List Tight and Sell Loose – Real Estate Success in this Market!

With my roles at RIO Genesis and with the NRBA I am in the unique position of speaking with agents and brokers all over the country daily. Many asking for help and advice.

Even though I sold off my own real estate offices years ago – even many of my own former agents still call when they need help or input.

The best advice I can ever give any agent or broker is that you can’t change a market – you can only change yourself and how you choose to adapt to it.

The most common issue (complaint) that I hear from so many agents – is that they are getting extremely frustrated working with first time and low to middle income range buyers.

The stories are all different but also all the same.

“I have shown this buyer 60 houses and we have made 5 offers and I still can’t get them a house.”

There is no inventory.

What they really meant to say was: “I have invested over 100 hours with these people and I still haven’t made a dime - I am going broke and I need help!”

It’s a variation of the same story every time and although I sympathize with today’s buyers with moderate to mid-level incomes who have been priced out of most markets. There really isn’t anything I or anyone else can do for them – I don’t have a magic wand and I can’t change the market.

However, it is the brokers and agents that call me that I am here to help, and I do have some advice.

As I said earlier - The reason I am getting these calls is not because they expect me to find their buyer a house but because the agents can’t make any money.

Same thing every day – “I have all of these qualified buyers and there is no inventory.”

This puts me in the position of having to give them a hard reality check.

First off – if there is nothing available in your market that your buyer can afford to purchase – you do not have a qualified buyer. And you are just spinning your wheels.

But: “Oh – these buyers are so nice, and I want to help them” – hear that response every time...

You as an agent must make a living. No matter how “nice” these buyers may be, and no matter how much you want to “help” them - you are not a social worker and you can not afford to keep wasting your time without selling anything. You yourself will end up broke and out of your own home next if you keep this stupidity up.

If there is no inventory available for what the buyer can afford to pay, then that is not a qualified buyer. Move on!

Continuing to work with buyers such as this is essentially a “broken business model” and that is the one thing that no one can ever fix.

At the same time, I am also hearing from these same agents that their mid to higher priced listings aren’t selling so they are not making any money that way either.

The solution is simple – adapt to the market and quit wasting time and resources on unprofitable endeavors.

The best way to make money is still to “List Tight and Sell Loose”.

That means only take out buyers that can afford to purchase in the price ranges where there is plenty of available inventory and only take listings in those price ranges where there is no inventory, and everything gets multiple offers in a few days.

That is the only effective use of your time and the only way for you to be the most profitable.

And here comes the very next statement - every damned time… “But I can’t do that Mike?”

Yes, you can. You have total control over all of it.

It’s very simple – what you catch is determined by where you fish and the bait that you use.

You don’t go fishing for salmon in a desert using french fries for bait.

You control your advertising and marketing dollars – what you choose to advertise and where you choose to do so determines the buyers you get. Only advertise (fish) for buyers in the price ranges where there is available inventory.

As for the listings – even simpler.

If low end listings are getting multiple offers in three days and higher end listings are not selling at all – quit going after high end listings and start working the lower-end neighborhoods for your listings.

You have total control where you farm and prospect, where you go door knocking, which neighborhoods you cold-call and mail to, etc. etc.!

Seriously! In the same amount of time you have already spent with just one of these low to mid-level buyers for which you can’t get them a house (remember those 60 houses you showed and those 5 offers you wrote?) You could have been prospecting for listings in those same neighborhoods and probably already gotten three listings that sold immediately with less time and effort.

Be smart about this.

You can’t change a market – the only thing you can change is you!

Target your marketing and advertising so that you only attract buyers that can afford to buy what is available and market for listings only in those neighborhoods and price ranges that will instantly sell.

List Tight - Sell Loose

Real Estate has never been about working hard as much as it is about working smart!

You have total control over your own life, your own career. and your own income!