How to Write a Buyer Need That Gets Answered
By Liz Bates, Founder & CEO, Who’s Got Pockets · DRE 01434739
Monday’s brief covered the machinery — the searchable Buyer Needs board and Match Alerts that connect buyers and pockets automatically. Today is about the input. Because the machinery is only as good as what you feed it.
After thirteen years of watching buyer needs get posted — first in the Facebook group, now on the network — the pattern is unmistakable. Some posts get answered within hours. Others sink without a single reply. The difference is almost never the buyer. It’s the post.
The Post That Gets Skipped
You’ve seen this one: “Looking for something nice for a great buyer, coastal OC preferred, price flexible. DM me!”
Nobody can act on that. The agent with a quiet Corona del Mar seller reads it and can’t tell if it’s a match — wrong city? wrong budget? condo or house? So they keep scrolling, and the “great buyer” never hears about the pocket that might have been the one. Vague posts feel safe. They’re actually invisible.
The Anatomy of a Buyer Need That Gets Answered
1. Real cities, not regions. “Coastal OC” matches nothing. “San Clemente, Dana Point, or Laguna Niguel” matches three cities’ worth of pockets — and it’s what Match Alerts keys on. If your buyer is genuinely open, list the cities they’d actually write an offer in.
2. A real number. “Price flexible” tells a listing agent nothing. “Approved up to $2.5M” tells them everything — including whether their $2.6M seller should hear about your buyer (the matching engine already builds in cushion above your number for exactly that reason). Nobody is holding your buyer to the post. They’re deciding whether to pick up the phone.
3. The musts that are actually musts. Property type, minimum beds, square footage, lot, view. Four bedrooms because they have three kids is a must. “Prefers newer construction” is a note. Separate them — the musts drive the match, the notes drive the conversation.
4. A timeline with urgency attached. “Ready now, lease ends September” moves your post to the top of someone’s mental pile. If your buyer is six months out, say that too — a seller testing the waters quietly might be on exactly that clock.
5. Your name, brokerage, and DRE. Every buyer need on the network carries the posting agent’s name, brokerage, and DRE license number. That’s not paperwork — that’s what makes another agent comfortable calling a stranger about their seller’s home. It’s also how outward-facing advertising is supposed to work in California, and we hold that line on every card in the Weekly Roundup.
6. Alerts on. Check the Match Alerts box before you submit. Your post stops being a message and becomes a standing search.
Before and After
Before: “Buyer looking in south OC, good budget, wants a view. Who’s got something?”
After: “Laguna Niguel / Dana Point / San Juan Capistrano — approved to $3.2M — single-family, 4+ beds, 2,400+ sqft, ocean or hills view — ready to write, closing timeline flexible. Jane Smith, XYZ Realty, DRE 01234567.”
Same buyer. One of these gets a phone call tonight.
What Happens After You Post
Three things, automatically. Your need goes live on the searchable board where every member hunting your cities can find it. Match Alerts start watching — the moment a matching property posts, you get the email. And with your consent, your need runs in Friday’s public Weekly Roundup, in front of the whole OC agent community — including the agents who haven’t joined the network yet.
One post. Three engines. Zero dollars.
Post One Today
Take your most motivated buyer and give them two minutes of your time: Post a Buyer Need. Be specific. Turn on alerts. Then go back to your day while the network works.
Not a member yet? Join free — it takes about two minutes, and it stays free. That’s the pledge.
Who’s Got Pockets is an agent-to-agent network. Buyer needs are shared by the buyer’s agent; pre-market properties are shared inside the network with the seller’s permission. MLS Clear Cooperation compliance is the responsibility of the listing agent and their brokerage.
