The real estate market has changed, the fundamentals of a successful business haven’t

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By Dirk Zeller

There has been a lot of change that we all have experienced in the last few years. While change is a constant, the depth and breadth of the change has been historic. With all the change and challenge, foundational truths still apply in the real estate business.

Sales is an odds-based business

I realize that many agents don’t view themselves as a salesperson. If you want to replace service or professional representation service for the word sales, OK. There are odds in any business. The odds for some buyers has become extremely low in today’s market. Buyers who need closing costs from the seller, who have low money down or who have zero dollars they can allocate for appraisal gap coverage are having a tough time. You are investing your time, effort, energy and expertise in a buyer client whereby presently, the odds might be heavily stacked against them. I am not advocating to not work with them. I am advocating monitoring your buyer pool to make sure all your clients don’t occupy this category.

Wants and needs don’t change the odds

Just because your client wants it or needs it doesn’t change the odds of them securing it. There are untold buyers currently struggling to move to the new market realities. They want to buy their home at the pricing of 6 to 12 months ago. They think if they just wait, diligently look and are patient, they will find the “proverbial” needle-in-the-haystack home.

We need to select our clients with a heart of service, as well as a head for business. We are in a service-based business. The purpose of a service-based business is to provide outstanding service for compensation. The second part at times is omitted. The “for compensation” is important. The two are linked together and occur in proportionality to the odds of the marketplace and the buyer. With a buyer that has low odds due to marketplace conditions and their individual buyer conditions (low down, type of loan, no appraisal gap funds, etc.), your earning compensation is equal to or worse than their individual odds. The odds must be evaluated logically with our head while we serve them with our heart.

Client selection plays a more important role in achieving success in today’s marketplace. It does pain me to write that, because I wish for all that want to become homeowners to become so. Due to the nature of the present real estate marketplace, low inventory conditions, escalating prices and, now, interest rate increases, the field of successful homebuyers has narrowed. As we all know, our income is attached to their successful outcome. As a businessperson, I have to use my head and my heart at all times with prospects and clients.

Murphy’s law will always get a portion of your output

Murphy’s law — whatever can go wrong will go wrong — is alive and well in the world today. Plan for Murphy to take a portion of your business. Not to think of that as fact is to be naïve. The sales ratios in the real estate business have changed. Historically, if you wanted three buyer-pending transactions each month, you would need to be working with about six active, motivated, ready-to-buy clients. About 50% of your buyers would find what they wanted in 30 to 45 days in a normal inventory market.

In today’s market that timeframe for some is longer. That has caused the ratios of 2:1 to increase to 3:1, maybe even 4:1 or 5:1 in most markets. That requires us to alter our formulas. You might need nine buyers or even 12 active buyers to secure three pended deals a month. The sales ratios have changed, so we must adapt to the new ones if we are to achieve successful outcomes for our clients and ourselves.

The more challenging the market conditions, the more truth is revealed if we are observant

Market difficulties shrink the allowable margins to success, narrowing the lane of opportunity. Disruptions in the market don’t remove opportunity; they just narrow the variables and tighten the shoulders of the road. For example, if you are inconsistent or non-existent in lead generation activities in your business, today’s more challenging market conditions will reveal that a lot sooner. We must be observant and strategic to marketplace changes, conditions and prospects’ and clients’ odds of success. The market demands improvement of our business, skills and strategies and habits.

Dirk Zeller is the CEO of Real Estate Champions.

5 tips to liven up your social presence — from Lori Lightfoot’s digital strategist

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As deputy director of digital strategy for the office of the mayor, Kikora Mason is tasked with making Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot the most digitally savvy mayor in the country. But as a web marketing expert, Mason recognizes that social media skills are equally applicable in every field. That’s why she attended last week’s Titans of Industry: Women in Real Estate conference, to address the room full of agents with tips for invigorating their online presence.

Mason acknowledged three truths about the internet: It is a large space, there is a lot going on and that is not going to change. That can leave most wondering how to stand out. And for that, Mason has five guidelines, or, as she calls them, “The Five Rs.”

Kikora Mason at the Titans of Industry event

Be real

Above all, Mason advised, don’t talk like a robot: “Have fun and be a human in this space,” she said. Content needs personality to attract clients, Mason explained. “You don’t want to be stiff in the way that you communicate.” As an example, Mason cited the actor Amanda Seales who plays recurring character Tiffany on HBO’s “Insecure.” Throughout the course of the series, Seales gained a considerable internet following for her fresh takes and natural presentation.

Be relatable

“You’re not just selling properties, you’re selling experiences,” Mason said, flexing her understanding of the Realtor brand. But selling an experience requires building trust and connecting with your audience. To do that, she suggested hosting Instagram live sessions with other professionals, creating direct-to-camera Q&A videos and using Instagram Reels, the platform’s fairly new recording and editing program.

Be responsible

Most agents are well aware, at this point, that they need to be careful what they say online. “Nothing in the digital ecosystem goes away,” Mason said, going on to reference the two well-known, but very different, examples: comedian Kevin Hart and Jamal Simmons, Vice President Kamala Harris’ communications director. Both men found their careers jeopardized due to decade-old tweets. “You’re not just representing yourself [when you post], you’re representing your company,” Mason said. She encouraged doing regular scrubs of your social media and, if still you’re unsure if something whether appropriate, get a professional opinion.

Be recognizable

Though most of Mason’s tips included more tangible strategies, being recognizable does come down to — as she put it — “a certain je ne sais quoi” or pleasing quality that is difficult to describe. To attain that, Mason suggested that agents consider how their social presence will help them stand out in a crowded space. “What is something that keeps people coming back to your profile?” She encouraged attendees to ask themselves.

Be rich

“In each post, make clients feel like you’re only speaking to them,” Mason said. It helps to be visual and immersive and to imbue the work with personality whenever possible. And to achieve that, Mason offered some surprising advice: “If you have to spend more than 15 minutes thinking about what will go into it, it’s probably a bad post.” While remaining responsible, Mason cautioned, “Avoid overthinking.”

Speaking to Chicago Agent after the conference, Mason also provided additional insight for cultivating authenticity. “What helps is knowing the things you want to focus on in your social media content. It comes off unnaturally when folks are not prepared to enter the space, so they’re thinking on the fly.” But social media doesn’t work like that anymore; the medium has evolved and there is strategy around all of it, she added.

Realtors in particular, Mason said, should choose three areas to focus on when posting. Agents understand their market specialties like the back of their hand, so let that confidence and expertise be a guiding light. “When you know what you want to talk about, it’s easier to be authentic,” Mason explained, noting that it’s still important to have some fun. Using digital platforms to both showcase work and attract new clients is a key aspect of marketing, she said. “Maintaining an engaged audience takes work, but you have to relax,” she said. “If you’re talking like a robot, it’s all for nothing.”

More specifically, Mason’s emphasized the significance of doing this work on Instagram. “Insta and video content is the now,” she said. “And even if it’s uncomfortable, [agents] should be pushing that.” As the most visual platform, Instagram is home to the largest percentage of social media users, and Mason believes that the core demographic of the real estate audience is on there. Similarly, Mason pointed out, the app TikTok is effective at cultivating communities based on personal interests — there is a real estate audience there too.