Tips to expertly prepare for a Real Estate market shift

BY MARIAN MCPHERSON

Here are some things real estate agents must do to effectively advocate for their clients, improve their skills, safeguard their finances, and build a business that stands the test of time.

The real estate market has been on an incredible run for the past two years with real estate agents handily breaking their previous sales records. However, the market has begun to shift as rising mortgage rates, unhinged home price growth, rock bottom inventory and worries about an impending economic downturn cut at homebuyer sentiment and threatens market activity.  Despite these potential downshifts on the horizon, experts say it’s possible to continue fueling success — but only if you’re willing to tune up your sales skills and tactics, business planning and development, finances, and personal life to expertly navigate the twists and turns of the market.

Have an intimate understanding of trends in your market

As the market continues its extraordinary hot streak, top-producing agents say the first step to success is to make sure you have an intimate understanding of your market with multiple sources and data points to provide a full picture of what is — or isn’t — happening. Detailed market research can make or break a deal, so be sure to go the extra mile to check in with LAR and fellow agents to get additional details on what’s happening in specific pockets of the market, learn what offer terms have been winning over sellers, and weed out other factors that can’t be packaged neatly into a report or spreadsheet.

Strengthen your relationships with agents and clients

After establishing baseline trust through showcasing your market expertise, agents must put the pedal down on the basics of relationship building with clients and fellow agents. The volatility of the current market alongside worries of an impending housing bubble means there needs to be more hand-holding than they’re probably used to. Communication is key!

In addition to building strong ties with clients, it’s equally important to build robust relationships with other agents. Strong agent relationships are invaluable in an uber-competitive and oversaturated market where agents are scrapping for the same clients.

Drum up inventory with some strategic real estate matchmaking

As the inventory shortage continues to worsen, real estate agents must sharpen their strategy skills and dig into their bag of tricks to create inventory opportunities for their clients.  Make sure you have access to off-market and coming soon listings, subscribe to several platforms geared toward providing market insights for top-producing agents, utilize social media

and dip back into databases to find sellers. 

Let’s not forget about open houses, which took a backseat for most of the pandemic due to social distancing guidelines and some sellers’ fears about having scores of people in their homes. However, open houses have come back with a vengeance this spring with several of them capturing social media headlines for miles-long lines of buyers.

Refine your negotiation skills

In addition to navigating inventory shortages, real estate agents must refine their negotiation skills to help homebuyers make a smart purchase that helps them not only now, but in the long run.  Make sure you are speaking to a homeseller’s other needs, such as a longer closing timeline or offering a leaseback option, can be more effective.

Reevaluate yourself and your business

The real estate market isn’t only competitive for homebuyers — it’s become increasingly competitive for real estate agents too. As the number of agents continues to outpace the number of homes available for sale, it can be hard for new agents to break through the noise and unsuspectingly easy for experienced agents to lose their progress if they’re not careful. Real estate agents must do an autopsy on their business and determine what is and isn’t working. Operating on auto-pilot won’t help agents remain successful as the market shifts into more thorny territory with rock-bottom inventory, rising interest rates and other factors that impact buyer and seller activity.

Build momentum and keep it

Once you figure out what works and build momentum, the real work and reward comes with consistency. There is no magic pill to suddenly put you at the top. It’s a lot of work. It’s grinding every day, it’s communicating with your current database, and it’s being as proactive as possible with your current clients. A huge part of keeping momentum is continually investing in yourself personally and professionally so you’re ready for whatever the real estate market throws your way.