With the current state of real estate, and the perpetually uncertain market we’re all facing, many are reaching a point where a certain market feels like a myth of days past. Even with the pandemic, the catalyst for today’s circumstances, starting to fade in the rearview mirror, its effects continue to ripple through multiple industries, real estate included.
As an association, your goal is to support agent members in what they do every day. That can be daunting when agents see their prospects dwindling thanks to inflation, interest rates, and other outside factors. It may even force them out of the market—as many states are seeing.
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, membership as of May 2023 was down year over year in 30 states.
What can you do to help members stay profitable and instill confidence in the face of uncertainty?
Refresh their understanding of what they’re up against.
Real estate isn’t what it was even five years ago—and a surprising number of today’s agents have never experienced a market like this. In another report, NAR pointed out that the typical REALTOR® has eight years of experience under their belt, and only 39% of agents report having 16 years of experience or more—meaning the majority of agents didn’t face the market crash of 2008.
What does this mean for an association?
It means that many of your members may need additional help navigating the current market. Even though they’ve been into it for a while now, a refresher on best practices, tips and tricks from those who have seen worse, and other tactics can help them understand and appreciate current difficulties—and develop their own strategies for facing those difficulties head on.
Help them stay proactive and motivated.
Not too long ago, we discussed what proactivity looks like in real estate these days. As in the previous point, the art of staying ahead of the market isn’t the same as it was five years ago, either.
Real estate is all about being proactive, hustling, and being a go-getter. But for real estate agents to do that these days, they need new techniques—it’s not enough to be loud on social media anymore. Consumers want to hear about their specific situations.
What does this mean for an association?
This sort of leads into our next point—but the key is to help your agents with the right resources and tools to stay proactive even with shifting consumer expectations. When agents can successfully make their case to even the most skeptical consumer, that builds confidence and helps them stay motivated in their work.
Make sure they have the resources for the current market.
Anywhere said it best in RISMedia’s July cover story on their current approach to technology in real estate:
It’s about quality, not quantity.
There are so many options available to agents these days in terms of software, and it can be quite overwhelming to sort through. Associations have a unique power in that they can guide members toward the options that work best for what they need; as a trusted source, they can identify, vet, and share what’s successful and what can help members find their own success.
What does this mean for associations?
It means it’s up to you to provide access to the resources for success. We’re here to help you do that.
At Lone Wolf, we’ve been through it all. Market shifts, consumer expectations, inventory ups and downs. We’ve spent years honing our skills and our software to help you and your members stay profitable in any market.
Whether you’re looking for member benefits to unlock the resources to help members make the most of the opportunities they get, or a reseller program sounds more your speed, we can help you find the right fit—and instill confidence in your association as their rock in hard times, too.
So let’s talk about how we can help.
