What Do You Do When There Isn’t Anything To Do?

The real estate market is booming. Homes are selling in a matter of hours with multiple offers,  and Buyers are turning out in droves to take advantage of the low interest rates. So why are many agents looking around, wondering, why in the heck they are not busier?

By all accounts, the real estate market is back in most areas of the country.  Yet I have spoken with several agents in the last few weeks who are not as busy as is typical for this time of year. These are good agents, so what gives?

Here are 2 potential reasons:

1.     Listings sell faster: You are not spending months marketing and waiting for an offer, which frees up time.
2.     Buyers are waiting for inventory to show up: You are not out doing long showing tours with 8-10 houses. It’s one or two at a time as they come on the market.

*Note: Just because you may be putting in fewer hours with a client, do not, for one moment, think you are worth less! Your value comes in the experience and outcome that you create for your client and a good market is not a fool proof one. Your clients still need your expert guidance to navigate their transaction.

With all of this, it begs, the question: Once you have taken care of your clients and there is time left over, what do you do?

1.     Preview: Market knowledge means more than any statistic. It will boost your confidence and keep you engaged in the market.
2.     Get out of the house: When your workload is light, it’s easy to just work at home and then all of a sudden it’s been a week and you haven’t seen another soul or gotten anything done. Head into the office, even for a short period of time. It will help keep you productive.
3.     Remember, real estate is a contact sport: You may not be having as many real estate meetings right now, but you still need to connect with people. Have lunch, go to events, etc. Just because it isn’t directly related to real estate doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.
4.     Market to your clients about what is going on and the opportunities: When we are slow it’s easy to give up on marketing because we feel like there isn’t anything to report. You need to remind your clients consistently that you are there to help.
5.     Know that you are not alone and this too shall pass.  It always does. Your job is to stay engaged in the meantime so that you are poised to take advantage when things open up.

So get out there and keep at it.  Focus on the things going right in your life and more will come your way.