Spring Has Sprung, But New Housing Isn’t Blooming

Being a real estate agent in a housing market with a very small inventory of houses can be an unenviable job. How do you satisfy your clients having such great expectations when you do not have the inventory to match their demands? This is exactly what most real estate agents across the country are going to face this spring when buyers come out in droves. It isn’t news to any real estate agents that the country is facing a housing shortage, and that the tight inventory is driving prices up to unaffordability for many buyers. But while the shortage presents a challenge, don’t let it be an excuse for very few numbers of deals! With some extra work, you can find homes for your buyers. Here’s how: Get knowledge of every new construction project going on in your area. Get location overview as well as price options to share with your leads. Research is key here! Try to find options in all price points so that you can reach more buyers. And remember, every homeowner who upgrades to a new home leaves an older, more affordable property behind. Take a dip into your network and all contacts to get down to all unlisted properties in your area. This is not difficult as you can go through your old customers and their friends to find out if there are any motivated sellers or not. Offer free CMA’s to your contacts so they know what they could get if they sold. Some of them might become interested in selling their homes after knowing their true values. If you resort to seller wanted ads, harness the power of social media. If you have buyers who are ready and serious, take out social media ads and start a campaign on Facebook and other channels rather than simply distributing flyers. Finally, look at expired listings. There are always houses that failed to sell because of high asking price. Now that prices have appreciated, many of these owners might be tempted to sell as they can expect the price they want. Finding houses in a tight market is a matter of doing the right research and having access to the right tech tools that can give you leads about properties before they hit the market.