With most communities having plenty of housing inventory to choose from along with incredible mortgage interest rates to qualified buyers, now is the time to build up your client pipeline for the spring market.
I know there are many agents struggling in this real estate market, but homes are still selling. Obviously, not at the numbers that will sustain the current level of Realtor NAR membership, but if you are willing to work harder and smarter, I believe you can and will survive in this challenging market.
Like many, I believe that you have to continually improve your skillset. For example, knowing how to handle short sales and foreclosures is something a few years ago we never dreamed we’d have to learn.
So what are a few simple steps to jump start us heading into the spring market?
Here’s 3 areas you can quickly analyze and take action on:
1) Do you have any prospects that have slipped through the cracks over the past several months? Maybe you wrote their names and phone numbers on some post-it notes or pieces of paper. Call them NOW to see if they are ready to buy or sell within the next few months. If not, find out when they’ll be ready and keep in touch.
Don’t just ask them YES or NO questions. Think of WHO,WHAT, WHEN, WHY and WHERE questions to ask them. By asking meaningful questions, you’ll separate yourself from other agents, who just ask typical sales questions. If you know their “WHY” for making a move, bring it up in the conversations and see if it’s still valid. People will only take action on their intentions when their “WHY” is strong enough.
2) Review your list of current buyers, who’ve said they want to buy a home and if it’s been awhile since you’ve shown them a property, schedule a time to meet with them again one-on-one and have them re-focus on their housing goals. Find out what’s most important to them. Interest rates are great right now and it’s your job to educate your clients and reiterate that fact. If they are watching or listening to the news, they may be frozen in their actions, because their sub-conscious mind is getting a blast of “doom & gloom”. You have to counter-act that.
3) If you have active listings that aren’t moving, meet your sellers with an updated CMA and discuss the current market place with them. See if they’ll adjust their listing price to get an offer on their property. (In some cases, it’ll take a price adjustment, just to get a showing on their home.) Do they need a dose of reality in having their home in top showcasing condition? If their home needs some work, take them to a couple of other homes on the market that you know show well. In some cases, removing wallpaper and painting or updating the kitchen or bathrooms can work wonders in getting buyers interested.
Your sellers need to be motivated to sell or you’re just spinning your wheels going into the spring market, where there will be a lot more inventory to compete with. If they aren’t motivated enough to sell, then do everyone a favor and recommend that they take their property off the market. With many areas having 10 - 12 months supply of properties for sale or higher, now is NOT the time to ‘test’ the market.
Don’t start off this year with baggage from 2008. See who wants to make a move this year and either ‘delete’ the others or allow them to continue simmering for awhile until they too are ready.
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