10 Real Estate Solutions To Get Listings In A Competitive Market
The real estate business is indeed a highly competitive field. More so in the current scenario, however, for real estate agents, there are always challenges to face when it comes to getting the listings. The reasons could vary from low inventory, imbalanced market share, the inadequate experience of the agent, and even unfavorable market conditions.
All real estate professionals must employ a variety of strategies to reach the sellers who are ready to sell and obtain such listings. You need to keep in mind that some strategies might work better in one kind of market than others. The best way to find would be to get creative and try these out one by one and start boosting your inventory.
A. Solutions Real Estate Agents Should Follow
In this part of the article, we are mainly going to focus on some of the strategies that would be helpful to all real estate professionals, whether new agents or those who have been real estate professionals for a long while.
1. Identify Your Real Estate Market
The first step to take before you can overcome a dip in your listings is to clearly identify your real estate market. You need to identify that within the geographical area in which you offer services, what are the common denominators.
For instance, the type of home or property that you usually deal in, all the properties that you have sold and the average price of your listings, the type of clients who approach you. All these details will help you understand the buyers and sellers in the market for that particular neighborhood.
2. Utilize Different Marketing Strategy
Marketing Strategy
When it comes to marketing to get listings, agents must utilize both online and offline methods. They also need to focus on both inbound and outbound marketing. You need to identify the target market of your potential sellers on all platforms and avenues. Some of the ways to incorporate marketing would be as follows.
Direct Mail Marketing
Through referrals and by conducting open houses, you would have gathered a lot of contact information from many potential clients. Send direct mail marketing materials to these people. You can include your real estate brochure, a flyer with all the recent homes you have sold in the neighborhood, and more.
Cold Calling
Similar to the above method, in this, you basically pick up the phone and call each phone number that you had gathered through open houses and website visits. A tip that we would like to suggest is to do a rough home value evaluation before you call them.
Most homeowners love to hear that information and even if they are not ready to sell at this time, just tell them to give you a call first when they do decide to sell in the future. By doing, so you may come into contact with people who are looking for an agent.
Create Video
One of the newest and fast-growing in terms of popularity is video marketing. Many online consumer behavior studies have reported that many viewers tend to respond more favorably to video ads than anyone other kind of marketing material.
Get creative and record videos about different properties that you have successfully sold. Share videos about the neighborhood and the benefits of living there. Also, do not forget to mention the average price of the house, the advantages of local school districts, and the overall benefits of owning a house in the area. This is an aspect that will attract both buyers and sellers, as the former would want to buy a property in the neighborhood, and the latter would get good sale value for the home.
3. Ask For Referrals From Clients
Ask for Referrals
One of the easiest ways to keep your listings supply endless is by asking your past clients to give you positive referrals. It is highly important to always ask for multiple referrals from each sale that you have closed.
Now, with these referrals, you should not take unnecessarily long to contact potential clients. Remember, in the real estate business, an agent who moves fast will be at an advantage. Therefore, as soon as you get a referral, give them a phone call and fix up a time for a meeting.
A tip for getting more meetings is in the way you suggest it. For example, do not ask if Monday 5.00 pm would be convenient? That is a yes or no question. Rather ask whether Monday 5.00 pm or Wednesday 11.00 am would be better? In this way, you are making them choose one of the timings, and in general, people do not like saying no to everything, so the chances are high that they will pick one of the two days.
4. Sign Up For Online Lead Generation
A sure-shot way of finding a large number of sellers in your area is by registering yourself on an online seller leads generating platform. The virtual platforms provide an agent with quality leads of sellers.
One of the most trusted and popular online lead generation platforms is Dorrmat. A market leader in virtual platforms. The unique aspect of Dorrmat is the fact that its origin lies in real estate sales. Thereby the combination of years of extensive experience in the real estate industry combined with technological solutions makes it one of the top-rated lead generation platforms.
On this, the registered agents are not only provided with a steady supply of qualified seller leads but are also provided a host of other benefits. These benefits range from a robust customer relationship management tool (CRM), branded landing page, option to add vendors, and more.
These mentioned advantages are really well suited for all new agents as it would help them reduce their costs on purchasing these other integral software solutions. It also helps them scare up the business faster.
