As anyone who has listed their property knows, real estate is a seasonal industry. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales activity jumps 34% between the months of February and March. The busiest months for home sales are May, June, July, and August, and sales made during these four months constitute 40% of all yearly home sales.
That's why it's important for agents to boost their business this spring and set themselves up for success well into the lucrative summer months. This post will give you some tips to start the spring buying season off with style.
Review Your Spring Buying Season Strategies
Spring is a good time to look at how you operate as a real estate agent. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Am I familiar with developments in the local market? Buyers want to know if a commuter rail station is coming to town or if the city passed a bond initiative to build a new middle school.
Do I know the latest market values and trends? Buyers want to know how much their property is going to appreciate once they buy it. When you have the data to back up assertions, it builds buyer trust.
Am I trying to please too many clients? It's okay to "spring clean" your buyers' list, dropping clients who seem to be perennial window shoppers. For established agents, it's also okay to hone in on a niche within the larger market.
Does my marketing need an overhaul? Spring is a great time to overhaul your social media marketing, remove dead leads from your email list, and audit your real estate website for SEO issues. You might also want to revisit your branding.
Start Lining up Listings
In order to stack the house with summer listings, presentations have to start in the spring. Most sellers aren’t ready to list at the time of the presentation. And some sellers think they need to spend a little time getting their house ready for market.
When you come across a warm listing lead in the spring, do your best to get a presentation set up as soon as possible, even if the seller doesn't plan to list until the summer. You may be able to get the homeowner under contract before they start shopping around for representation, and you’ll both have plenty of time to prep, so there’s less listing stress.
Prepare Your Buyers for the Spring Buying Season
Getting your prospective sellers to commit is just one part of ensuring success. You also want to educate your buyers. Here are a few things you can do to prepare your buyers to snag the house of their dreams:
Review the parameters of their automated search. You can ask the buyer if they want you to up the sales price or add new neighborhoods or housing types to the search results you email them each day. Changing things up a bit will help your buyers to get mentally prepared for the busy listing season.
Host a homebuyer seminar. New buyers can benefit enormously from information about different types of loan programs and ways to build their credit. Depending on the kind of buyer you typically work with, you may run more specialized seminars on 1031 exchanges and purchasing a foreclosure.
Prepare your buyers to make their first offer. First-time homebuyers may not know how to get a loan pre-approval. Helping them to get their ducks in a row is another way to build trust.
Plan to get your real estate license this spring? With AceableAgent, you can complete the required education anywhere at your own pace!
Updated 5/10/22