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Page 24 SEPTEMBER 2016 • VOLUME 21 • ISSUE 5
Slow months in the real estate market? What to do... By Riki Markowitz
F
or the majority of Austin real estate professionals, the past decade has been on an endless upward trajectory. Brokers have gotten used to receiving a dozen or more bids on the same home and buyers are also making multiple offers before going into contract. It’s such a hot market, some agents complain – or brag, depending on who you’re talking to – about going years without as much as a “staycation.” The logic goes: There will be plenty of time for rest when the inevitable slow-down arrives.
It’s always slow somewhere in Austin
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If you look at the numbers, it is true that Austin is booming and has been for years, but that doesn’t mean there’s no downtime to carve
out. According to Shawn Rooker, REALTOR at Realty Austin, “Everyone has slow months. Everyone. Even when it’s busy, I’ve gone four weeks where it’s been fairly slow.” It’s easy to panic when you’ve gone a month or so without a lead or represent one of the few Travis County homes that go more than a week or so without a single viable offer. Any agent with more than a few years under his or her belt, regardless of location, knows that panicking is not an option. In fact, when you do hit an inevitable speed bump, it’s a great time to get some business in order. It’s a time when agents can start planning their end-of-year holiday card blitz, work on their marketing strategy, or just go see a movie. When things get slow, it means you can dedicate more attention to the business you still have, says Steve Crorey, 2016 Austin Board of REALTORS (ABoR) secretary and treasurer. “Mortgage lenders have fewer loans to process, attorneys and title companies have fewer closings, and home inspectors have fewer inspections to fulfill. All of these factors should lead to a quicker transaction and a closing for everyone involved, especially busy REALTORs.” So rather than lamenting a sparsely filled calendar, it’s actually a great time to get to know other Austin professionals in the real estate industry.
lunch, and have dinner at home with the family in the evening may feel exhilarating at first. But then a week or two goes by and some agents may start feeling panicky – especially those who haven’t experienced a few cycles. Allowing yourself to get anxious can actually work against you. If you’re under duress, your finetuned pitch to potential clients may sound less self-assured. In other words, it’s an easy time to make little mistakes. So rather than turning into an armchair analyst and attempting to predict when the market will pick up again, use this time to attend to your personal business in ways you can’t when you’re in the weeds. Sarah Edwards, a REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty, says that no matter what time of year it is, whenever she has a chance to come up for air, she thinks about the holiday season, specifically the handmade gifts she gives to clients and colleagues. A lot of work goes into an agent’s holiday mail campaign – from choosing cards to hand writing a unique message for scores of recipients. When another break in business rolls in again early in summer, “I will reorganize my database and look to see if there’s anyone I haven’t been touch with. I’ll improve my general e-mail campaign, too. I’m constantly looking for ways to improve,” says Edwards.
Don’t Panic
Always be prepared
Going from a 10-hour-per-day work schedule to suddenly having time to hit the gym in the a.m., study for your license renewal after
“The key question for me is, ‘What do I do when I am busy?’” says Rooker. "I think this is more important. Any time I advise an agent, I
tell them the best thing to do is not to prepare for the slow months, but do the right things when you’re busy.” First: never stop looking for new business, no matter what your schedule looks like. “Take at least two hours every day to do something that results in finding new business.” Getting out of practice will make those slow periods more stressful. “I think one potential downfall for new agents is when they get really busy and they stop prospecting.” Crorey, a 2016 ABoR Foundation chair, has been around long enough to know that for his business, holidays tend to be slow. He uses this time to help clients make their homes more marketable by updating photos or by creating virtual tours. Of course, it did take Crorey, Rooker, and Edwards some time to get to the point in their career where they even have slow periods to plan for. An ordinary busy stretch can feel even busier when you’re new to the industry and finding your way while a slow period can actually challenge your decision to become an agent in the first place. A single deal takes several weeks to close. During that time, agents are like worker bees – there are stacks of paperwork; time dedicated to tracking down buyers, brokers, underwriters, and others to collect signatures; and also scores of tiny, endless tasks. One can have the sensation of feeling lost when there’s not much to do. And from lost, it’s a short hop to concerned, then worried, and ultimately
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