The housing market is red hot. Demand is outpacing inventory at a record-setting pace. Properties are going under contract within a day or two of listing – a surprising number of which are purchased sight unseen. And the average time on market is down 88% (!) compared to busy season 2019.
For many agents, these past few months have been nothing short of a windfall. They’re closing faster and spending less time and money locating qualified buyers. Some have even gone so far as to abandon advertising listings completely, reasoning they’ll reach an above-market deal sooner than they’d see appreciable returns from a Facebook or Google campaign.
And they’re not altogether wrong.
Right now, if you’re an agent working in highly desirable neighborhoods and can regularly bring a property to contract in under a few days, then listing promotions are not an efficient allocation of your marketing spend.
However, that doesn’t mean you should pocket the savings and forgo advertising whatsoever. Today’s market brings a few unique opportunities to bolster your bottom line and enhance the already lucrative position you’re in.
So why not capitalize on your good fortune as much as you can, while you can?
Advertise your Coming Soons
A fast-moving market is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, an agent is likely to find a motivated buyer with reasonable speed. On the other, there’s no guarantee that all buyers and their agents are in tune with the current rapid-fire nature of listings and de-listings. For-sale properties move quickly. If a buyer or their less-than-motived agent takes a day or two of searching off, they may never notice their dream home hit the market.
So, when considering your recent closings, are you certain you earned the absolute best deal? Or is it more likely you got a pretty good one?
With Coming Soon Ads from Homesnap, you can drum up anticipation of your soon-to-hit-the-market listings. As long as the property is within “Coming Soon” status in your MLS, you can run promotional campaigns on networks like Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Waze. You’ll broaden exposure and generate increased interest among both on-the-ball and casual buyers.
It’s a great way to ensure you’re not accidentally boxing anyone out of the market—and maybe kick off a bidding war while you’re at it.
Advertise your Past Solds
The downside of such limited inventory? It can be difficult to find seller clients, as those who are looking to sell can afford to be more discerning than ever in their choice of representation. Advertising your past solds, though, is one way easy to market your value and expertise.
Past solds are advertisements that showcase how well you sold a property. Ideally, they champion a win that separates you from the competition—a home sold X% above asking price, an all-cash offer, etc. The key isn’t so much to show you can sell a home but to demonstrate that you can do it better than anyone else.
Here’s an example:
You want to run these advertisements on social media sites, where prospective sellers are often earlier in the process of bringing their property to market. Facebook, in particular, allows you to nurture prospects as they move from thinking about listing to finding and hiring a real estate agent. So why not show them you can get them the best possible deal—and that you have the track record to back up your claims—before they even realize they need an agent.
Pro Tip: Use these tactics in tandem
In practice, these two advertising tactics should complement one another. When you have an abundance of seller clients, promote their listings via Coming Soon Ads to increase your chances of initiating a bidding war and scoring an above-asking-price deal. When your pipeline runs comparatively dry, promote your recent success at earning above-market deals to win new sellers. Rinse and repeat so long as the market remains in its current state.
Click here to advertise your Coming Soons and Past Solds with Homesnap.