📉My Top 8 Benefits of a Down Market
Happy Monday!
Here is an Idea, an Action, and a Question to consider this week.
Idea
Sales are down in real estate. Actually, they haven’t been this low (excluding the pandemic anomaly) since the end of 2011.
Options for your behavior as it relates to the current market:
You can kick and scream
You can quit
You can find the light
I choose option three.
And here’s why you should, too:
My Top Eight Benefits of a Down Market
Long-Term Positioning: By increasing your market share in a down market, you position yourself as a dominant player. When the market rebounds, you'll likely be one of the first agents people think of, given your visibility and activity during the downturn.
Brand Resilience: If you can thrive and maintain your presence in a down market, it projects stability, expertise, and resilience to clients. This can enhance your brand's value proposition, leading to increased trust among buyers and sellers.
Opportunities to Innovate: A down market challenges agents to think creatively about how to sell properties, serve clients, and run their business. As you experiment and innovate, you could find more efficient and effective ways of operating, which can be beneficial even when the market rebounds.
Less Competition: Some agents might leave the profession during a down market due to decreased sales and revenues. This reduction in competition offers a window for proactive agents to capture a larger share of the remaining business.
Diversifying Client Base: As you increase your market share, you may serve a broader spectrum of clients, from first-time homebuyers to luxury home sellers. This diversification can stabilize your income since you're not relying on just one segment of the market.
Building Relationships: A down market provides an opportunity to nurture and deepen relationships with clients. As you guide sellers through challenging times or help buyers find deals, you foster loyalty, which can translate into repeat business and referrals in the future.
Enhanced Negotiation Skills: Navigating a down market often requires enhanced negotiation skills, both with clients and with other parties involved in a transaction. By actively participating in a down market, you hone these skills, which will serve you well throughout your career.
Growth Mindset: The very pursuit of growth in a down market instills a growth mindset. This mentality can drive you to continually seek opportunities, improve, and adapt, which is essential for long-term success in real estate.
Important Side Note: If you want to prevent stressing about money in a sales role, this is even more of a reason to invest in cash-flowing investments. Even during market downturns, these investments can support your lifestyle, allowing you to think with a clear and positive mindset. At a minimum, get your emergency funds established to be able to support you and your family for 6, 9, or 12 months without any additional income.
Action
In a down market, trimming the fat is a must. Review your current business plan and cut unnecessary expenses. Today.
Question
Two-part question: Who are the investor-agents that seem to be positive and happy even in the worst market conditions? What did they do when the market was hot to put themselves in a good position today?
See you next week,
Matt “Roar” Gardner
Real estate investor-agent, Author of Supersonic Real Estate: Light Your Afterburner to Accelerate Your Investor-Agent Career (Coming Soon!), and keynote speaker
