense and all this state licensing BS- it's all complicated! No one's written a guide of how to do it.” But eventually, he worked to create a company of his own. “Now I’ve got signs with my name on it and it feels great.”
Even in the topsy turvy times we now face in real estate, Matt has managed to carve out not only a successful business, but a name for himself. He remained true to his vision, his core values and his specialty. “That's how we developed that brand initially,” he says. “Really focusing in on that one thing. And now we’re known as experts in that space: ‘If you're thinking of buying a condo, you should talk to Matt.“
You can be successful by focusing on a niche and being the best at it. “I think a mistake that a lot of real estate agents make at the beginning is to try to be all things to all people,” Matt advises young agents. “The blog was very, very niche to start. It's broadened a bit over time, but you know, our focus initially was really on new construction condos, cool lofts.”
Being a specialist means your clients will seek you out for your advanced knowledge. You can build a successful business and a die-hard following by doing one thing. Know who you are. Know what you do. And be the best at it.