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Back to Basics?!
I have heard many agents and brokers claim it is time to get back to basics. Well I guess that depends on what you think “Basics” is. If basics means making contact with a very large number of people and engaging in conversations about real estate then YES!
If ‘Back to Basics” means it’s time to hunker down and get back to what we have always done? Call the 25 people in our sphere and go out to coffee or “Pop” by an ask for referrals. Spend $1,200 mailing postcards to your farm area. Then NO!. The environment has shifted and people are getting their information on new paths. The internet, blogs, twitter, google search, facebook, etc are information conduits. If you are not using these tools and others you are missing the leverage needed to expand your reach.
The market is slow and if your reach is limited to your sphere through traditional channels then now matter how well you work your system the yield will be low. It is simple math. The reality in our market is that there are far fewer transaction available. I just ran the raw number of closes for December from 05-08.
Closed Transactions
12/05 = 1651
12/06 = 1511
12/07 = 1075
12/08 = 529
That is a 68% drop in the number of transactions.
Agents must increase their activity and conversations by several hundred percent, What if you are connected to a real estate market that is dead and no matter how hard you try there are simply no buyers? This is the case right now in the $1,000,000 market in much of Portland. So if your social sphere and referral network is primarily connected to this market segment and you want to earn commissions a dramatic adjustment is needed.
If you don’t quickly learn how to leverage every tool availble to you to dramatically extend your reach you are in big trouble.
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