Even in New England, where market trends are insulating the region from the worst of the decline in residential real estate demand, the market is decidedly cooling.
According to the National Association of Realtors, there were 6.12 million residential sales in 2021. As of May 2022, NAR was predicting 5.41 million residential sales for 2022, a 11.6 percent decrease with 710,000 fewer transactions and 1.42 million fewer sides. As the recession deepens and business slows, here’s exactly what to do to be a winner in today’s shifting market.
In a strong seller’s market, almost anyone can take a listing and it will sell. In a slowing market where the number of transactions drop dramatically, if you don’t have the right mindset coupled with top-notch skills, you’re going to be on the losing side of the equation. Here’s how to avoid having that happen to you.
Watch Your Language
Words have power, especially when it comes to determining how you approach a challenging market. Compare these two different lists of comments about today’s market.
- The high interest rates are killing my business.
- What’s the point in prospecting when most people can’t afford to move?
- First time buyers are a waste of time. Besides, they always lose out to all cash buyers anyway.
Now compare the second set of statements:
- The market may be tough, but there are always people who must move. My job is to find them.
- Slowing market? That’s great news! My buyers will finally have more inventory to choose from.
- My investor clients love this market – there’s way less competition.
Can you spot who the winners and losers are here? Clearly, blaming the interest rates, a declining market, or making excuses about losing out on multiple offers is a losing mindset. In contrast, the second set illustrates agents who take charge of their business, no matter what is happening in their marketplace.
If you find yourself in a situation where agents are complaining how bad the market is, get away immediately. Their negative attitude is like the flu – it’s highly contagious, it’s debilitating, and it will keep you from doing business.
Shift How You Prospect
Gary Keller has spent decades coaching the top agents in his company. During previous downturns, Keller observed that his top agents who worked exclusively by referral (i.e., waiting for someone to call them with a lead) saw an 80 percent decline in their production. The reason? “They weren’t in control their lead generation.”
The most important change that you can make today in your prospecting is to get face-to-face not only with your referral database, but with as many potential leads as possible. Here’s why.
According to the NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 82 percent of the sellers and 73 percent the buyers only interviewed one agent that they hired. In other words, the first agent who sees them face-to-face when they’re ready to transact is the one that gets their business.
Consequently, spend your time and your money on prospecting activities that put you face-to-face quarterly with your clients and sphere, and at least once monthly on the social media, by text, or email.
Market to the Missing 75 Percent
Did you know that 75 percent of real estate searches are in languages other than English? If you think this doesn’t apply to your market, think again: In Los Angeles, 72 percent of the population consumes TV and internet in languages other than English.
Immobel, the company that powers real estate search sites in 19 different languages for many of the Realogy brands plus numerous MLSs, has launched a new service called XOMIO. XOMIO provides you with 19 different websites in 19 different languages, plus 19 different pages on Googles foreign language search sites such as Google.fr (France), Google.jp (Japan), and Google.mx (Mexico).
If your MLS already provides Immobel with an IDX listing feed, the base price is $159.00 per month. If your MLS does not provide them with IDX, then there’s an additional pass-through fee to add IDX listing feed to your sites.
Using XOMIO is a huge opportunity to tap into a market that virtually no one else is serving. Even more importantly, it’s a tremendous tool for converting your listing appointments into signed listings.
Are you willing to do what it takes to be a win in today’s market rather than losing? If so, surround yourself with people who have positive attitudes and proactively search for leads by being face-to-face as often as possible.
Bernice Ross is a nationally syndicated columnist, author, trainer and speaker on real estate topics. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com.
