73 Real Estate Niche Ideas and Beyond

Each real niche has different target audiences with different needs. 

Based on these, you often need to use the most suitable communication approach to reach them.

The real estate niche you want to approach also depends on the type of real estate professional you are.

Some niches are more appealing to investors. Others are more appealing to realtors and other real estate professionals.

Below, you’ll find various real estate niche ideas for your inspiration. 

I also include a technique that helps you innovate and find even more.

Overview of 73 Real Estate Niche Ideas

The short paragraphs below explain these different real estate niches in more depth.

For that, I picked a small selection from each category.

By the way, the above table is not just a table; it’s a matrix you can use to brainstorm and generate even more real estate niche ideas.

How to do it?

You combine different ones.

You can get quite creative in creating new sub-niches by combining vertically and horizontally.

For example, you could create a real estate niche of tiny houses close to golf courses for single military members.

The more you combine, the narrower the real estate niche gets.

And the narrower the niche gets, the higher the risk of getting too thin and ending up with a potential target audience that’s too small.

Real Estate Niche By Property Type

1) Commercial Real Estate – Retail

If you are looking for the most diverse section of the commercial real estate market, it’s the retail sector.

These properties include shopping centers, individual stores, ‘big box’ stores, and pop-up shops.

2) Commercial Real Estate – Office

This commercial real estate sector includes all kinds of office spaces found in smaller or larger buildings.

There are two types: urban and suburban.

Urban areas can be found in cities, skyscrapers, and other high-rise properties.

The smaller ones are often grouped in office parks and belong to suburban office spaces.

3) Condos & Townhomes

An apartment owned by one individual within a building of other condominiums can be called “condos” or “condominiums.”

As a condo owner, you usually contribute to maintenance and amenity services via HOA (homeowner association) fees.

Townhomes are similar to single-family homes.

They are multi-story homes and are part of a multi-unit complex.

Its walls usually border adjacent units. The occupants are primarily tenants, but you can purchase them too.

4) Green Homes

When someone calls a home a green home, it usually means it was built sustainably with environmentally friendly materials.

Additionally, they are also built to focus on the efficient use of water and energy.

Different green building standards can be used as guidelines, but also to better market a green home afterward, such as:

• International Code Council’s 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC)
• ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011
• ICC 700-2012: 2012 National Green Building Standard (ICC 700)
• Green Globes™
• US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®)
• The International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge™, version 2.1 (May 2012)

Real Estate Niche Based on Contract

1) Mineral, Air, and Other Property Rights

Mineral rights and air rights always concern a particular type of land.

The first relates to underground resources, such as oil, silver, or natural gas.

At least in the U.S., mineral rights allow the owner to exploit any natural resources beneath the land.

Different online auction providers and brokers exist, such as EnergyNet and Oil & Gas Asset House.

Air rights are the property interest in the “space” above the earth’s surface.

When owning such rights, you will have the right to use and develop the space above the land without interference from others.

2) REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts)

REITs, also known as real estate investment trusts, are inspired by mutual funds.

It’s an incorporated company that owns, operates, or finances income properties.

To legally operate as a REIT, you need a taxable entity for federal purposes, such as a corporation.

Directors or trustees must also govern it, and shares must be transferable.

Another requirement is that it must have at least 100 shareholders.

Not five or fewer than five individuals can own more than 50% of the value of the REIT’s stock.

This isn’t allowed for the last half of its taxable year.

A REIT allows individual investors to earn dividends from real estate investments.

It’s without going through all the tasks a direct real estate investor must handle. 

These tasks are usually finding a deal, buying, managing, maintaining, tenants, and financing.

This is possible because REITs can pool the capital of numerous investors.

3) Crowdfunding Loans

Crowdfunding loans are part of something called peer-to-peer lending.

If you want a loan like that, you do the same as applying to a bank.

The difference is that the money doesn’t come from a bank but from existing funds contributed by many investors.

This can be an exciting alternative.

That is to say, for individuals and businesses that didn’t raise funds by using the traditional banking route.

Real Estate Niche By Demographic/ Life Situation

1) 55+/ Baby Boomers

I’ve already discussed this in-depth in this article about how to market to baby boomers.

You can also focus exclusively on this niche and cater to the needs of baby boomers.

