How to Close Your First Deals in A Shifting Housing Market as A New Real Estate Agent

The Real Estate market these days is changing rapidly. New agents find this market daunting and most prefer to wait this volatile market out and begin once the market is more stable. However, that would be very late. Once the market reaches that state, people who want to buy or sell a home will approach agents who they have had on top of their mind the whole time. Sitting and waiting will be a huge mistake. In fact, what agents need to do now is take the opportunity and build that network they will need once things go fast in the market again. In this regard we have a new webinar for you where Sam discusses the topic with our weekly guest speaker.

Discipline Matters

As someone who has been in the army, he has a lot to tell us about discipline. What ever you do in your line of business needs commitment. The discipline Mark has learned in the army has allowed him to see things through even when he does not feel like it. Discipline and commitment are key in any business and Real Estate can use it in areas like having a consistent presence on social media. Commitment and discipline can be defined as opposite to interest. When you are interested you do thing because you like to do so while with commitment it is a different story.

The Ultimate Secret: Do it Until …

Mark believes people need to practice the “Do it until … ” rule in their business efforts. It is no use starting something and leaving in the middle of the road. Do it until you are the best, do it until you have confidence. So the common denominator is “I do it until I get it.” Some are going to get it faster than others. So you should not feel disillusioned if you do not get it as fast as others do.

Advice for New Agents

There is less confidence in the market and less motivation in buyers, sellers and agents. But that does not mean agents should sit aside and with the slowing market out. Agents need to understand the local dynamics in their zipcode. After all, you can not treat all areas the same way.

And you can not just say that people will show no interest in buying a home. Millennials as the largest part of homebuyers and the baby boomers are planning to buy a home in the next 2-3 years. Most will upgrade or downsize and judging by the data it is still a sellers market.

Not a One Fit All Rule 7:24

There will be people who say Im not buying a home as the market is not stable. However, first you need to understand buyers’ objective and time frame. People will be in the area for different periods of time and you can’t treat them all the same. Some people will keep their home for more than 5 years. Some will stay for 2 years. The market cannot be defined the same for these people. So we have to handle buyers regarding their objective and time frame.

New Agents’ Biggest Asset

Many new agents have no confidence since their network is small or they have no network. However, they still have their sphere of influence. People who know them and trust them. After all, Real Estate is a business based on relationships. Without that your chances are thin. Every neighborhood can have 10-12 agents. YOu need to mater your relationships and let people know you. You need to stand out among those 20-12 agents.

Levels of Communication

Communication happens on two distinctive levels. Active and Passive

• Passive Communication

Passive communication in Real Estate includes posting, sending something on social media and leaving it be. However on

• Active Communication

There are more actions taking place like conversation, connections, phone calls, handwritten note, etc. This is where the actual communication happens.

Sources of Leads

Mot agents have few sources of leads. They suffice to one or two source for leads and then wonder why they do not get enough leads In fact, the more the better. Agents needs at least 4 sources of leads as follows:

• Sphere of influence, Past Clients.
• Online exposure and Leads

Most agents spend thousands of dollars on their website but do not make any money. You have to realize a website for Real Estate is mandatory, but it is a business card in the best case scenario. Real estate is a direct response game which means you need something to follow up. The ultimate objective with every source is to get an appointment and have a conversation with the leads. If the source or effort will not end in a conversation and appointment with a client you should not do it. Your online source for leads should be easy in this respect. It should be easy for people to arrange an appointment with you and start a ocnversation.

• Open houses, physical or virtual

• Your focus area: demographic or geographic

Passive vs Active Open Houses

We have two kinds of open houses: Activer and Passive.

• Passive Open House

A passive open house is when you just stick up a sign and hope for people to show up and then go on with the rest of you’re business.

• Active Open House

On an active open house you plan a week ahead, just like you would for a party. You call people, prepare snacks and treats, etc. You need to calculate the value of your time. Do not treat the open house by chance. Let the attendees know you are different. Invite the neighbors make some phone calls. On the other hand you should virtually boost your open house and post it on your business page. Let it run for a week. It will work for you 27/4 after the physical open house.

A Crashing Market?

To see if the market is really crashing like what most of the news sources say you should have a look at Altos research. This website will show you some data. Right now for San Diego it shows that it is still a sellers market. You can not just listen to what people say. Depending on your market and budget we are in a different situation. Do not listen to the news. News says the market is slowing but it wont tell you that the market is still hot.

Online Leads

Studies show that only 25% of online leads will buy a home in the first 90 days. The rest of them are 6 month to 46 months away. You need to have a system to follow up with thje second group consistently. And you have to be comfortable with asking questions like “have you thought about selling your home?”