Are you ready to pivot in your real estate business for the new “normal”?
The one thing that is for sure, the one thing that is constant… is change.
We evolve all the time and overtime.
We came out of the dark ages, we evolved out of the industrial age, welcomed in the information age… and now…
We are moving into the AI age.
What do you do when you see the signs of the times coming around the bend?
Do you study the market and prepare to pivot?
Do you get the training you need and make moves in your real estate business to stay on track even as the economy and behaviors shift?
You don’t want the train to leave the station and you are still on your horse and buggy.
I will share some of the projections for our post-COVID-19 world and how you can shift your business to be ready for the opportunities that lie ahead.
One thing is for sure. Millions of businesses closed down and millions of businesses will NOT be re-opening at all. More than 25% of the small independent restaurants will NOT be re-opening. These are among the economic fatalities of shuttering small businesses.
At first glance, I would say…
I hope you are happy eating at Darden owned restaurants like Olive Garden and Red Lobster instead of your neighborhood authentic Italian cafe. The corporate chain restaurants … most have their foods sent to them frozen in plastic bags and thrown into boiling water. That is how the soups are made at California Pizza Kitchen. YUCK!
But I will look beyond the initial grief of losing mom and pop restaurants and see something better, more convenient innovation is the future of how we eat.
People will stay at home and order in more. Cloud Kitchens are projected to be the next big hit and those who capitalize on this opportunity stand to make millions!
The bar to entry is small so innovate mom and pops who jump on this will be mighty successful.
Carvana was positioned at the right place at the right time. Tesla has been offering to buy your car online but Carvana has cars most people can afford.
Carvana meets the needs of people shopping for cars.
Conventional car dealerships will no longer be huge car lots with 1000 cars on them. Soon you will be buying your car online and automobile makers will produce cars as they are needed not making a ton of cars that just sit on lots.
Car dealerships will deliver cars to you. You will test drive them for a week, then decide to buy or not.
All that land being used for car dealerships will be up for sale and end up being used for a different purpose.
Many office buildings will be vacated as CEO’s and COO’s realize how much money they can save; leasing expenses, office space, etc when their employees can work from home.
These empty spaces will be innovated into higher and better uses.
Prices will be crashing down. We see this already in gas prices. But you will see this across retail, real estate, and all sectors of the economy. As long as the government stays out of the way… new innovation is going to disrupt the market with amazing things.
When prices go down, more entrepreneurs with low cash savings can innovate and get into the market and create things we all need and want! How exciting is that!!!
You will even see it in hospitals as President Trump signed an Executive Order that orders all hospitals to make sure EVERY patient can see the prices of the hospital services. NO hidden charges allowed anymore.
This will bring the cost of hospital care way down.
As you read this list think about how you can shift your real estate business to serve the needs in these sectors.
Projected changes:
- Restaurants will vacate their spaces. Those empty spaces will be put to a different use.
- Car dealerships as we know them will be reinvented and they won’t need all that land for their lots.
- Schools will evolve into neighborhood learning centers and homeschool will be the norm.
- College will mostly go online. The new generation will learn from YouTube and MasterClasses anything they want to become they can be, all free or for low cost.
- Working from home will be the norm and it won’t be unprofessional when the kids come running in front of your live stream.
- Commuting will be a thing of the past. People are enjoying smog free days.
- Office buildings will become vacant.
- Retail Malls will rethink their purposes and evolve into better use of space.
So there is your list.
Do you see what is in common with ALL of those on the list?
There is ONE thing all of these have in common = LAND!
And what does have LAND have to do with you? 🙂
How can you as a real estate salesperson service these landowners?
There are HUGE commercial real estate opportunities for you!
Commercial Real Estate Opportunities
Think about learning about commercial real estate. Take some certification courses for commercial real estate.
Be innovative and start brainstorming about what are the best uses for the vacancies that will come up.
More and more employees will work from home. Twitter just told their entire staff if they want to continue to work from home, they can.
This will result in less commuting too.
Residential Sales Opportunities
As people stay home more they discover what they don’t like about their current home.
They begin to dream about their dream home.
Many people will want to minimize their debt liability so they may want to downsize and pay off their mortgages.
Families and couples will want to move away from urban centers and out to the countryside to start gardens and have large spaces for outdoor activities with small groups of family and friends.
Since they also can work from home now, many people will choose a better environment to live in.
Last but not least – the real estate market is going to crash. There will be a lot of listings to get. We offer the best Listing Marketing package for agents, check it out here.
Short Sales
The thing with change is there is always a ying and a yang. Those who will thrive and those who won’t.
For many homeowners, who choose to not go into foreclosure, will need to do a short sale.
The banks are offering 2 to 3 months of deferring mortgage payments BUT that is NOT always a good thing. The investors on the notes have the ultimate say on how those payments must be paid back. The bank you are making your payment to is only a servicer of your loan.
Those deferred payments can be taken care of one of these ways:
- Deferred to the end of the loan which is the best scenario
- Pay it back by having the payments owed added into your current payment making your new payment much higher. What if you can’t pay that amount?
- Get a loan modification. Well, anyone who did a ton of short sales like we did, knows full well how that turns out for 90% of all those who apply! Not good… foreclosure… that is the end option in many cases.
Take out your short sale skills and sharpen them up!
Foreclosures for Sale – become an REO agent or brush up on previous skills and certifications
REOS!!! YES, you heard that word again!
Do a quality review on your LinkedIn Profile:
- Make sure it is all updated with current best practices.
- Engagement and passing along sound information is key on LinkedIn.
We can get your LinkedIn quality score for you.
- Connect with asset managers from banks and mortgage companies.
- Get your marketing plan dusted off and rebranded for post COVID-19 strategies and tactics.
Side hustles – Get Your Plan B in Place
Never put all your eggs in one basket.
What are you passionate about? What are your hobbies?
What do you love to do in your ‘me’ time?
Learn to become an expert on those things.
Start a blog and YouTube channel about your hobby or passion.
There is so much opportunity on the internet to make money with hobbies and services.
People are watching YouTube more now than ever before!
I wish you all the best of life moving forward! Look on the positive side.
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