Driving Urgency in a Slowing Market
The question facing agents now is: how can we drive urgency in a slowing market? Inventory is accumulating, competition from other realtors is higher than before, and there are clearly fewer qualified buyers in the market.
It’s time to adapt, evolve, and find your niche once more in this new landscape. Once you do, you’ll ride out this lull as we wait for rates to fall and buyer interest to rise.
Here are our recommendations for rising above your competition in 2023:
Discuss the Impact of Home Improvements with Each Client
Because the market is slower, your clients may feel more confident spending time on home improvements before they list. As their agent, you can offer valuable insight into which upgrades are most likely to bring favorable ROI.
Address lapsed maintenance. Homebuyers and inspectors alike will not be impressed by routine maintenance that fell by the wayside. By the time anyone begins scrutinizing the property, every aspect of the home will be perfectly maintained.
Fresh paint from ceilings to baseboards is a must. Unless your client has extensive experience painting home interiors, hiring professionals will be well worth the cost.
Deep cleaning is essential for every property. This affordable improvement will make a big impact on everything from listing photos to impressions made during open house events.
Unless your client’s home already has hardwood flooring or fresh luxury vinyl plank flooring, an update is likely in order. Staining on their carpet, wear patterns, or any sort of unpleasant odor will have a significant negative impact on their opportunities to sell for a healthy price.
Aging or heavily dated kitchens and bathrooms pull a listing down. While a full remodel might not be in the budget, new countertops, painted cabinets, new fixtures, and a reglazed tub/shower surround may be all it takes to give these spaces a proverbial facelift.
Adding robust storage and a beautiful coat of epoxy on the floor of the garage will draw in today’s buyers. If the garage door is dented, scuffed, or has an aging automatic motor, a new door will complete the refreshed final product.
Guide Your Clients Through Upgrading Their Curb Appeal
Most buyers first encounter homes online. Make sure your clients know that despite this, curb appeal could not be more impactful on their chances to attract buyers. Photographs can be viewed over and over, giving homebuyers time to analyze each flaw.
Curb appeal improvements can be as simple as decluttering the porch and installing a new light fixture, but often involve some amount of landscaping, garage door repainting, window cleaning, and even rain gutter replacement.
Your client may balk at the curb appeal upgrades you recommend, but do remain firm (yet polite) on your assessment. The Washington Post reported that 87% of homebuyers rely on photos as they house hunt, and according to a study performed jointly by the University of Alabama and University of Texas at Arlington, homes with excellent curb appeal net an average of 7% more than comparable homes with poor curb appeal.
Create Beautiful Listings that Stand Out
Once your clients have completed their renovations and improvements, it’s your job to represent their work as impeccably as possible. Videography, photography, and staging are all essential components of the listing process. It’s fine if you are not yet capable of all three of these quite yet; simply hire a professional who is!
Share the Benefits of Working With Curbio
Often, budgetary concerns are the main roadblock to homeowners performing the updates required to take their home listing to the top. With Curbio, however, every homeowner can afford remodeling, updates, or simple cosmetic refreshes. Curbio offers direct-to-consumer financing from the jump, allowing the homeowner to decide which updates will best suit their situation.
Curbio’s team will manage the process from start to finish, too, which frees both you and the homeowner up to focus on marketing and staging. Services from Curbio won’t be due for payment until the deal has closed, which will take the stress off your client during the financial tightrope that is the process of closing on one home while purchasing another.
Remain Upbeat Throughout the Process
While honesty and accurate feedback are of the utmost importance, the attitude with which you convey information to the homeowner is also crucial to the success of your working relationship.
Rather than allowing your message to seem like criticism of their home or current maintenance thereof, keep your focus on how you can work together as a team. Phrases like “What I have learned in my work as a realtor has led me to advise that […],” will go much further than phrases such as “This garage door is a big issue. You have got to replace it before listing.”
The Takeaway
While this is undeniably a more challenging time for realtors than 2019 and 2020, this dip (like all that preceded it) is temporary. By upping your attention to detail and helping your clients do the same, refining your digital marketing capabilities, and adjusting your market strata niche, you can continue to succeed despite all.