Real Estate trends for baby boomers are, for example:

• Renting in Urban Areas
• Communities of Like-Minded People
• Rural Living

2) Hispanics

Hispanics will allegedly comprise 56% of all new home buyers in the U.S. by 2030 (source).

So, this is another demographic you may want to consider as a real estate niche.

Here are some areas where Hispanic homeownership is growing:

• District of Columbia
• Wake County, North Carolina
• Washoe County, Nevada
• Pasco County, Florida
• Gwinnett County, Georgia

3) Single (Women)

There is an interesting sub-niche within the Millennial homebuyer generation.

You can also find it in other generations, such as Gen X and Baby Boomers.

It’s singles and, particularly, single women.

A slightly older statistic, as of 2015, is that only 9% of purchases accounted for single men compared to 15% for single women.

This contrast is most substantial in the age groups of 51 to 60 and 61 to 69.

The main reasons for this developing trend are the loss of a spouse and the need to downsize afterward.

There is also a potential niche combination between the single women’s niche and tiny houses. Just an idea.

Real Estate Niche By Geography

1) Overseas Retirement Properties

This type of niche is kind of self-explanatory.

It’s all about properties that suit retirees who wish to retire overseas.

The reasons for this decision can be manifold.

Very often, because of climate reasons, they can become winter birds and live in a better climate during the colder months of the north.

Other reasons are the lower costs of living in places outside the U.S.

2) Walkable Neighborhoods

Walkability is part of a real estate niche within the larger niche of wellness real estate, which focuses on health.

It measures how friendly a specific neighborhood or area is to walking.

The following are factors that influence the walkability of neighborhoods:

• Presence or absence of footpaths
• Quality of footpaths or sidewalks
• Traffic and road conditions
• Building accessibility
• Safety
• Land use patterns
• Residential density
• Frequency and variety of buildings
• Presence of trees and vegetation
• Entrances and other sensations along street frontages
• A high number of places to go to near the majority of homes
• Street designs that work for people, not just cars

Real Estate Niche By Need

1) Vacation Rentals

Vacation rentals don’t need much of an introduction.

These are mainly properties in tourist hotspots.

This can be a mountain cottage close to a ski resort or a beach house with great views and lovely ocean breezes from the sea.

These properties can be interesting to focus on as a realtor.

You can attract investors and/or, as an investor, generate income from vacation rentals.

You will have to deal with different target customers and communicate with them via the proper marketing channels.

This will depend on the tourist hotspot,

2) Supported Living

Individuals with disabilities and their families most need supported living properties.

These properties are usually connected with some sort of residential service.

Why?

To help the individuals or inhabitants attain or keep their independence.

3) Turnkey Rentals

From the investor’s perspective, turnkey rentals are basically already income-generating properties.

The whole part of finding, negotiating, closing, on a case-by-case basis, fixing, and putting a tenant in is already done for you.

It is almost like a real estate investment trust.

The difference is that you will need more capital.

Why?

You buy the whole property and not just a share of a pool of several already rented-out properties.

Usually, the company offering turnkey rental properties also provides property management.

The company also screens the tenant already in place, generating investor income before the close.

Real Estate Niche By Seller Situation

The real estate niches defined by seller situations are usually more troublesome.

Sellers are often in difficult situations.

This is the underlying condition in almost all cases.

1) Fixer-Uppers & Properties with Structural Issues

These are run-down properties.

There are numerous reasons for that (often financial or legal ones).

Sellers couldn’t or didn’t want to invest more money into their properties for renovations.

These fixer-uppers are also properties with structural issues that might be more challenging to fix.

The fixer-upper investor usually buys such property cheaply, fixes it, and then re-sells it, ideally at a profit.

2) Tax Delinquencies

Some sellers can’t or, for some other reason, couldn’t pay property taxes and become delinquent.

This is often an opportunity for real estate investors to negotiate a good deal with the seller to buy the property.

This provided he cancels the tax liability by making the purchase.

This article has been reviewed by our editorial team. It has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.

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Tobias Schnellbacher

Tobias is an internet entrepreneur with a passion for digital marketing and copywriting, particularly in the real estate sector. He also likes cats and fitness. For nine years, he operated an international online referral real estate agency serving U.S., Canadian, and German sellers and buyers, which resulted in multiple seven-figure property sales.Learn more

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