Most markets are currently experiencing extreme inflation and home price appreciation. Depending on where you live, your market may be increasingly challenging for homebuyers due to low housing inventory and high demand.
Buyers tell stories of bidding wars, making offers on 50 homes and still not “winning the bid” against competing offers. Buyer’s agents resort to tactics like songs and flower deliveries to make themselves more memorable and attractive to home sellers.
Meanwhile, listing agents spend hours crafting offer-comparison spreadsheets and fielding calls from buyers and their agents regarding the status of their offer. Sellers angst over who to choose when they receive multiple offers significantly over the asking price.
Despite the rising prices of today’s crazy housing market, there are things that real estate agents can do to help clients make the best of their situation. A combination of market knowledge, client education and the right real estate technology solutions are the keys to success for listing and buyer’s agents.
Start With Buyer and Seller Education
Alex Hernandez-Bobrow, an agent with Realty Austin in Austin, Texas, has specific systems in place to educate her clients. She takes them on a deep dive into market conditions and sets realistic expectations about mindset, timeline, pricing, handling the competition and winning a bidding war.
“Buyers are educated on how to adjust their mindset to realize that buying a home is a marathon, not a sprint right now,” says Hernandez-Bobrow. “Sellers are educated on how to prepare their homes for sale and adjust their schedules to accommodate showings and open houses. We also promote our different technology solutions and processes that help streamline offers and interest, and help them navigate multiple-bid scenarios.”
Aaron Lancaster, a Realty Austin broker associate emphasizes that the right pricing makes a huge difference as well in securing a speedy home purchase.
“The best conversation I can have with sellers is to let them know that you really cannot under-price in this market, but you can over-price,” he says. “Pricing the property reasonably provides the best opportunity to win.”
Utilize Technology to Streamline the Process
Real estate agents also need a way to efficiently present and manage multiple offers, as well as consistently communicate with everyone involved. Delivering stacks of paper offers and spending hours building and inputting spreadsheets doesn’t cut it anymore. Today’s real estate consumers have come to expect a streamlined process…and they want transparency.
That’s why a technological solution that allows everyone to easily view and compare offers, and receive and send notifications from a centralized source, is essential.
Fortunately, there are several good online options available for real estate professionals. Both Hernandez-Bobrow and Lancaster use Propy Offer Manager. They like how the system enables them to access offers all in one place, and clients can easily view and compare them in a standardized format. The program also sends automatic alerts and notifications to everyone when an offer is received or viewed.
Even when the market slows down, effective tech platforms and solutions will remain critical to help manage and standardize the buying and selling process. And their ability to provide the tracking and documentation that’s legally required will become a must.
Remember Your ‘Why’
As you navigate today’s challenging real estate market, take a breath and remember why you chose a career in real estate in the first place: to help people realize the dream of homeownership. While this might feel like a hectic time to be in this business, don’t lose sight of the fact that buying or selling a house is more than a business transaction to your clients. For them, their current and future homes are on the line.
Lisa Fettner is a real estate marketing and industry relations consultant. For more information on managing your offers, visit propy.com.
