Can you believe it’s already October? It feels like we’ve barely gotten to know 2017, and the leaves are already starting to turn! Time for some tips on selling real estate in 2018!

2017 has been an interesting year. With prices creeping upwards, the number of listings is actually falling, alarming many speculators.

Down cycles are the nature of the beast in selling real estate; they always have been, and they always will be. For the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a sellers’ market, and presently, there are fewer and fewer sellers of a shrinking number of resale houses.

The rest of 2017 is likely to be a bit more challenging as the market approaches a price correction point. Scarcity is pushing prices up to dizzying new highs in some markets, which is great for real estate professionals who are landing listings. The problem is, if you’re on the outside looking in, or are just starting out, it will bean extremely difficult market to break into.

These are five tips for selling real estate in 2018 which will ensure you’re putting your best foot forward!

1. Fewer people are selling.

The numbers are in, and it’s official: people aren’t moving as often as they used to. With housing prices rising well above the pace of housing turnover, the average above-water homeowner is likely digging in for the long haul.

Short of a massive influx of new builds starting tomorrow, 2018 is likely to keep that supply-side deficit going, pushing prices higher.

This absence of movement means that many homeowners are going to elect to invest in their homes with large-scale renovations instead of jumping into the marketplace. That leads to the next point.

That leads to the next point.

2. Get to know your local contractors.

This is probably the most valuable tip on selling real estate in the list because it offers an avenue few real estate professionals use to generate leads.

With so many boomers entering retirement age (the youngest boomers are now in their mid-50s), and the boomers occupying such a large proportion of homeowners nationally (over 50%), many are beginning to buck the ‘empty nest’ downsize trend which was so popular just a decade ago.

No longer are older established couples selling the family home once the children move out. Many are doubling down and making a ‘home for life’ investment. Millennials are actually a huge portion of the renovation demand. Established Boomers are trying to take advantage of

Millennials are actually a huge portion of the renovation demand. Established Boomers are trying to take advantage of low interest rates to grow the value of their home, while millennial home buyers are facing a very scarce resale home market where speed and price matter more than preference.

As a result, contractors are seeing record revenues from millennial homeowners:

“…25-to-34-year-old age group spent an average $26,200 last year on the upgrades. That’s 7 percent more than they did the previous year. First-time homebuyers spent $33,800, representing 22 percent more.” Moneysense, February 2017

In the end, contractors are talking to a lot of homeowners and buyers, all of whom are either looking to buy or to increase the value of their home for future sale.

3. Go big or go home!

Fewer houses going up for sale means that you’ll have to work even harder to pull listings. BUT, that also means that you’re looking at larger commissions thanks to rising prices. In short, you’re going to have to put the work in to get new clients if you want to make bank.

Now’s a great time to sharpen your pre-listing presentation! The National Real Estate Post provides some very useful insights into the challenges agents will face in the 2018 housing market. Check out these predictions by NAR economist Lawrence Yun.

Bottom line: You NEED to get your lead generation game strong if you want to be competitive in 2018.

4. Consider dabbling in rental listings.

With a slow-down in the resale home market, you’re going to have to get resourceful. It’s not just single-family home prices rising, rental costs are rising too as more and more people who would typically graduate to home ownership are caught in the squeeze between rising rental prices and an under-supplied, high-priced resale market.

The rental housing market, as a result, is going to become increasingly more lucrative until the resale market cools down. You can pick up quick, turnaround clients and a nice commission for a significantly less involved search than a home-buying client.

While a nice five/six-figure commission check is sweet, consider the following: a two-week rental search could net you almost $4,000 (assuming a monthly rental cost of ~$2,000), and you can juggle numerous rental clients simultaneously.

And that’s just assuming you choose to represent renters; those with a brokers license have the option of working with large property management companies to help them find tenants.

Nobody has ever gone broke representing large institutional clients in their rotation. Getting yourself involved with renters is a great tip on selling real estate; today’s rental client could very easily be tomorrow’s buying client.

Growing trust and building confidence with young renters likely to make the jump to homeownership will pay off both now, as well as later.

5. Get offline and get involved!

When it comes to finding a listing agent, most are looking for someone referred to them by a friend. You need to spend time nurturing and cultivating your personal sphere of influence if you want to stay ahead of the game through 2018.The reality is that people aren’t searching for a real estate professional online so much as they’re searching for real estate itself online.

The reality is that people aren’t searching for a real estate professional online so much as they’re searching for real estate itself online.

The fact is that, right now, your competition is meticulously running a retargeting campaign, running a digital content marketing plan, and chasing likes and engagement with their thumbs. Will it get results? Yes, definitely. Can you run a better ground game? Probably, but then you’re in the real estate lead generation equivalent of dogs chasing each other’s tails.

Conclusion

Follow these five tips on selling real estate to keep you competitive while fewer homes are available for sale. 2018 will be an interesting year, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to be had! With a little resiliency and resourcefulness, real estate professionals will be able to prosper during this time of slow listings!