Inman events are the best way to connect, learn and grow. Don’t miss the next one, Aug. 3-5 at Inman Connect Las Vegas! Get your ticket now for the best price.
Tracy McLaughlin, a top-performing agent with The Agency, personally conducted $108 million in sales in 2021.
“This year, I think I’ll be lucky if I do about 35 percent of that volume,” McLaughlin told an audience of real estate professionals during the first day of Inman Connect in New York on Tuesday.
Agents and their buy-side clients are facing challenges amid the high prices and low inventory that have created a hyper-competitive environment agents are operating in today.
McLaughlin was on a panel that discussed the challenges and opportunities for agents to win in 2022.
She cited economic uncertainty and the ongoing competitive market as existing challenges.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has been dampening economic outlooks due to its possibility to escalate. Interest rates rose rapidly to start the year, reaching 5 percent well before analysts expected after a prolonged period near record lows. Economists now say there’s a 28 percent chance of a recession within the next year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In response, McLaughlin said she’s putting in more time into each client.
“I’m trying to be more hands on, more time,” she said. “Because the volume has lessened.”
Brian Gubernick, chief real estate officer at the Power Buyer brand Homeward, said agents should focus this year on finding clients who don’t necessarily want to buy a house, but rather the ones that need to buy one.
“I really, truly believe that the buyers and the sellers this year from this point forward are really those that need to do something versus want to do something,” Gubernick said, talking about the people who are moving due to work or a growing family. “If you’re not sourcing or looking for those types of people, they’re not just going to be walking into your open houses like they were before.”
“I do think we get super creative too often,” he added. “In other words, I would keep it simple. Whatever you’re doing right now…can you double that activity?”
Andrew Allen, Centurion and President’s Producer, CENTURY 21 Christel Realty, agreed with that last point. He said one piece of advice wasn’t particularly earth-shattering. Rather, it was a standard activity among successful agents.
“Double down on our database,” Allen said. “You just have to do it.”
That’s not to say he’s not getting creative.
He shared an example of the challenges and opportunities he’s faced when using a phone service on behalf of a client to send messages to potential sellers letting them know he had a buyer for them.
Allen held his phone up to the microphone and put it on speaker to share the challenge: a woman’s response to his unsolicited message.
“Hey, Andrew, did you actually just call my house? Trying to sell me a house? Are you freaking kidding me?” the woman’s voicemail to Allen said. “Take my number off your list. This is tacky. Fucking tacky. You’re a piece of shit salesman.”
After laughter from the audience subsided, Allen shared the upside of the call.
“For every one of her, I have three people who are like yeah maybe,” he said. “You have to just shake it off.”
