Buying property abroad the male female perspective

Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus and that is just the start when it comes to the different sexes. At Nubricks we have found that 67% of property buyers that register for new development details are male with only 33% being female, many enquiries also come in at lunchtime between 11am and 2pm. On the face of those statistics it would seem that many more men are now doing property research on the net. Historically market research shows a general trend that women conduct initial buying research more so than men when buying most products, but with the net being so widely available, many men now have access to online information both at work and home.

Buying from a Real Estate Professional
We have all met the classic sales agent their stereotypical look can be seen the world over; the suited and booted guy complete with the perfect tie and slick gelled back hair, dropping cheesy lines and on the charm offensive.

As the overseas property industry has grown over the years, more women have been stepping out of the traditional admin roles and moving to the sales side with great success.

I am NOT trying to start a debate about whether women or men are better at this particular role, but merely pose the question;

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Property marketing that makes sales
We have all seen the property buying programmes on the television and that male and female parties tend to look at very different points when deciding whether a property is right for them. Men focus on price, potential gains and square meterage, whereas women visualise enjoying lunch on the terrace, how a place would look when furnished and like to know more practical information about amenities and facilities in the local vicinity. Women’s choices tend to be based more on emotion and men’s on fact.

However with the growing amount of business women/part-time mums, some new trends are emerging. Time is the biggest factor and stay-at-home mums spend more time researching the market browsing magazines, websites and watching television shows. Business women tend to want more succinct information and quickly.

So how do you promote new homes to both sexes?
Men generally make quick decisions, often focussed on price so the information has to be punchy and to the point. Marketing material for women should be visually stimulating conjuring a lifestyle image and provide more information that includes important facts relating to location and local amenities, extra details such as whether furniture is included, rental services and legal information.

As women generally are the decision makers, marketing should be targeted towards them. Stereotyping women is not the best plan. Women respond to marketing on a variety levels and can receive several messages at one time.

If a woman is looking for a second home then she needs to know it’s the right decision for her and her family. Marketing needs to explain why the property is family friendly. Be thorough including details of after sales care and extra services lets her know that the buying process is going to be easy and stress-free.

Marketing with added fluff will go down like a lead balloon and many women will read between the lines and will just not buy it as women tend to use both their head and their heart when it comes to decision making.

As the photo above shows, Dove are one company who have remarketed their product specifically to all women with great success. Switching to marketing your development to the female pound could make a huge difference to the number of sales successes you make. In addition to buying not only most consumer goods, property, women also usually have final the input when it comes to mortgages and other financial decisions.

Finally if all of the above is not enough to persuade you to have another look at your sales & marketing campaign then the mere fact that there are 26.7 million females when compared to 25.3 million males in the UK population means you could be missing out on out on a whole lot of potential property buyers. Increased affluence, greater buying power and the well-known fact that we are an aging population means your market audience is set to grow so you would do well to target your marketing accordingly or you could find yourself niche marketing to the wrong niche!

What’s your feeling on male/female marketing? Post your thoughts and comments below.