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Real estate agents are small business owners trying to earn an income and gain wealth. They have to steer their business through rough waters, deal with decreases in commission, handle difficult clients and compete with hundreds of other agents in the industry. You need a road map for success so you don’t get lost.  This article will show you how to winterize your real estate business.

Throughout the winter months, it’s cold, but your business doesn’t needs to! The general consensus in the industry is that agents experience a “slow down” time.  Buyers and sellers want to enjoy the holidays and not be trudging through the cold and the snow.  However, here are a few things real estate agents can do to prepare their business for this downtime.   

Agents can infuse “warm-weather” strategies into their business at this time.  They need to convince buyers and sellers that contrary to popular belief, winter months really are a good time to buy or sell. 

Here are a few tips on how to winterize your real estate business and convince buyers and seller, who would otherwise wait for spring, to buy and sell during the winter: 

Revive your market data

Debunk slow market myths.  Revive your local market statistics.  Show your sellers data that will support the fact that for the past few years the seasonal decline in the winter market is over-played.  Buyers who are looking in the winter are just as serious about signing on the dotted line as their fair-weather contemporaries.

Enhance and update your photos

During the summer months, curb appeal is one of the key components to drawing buyers.  A warm and appealing front yard can be used as a featured piece.  However, this tactic bombs out when it’s cold outside. Help your buyers and sellers use their “five senses” with your listings:  (1) make your photos look warm and inviting by using seasonal colors and holiday décor to create an amazing front yard to convince buyers that a home is worth viewing; (2) play holiday music in the background when they view your photos and the house; (3) make sure that when they view the house, stage fresh baked goods, mulled cider and scented holiday candles, just to name a few.

After you’ve re-staged the outside and inside of the house with holiday décor and call your professional photographer. The updated photos should show the interior of the home is worth looking at.  The more features you can show, the better chance you have of influencing buyers to view and purchase the home.

Sharpen Your Focus During This Time

Sharpen your focus on Expired and FSBOs during this time. When you go on a listing appointment in the winter months, offer free staging as a “winter selling bonus” if you think you might have to compete for the listing. A winter selling bonus of free staging can put you ahead of your competitors to get the listing and will present the home as a front-runner among potential buyers.

Warm The Chill On An Overpriced House

Sellers are may be anxious about listing in the winter and they want to set their price at $50,000 above the market analysis to see what happens…not good!  In order to sell a home in the winter, you have to list it at the right price.  As their agent you don’t want the listing to sit for the whole winter without an offer because it’s overpriced. Unrealistic pricing is a sure fire reason for the sellers to dump you and re-list with your competitor in the spring. It is imperative that you make sure your sellers understand that the right price will warm the chill and attract serious buyers who are willing to purchase it.

There are many other innovative ways on how to winterize your real estate business. Basically is boils down to being realistic and working smart. The best tactic of all for real estate agents during this time also is not to forget to go back to basics.