The homebuying process is not like using Instacart, and it probably never will be — even for top producing real estate agents. Real estate coach Jared James grew up in the business and worked hard to become one of the most successful agents in the country before opening his coaching business.
After decades in the housing industry, James is sharing his expertise with other agents. He has the knowledge agents need to win listings in today’s market, and he knows that unlike buying groceries from Instacart, winning listings takes boots-on-the-ground work and consistency.
Prior to starting his coaching business, James relied on a few specific strategies every day. Back then, the newspaper and the phone book were his bread and butter. Today, he coaches agents on other strategies they can implement every day to find success.
Here are his tips for winning listings in today’s market:
Visibility trumps ability.
“The idea is that being an option will always beat being the best. Our job in real estate is to give people the opportunity to know us so they have the chance to ‘no’ us. You have to give yourself the chance,” says James.
Be a content creator guru.
“Agents aren’t giving themselves the first chance at a first impression,” says James. That’s because many aren’t online where that first impression happens.
“But now, when you’re meeting someone for the first time, and it’s your first impression with them, it is not their first impression with you. They’ve been watching you online,” says James.
So, James says, agents must “get themselves in front of the audience, because they aren’t even giving the sellers and buyers a chance to see them. They need to be visible online because visibility trumps ability.”
There’s no such thing as a past client .
“Every CRM has a category for past clients. However, there is no such thing as a past client,” says James. “There are only active and prospective clients. Active clients are anybody actively looking to buy or sell. Prospective clients are anyone with whom you are actively prospecting. Stay in communication with them,” James says.
James went on to say that agents are missing a huge part of the business because they don’t understand what to do with referrals and repeat business or how to handle their repeat clients.
Consistency is undefeated.
“Everything works if you do it enough. Most agents struggle with inconsistency,” he says. “They aren’t struggling with having too many tactics or that the tactics are old. Their issue is in chasing too many things and not seeing them through. They need consistency,” says James.
We are in a sellers market.
“We aren’t in a bad market. The December numbers went down 1.5%. That means that we are only 1.5% away from the greatest market in the history of the world. To me, that sounds like the second-greatest market in the history of the world. We are returning to a pre-COVID-19 pandemic market. It is all about perspective,” says James.
“Yes,” James says, “you aren’t going to get the price that you got last year, but you also aren’t going to pay the price that you paid last year. Sellers are only afraid of uncertainty. If you price correctly, there is a lot of demand right now. There are plenty of buyers.”
