Hey, new agent – are you sick of advice yet? We know, everybody and their brothers and sisters jump out of the woodwork to offer the new agent business advice.
We’re no different (except Sis decided to sit this one out).
You have a clean slate. You haven’t made any mistakes yet – especially those major blunders that will take time and money to undo. So, kick your new real estate business off right by making a decision to work primarily with sellers.
Take that slate and, in brightly-colored chalk, inscribe:
I am a listing agent!
Looks good, doesn’t it? Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find it feels even better. Let’s take a look at 5 reasons why you should aim for the listing stratosphere instead of driving buyers all over town.
1. There’s drama, sure, but it’s a different kind of drama
Real estate transactions can be full of drama. As a friend of ours at MarketingArtfully.com says, however, “I am not equipped for the drama that buyers bring.”
From the inability of too many homebuyers to not see the bones of the home beneath the clutter or ugly paint to those who insist on making the lowest of lowball offers, there’s a lot of high drama in a buyers’ agent’s workday.
Most of the “drama” on the listing side occurs when the homeowner doesn’t trust his or her agent. For instance, one listing agent we know told us about her first listing client who insisted on being home during showings and open houses. He didn’t trust her, or the process, to sell his home.
Build trust first – from the get-go, and you’ll prevent issues such as this.
2. It’s about that contract
Many buyers’ agents use a buyer’s agent agreement in their business and many don’t. Even knowing what I do about real estate, both as a former agent and as a real estate writer, when I bought my home a few years ago I refused to work with an agent who insisted on a contract.
But, that’s me (although there are many like me). The point is, you may or may not get a buyer who is contractually obligated to use your services.
When you list a home, the seller is obligated, by contract, to use you for a specified amount of time. Sure, he or she can get out of the contract, but it’s not easy.
Besides, if you’re an ace listing agent, why would anyone not want to work with you? Especially if your listing descriptions are on point – Take a look at a few of EAP’s listing descriptions you can use here.
So, number two on our list of why it’s better to list than sell is that your client is a one-person captive audience.
3. Buyers’ agents are at their clients’ beck and call
At least when the agent is new, his or her schedule is often dictated by buying clients.
“No, we can’t see that home on Thursday. We want to see it on Saturday, right in the middle of your daughter’s first soccer game,” isn’t likely to be something they’ll say, but it will be your reality, nonetheless.
It makes time management a real challenge, and time management is critical to successfully running your real estate business.
As a listing agent, you set the schedule for everything from when to hold open houses to the entire transaction coordination.
4. Your chances of getting two (or more) deals out of one client are better with sellers
More often than not, your listing client is also going to buy another home. There are two deals from one client right there.
If you bring in the buyer for their listing, you have three deals. Now, if that buyer needs to sell a home to buy this one, you have four deals from one listing appointment.
Doesn’t happen a lot, but when it does, it’s not bad for a day’s work.
If you’re still finding yourself running short of clients, your listing descriptions are probably the culprit. Here are some ways to identify and fix a bad description.
5. Your business marketing is more streamlined
Most agents are generalists, neither a seller nor buyers’ agent exclusively, nor do they specialize in a real estate niche.
When your day is spent trolling for homebuyers, your marketing becomes akin to throwing stuff against the wall, hoping something will stick. Plus, the competition is heavy because of the generalist mentality of most agents.
Concentrate on getting listings and your marketing is more focused, therefore a lot easier to conceptualize and manage.
Farming is one of the best ways to get listing leads and a real estate website devoted to the home seller, social media shares and posts that target homeowners, help back up your farming efforts.
As a new agent, it may make you nervous to concentrate on just one type of real estate consumer. Don’t feel that you must choose the listing path to the exclusion of the buyer path.
Just keep in mind that listings are always buyer bait while buyers are sometimes listing bait.
Ready to get more listings? Here are 16 tips to get the most out of your marketing
Want more seller leads? Run this unconventional ad: