It isn't easy to sell houses when they aren't for sale!
Based on annualized predictions using the number of homes sold in the first half of this year, the number sold in 2024 will be 37% lower than the number sold in 2021.
To compare:
-
2021: 6.12 million homes sold in total.
- 2022: 5.03 million
- 2023: 4.7 million
- 2024: The annualized projection at mid-year suggests around 3.89 million homes will be sold by the end of the year.
I think it will be very interesting to see the statistics when this year is over, because I have a feeling that where sales are falling is in the mid to low price ranges. Homeowners and buyers who have cash will continue to do as they please – without worrying about mortgage interest rates.
If you serve those wealthier clients, your personal market is likely doing just fine.
But for everyone else…
The real estate market is slow. What are you going to do about it?
- You could quit. You could go take a job doing something entirely different.
- You could decide to thrive anyway.
There are a lot of old adages you could use to motivate yourself. For instance:
- “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
- “When times are good you should advertise. When times are bad you must advertise.”
These old adages are both true and both important.
First, “When the going gets tough…”
If you want to survive – and thrive – you can’t afford to sit back now. You have plenty of competition for every listing, and if you don’t get going, someone else will.
I lost count of the number of agents I saw drop out because they didn’t get moving. When times were slow they played games on their computers, gossiped, and spent a lot of time complaining because they didn’t have any customers. Talk about a formula for failure!
Unfortunately, when times were good those agents still didn't make an effort. They thought the business would come to them just because they were there.
This year you can’t count on your sphere or your past clients to send you enough referrals.
One of the reasons fewer homes are selling is that fewer homeowners want to sell. Unless there’s a compelling reason to sell, why would anyone walk away from a mortgage at 3 or 4 percent, then buy a new house at 6 or 7 percent?
The solution: You either need to serve clients who are wealthy enough to deal in cash instead of mortgages, or you need to appeal to those homeowners with a compelling reason to sell.
If you’re already serving the very wealthy, then you’re probably in good shape. If you aren’t already serving them, you aren’t likely to break into that market in a big way very soon. It takes time.
That means it’s time to go after those homeowners who need to sell:
- People who have already moved away
- People who are being transferred and will move soon
- Estate executors and heirs
- Divorcing couples
- Homeowners in financial difficulty
- Landlords who may be tired of dealing with tenants
“When times are good you should advertise. When times are bad you must advertise.”
When you have more competition, you need to push even harder to stay in front. I know, it’s scary to spend money on advertising when less money is coming in. But if you fail to advertise, those new customers will never even know you exist.
And what a shame that is! Not only will you not earn a living – they will miss out on having the best representation in your market.
What can you do?
Polish your bio.
First, before you begin putting yourself out there, be sure your agent bio is in
prime condition. It should show people your knowledge, skill, areas of expertise, and enthusiasm for helping them achieve their goals. Your personality should shine through.
If your bio doesn’t accomplish that and if you don’t know how to fix it, get in touch. Writing bios that make agents shine is one of my specialties.
Prepare your elevator speech.
Be prepared to give a 30 second (or less) promo any time someone asks: “What do you do?” Be ready to state precisely what you do and for whom. For instance, “I help homeowners in (the area you serve) sell their homes quickly and for top dollar.”
If you help executors, you could go further, saying that you help them deal with the demands of probate, find people to help get houses ready to sell, etc. Whatever your niche, if there’s something special and extra you do for your clients, mention that.
Prospect.
Reach out to people. I recommend postal mail prospecting to a targeted list, because it is the most efficient way to put your message directly in front of the people who need to see it.
Mail to each prospect at least 5 times – and more if you can. Repetition is one of the factors that will sway them in your direction, so do not become tempted to mail just once to 100 people. You’d be better off choosing a good list and mailing 5 times to only 20 people. How you find that list depends upon the niche or the area you’ve chosen.
How you find that list depends upon the niche or the area you’ve chosen. In some cases, such as probate, divorce, and default, you can do research at the County courthouse. You can find vacant houses by driving around your territory and find owners’ information with another trip to the courthouse. If you become acquainted with HR directors at nearby corporations, you may be able to find who is being transferred out – or in! At the very least, you may be able to convince them to give your personal brochure to employees who will need an agent.
Of course you can also purchase lists, but if you have more time than money, you can do the work yourself.
Be sure the message you send is “reader-centered” and NOT all about you and how wonderful you are.
If you don’t know what to say, choose from one of my 50+ real estate prospecting letter sets. Most of these sets cost no more than lunch for 2 at the local café, but if even that is too much to spend, work on all the things you can do without spending any money at all.
Yes, you CAN promote yourself without spending money.
You’ll find 92 ways to promote yourself without spending any money, along with 15 ways to do so with very little money in my e-book: 107 Ways to Build Your Real Estate Career on a Tiny Budget.
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