What to expect in 2012 and how to stay ahead of the game

2012 will continue with the theme of “survival of the fittest.” It is no secret that it will take some time for the economy to begin growing at a steady pace and with unemployment continuing to hold steady at around 9%, home sales will continue to lag. That is unless you are partners with the “Special Assets” team at your local bank in town or happen to be on the good side of a builder that is able to build below replacement value. So, with all this great news, what can you expect in 2012 and what steps will you need to take to stay ahead of the game?

The virtual office and the over-promising broker:
I originally started out this topic as two separate themes, but realized how quickly they ran together. Since 2008, your broker’s revenue has been on the decline and I am willing to bet that you have noticed it in increased fees for copies and desks and perhaps a reduction in other services that they “promised” would help set you apart from your competition. I can’t tell you how many times I sat there and had to listen to a broker say “we are going to do this, and do that and be ahead of our competition,” when a simple task such as a nice Facebook Page for your brokerage likely took weeks to create and has very few followers other than those in your office. So, if you have one of those brokers, they will continue this trend in general. If you are one of those brokers, STOP! You need to be doing everything in your power to support your agents to help them make you money!

A trend I actually support is the virtual office. The overhead of renting a nice location is likely your brokers largest fixed expense, other than salaries and wages for any office staff. So, they will be looking to reduce that expense as much as possible by leasing less space and moving to more of a “community” work atmosphere. Other than agents working the floor, there really isn’t much need for an agent to have an office. I guarantee most of that work can be done from home. What they need is a place to work because today’s technology allows for instantaneous synchronization of your documents. A conference room to meet with clients, a couple of call stations and some work spaces will go a long way. A small space with nicer finishes and a refined look will go a lot further than large office full of clutter. For agents, work from home. You can answer calls, send emails, maintain your website and market yourself without having to sit in the office to do the same thing. When it is time to meet with a client, invite them to the office and reserve a conference room. Chances are that if you ink a deal, it will be in that room and not in your office.

Social media:
There really isn’t much I will need to say here but Social Media will continue to dominate. For my generation, it is how we connect. If we know you and can relate to you, you will have our business. We don’t like picking up the phone and calling people. We like text messages and emails. For us, we should be able to find out what type of person you are by your Facebook page, not necessarily by your voice over the phone… that will come once we find a property we like. Even older generations use Facebook and Twitter to connect. I could go on and on, but you should already know this.

Video vs Photography:
Video is going to continue to grow. Technology today makes it easy for you to capture a great quality video without putting too much effort into it. (We will show you how in our free video section!). All you need is a decent video camera and a computer with some editing software. Google has free editing software and all Mac computers come with iMovie built-in, which is incredibly valuable. Again, photography can be made to look incredible and clearly has its place to grab your attention, but videos are where we experience the home. YouTube and Facebook Videos will continue to be the dominant medium for video sharing and it will likely begin to surpass photography as a necessity.

The nagging seller:
The market is slow. Homes aren’t selling in days and weeks anymore. This time, properly-priced homes are selling in months… sometimes 6 months or longer. Assuming you are doing everything right with your marketing and are actually putting in effort into selling the home rather than sitting on your hands and waiting for the MLS to do the job, you will still be hounded by your sellers, begging for more information. The key here is communication. Talk to them weekly, email them as much as necessary and shoot them a Facebook message or comment on their wall post. All of these things will show that you are paying attention.

New technology:
Stay on the lookout for new technology that allows you to create stunning virtual tours, manage your contacts, send email blasts with ease and manage all of your social media in one friendly place. It changes daily and will look dramatically different at the end of the year. The good news is that most of this stuff is cheap if not FREE!

The NEW golf:
This one might sound strange to some people, but I believe a HUGE trend is going to come in the next decade. Golf has been known for decades to be the game that allows you to socialize and do business at the same time. But, aside from the good times spent with good friends, it really doesn’t do much besides take a 5 hour chunk out of your day. To top it off, it costs a lot of money to belong to a decent course and play on a regular basis. The younger generation, however, has caught on to something new and something that allows you to socialize with your clients, but get a good workout in at the same time. It is called cycling. Only time will tell if I am right, but I have been involved in some incredible business relationships involving everyone from 60 year old Microsoft Execs and to young thirty something money managers… all doing business while getting a great workout in. You get the benefit of the same great scenery, relationships, fun and get to feel better about that steak you are going to eat when you ink a big deal. So, my advice to you… get a bike and join a cycling club.