Low Housing Inventory

Strategies agents can use to find opportunities

During his interview, Kevin Scanlan makes clear that unless agents adapt to becoming a listing-centric agent during this period of low housing inventory, they will go “extinct.” Simply put, you won’t make money unless you do.

But it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation, isn’t it?

His advice makes sense—with so few houses to buy on the market, the best way to make money is to sell houses.

But if homeowners were selling their houses, there would be more houses for sale, and with more houses for sale, you wouldn’t need to become a listing-centric agent.

The obvious need is for agents to identify and educate homeowners about the advantages of selling their homes now.

Homeowners in a position to sell

There are people who might not know that we’re experiencing a seller’s market, and that this is the best time in recent years for them to sell their homes. In particular:

• Homeowners looking to downsize
• Homeowners with investment properties
• Homeowners with second properties
• Homeowners sitting on equity

One of our newest tools, Targeted Mailing Lists, can help you identify many of these groups within your area.

How to get in front of potential sellers

According to NAR’s 2020 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 41% of sellers found their agents through a referral by friends or family. Another 26% of sellers used the agent they previously worked with to buy or sell a home. The remaining percentage likely started with an Internet search on their mobile phone.

But referrals and repeat business don’t just happen. You need to stay in contact with the people in your database and continue to nurture that relationship by providing them with value. You also need a way to market effectively and efficiently to prospects who aren’t yet a part of your sphere.

In both circumstances, your marketing needs to pass the F.I.T. test:

• Is it Frequent? For relationships to grow, strengthen, and last, you need to be in consistent contact with your clients. A holiday card once or twice a year isn’t nearly enough to keep you top of mind. You need to get and stay in front of your ideal clients. A ubiquitous social media presence combined with a postcard campaign fits the bill.
• Does it make an Impact? This is where the quality and value of your marketing becomes important. You’re looking to capture attention and engage your clients and prospects. The best way to do that is to ensure you deliver information that is useful, entertaining, and relevant to your ideal client’s needs and interests.
• Does it build Trust? Psychologically, the more your marketing works to make you a familiar face, the more confident people feel toward you. The more your marketing provides quality and value, the more likely it is that they will welcome it into their homes. And the more you focus on building a relationship with your clients, rather than being solely concerned with the next transaction, the more they will trust you.

To reach homeowners who are in a position to sell, you might consider a direct mail campaign that meets the criteria above. A monthly postcard campaign that offers useful, entertaining, and relevant information with a clear call-to-action, coupled with digital marketing, might be the perfect solution. Using postcards and digital marketing together helps to ensure that you’re consistent with your marketing and that you won’t fall prey to the idea of “one and done.”

You might also consider mailing a regularly scheduled newsletter. While it may take time you’d rather spend running your business, a well-designed newsletter can be a highly effective way to provide information that is educational, entertaining, or that endears you to the community.

If you have a database of email addresses, then another option is scheduled emails. Whether long-form or short-form, make sure your emails include information your audience will find useful. You can also use blogs to fulfill the same mission and provide value to people whose email addresses you already have.

And don’t forget social media. You can target and re-target audiences using Facebook and Instagram. Clubhouse, an audio-based social networking iPhone app, is another fast growing social media outlet. Membership is currently only by invitation.

We can help

At ReminderMedia, we offer remarkably affordable automated marketing solutions that are uniquely F.I.T. and that can take care of your need to generate more leads and build your business.

We offer only the highest quality postcards printed with your branding and contact information. Each unique design includes valuable information like DIY projects, craft ideas, recipes, listings, just solds, and more. We offer monthly options as well as our 12 Direct Program, ideal for farming, where you can set up an entire year’s worth of marketing in a matter of minutes!

Do you find social media cumbersome with all the different platforms and trying to keep track of what you posted where and when? If yes, then you’ll love the ease with which you can stay in touch with your database using our Digital Marketing Platform. It’s three tools in one, all managed from one dashboard, that takes the worry out of sending emails, writing blogs, and providing unsurpassed value. It’s everything you could want in a social media marketing tool!

And then there are our flagship products—American Lifestyle magazine and Start Healthy magazine. These magazines are customized with your branding and contact information and are sent to your exclusive list of contacts every other month. What’s remarkable is these professional publications boast an average 58% referral rate* (that’s not a typo). See for yourself how our clients are achieving this kind of an ROI using our magazine.

We’d love it if you took a moment to look at our free interactive demos, and we welcome your feedback.

*2019 ReminderMedia Reader Study; conducted by GfK MRI.

Key Points

• Friends and family who have your best interests in mind may not always give advice that is helpful to you, so follow your own dream.
• “Big box brokerages” no longer deliver the value to agents they once did.
  • There’s no need for a central office to which agents must go.
  • Brand names have no importance to the average consumer.
  • Alternative models mean it is no longer necessary to sacrifice commission.
  • Their saving grace may be to provide the best technology available.
• When you give without expectation of reciprocity, you become the businessperson you want to be, and you will make money.
• In a market with a lack of inventory, agents need to switch to a listing-centric model. There are huge opportunities waiting for those who do.

Action Item

Show your logo to people—friends, family, employees, local businesses, past clients—and ask them how they feel and what they think about it. Ask what your logo represents to them. Be prepared to change your branding if the answers you get aren’t what you expected or wanted.

Connect | Resources

Website: AllCityAgents.com

Cellphone: 512 -77KEVIN

Facebook: @kevinpatrickscanlan