Real Estate for Real People

Washington’s dynamic new brokerage company Real Living | At Home promises a one of a kind experience for those who looking to buy a house in the area. With its extensive use of social media, Real Living aims to strongly engage with its clients and give them an authentic idea of what living in DC is like.

The company hopes that these objectives will foster true connections with clients.

“If clients are going to work with Real Living, I want them to know exactly what kind of agents we have,” company CEO and founder Darrin Friedman said, “And we have fantastic agents who really understand what it means to connect with today’s consumer.”

Founded earlier this year, Real Living is a full service brokerage company. Where they dif- fer from other companies of the sort is with their commitment to community and engagement.

“For us culture is everything. Vision is every- thing,” Friedman explained, “Responsiveness, taking care of our clients is everything. And we work through social media, different flavors of social media engagement, and also something as simple as a letter. Every new client gets a letter. It says welcome to our family of clients, if you need anything this is how you reach us. It’s more than just an island with one agent. There’s no such thing as an island with us.”

Real Living specifically targets potential home buyers and sellers between the ages of 24-44. According to Friedman, 70% transactions in real estate involve someone in this age group. As a result, proper communication with this group is key.

“You must know how to communicate, you must know how to market to know how to reach that primary age group or you’re really going to be left behind,” Friedman said.

In today’s age of smart phones and ipads, Real Living has found social media to be an invaluable asset in their goal of connecting with consumers. The company has been using Facebook and Pintrest to engage with clients. Their Pintrest site highlights their favorite house fronts and interiors in D.C., and they held a contest via Facebook page that entailed guess- ing a picture of a D.C. streetfront that was taken twenty-five years ago with a Starbucks gift cer- tificate as a prize.

“I have not yet put up a listing on our Facebook page,” Friedman said, “That’s not the point, that’s not true engagement.”

“We do have big goals,” Friedman said, “But we also view our goals as quality…I’d much rather grow organically and with talent than quickly with herds of people that just fall out.”