Every week I speak with dozens of real estate agents around the country about their finances and in almost every conversation they ask what I’m hearing from other agents. There is ONE THING I notice that differentiates realtors who are succeeding from realtors who are not.
Successful real estate agents and teams accepted the reality of this market and made big and rapid changes to their personal schedules and teams, while those who are still struggling did not.
If you’re struggling in this market, the good news is it’s not too late. But you need to get real, right now. Here are four tough decisions you might consider:
#4: Dramatically reduce personal and business travel. I love events and personal adventures and find they are extremely valuable to give you a boost of inspiration and new ideas throughout the year, though take a close look at what you’re spending and consider a 40% reduction. This has a double effect of reducing expenses and also increasing your production time. You cannot travel like it’s 2021 and expect the same result in 2023 and 2024.
#3: Bring production in closer. If you’re highly leveraged you need to pull in the production to increase your net and also demand more performance from those in sales, or release them back into the market for another opportunity. You’re not running a charity or a training company – you’re running a real estate sales business in a compressed market. Your standards need to reflect the market.
#2: Reduce your operations team. If your production of units is down, you need to seriously look at right-sizing the ops team to give you more time to reset. I know, you have great people. Got it. But how long can you keep paying 3X the number of people you actually need?
#1: Focus on the opportunities that generate revenue. Over the last several years many of us have gotten involved in all sorts of other ventures. Different businesses, investments, boards, and community projects. It’s time to take stock of how you spend your time and get realistic. Your most valuable asset is your focus and if it’s diluted, so will be your results. You may not be able to afford the dilution of your focus anymore so start getting good at saying “no”. They will figure it out without you.
You can change the trajectory of your business immediately. 2023 results are already determined but what you decide now is going to determine what kind of year you have in 2024. Let’s do it!
