Can You Hear them Coming?
Can you hear the roar of crowed getting closer? No, not the Marines storming the beach at Normandy, the noise I am referring to is all the new people or past realtors getting in to or returning to the real estate business. You know it is coming, several good months of real estate recovery – The perception, the news, the media, and frankly the numbers; they all say real estate is back or well on its way to recovery.
With this news you know we’re going to have an influx of stay at home moms and dads coming in to our business. Realtors who have allowed their license to go inactive are now in the process of reordering business cards. For all of us that have weathered this storm over the past 5-6 years, we know that this recovery has been a long time coming. We have the scars to show that we have weathered the worst real estate market in the history of America, and we’re still here.
There’s nothing we can do about that person who is uninformed, who tells their spouse “Hey, 6% of $200,000 is $12,000, I can make us a good living on that!” The good news for all of us warriors that have toughed it out, thrived and overcome is that the real estate market has changed. New agents are coming in to a very tech savvy business with complex layers.
The learning curve for the new agent stepping in to this market trying to make an immediate impact is several years of learning at best. Teaching the new agent how to sell a home and buy a home is a lot more difficult than it used to be. For the agent returning to the business, he or she is going to be shocked at what they see.
Depending on when they left the business, buyer agency is almost a certainty on most transactions. The ability to get a loan for a buyer is as tough as it has ever been. The buyers are represented now more than ever. Teams have sprung up and the leverage of having multiple team members permeates the business. Technology is now a must for any agent, new or returning to the business. Yard signs used to account for most sales in any market. Print ads used to be a prominent way to advertise listings.
All of these things have changed.
Telling a returning agent that they need to blog every day is not going to be easy. In a lot of ways the real estate crash cleared out the old, brought in the new, and made us more efficient, more customer friendly, and more productive. New agents need to learn our systems and returning agents need to adapt to the times.
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