Realtors from across the world convened at the National Association of Realtors’ annual conference last month in San Diego vaccinated, masked up and ready face the challenges ahead in 2022. There was plenty of good news on the economic and legislative fronts. The new 2021 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers revealed some startling findings. CoStar also provided the fireworks as they proclaimed their core value proposition loud and clear: “Your listing, your lead.”  

First, the good news. Realtors were ecstatic to learn NAR had defeated the Biden’s administration attempt to eliminate 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange. Kudos to NAR’s leadership and all the realtors who fought this attack at the grass roots level. Not only did they stop the current attack, NAR’s Chief Economist Dr. Laurence Yun went on to say, “There is no proposed bill in [Washington,] D.C. to remove it.”  

It was also a banner year for the real estate industry. 

“Once the numbers are counted up at the end of December, we will find out home sales this year would have been the best in 15 years since 2006,” Yun said. 

These numbers are a tribute to the resilience and perseverance of the realtor community as it came roaring back from what is arguably the greatest disruptive event of our lifetimes.  

These numbers were also partly caused by the waves of stimulus checks sent out as part of the Trump and Biden administrations’ pandemic response. When Americans received their stimulus checks, they went on a buying spree. The problem was factories were still closed due to the pandemic. The result was there nothing in the pipeline. Yun expects supply chain issues to improve in 2022, although the worker shortage will continue to be an ongoing challenge for the entire economy.  

Meeting Buyers More Important 

NAR also released its 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Among its most important findings are two important statistics for your business: the changing percentage of buyers and sellers who only interview one agent before they decide to list or purchase, and the share of buyers who owned their previous residence. 

In 2020, 67 percent of the buyers and 75 percent of the sellers only interviewed one agent. 

In the new 2021 Profile, 73 percent of the buyers and a whopping 82 percent of the sellers did the same! In addition, 73 percent of sellers either knew or worked with the agent they picked based upon a referral. 

These numbers are incredibly important given that the first agent who meets with the buyer or seller in person is the agent who gets the business.  

The top takeaway here is that as soon as you receive a buyer or seller lead, your highest priority must be to set a face-to-face appointment, even if they’re not planning on transacting right away. 

With buyers, the goal of the meeting is to build your relationship by helping them by having them check their credit report for errors, seeing if they will qualify for down payment assistance, and beginning the mortgage pre-approval process. Of course, you will also be able to determine whether the buyer is also a potential seller.  

Here’s why this is incredibly important. According to the 2021 NAR Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends, 51 percent of all buyers owned their previous residence. If you’re working with baby boomers, those numbers range from 65-85 percent.   

In other words, if you didn’t follow up on 50 buyer leads this year, you missed the opportunity to meet with at least 25 potential sellers.  

In terms of setting a meeting with the seller, explain that the purpose of the meeting is to provide them with an updated valuation of their property plus some additional information and reports. Two excellent sources of these reports are NARRPR.com and HomeDisclosure.com.  

If the seller is purchasing in the area, update them on market changes, any changes in interest rates, and assist them in beginning the pre-approval process.   

Data Highlights Market Shifts 

The 2021 Profile also contained some important statistics about how the market is changing. 

For the last decade, the median length of time sellers stayed in their homes has hovered between nine and 10 years. This year that number dropped to eight years. This number hasn’t been this low since 2010.   

This year set another record. For the first time since NAR started tracking these numbers in 2002, the average sales price in the U.S. was 100 percent of the listing price. At the same time, there has also been a major decrease in market time, nation-wide. 

For all sellers, time on market decreased this year to a median of just one week, from three weeks in 2020. Time on the market and the ratio of sales price to listing price have a strong relationship; generally, the longer a home is on the market the greater the discount from the listing price upon sale. Sixty-two percent of sellers reported their home was on the market for two weeks or less.  

Lastly, it looks like you can stop worrying about iBuyers, regardless of the promises they make to buyers and sellers about providing a smoother transaction in these tumultuous times. According to the 2021 Profile, “While the survey asked about iBuyers as a selling method, less than 1 percent of sellers used these online only programs.” 

Literal Fireworks from CoStar 

Make no mistake about it – CoStar intends to become a dominant player in the residential real estate tech space. They’re branding was everywhere at the conference. They had a huge booth where they did a Tesla and vacation giveaway, their banners were everywhere, plus they posted their ads on vacant buildings in San Diego’s Gas Lamp Quarter as well as on the convention buses. 

Their message: “Your Listing. Your Lead.”  

To top it off, Saturday night they closed most of the Gas Lamp Quarter for a Keith Urban conference, complete with a full fireworks show! 

As you prepare for 2022, you must make setting face-to-face appointments your top priority whether it’s a buyer or seller lead, past client, or someone in your referral database. Strive to be top of mind. Remember, 73 percent of the buyers and 82 percent of the sellers hire the first agent they see face-to-face when they’re ready to transact. Make sure that agent is you! 

Bernice Ross is a nationally syndicated columnist, author, trainer and speaker on real estate topics. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com.