You’ve agonized over things long enough and now it’s time to create a plan to protect your real estate business during coronavirus. It’s far too important to let it just fall through the cracks as a victim of this virus. Here are some of the top tips you can use to create a plan to protect your real estate business right now.
Live Within Your Means
The first part of your plan to protect your real estate business requires an honest look at your finances. You need to make cuts where you can and trim the fat as best you can.
Sure, that Hulu subscription has become a bit more of a necessity, but you can probably find some areas to trim. Getting your budget in order and living within your means will help provide a strong foundation through these difficult times.
Create a New Business Plan
While your old business plan isn’t worthless, it needs a big update. You need a new business plan moving forward.
The real estate industry has transformed almost overnight in ways you probably couldn’t have predicted before COVID-19. While it may be scary to think about, a good plan will help you protect your real estate business through these difficult times.
Some of the things you may want to weave into your new plan include:
- Virtual or Video Tours for all new listings
- Virtual Open Houses (great for building a social media following right now)
- More online marketing to make up for the lack of in-person networking opportunities
- More content for your blog/website (gaining leads online is more important than ever before)
Having a plan in place to handle new listings and new buyers is paramount. You need to be able to communicate to your clients how you can help them and how you can get them the results they desire, even right now.
Use Social Media to Create and Nurture Relationships
Your in-person meetings may not exist for a while, but you can still create and nurture client relationships online. Spending more time on social media will help you find more clients and keep in touch with potential buyers and sellers.
You want to keep all your followers updated about real estate news and what’s going on right now. It can also be helpful to provide lifestyle tips and other types of content to your following.
Even if things do return to normal sooner, rather than later, the work you do now to build your social media presence will pay off.
Take Advantage of Government Programs
The government has released several programs to help you through these issues. You may be able to use these programs, such as the small business loans, to help weather the storm.
Right now, it’s all about keeping your head above water and building an emergency fund. Even if you don’t need funds at this very moment, you could in a month or two.
It will likely take some time for the market to recover after things reopen. Any helpful financial programs the government is offering can at least help you build an emergency fund, just in case.
Embrace Technology
Virtual tours, virtual staging, e-closings, and other technological changes aren’t going away, even if we all wake up tomorrow and COVID-19 is no longer in our world.
Buyers will be demanding more listing photos and virtual tours long into the future. Many of these new types of technology were already catching on before COVID-19, which is why Elite Agents provides virtual tours for all agents.
If you want to protect your real estate business now and in the future, embrace technology. Get used to more online marketing and start ramping up your email marketing. Build a list of buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals to send a regular newsletter to every month.
Anything you can do to integrate technology into your real estate business will help you protect your business.
Pay Attention to Your Local Market
It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole online because you found a headline saying the real estate market is doomed. However, the article could be referring to a local market nowhere near you or it could be filled with someone’s opinion.
Choose reliable sources on a national level and local level to follow. Make sure they provide up-to-date information and pay attention to your local market. Your clients will turn to you for information on the local real estate market and they might be a bit scared.
You should know what’s going on and be able to give them peace of mind.
Consider Your Broker
Is your broker going to survive COVID-19? Are you unsure if your broker has the financial resources or the right plan to keep the business running?
If you don’t feel secure with your current real estate broker, it’s time to make a change. The right broker will help lead you through any financial recession caused by this virus and will provide you with a sense of peace.
Those in need of a new real estate broker may want to move to an online broker, like Elite Agents.
There are many things you can do to help protect your real estate business during coronavirus and after. You want to start implementing things immediately if you haven’t already.
