Yesterday I had a zoom call with 80+ female Realtors, mostly commercial but 30 residential. We all met on Linked In. These Agents/brokers came from all over the USA and a few from Canada. What was scheduled to be a 30-minute meeting went to well over an hour, why?
So...here are the concerns and some really good suggestions.
"First of all, this is NOT a time to take a break from business, but rather an opportunity to connect with our clients and reach out for new business."
A time to form relationships and show them that they are important to us, with or without business.
About half of us were from "hot spots", as we are. Places where most businesses are closed and we are encouraged not to leave our homes, Others who are not doing broker's open houses, clients who don't want their homes shown for fear of the virus.
I suggested not doing broker opens, but seriously vetting clients...I even worked on a Q&A sheet that I ask the husband and wife to fill out individually, we then compare and work out the must-haves from the wants. Spending time getting to really know what they need and what they want, we learn about hobbies, social activities, schools and this may take spending an average of two hours with each buyer. However, between, videos, and the quality of pictures and information gathered it's often enough to greatly narrow their search. They suggested homes that meet 95% of their needs, ask them to drive by to see if they like the neighborhood and then and only then will she ask the seller for a showing, Discourage children under 13 from coming. Open all doors and cabinets before the showing, so that there is no need to touch everything. Perhaps have a box outside the front door, where buyers, don the ever-popular booties, masks and rubber gloves.
I shared this with seven agents over a week ago.
They said that although their combined showings are down by an average of 60% Their combined sales are up by an average of 9%!
Isn't it amazing what taking time with buyers and sellers can accomplish!
They suggested spending 6 hours a day on the phone or in video chats. They predicted being able to get most sellers to show to the people, she and only she vets, so she's getting both ends of the commissions! Sounds like a little effort can bring much fruit.
On the other end, she said that some of her sellers want to take their houses off the market, not just because of Covid-19 but mainly they believe that the value of their homes will go down and only low offers will be coming in.
To those that really have to sell to relocate...they may have to take a small hit...but who hasn't in the last several years.
To sum this up, adversity + creativity can set you apart and bring great opportunity.
In the commercial industry, they have started to adopt technological tools that they never had. Three years ago there were fewer than 300 platforms for commercial Real Estate, now there are over 7,000! CRE Collaborative is built to allow these technologies to communicate with each other, sort through the noise and help you the real estate practitioner deploy a cutting edge toolbox that works for the way you do business all on one site with all the support you could ask for!
Stay healthy, enjoy some family time but...KEEP WORKING!
Written by
Emmy Sarica
Co-Founder at CRE Collaborative Inc,
Managing Partner EAC Properties,
Successful business owner, and real estate expert
203-259-2319
Emmy@EACProperties.net