Holiday Prospecting –
With the year winding down, you’ve earned a little R and R. Sure, you’ll probably end up eating a little too much, sleeping in a little bit too long, but it’s the Holidays- you’re supposed to take it easy, right? WRONG. If you’re not taking advantage of the prospecting opportunities inherent to this time of year, you just made it onto our Real Estate Agent Naughty-List. Here are REDX’s top 3 reasons for real estate agents to prospect during the Holidays.
1. Low Competition and High Motivation
You can count on the fact that many Realtors are planning on taking an extended break. With an excuse like the Holiday’s, you can pretty much assume only the most dedicated agents are actually still out there, hitting the pavement. With fewer working this is your window to make a new foothold in your market.
When you find sellers willing to talk, make sure you focus on the fact that buyers during this time of year are highly motivated. If you meet buyers willing to talk, tell them why they should be highly motivated to buy now instead of Spring. The crew over at KCM (www.KCMBlog.com) has a few points you could bring up-
Inventory is shrinking- The best homes will sell first and the longer they delay the more likely they are to miss out on their once and a lifetime buy.
You’ll pay more later- Many of KCM’s sources indicate that prices this winter should be bouncing around the bottom but will only begin to rise as we get closer to Spring.
Rising interest rates- KCM points out that the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts that next year’s 30-year interest rate will be about one full point higher than today’s.
2. Maintaining the Pipeline
Being a Real Estate Agent is a lot like being a gardener. You’ve got to dig, sow, water, nurture, bleed, sweat, cry, and then, maybe then, you’ll reap. During this process though you quickly learn what the grasshopper did in one of Aesop’s fables- “To work today is to eat tomorrow.” Easing off your work for too long can cause unexpected hiccups down the road: a sudden drought of business, an unplanned stretch of missing income.
One thing Darren Hardy, Publisher of Success Magazine, does to fill his time in December is scheduling as many appointments as he can for January. With all the shopping, planning, and traveling during December, potential clients may not be keen on buying or selling homes, but they are very keen on putting off things till later to make more room in their schedules now. That includes a meeting with you. Darren has found the resistance to making an appointment falls dramatically when someone can just put it off till “next year”. Using this to his advantage, Darren has people to meet with right on January 2nd until the end of the month while other Realtors are still emerging from their Holiday Hibernation.
3. The Biggest Expired Listing Day of the Year
This reason is dear to our hearts at REDX being that it’s days like January 1st that truly shows people why they need our leads and our system. The first day of every year heralds the appearance of thousands of expired houses coming off the market all across the country. On your MLS alone there may be dozens of expired listings, if not more, of motivated sellers looking for the right agent to finally get their home sold. NAR says nearly ¾ of these expireds will list with an agent. How can that new agent be you if you’re not striking while the iron is hot? The best time to pick up a listing is when it’s still fresh off the market. You’ve got to pick your phone and call. It may be January 1st, but again, refer to #1 – most other agents are lying in bed while you’re prospecting, starting the New Year right.
So avoid our Naughty-List – or at least let the huge money opportunity motivate you to get out there and use the holiday’s to your advantage. But, even if you decide to take the next couple of weeks off, we wish you a happy holiday season.
