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It’s back to the basics for local real estate agents
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Two years ago, home buyers were still elbowing each other to get to the closing table and real estate agents had to monitor bidding wars between their clients.
Now, with an overbuilt housing market, tougher loan requirements and less demand, home sales have ebbed and so have agents’ paychecks. To stay in the game, local agents say they’re turning back to the basics.
“I’m increasing advertising a little bit, where a lot of people have cut back,” said John Smith, a Prudential Carolina real estate agent. “That, and getting back to basics, like doing the things
I was doing when I first started.”
Smith’s returned to showing open houses, prospecting expired listings and tracking down people who have not been successful with for-sale-by-owner methods, he said.
“It’s just basic real estate 101, the little things they tell you to do when you first get in the business,” Smith said. “There are still people out there buying houses and there’s still business out there to be had. There’s just a lot more people trying to get a slice of the smaller pie.”
Smith is investing what he says is a considerable amount of money—about 30% of what he made last year—into an advertising campaign designed by Hobbs & Herder, a California-based company that specializes in real estate advertising. The package includes a redesigned Web site.
“Seventy-eight percent of all people start their searching on the Internet,” Smith said. “Being on the Internet is an absolute must, and I work with a lot of out-of-town clients. In this market, you’ve got to utilize every tool you can get, and that’s just another tool.”
Smith’s fresh advertising strategy also includes personal brochures and coaching from Hobbs & Herder, as well as a “service guaranteed” campaign. Smith is telling his clients that if they’re not satisfied with how their real estate transaction is handled, he will refund his commission.
“While some people are pulling back on their advertising, this will give me a better chance to get exposure with the client base that is out there and to brand my name in the real estate business,” he said.
Smith got into the real estate game 2 1/2 years ago, and for the first nine months he enjoyed a robust housing market.
“My average time on the market was 14 days,” he said. “It’s quite a bit more now. You could catch a client then like an apple falling out of a tree. Now, it’s like you have to plant the tree and watch it grow.”
Homes in the tri-county area spent an average of 87 days on the market in September, compared with an average of 58 days in September 2005, the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors reported on Oct. 10.
Keith Andrews, a Weichert real estate agent, started selling houses two years ago and missed most of the excitement of the exuberant market.
“The tough part is telling the seller that the world they know is gone and they can’t expect the price of their house to double,” Andrews said. “Your house hasn’t doubled in the past two years; it’s gone up maybe 20 percent.”
The downturn in the market has affected morale in the real estate market and office managers have to be stronger leaders, Andrews said.
“You have to be the most optimistic person right now,” Andrews said. “People have to walk into your office and see you floating on a cloud saying this is going to pass. If you’re an office manager or broker, your agents are looking for that.”
Like many agents, Andrews bought property when the market was stronger and thought he would be able to sell quickly for a profit. Now, he is trying to rent the house. He also went back to doing some part-time work in his former field of telecommunications, laying cable in new buildings.
Elizabeth Meyer, who is a new real estate agent at Century 21 Properties Plus, has also begun looking for part-time work, but doesn’t regret her decision to make a career in real estate.
“I thought it was something I would love, and I do,” Meyer said. “The market is always going to go up and down, in my opinion. It’s also a good time to learn the business, because you’re not inundated with a lot of things. When the market does pick up, you will know how to do things right.”
Rhett Butler, an agent with Prudential Carolina who has been selling houses for almost four years, experienced the hottest real estate market in decades and is now watching how seasoned real estate agents in his office handle the downturn.
“Those folks have been in business awhile and they’re constantly on the phone,” Butler said. “They’re prospecting harder than they’ve ever prospected before.”
Butler is doing more online prospecting now than when he started, even though that approach usually takes months to turn up clients, he said.
“The Web site is for the buyers (who are) six to 12 months out, but once you get into the Web buyer community and start those connections and relationships, eventually they start panning out,” Butler said.
Butler also is picking up the phone more and reconnecting with those whom he calls his “sphere of influence:” friends, family, church members and others who help him network for new clients.
“I used to contact my sphere of influence once a quarter,” Butler said. “Now it’s once a month. You have to be that much more aggressive in this market.”
Pamela Griffin, broker-in-charge for Coldwell Banker Coastal Properties in Summerville and
West Ashley, said she has been offering agents refresher courses in prospecting.
“I think we’re getting back to basics,” Griffin said. “This year the sales associates have had to hone their skills in negotiating. That wasn’t an issue three years ago. They got an offer and it was accepted with multiple offers coming in. Now, there’s a lot more obstacles between the time they write the offer and the time they get to closing. I really think it’s going to make them better agents. They’re going to understand real estate much better than they did
before.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@setcommedia.com.
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