Competition

Strong home sales in recent years have drawn a wave of people into the real estate business. Membership in the National Association of Realtors has jumped 25% in the past 4 years. The wave of new agents, combined with fewer homes to sell, means more competition between Realtors. Selecting a Realtor can be challenging for a buyer or seller since many Realtors are giving the same pitch… I’m a licensed Realtor with buyers coming to the table, have listed houses with success, have great customer service, work with a top-notch brokerage, have the technology edge, and experience. As a result of the growing number of agents and their striving to get an edge, the competition continues to get more fierce each day. Agents are slashing their commissions to get business. Also, you have comparison sites like UpNest that are matching you up against other agents. In addition to classic competition, other business models are coming into more prevalence that compete against traditional brokerages.

• Discount Real Estate Commissions – lowering commission rates
• Real Estate Rebates – rebating a portion of the commission (this is only legal in some states)
• Fee for Service Real Estate – flat rate pricing
• MLS Only Real Estate Listings – listing a property on the MLS without full service
• Real Estate Consulting – charging by the hour

Alternatives

In addition to your standard competition, clients have alternatives to working with a Realtor or hybrid models. You already are familiar with traditional alternatives such as FSBO or investors. There are many new alternatives springing up such as some in our list below.

• Open Door – “Open Door offers to buy your house fast with online conveniences.”
• Zillow Offers – “Homeowners in participating markets can request a cash offer from Zillow.”
• Redfin – “Sell for more, pay as low as a 1% listing fee.”
• Open Listings – “Buy your home with Open Listings and get back 50% of your buying agent’s fee.”

Beating The Competition & Alternatives

The key to beating the competition and alternatives isn’t just working harder, but smarter. If you have the right strategy then you are well on your way to winning more profits and growing your business. Your strategy starts with providing value that the competition and alternatives do not. That is called your value proposition or unique selling proposition. For a detailed post on crafting your value proposition check out There Are 1.3 Million Realtors in the USA. Why Should I Work With You?