A year in real estate: Staying strong in the slow-down

This post is part three of four in a series on our real estate checklist. Check out part one and part two for more.  

We’re back with another installment of A year in real estate—our series on the key items to be checked off from every real estate professional’s to-do list, every quarter.  

The arrival of July marks the start of the third quarter and the second half of 2024. Can you believe it? Time seems to be flying by these days, especially as we hit the peak of busy season. True to its name, this is the busiest time of the year for real estate brokerages in North America, with buyers and sellers making moves—figuratively and literally.  

As you fulfill the plans carefully laid out from last year and onward, this peak also marks the gradual slow-down into the rest of the year. At such a significant milestone, there are some important tasks to consider. Let’s dive deeper into this quarter’s highlights and themes.  

Biannual checkpoint: Two key tips  

Ready to tackle Q3 to the best of your abilities? We’ve got two key tips and problem solving advice, just for you.  

Tip #1: Renew your daily workflows  

There’s no time like the present to consider what’s holding you back when it comes to your day-to-day tasks and the workflow you use to check them off, one by one. At two quarters in, you probably have a good sense of what’s working for you and what isn’t. For the things that aren’t, this is a pivotal time to research new resources that can help improve them.  

Some examples: 

• If you find yourself spending tons of time on marketing and lead searching without worthy results, it might be time to consider new software to automate the job. This will save you time to do what software can’t—connect with potential clients.  

• If your calendar is in disarray, it might be time to look for a new CRM with a more natural data flow and organized interface to keep your appointments in order.  

• If your deals keep falling through and you’re spending too much time on creating new transaction forms for indecisive clients, check out potential new transaction software options (like Lone Wolf Transact, our new generation of transactions software!) that are designed to deal with that and more. Your software should follow your lead as an agent and broker—not the other way around.  

Remember: With the right software and workflow shifts, your ideal workday is always within reach.  

Tips #2: Review (and celebrate!) your progress  

A biannual checkpoint is no small thing and should be treated as such. 

Now, you have half a year’s worth of crucial data that can help you forecast for the rest of the year and onward. Make sure to make the most of this data by comparing it to last year’s stats and seeing how it measures up to your goals so far. Are you behind? Ahead? Perfectly on track? These questions are important for knowing where your brokerage or agent business stands and strategizing for your future growth from there. 

Whether you’re on track or need to recalculate, here are some common situations that real estate professionals run into and how you can solve them:  

• Not enough leads in your funnel? There can be a lot of reasons for this, including external factors like market conditions that are simply outside of anyone’s control or internal factors like a shift in focus on digital marketing and online presence as a business.  

• Feeling emotionally burnt out? This is very common in real estate. Working in this industry means working with people who are taking significant steps in their lives, which is amazing and stressful—often on both the client and on agents. Make sure to maintain a healthy work-life balance by saving time where you can with software that automates tasks like CMA creation and transaction transfers.  

• Concerned about the housing market? As the market makes its slow recovery, find stability in what you can control, like building a strong brand for yourself that clients can trust and rely on. You can do this by going above and beyond when it comes to the client experience, like offering seller disclosures that protect them, finding potential tenants, and more. This is a great way to differentiate yourself from competitors and stay memorable to clients for the future.  

It might feel strange to already be thinking about preparing to slow down after the busy season, especially as you’re still in the thick of it. But preparing to take a step back and consider how you’re going to invest in the long-term growth of your business can be crucial in setting yourself up for future success. Above all, it’s how you’ll keep your brokerage or agent business ahead of the competition.  

Tune in next quarter for the last—but never least—installment of this series. Until then, best of luck this summer!