About Kinder Reese
There are plenty of so-called real estate experts out there teaching agents how to succeed even though they haven’t sold a home in decades, if at all. But Kinder Reese is different. Founders Jay Kinder and Michael Reese have collectively sold more than 6,270 homes over the past two decades, they still have thriving real estate practices, and they love sharing their proven systems and processes with other agents who are serious about growing their business.
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What to focus on in an uncertain real estate market
Published by Jay Kinder
Having been a real estate agent during both the Dot Com Bubble and the Great Recession, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about what to do, and more importantly what not to do, when uncertainty hits the real estate market.
What I’ve found, not so surprisingly, is that what you need to focus on and do when times get tough is somewhat similar to what you should be doing when things are going along well.

Sure, you need to pivot and find new ways to get deals done. In the mid-2000’s, short sales and foreclosures were rampant and as such, those who survived needed to be able to navigate the sell and buy side of these kinds of sales.

With the current COVID-19 environment we’re in, it’s vital that we learn how to conduct a real estate transaction in a virtual environment with much being done via video conferencing, phone, email and text.

Houses will sell in just about every market environment, it’s up to us to know how to get the job done for our buyers and sellers.
With all the uncertainty that’s going on right now with jobs, the government and most importantly, people’s health, it’s crucial we focus on doing certain things extremely well so that we can offer our clients great guidance and continue to sell homes and take care of our families.

Here’s what’s vital for all of us to do — and do well — in our current market environment:

1. Prospecting and lead generation: As with every challenging market, there comes the need to talk to a larger number of prospects in order to identify who represents legitimate selling and buying opportunities.
It was recently reported that out of every 10 prospects you speak with, the following will be true:

- 6 will not want to do anything until the current crisis is truly under control
- 3 will be confused about what they can and cannot do regarding buying or selling a house
- 1 will be okay with moving forward to do something at this time

As with any prospecting plan, you need to know your numbers so that you can 1) set metrics to reach your goals and 2) scale your results with more leads and a bigger prospecting effort.
This is not the time to sit on the sidelines and wait for things to happen. This issue we’re facing now will be resolved and you can either have a pipeline of buyers and sellers who will be ready to do something at that time or you’ll be sifting and sorting through the list of prospects that are ready to do something and be another 60 to 90 days away from a sale. The choice seems pretty simple to me. Work hard now and build for the not-so-distant future.

2. Work on your skills: One of the main reasons that such a large number of real estate agents fall out of the market when there’s a downturn in the market is because they don’t have the skillset to generate, and compete for, business when things get tough.
The things you need to say and the conversations you need to have with sellers and buyers are tougher, more involved, and even more challenging than they are when the market is chugging along at a good pace.

If you’re not able to navigate a sales call at a time when the objections are tougher — and more prevalent — you are going to have a hard time finding people to work with in any downturn in the market. To that end, it’s incumbent on you to spend extra time learning what to say, when to say, and how to say it. Take the time to role play, listen to your calls and even seek feedback from others on what you can do to improve. The amazing byproduct of working in this manner is that when the market does improve, your ability to convert will be so much better than your competition that you’ll be able to do even better then.

3. Be present in your market. When things get overwhelming, it’s a natural response to disappear for a while and get out of the public eye, so to speak. And, while it’s not necessarily a bad thing to hunker down from time to time, it’s really important that you remain visible and present to the people on your team and in your market.

Outplacement firm, Randstad Risesmart, had this to say about being visible in a crisis: “In times of crisis, whether internal or external, the best leaders make themselves highly visible. When employees are uneasy, nervous, or upset, they want to see and hear from their leader. Leaders should remain highly visible and attempt to add some perspective to what’s going on inside or outside of the organization. Visibility and simply showing up go a long way toward building trust and fostering relationships across your team.”

If you have a team, make sure you have regularly scheduled meetings with them so that they can see you and you can guide them. For prospects, past clients, sphere and the people in your marketplace, make sure you’re recording videos or going live on Facebook on a consistent basis. Give market updates, keep people in the loop on what they can and can’t do regarding buying a home, bring some human interest into your presentations, etc. No matter what it is, make sure you do it consistently. You want people to see you as a leader and someone who shows up no matter what the current market environment is at the time. Doing so will help them connect with you now and want to stay connected with you when things get better.

4. Work on yourself. Business and life coach Gary DeRodriquez maintains that “life doesn’t happen to us, it happens to us.” More specifically, we get back in life what we give out in terms of effort, energy, emotions...virtually everything.

What this means is that even if you’re stressed, overwhelmed, scared about what’s going on, you still need to push through every day. As leaders, we need to make sure we’re working on ourselves, becoming more confident, more educated and more well rounded as people and business owners.
To do this, you must read daily, listen to books on Audible, watch motivational and educational videos, or do some sort of personal enrichment activity every day. Engaging in these activities strengthens your mind, bolsters your resolve, fills your soul and empowers you to keep moving forward when it seems impossible to take just one more step forward.

Make sure you build time for personal development and exercise into your daily routine while we’re working through this crisis.

5. Be a market expert. We’ve been preaching the need for agents to be market experts for the better part of a decade now, but it’s as important as it’s ever been to be the expert in your market. Not only should you know about sales trends, prices, etc., but you should also remain clear on what your specific state and local rules are regarding what you can and can’t do to sell homes.
It’s important to understand that the average home seller and home buyer prospect in your market is likely very confused about how what is going on is impacting their ability to sell and/or buy a home. You need to be the voice of reason and clarity for them in times like these and the only way to do that is to stay up to date on what’s happening from the top down in your state as it relates to your market. Remaining connected with what’s going on helps you build credibility and authority with your prospects and clients. It also allows you to help people make better, faster and easier decisions about what the best next step is for them.
  
Be sure that you’re not only remaining current with what’s happening, but also that you’re sharing what you learn with others so that you can be of the greatest help to everyone.

There’s an old saying: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It’s extremely applicable during this season of our lives. Times are definitely tough and there will be a “new normal” as it applies to the real estate market and so many other aspects of our lives and business.

Take heed to what I’ve shared with you today. They are proven approaches and strategies that I’ve used over the last 20-plus years to make it through some really tough real estate markets.

What I do know is that if you keep pushing, keep working and do the things I’ve recommended here, you will make it through this and come out better and stronger on the other side.

About Author: Jay Kinder

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