Have you ever had a prospect call you to announce that they bought a new home over the weekend, and will not be buying the existing home you thought they would? If so, learn from it, and do not shy away from selling new homes.
If you are a new agent, I want to encourage you to become involved with the new homes sales process in your area. If you check with the top producers in your market, you will probably discover that a large percentage of their total sales are from “new” homes.
Here are 10 reasons:
1—New revenue
Selling new homes opens up another source of revenue that you do not presently have. As you learn how to position yourself as a new homes specialist in general real estate, your confidence will grow and so will your sales.
2—Learning
You will learn more about the market faster. On-site agents specialize in knowing how to sell their location. If you are new in the business, or not familiar with the market in a certain part of your area, a new homes presentation by the on-site agent is a great way to learn.
3—Inventory
You will always have something to sell. Thanks to homebuilders, there is always something new being built somewhere. You’ll never run out of inventory.
4—Future sales
You can develop your future resale business by taking care of new homes business in the community. As you sell that community, you are building a nice farm area for yourself. Soon, some of the homes in this new community will be up for resale, who better to list with than a general agent who has sold homes in the community?
5—More listings
The on-site agent could be a listing source. This may be a better source of business than you might realize, but it takes a relationship with the on-site agent to make it happen. Many new home buyers have a house to sell before they can purchase the new home. Do you think the on-site agent would have more or less control if they knew the prospect was listing their home with a local Realtor they trusted?
6—Being special
Becoming a new homes specialist will set you apart from most Realtors. Most Realtors do not focus on new homes because they are not in MLS, and it takes work to keep up with new homes construction. With the internet it’s easy, today you can find out anything you want to about any builder or developer, and see photographs of their homes and floor plans.
7—Help at hand
You have an oasis, a place where you can share the burden of selling by letting the on-site agent take over for you.
8—Referral base
You can develop a strong referral base. New home buyers can be a huge referral resource, especially if they are relocating or retiring.
9—New neighbors
By staying in touch and truly building a relationship with your new homes buyers, you will get referrals you would not have gotten if they purchased a resale in an older neighborhood.
You will make more sales two ways:
• You will not lose sales to new homes. There is really no excuse for this one. Many times it is not that “buyers are liars.” It is more of “agents are not qualifiers.”
• You will generate more new homes prospects because, you will be conversant with the market and therefore earn more referrals.
10—Staying smart
You will always have credible resources (on-site agents) to help you stay abreast of the market, to give you good data regarding buyer demographics, and to help you become a better general agent.