One of the tasks of a new Real Estate Agent is to compile a list of potential clients to target. In this article we offer you some help in building your list.

We suggest drawing up a table of client groups with similar characteristics, which we will call customer categories in one column, the characteristics of the category, in a second column and possible names of persons who fit the respective categories in a third column.

You may want to use an Excel Sheet or a Google Docs Sheet to build your table. This will allow you to easily add additional columns or rows at a later date. For the purpose of this article we will confine ourselves to three columns such as the table below.

We suggest the following list of customer categories along with their respective unique characteristics. This is not an exclusive list and you may have some additional categories to add to your list.

• 25 year old Yuppies. These are the many young persons who have earned their qualifications or possess exceptional talent and are starting off on a lucrative career. Most of them are single and many still live with their parents. They have high disposable incomes and may be in the market to invest excess funds into real estate.
• 25 year old double income couples with no children. This group is very similar to the previous group with the difference being a couple, who may or may not be married, instead of one person. Usually they have more joint disposable income and may be looking for a rental while they decide on whether they should purchase a home together.
• 35 year old couples with young children. This category may be embarking on a family home and looking for an affordable house to purchase in a safe neighbourhood, to bring up their children.
• 45 year old mid-life crisis persons. This category is made up of persons or couples who may have done well in their career(s) and now want to ‘move-on-up’ to a more expensive neighbourhood.
• 65 year old retirees. This category is made up of ’empty nesters’, couples or individuals whose children may have moved out of the family home and are now looking for a more manageable size home in which to spend their retirement years.
• Small and Micro business entrepreneurs. Usually a group of 35 year to 45 year olds who may have grown disillusioned with the corporate with the corporate rat race and are now looking for a more quiet, more meaningful career and may be on the look-out for a small commercial property for rent.
• Nouveau Riche or New Rich. Those who may have come into large amounts of excess money and may be looking for property as an investment.

A good client list includes potential clients in each category. Be diligent in building your potential client list as this can be a significant asset. God’s blessings on your new career.