Spring Cleaning Time
The first quarter of 2024 is history and it’s an excellent time for you to review your production numbers. Are you hitting your goals? Is your income on track with your expectations? If not, get out in the nice weather and hold regular and
twilight open houses, connect with potential leads at sporting events by wearing your company attire, or even try some door knocking. The basics still work.
Also, it’s a great time to do a little house cleaning in your business. Get rid of anything that’s not working in your business or is taking too much time with too little return.
It’s also time to clear out those buyers who won’t buy and those unrealistic sellers won’t lower their price—fire them or refer them to another agent. Getting rid of them creates space for new, more motivated clients to come into your business.
You won’t believe how good you’ll feel if you do.
The Time to Take Action Is Now
The commission lawsuits have plunged the entire residential real estate industry into total chaos. Agents are in denial about what’s coming, but with NAR’s settlement agreement, in July of 2024, most MLSs in the country will no longer have a field for a buyer’s commission.
Complicating matters even more, if you’re relying on paid leads from one of the portals or major lead generation companies, those pipelines are also going to be turned off in July because they can only distribute leads from those sellers who have given written consent to receive that lead. 
In other words, they can only refer the lead to one agent where the seller has given their consent, unless the seller agrees to have multiple agents contact them but still must have their names. (See RealClues February 26, 2024, edition.)
If you haven’t taken broker brokerage agreement training, do so now. As I stated in the article, it is going to be highly likely that only agents who have signed buyer broker agreements will be allowed to show the property.
Second, brush up on your negotiation strategies. The changes do not prohibit you from asking for a commission in your buyer’s office, a credit, mortgage rate buy-down—there are hundreds of ways to still put deals together on the buyer’s side—you just need to be able to show your value, be creative, and stay on top of your overcoming objections scripts.
The Pain of Changing Course
One of the most difficult decisions agents and brokers must make is determining what changes to implement in your business. For example, when you buy a new computer or get a new mobile device, you’re forced into dealing with all the changes in the new operating systems plus the additional hassle of having to set everything up. This in turn disrupts your current systems as it takes extra time to learn the new system. Frustration and anger are common, especially when you liked the old system better than the one your provider just forced you to use.
NAR’s decision to settle the Spitzer and Moerhl means that the entire industry will be confronted by the most significant change we have ever experienced. Let’s face it—we’re facing chaos, whether we like it or not.
Nevertheless, with chaos there is opportunity. Those who are willing to adapt to these changes now can dramatically increase their market share from those who refuse to change.
I once heard someone describe a detour as “a temporary inconvenience” for a long-term improvement. The next time you hesitate about trying something new, ask yourself about the benefits of making the change. As a rule of thumb, the sooner you make necessary smaller changes, the less big and painful changes you will experience. Also, positive changes usually result in more efficiency and less hassle in the long run, just like the aggravating detour.
I certainly hope this is the case with this change in buyer compensation, but this detour is going to be a very rocky road for the entire industry.
A Simple Way to Make More Time for You
I have a question for you—how long has it been since you last took a vacation where you completely disconnected from your business? A week or two away can work wonders for your mindset and often increases your business as well.
Most agents have challenges doing this because they don’t have another agent to cover their business. Two of the easiest times to get away are over the holidays and in August before kids go back to school. A different strategy is to work
with another agent you trust and to cover for each other when you each decide to take time off.
Personally, Saturdays are my “real estate free days.” I do my best to avoid even discussing real estate on these days unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Disconnecting for even just a day can be a powerful tool. To see if this approach works for you, try declaring one day a “real estate” free day. You will be amazed at how energized and invigorated you will feel when you get back to work, you may want to make this a regular habit.
Common Scents Marketing
If you have ever walked into a house where there were strong pet odors, you know how strong the influence of smells can be.
One of the most neglected ways to market a property is through aromas or scents. If you doubt this, have you ever wondered why so many new home salespeople are baking cookies all day long in their model homes?
Several years ago, a research study testing perfume scents used cinnamon rolls as a control group. When tested, the men in the study overwhelmingly preferred the scent of cinnamon rolls over all perfumes in the study.
To create the “cinnamon roll effect,” purchase canned cinnamon rolls and put them in the oven at 150 degrees so that they heat up but don’t bake. Another approach is to sprinkle cinnamon on aluminum foil and place it in a low oven. In either case, the cinnamon aroma will make the home feel much more inviting.
By the way, I highly recommend against baking during an open house. A number of years ago one of our new agents became engrossed in a conversation with an open house visitor. She lost track of time, left the cookies in too long, and the oven caught on fire. You certainly don’t want that happening to you, especially if it sets off the smoke alarms.