What if this is the new normal?
I was running a sales meeting last week and we got to the market review. I’ll be honest, there was no way to sugar coat it.
Sales were down. Listings were down. Average price was down. Year over year, down. Month over month, down.
As we looked at the numbers, someone in the room finally said, “Well, at least inventory is lighter too.”
Everyone laughed.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was actually something important in that comment.
Here’s the bigger point.
I don’t think the boom market is coming back anytime soon. And maybe the bigger challenge for our industry is accepting that the way we built our businesses during those years may not be the way we need to build them now.
If you got into this business in the last five or six years, there’s a good chance the only market you’ve ever known is a boom market. Multiple offers. Homes selling in days. Prices climbing every quarter.
That was never normal. That was a moment.
What we’re experiencing now, slower sales, more selective buyers, longer negotiations, is much closer to what real estate has looked like for most of its history.
This isn’t necessarily the market falling apart. This might just be the market returning to normal.
And if that’s true, the question becomes: What does your business need to look like in this kind of market?
Your listings have to show well and be priced right from the beginning. You also need more listings in your pipeline. If fewer listings are selling, you need more inventory to produce the same number of transactions.
And maybe most importantly, you need to understand why people move.
People don’t buy or sell because the market tells them to. They buy and sell because something in their life changes. A marriage. A divorce. A new baby. A new job. Retirement. An inheritance. A growing family. A shrinking family.
The market may affect their decision, but life usually creates it.
So this week, focus on what you can control.
- First, go through your current listings and identify which ones may be overpriced or underprepared. If there is a conversation you know you need to have with a seller, have it this week.
- Second, take a look at your pipeline and work out how many new listing appointments you need to book by the end of September. Then work backwards into how many conversations it will likely take to get there.
- Third, think about the conversations you’re having every day. Are you asking enough questions to understand what is happening in people’s lives and what might cause them to make a move?
The market may not give you the volume it once did.
That doesn’t mean the business isn’t there.
It may simply require a different way of finding it.
Have a powerful week ahead.
Talk soon.