5. Target Expired Listings
A most common yet most often ignored method to get listings, even in a low inventory scenario, is to approach the sellers with expired listings. You can even approach the For Sale By Owner (FSBOs). These are tricky customers, but they are also highly motivated to sell. That is the first thing that you need to see in a future client.
For the expired listings sellers, have a crisp and effective script ready. When you get a listing appointment with them, your presentation should focus on two aspects. The first being how you would different market their properties, and the second should be what additional skills and experience do you bring to the table. Do not give false hopes, but be frank about whatever changes need to be made to ensure that the home gets sold this time around.
The FSBOs are a more difficult target than the above. In this, you should only offer to help and guide them. Never directly ask for the listing. One of the ways is to approach the seller in a friendly manner, congratulate them on their decision to sell, and ask about some technical aspect of the home-selling process that they may not be aware of. Offer some simple tips and let them know to reach out to you if they want more assistance.
B. Solutions A Real Estate Agent Should Consider
6. Include Social Media Marketing And Ads
Today's agents cannot run their real estate business without social media marketing. According to the data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the majority of millennial home buyers and sellers are looking at online resources first for their real estate needs. Therefore, around 77% of real estate agents utilize the power and reach of social media in different ways. Some of the common ways are as follows.
Facebook ads
Facebook gives you very granular control over your target market demographics. You can ensure that your ads are reaching your target income, age, and family type. Facebook also gives you the option of publishing your upcoming open houses or properties that are currently listed.
Instagram Advertising Costs in 2017 [Benchmark Report]
Instagram is the perfect place to build your brand and advertise both your current properties and the ones that you have recently sold. Beautifully shot photographs and the right mix of hashtags can ensure that your posts and stories are reaching more users.
You can even go live and conduct home viewings or host a night of — Ask the Realtor — where your viewers can ask questions about real estate and help them with the answers. All these activities will help you get more followers and wider reach, which eventually turns into potential business opportunities.
7. Connect With Local Real Estate Agents
Real Estate Agents
One of the advantages of working with a team is the fact that you always have someone to help you out when it comes to problems you face in the home selling or listing process. Although they are your competitors, you can still is a wonderful way to learn from those who have more experience than you.
You can also utilize LinkedIn to connect with fellow real estate professionals and learn more from them. It is easy to search for these connections and learn from their ideas and build relationships that are fruitful in this competitive environment.
8. Start Your Own Real Estate Blog
One thing you must do as a real estate agent is to start your own blog giving information and advice about the real estate market. This is very much needed, as when a potential client runs a search on your name, they expect to see a website. On your website, you can post about various aspects of your business.
For instance, you can make a weekly post about the current property values in your market. Have a free e-book with tips for buyers and sellers. You should also include a blog section where you can make a blog post about selling, local business organizations, and offer strategy for a buyer or seller.
In times of low inventory, these would be helpful in both boosting your sales and attracting new local leads. A website with an effective landing page along with a good local SEO service would help you get more market share.
9. Talk To Local Investors
In times when the real estate industry is going through fluctuations, there are chances that the local investors might be looking to sell some of the homes and properties that they own. Many times their inventory would have residential homes.
Striking deals with such investors can help you gain more opportunities for sales. You can help them find the right buyer and offer ideas to increase their sales value.
10. Approach Past Clients
Past clients are not only for requesting referrals. It is important that when you have the contact information of any clients, you make an effort to maintain that relationship for many years. At times your old client may be ready to list again.
It is an incredible opportunity that should not be missed. Be regular in sending them seasonal greetings, wish them on their birthday, and send in your congratulations when they achieve important milestones can be helpful.
For example, a young couple whom you might have helped buy their first home announces the arrival of a baby. That is a strong indication that they would now be looking to sell their home and find something bigger suitable for growing families. This could be the perfect strategy to search for homes in low inventory times.
Summary
As a real estate agent, you have to always strive to reach the sellers in your area. Listings are the foundation of a successful real estate business for agents, and it is a process that requires regular efforts from your end. Therefore for agents, it is necessary to keep on working to attract more sellers. The ideas mentioned above could help you get out of a slump in a low inventory condition.
It takes time for real estate professionals to develop a good grip over the local real estate market, but with the help of the tips mentioned, we are sure that you would be able to create a good mix of advice to keep your listings list long.
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