The real estate marketplace is crowded with real estate agents, listing websites, and lenders targeting virtually every city and province in Canada. With so much competition, it’s essential for real estate business owners and managers to adopt cost and time effective strategies that may keep them one step ahead. To overcome one of the biggest challenges in the real estate industry, consider these tips for growing your business.
Challenges in the Real Estate Industry
Modern challenges require modern real estate sales and market strategies. But before you decide to dive into strategy mode, it’s important to understand and assess common real estate challenges you may encounter:
- Competition from non-traditional markets: The real estate marketplace was built on a busy network of real estate agents. As technology evolves, online listing portals, digital agencies, and other non-traditional real estate businesses may compete even when they don’t have a large local presence.
- Weather and climate-related risks: The climate poses multiple challenges in the modern Canadian real estate industry. Climate-wary buyers may have new requirements about geography and home features, as changing climate trends affect our daily lives. The potential for extreme weather and higher insurance costs may change where your clients want to shop for a home.
- Rapidly changing home staging trends: Outside of the hottest markets, home staging may play an important role in helping a home move quickly and for the best possible price. In addition to traditional decluttering, it’s important to choose furnishings and decor that make the home feel natural and fresh.
- Growing competition: While a strong and bustling real estate industry may help give customers more options when choosing who to work with, a new agent may also become a friendly competitor in your local market.
- Inventory shortages: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to huge changes in the economy and how people live their daily lives. That has compounded inventory shortages in some markets that were already struggling to keep up with demand. Your business may have to work harder or more efficiently in a low-inventory market to stand out and get listings.
- Post-COVID health and safety: Handshakes are a thing of the past, and open houses may not be quite as open as they once were. As we move forward from COVID-19, it’s important to stay cognizant of the latest health and safety guidelines while taking extra steps to ensure clients feel safe and comfortable throughout the real estate transaction process.
Strategies for Your Real Estate Business
Now that you have a better idea of current problems in the real estate industry, you are in a better position to respond. Among the most important real estate business tips are meeting clients’ evolving needs, providing excellent service, and standing out online and offline.
- Know your area: Clients hire real estate professionals for their expertise. Become the top expert in your area, and your knowledge will attract new prospects as customers.
- Networking: Meeting new people is the lifeblood of any real estate business. Happy past clients, friends, acquaintances from your community, and even other parents in your kids’ PTA could lead to new business relationships for real estate agents. And don’t overlook lead-centric organizations like your local chamber of commerce.
- Develop client loyalty: The best sign of a job well done is repeat business. If a client comes back or refers a friend, you know you’re doing something right. Always strive to provide an excellent customer experience to develop client loyalty.
- Find off-market properties: Anyone with a computer or smartphone may access public property listings online. Staying active in your real estate community may help you find off-market properties that are preparing for a sale. If you know the right people, any property is for sale for the right price.
- Improve time management: When competing with websites that may serve thousands of users simultaneously, it’s wise to focus on your own time management so you may get the most done in the least time. That could involve using new digital tools, bringing in additional staff, and looking for low-productivity tasks you may drop completely.
- Invest in online and offline marketing: To find new clients, meet prospective home buyers and sellers where they are already spending time today. That could be a search engine, social media app, podcast guest appearance, real estate blog, or even a bus bench. Regularly test what’s working well for you so you may focus your efforts on the most successful marketing tactics that lead to measurable results.
Conclusion
There’s no single action that will magically lead to an overnight success. Understanding current challenges in the real estate industry and strategizing to overcome them may help you build a thriving business. If you apply these tips to your real estate business, you’re in a great position to increase leads, sales, and revenue — and emerge as a key player in the industry.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion on any issue. It should not be regarded as comprehensive or a substitute for professional advice.