Growing A Real Estate Business Today? Part 1

Growing a Real Estate Business Today?

It’s the dream of so many people that get involved with this business.  With all the volatility in the markets recently, there are a few things to keep in mind as you grow your business so that you have a successful operation that can sustain.  Here are a few things to be aware of.

The Background And Housing Market Conditions

Market conditions determine how much total business is available for real estate professionals, whether investors, agents, contractors, etc. In boom times like those early in 2000–2007, there was so much business that many operations did not really need to try so hard to get business and their owners and employees made a living and in many cases enjoyed a very good life.  That was then.

Since then we have had a crash and now signs of recovery.  So how does market conditions apply in 2013 and beyond?  How it is anticipated to develop going forward?

Although things are looking up and there is a lot of optimism about the future of housing, currently overall business is still way down from levels where it was in early 2000’s.  Therefore for a real estate business to grow in 2013, don’t assume things will just improve because the economy and the housing market is rising. The effort will still need to be put in to make it happen.  Yes there are deals everywhere it seems however too many people still fall for the infomercial way of thinking of quick and easy.  It takes work.  Sometimes a ton of work.  You have to be willing to work for it.

One of the things to work on is knowing your market.  It bears repeating that so many people new to the business would do much better if they just knew their market.  That one tip alone will grow your real estate business over and over again.  The saying I have heard is ‘all real estate is local’.  In many markets (arguably all), that is very true so if you want to grow, heed the advice of knowing your market inside and out well.

Achieving Profitable Growth

That’s easy isn’t it; you just got to sell more houses than you sold before?  Of course!  That’s easy to say but how are you going to do this if people aren’t exactly beating your door down and throwing a big bag of money on your desk?  (ok, ok, for some people they may be doing that but it is not the majority of folks)  The key to this question is you…the quality of you.  Your service.  Your responsiveness to clients needs.  Your rapport with clients whether on the phone or in person.  This last point is a big one with so many new people.  If you fail to engage with the client and build rapport then the first conversation you have with a client is likely going to be the last one.  They are here today and gone tomorrow.  Follow up is so important and we can all improve in this area.  Fortunately with technology, it has gotten easier but you still have to pick up the phone and talk to people.  The old saying is true.  ‘People do business with people they like and trust.’  Yes.

Marketing

It has been said that if you are in Real Estate, you are a Marketer first and a Real Estate professional second.  I agree with that.  You cannot just sit back, do a little work and wait for your phone to ring off the hook.  You've got to farm and you've got to fish.  You have to plant seeds (the same as a farmer does) so that business can grow and you've got to catch the fish that nearly got away.  Without going into details here, I am talking about being proactive and doing the right things to market and promote your business.   Marketing is your lifeblood.  No marketing, no deals, no business.  It’s that simple.  So whether you are hitting the streets for offline marketing, online marketing, phone marketing, whatever, get multiple things going in a strategic and trackable fashion and success can come your way.  Make note that tracking your results is quite important to see what is working.  Prioritize this piece as you build your campaigns.

In the next post, I will get into some detail that will assist in the marketing point as it is worthy of another post plus some additional tips.  Till next time…