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There are many factors in the current market that are frustrating real estate agents – high mortgage rates, high prices, low inventory and written agency agreements.
Corcoran Group President and CEO Pamela Liebman told attendees at Inman Connect Miami that the important thing agents should keep in mind when working with clients in the current tough market conditions is to keep everything in perspective.
Liebman told host Jim Dalrymple II that she expects rates to eventually fall, but probably not as steeply as many expect. She said the biggest concern right now is a surge in market activity once interest rates start to fall.
“My concern is that when interest rates finally start to come down, everyone will be so invested that already high prices don’t come down. So when you start thinking about affordability, what is less affordable? Here ’s interest rates and prices are higher, or is there suddenly more competition for more homes and prices?
“I think agents have to carefully inform their clients that they are not the only ones waiting for rates to come down and look at the bigger picture,” Liebman added.
Liebman speculated that when rates do come down, perhaps by the fourth quarter, they may still be around 6. She said that would be a difficult pill to swallow for many given recent interest rates.
“Forget everything we had in the past,” she said. “That was a time when everything was free… It’s not going to come back like that again.”
She added that customers who work with the right bank often get a free refinance.
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Prices continue to rise across all industries, Liebman added, and it’s about consumers adapting to that reality and being able to prioritize where they spend their money, noting the $28 cocktail she bought the other night. .
“What’s more important? A drink, a stone crab, or a place to stay?” she asked.
“The joy you get out of living in these places — and that’s what we have to convince people — is that you’re too focused on money. Focus on your life and what it means to live where you want to live.
Liebman added that getting sellers willing to move is an important part of the equation right now. But matching consumers with the right agents is also extremely important.
“You have to work with the right agent — there are a lot of OTC deals,” Liebman said. “It’s important to have good relationships with other agents because that’s how deals are closed.”
Some of the ways agents obtain off-market listings include being responsive, courteous, and generally easy to work with.
“When I called you and asked to be in your listing, you didn’t call me back for three days and I called you and chased you and I got mad and I said, ‘Oh, I should call the seller. phone call. Did he know what Jim was doing for him was bad? It wasn’t good for you,” Liebman told Dalrymple.
“It’s easy to be nice to people,” she added. “I always say, ‘There are no crowds on the Strip.'”
“Don’t waste my time… don’t be arrogant, know your stuff.”
Liebman said agents must now also contend with attacks on their reputations as mainstream media coverage of commission lawsuits and settlements increases.
“We worked so hard, and I think when you read all these horrible articles about these settlements and how they were so disrespectful to agents and how we got so much money and what were we really doing? Take you inside A house? They know nothing about the lives of everyone sitting here.
Likewise, Liebman said having to have new conversations with clients about buyer-broker agreements creates a new level of fear and stress for agents, prompting her to hire a number of coaches to work with Corcoran agents. These questions talk about the topic in a confident way.
“What I would say to my agents right now is think about who you are and think about the company you work for.”
Liebman said that when clients ask agencies about their value and why they should work with them, agencies should consider their own unique qualities and value propositions, as well as the value propositions of the brands they work with.
“this [broker] Cost shouldn’t be the first thing you talk about,” she added.
Liebman said she herself had to have lengthy conversations with high-end sellers who were represented by one of her agents, explaining to him the value of both agents in the transaction and why it was worth paying their commissions.
“At the end of the conversation, did he understand?” Dalrymple wondered. “Does he understand what you’re trying to say?”
Just a little bit.
“The truth is, he said, ‘I know what you’re saying,'” Liebman said. “‘I want to talk to my family office and we’ll get back to you.’ He got back to my agent and said, ‘Here’s $85 million. [listing]. I’ll pay you 2%, I’ll pay the buyer’s agent, but over the next few months I’m going to keep it as a public listing because I think other [agents] Would come in and do it for less money.
“She said to him ‘Well, they’re going to spend less money to do it and guess what? You’re going to get less, good luck and see you in October.
Email Lillian Dixon
