A large percentage of active real estate agents have never experienced a market shift. Selling homes isn’t that hard when the economy is in your favor, but how do you prepare for a drop in volume? How can you cut costs? Should you focus more on sellers or buyers? In this episode, Brian Gubernick talks about how to prepare yourself for a shifting market.
One of the dangers in real estate is the constant talk about volume, and units but we aren’t talking about net income enough.- Brian Gubernick
Three Things We Learned
We should make our fixed costs variable
During a shifting market, it’s wiser to pay more for a bonus instead of paying less for a fixed salary even when there are no sales coming your way. This will protect you during periods when you won’t have sales but you’ll still have wages to pay. Your profit margins will be smaller, but you’ll also eliminate risk.
Get better at communicating with your agents during crisis times
When sales are slowing down due to a market shift, it’s important for team leaders to be transparent with their agents. Many young agents have never been through a decrease in sales and panic may ensue. This is when leaders have to be more present than ever.
Be more listing-focused and be less picky about appointments
If you’re buyer-based, your income is less predictable. The more listing-focused your business is, the more money you make and the more predictable your income is.
The best way to prepare our team for a market shift is to make sure they’re part of a training program that prepares them for a highly competitive game. A common mistake team leaders make is not recruiting new agents, when in fact the search for talent should be more intense than ever during times like this. There is a way to not just survive a shift but to actually thrive through it.
Guest Bios
Brian Gubernick and his team Homehelper Consultants at Keller Williams Realty Phoenix have been recently named as one of the top producing teams in the U.S by Wall St. Journal & Real Trends. He has also been featured in both Forbes Magazine and Money Magazine. Brian’s team is present in 4 states across U.S, and he has built a real estate coaching business where he helps agents implement the same strategies he did when growing his business.
Gene Volpe is the founder of GVI Media and has over 10 years of experience in real estate marketing. With over 200 transactions under his belt, Gene is known as an authority in his field and is often invited to speak at events. You can find more about Gene at http://www.genevolpe.com/about-gene/#.
