The #1 question real estate agents get asked is: “How’s the real estate market?”
And this is one question that never fails to drive me CRAZY.
Why? Because ‘the market’ doesn’t exist.
And if you give someone an immediate response, you’re doing it wrong.
You can’t treat large geographic areas with entirely different trends, conditions, and patterns as one uniform thing.
Lumping them together doesn’t serve your clients. Giving a generic answer to this question does a disservice to your clients while undermining your expertise as an agent.
Now, let’s get into exactly why this is a bad question. Plus, I’ll share some strategies for answering it to build your authority and elevate your perceived value in the eyes of potential clients.
Understand That “The Market” Doesn’t Exist
Asking, “How’s the real estate market?’ is too general to provide any useful information to potential clients.
There is no such thing as “the market.”
The sooner you can shift your mindset to accept that, the sooner you can serve your audience at a higher level.
In any area there isn’t just one market. Instead, there are a ton of “micro markets”.
Think of micro markets this way:
New York City isn’t one market.
The Upper West Side and The Meatpacking District are completely different worlds, with distinct trends, buyer profiles, and property values.
Another way to think of micro markets is by demographic, like first-time buyers or downsizers.
Both are looking to buy a home but the problems and desires they are looking to solve with a home purchase are vastly different.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer that will serve every micro market as a whole.
To provide the best value to your audience, you need to look deeper than just the general ‘market.’
Ask Better Questions To Get Better Answers
Now that you understand that ‘the market’ doesn’t exist, how are you supposed to answer when a client asks?
Let’s say a potential client asks you…
“How do you think the rate drop is going to impact the market in the next year?”
or “What percentage have homes on the market increased in my city?”
Instead of just giving a generic real estate answer, I want you to really start to think about how to answer these questions differently.
Answer their question with BETTER questions.
Asking how home prices have increased in their city isn’t going to get your clients the information they’re really looking for.
Any answer you give will be too generalized and too broad.
Instead, use their question as a way to dive deeper into the conversation and get to know them better.
Ask them things like:
- What’s their budget for buying?
- What neighborhood are they looking to purchase in?
- What kind of home are they looking for?
- Are they planning to upsize or downsize?
All of these questions break down the bigger questions to get to the answers they actually need.
The real value of asking better questions will come from understanding the specifics of your audience’s desires.
By digging deeper, you provide answers specific to their micro market and start building a genuine relationship.
And when you stop giving generic answers like, “There’s never a bad time to buy or sell!” you start to come from a place of genuine service. You demonstrate that you’re truly focused on understanding and meeting your clients’ unique needs, rather than just making a sale.
Niche Down to Serve Your Micro Market
The most important step in doing a market report is to have it be niched down.
Market reports are intended to help your audience understand what’s going on so they can make the best possible decision.
When you work with a generalized market report, you’re giving them averages.
Nobody can make good decisions off of averages. They need specifics.
When you stop thinking in such broad generalizations and start asking specific questions, you’ll find the answers your clients need.
The first thing you have to do is figure out what micro market you’re speaking to.
Is your audience based in downtown Nashville?
Pull a market report specifically for that small section of the city.
Or is your audience empty-nesters looking to downsize to a condo in Nashville?
Broaden your location search, but specifically pull reports on Nashville condos.
By niching down to focus on specific micro markets, your market reports will give you numbers that are relevant to your audience.
This helps them make informed decisions, which in turn, builds trust in your expertise.
Start Interpreting Data, Not Reporting It
Reports based on micro markets answer the question, ‘How does this impact YOU?’
It’s up to YOU to show your audience what all those numbers mean for them in THEIR specific situation.
It’s the interpretation of the data that’s the most important.
Too many agents use the market report straight from their brokerage without modifying it to fit their niche.
The key is people don’t want to look at the numbers and have to figure it out themselves.
That’s your job.
It’s up to you to market and sell services that get them the results they want.
Become an expert advisor and get specific.
Distill down the data so it’s relevant to different segments of your audience’s needs.
This way, your audience feels like the market report you created was made just for them.
Build Your Authority
If you’ve been in the real estate industry for a while, you might remember when real estate agents were the gatekeepers of information.
Once you got your real estate license, you got access to exclusive information on things like listings and sold prices. Consumers had to go through you to access any meaningful real estate data or market insights.
That is not the case anymore. We need to stop operating on old-school terms.
Everyone has access to information.
A simple Google search will tell you all of the properties listed in your area.
The only value that we have is to be the expert authority on interpreting the information.
You need to be able to give specifics and tell your audiences exactly what they need to know.
If you want your leads to convert, it’s all about going deeper.
Just posting an infographic of a brokerage market report to your social media is not going to create trust.
So, the next time a prospect asks you, “How’s the real estate market?” I don’t want you to answer like a practiced salesperson.
Instead, start with a few questions about them and their location.
Get to know them really well.
Then, give them honest answers based on data about the conditions of their specific micro market.
The majority of other real estate agents are posting generic old-school reports.
This leaves you with the opportunity to create value, build your authority, and truly stand out.
So, remember, there’s no such thing as ‘the market’. It’s time to stop spewing information as if there is.
Sweeping generalizations are too broad to provide actionable insights for your audience.
Instead, niche down and serve your micro market.
By focusing on specifics, you offer real value to your clients.
You become THE authority for your audience with data that speaks directly to them.
This approach builds trust and leaves your clients feeling as if your services were made only for them.
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