More than ever, success in real estate hinges on mastering your role as a listing agent. As the saying goes, “list to last.” Once you are able to build your reputation as the go-to for sellers in your neighborhood, you will see your business snowball. Future sellers will see your yard signs, note how long it takes for the “pending” rider to fall into place, and act accordingly. Getting that first listing can seem monumental, but accomplishing that–and more importantly, the timely sale that goes along with it–will literally transform your business. Following is how to break into the listing game:
CATER TO BUYERS
We all have to start somewhere and for most new agents that’s working with buyers. If you are a new agent, your best shot at becoming a future listing agent is to work with as many potential buyers as possible. What you are shooting for are successful sales and experience in your market. Once you have a few sales under your belt, you can confidently talk to potential sellers about the homes you have sold and the ways in which you’ve helped your clients. This will give you the credibility and confidence you need for that first listing presentation.
GET A MENTOR OR WORK WITH A TEAM
Again, if you are a new agent or one wanting more depth and experience, do what you can to work with a successful team or a mentor. Offer your time and services in lieu of their attention to your development. If you have the good fortune to work with a top-producing agent, offer to work their open homes or to help follow up on leads. Keep in mind that you’re in a very competitive industry and you will need to prove you can be trusted. Bring your skills to the table. Perhaps you have a background in marketing. Use that experience to prove yourself on a team or with a mentor. And be grateful that a top-producer is willing to work with you at all. In all things, remember to stay humble. By working with a mentor or on a team, their success becomes your success. This adds to your credibility, experience and your ability to talk about the homes you have helped to list and sell.
BE AVAILABLE
Work-life balance is all the rage these days, but successful agents understand that being available at all hours–especially when you’re first starting out–is what will move the needle to success. Embrace this. What is success as an agent? Initially, success is staying in business and being able to pay your bills. If you master this, you will then have the opportunity to fine tune your version of success to more closely fit the lifestyle you want. A successful agent is more often than not an agent with listings. A successful listing agent is dedicated, determined and eager. Successful agents know that the time to make hay is when the sun is shining. Don’t expect to have a work-life balance at these times. Working evenings and weekends will be pivotal.
KNOW YOUR AREA
These are the things you must do to dominate as a listing agent: Know your neighborhood; know the current market; master your local MLS. As you are working with leads and potential buyers, you will most likely be showing in many different areas. But most top-producing listing agents have carefully dialed in the market they want to dominate; no surprise, it’s often the neighborhood they live in. Know your neighborhood like the back of your hand. Join your HOA, talk to your neighbors, take daily walks, get as active as you can in the neighborhood you want to sell in. Understand what’s important to people living in your area. Why are they moving in? Why are they moving out? A successful agent is constantly learning, networking and identifying opportunities. These are key ingredients in becoming the go-to listing agent in your neighborhood.
DEVELOP GREAT NEGOTIATING SKILLS
Great negotiating can only happen when you know your contracts, all the fine print and all the timelines. Study these things! Then you know what to look for right away when an offer comes in on your listing. More importantly, you know how to counsel and guide your sellers. Your sellers are counting on you for that. Take some classes on contracts. You should know real estate contracts like the back of your hand. Learn them, study them, practice talking about all the areas of a listing contract, an offer contract, addendums, and so forth. You will also need to be able to deftly navigate the world of mortgages and financing, seller rent-backs and a myriad of other things that will often fall into listing and purchase contracts.
MAKE YOUR LISTING PACKAGE IRRESISTABLE
On the heels of the NAR Settlement, be prepared to negotiate your listing commission. Be transparent and forthright, and know your position way ahead of time. Then be open to compromise. What sellers want to know is what you will do to sell their house and how much it will cost them. No longer is the 5-6% commission a given, so don’t be surprised when sellers push back on this. Expert listing agents typically offer professional photography, a broker tour and an opening weekend open house right out of the gate. Some will also build in staging as part of their package, although this is the exception. Your goal is to sell the home as quickly as possible for as much as possible. Your best time to do this is within the first three weeks of the listing going active. And don’t forget to consider a seller’s home warranty. The beauty of a seller’s home warranty is that is protects your seller against expensive system failures during the listing and also transfers to the buyers. This is additional incentive for buyers to consider your listing over another, especially if you are in a market where buyers are waiving inspections in order to get their offer accepted (yes, this is still happening). You can also put the home warranty rider on the top of your sign for additional marketing. Also remember that pricing the home correctly is as much an art as a science. You can have a bevy of CMAs but what really counts is how much inventory like your listing is available in your market at the time of listing. That is ultimately what will drive the asking price. A great agent knows this. As such, the asking price could change somewhat dramatically depending on time of year and comparable inventory available. Educate your sellers on factors affecting the asking price of their home. This should be a collaboration driven by your market expertise. The biggest reason a home doesn’t sell in a timely manner is because it isn’t priced right. Don’t let this happen to your listing–or your reputation.
LEVERAGE YOUR TIMING
The timing of your listing is absolutely critical. Make sure you know when your sellers will be done with improvements, deep cleaning, and decluttering. Then set a date for staging (Read: Staged to Sell). Follow that right away with professional photography, including drone shots and a virtual tour video. Then punch in a date for a broker’s tour, followed by a day on market, followed by a Saturday/Sunday open house. Did you get a great offer during the first day of open house (or maybe even before)? Good for you. But now it’s time to get some back ups, so make sure you don’t skip the full open house weekend.
Most importantly: “Days on Market” is not your friend the longer it goes on. You want to have your listing go live as close to “pending” as possible. Ideally a week or two. This is what will set you apart from everyone else and make you the go-to listing agent in your neighborhood.
CONSISTENTLY MARKET YOURSELF
Potential buyers and sellers need to become familiar with your face and your brand. Get out in front of these people, and more importantly, stay out in front of them. One-and-done is not going to work. Successful marketing is consistent and steady, day in and day out. Make sure you set aside funds to make this happen, and then determine the best course of action. Maybe it’s Zillow leads, postcard mailings, a website, a monthly emailed newsletter and daily social media posts. Whatever options you choose to market yourself, just make sure you stick with it and do so consistently. Again, consistency is key. You must stick with your marketing to see results. What does that look like? At least six months to a year. If you’re not getting results after that, then it’s time for some reflection and tweaking.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Figure out what you want your listing presentation to look and feel like, and then practice. Practice with family members, have someone record you, and then figure out what you can do better. Study the successful listing agents you work with, and figure out what they are doing that works. Weave this into your listing presentation. You must be able to earn the confidence and trust of potential sellers. Remember that selling a home is often an intensely stressful and emotional time for people. They are hoping for a rock star listing agent. At the very least, they want someone they can trust and feel confident in. Your success as a listing agent depends on your ability to inspire that confidence and trust and then deliver results. When you achieve these things, word will get around quickly. This is how to be a rock star listing agent.