6 ways to manage a market downturn - that's what the most successful real estate agents do.

To be honest, the current time (2022-2023) is not the easiest for real estate agents. Transactions for sale have dropped dramatically and prices are slowly coming down, but many sellers still refuse to accept this fact. The possibility of a significant improvement in the situation is still remote. Therefore, the question is how to deal successfully with this period of market downturn?

It is important to remember that the real estate market has gone through an extraordinary period in recent years. Property prices have risen at double-digit rates every year and buyers have been willing to pay inflated prices to get their dream of owning their own home. Therefore, we cannot judge today's real estate market from the perspective of recent years, because this was not a normal situation and we are unlikely to reach a similar market situation in a few years.

Given my 20+ years of business experience, I have encountered many situations, no matter what industry I am in. This included the recent downturn in the Czech real estate market between 2009 and 2011. How did this time affect the real estate market and real estate brokers?

During this time there was a reduction in the number of brokers in the market as many were not successful and left the market

The position of big brands in the market has been significantly strengthened because in times of uncertainty, a recognised brand provides clients with the necessary confidence

The gap between the results of successful and average brokers has widened significantly

Property prices have fallen, in some locations even by 30 %

I think a very similar scenario will repeat itself now. Successful brands and brokers with excellent results are likely to further increase their lead over their competitors through efficient processes, the ability to invest more in their business and innovation in the services they provide.

What do the best real estate agents do differently?

1. They keep track of their numbers

The best brokers and salespeople always have a clear idea of the number of leads needed for one face-to-face meeting with a client, and also the number of meetings needed to get a property for sale. They are very familiar with the return on their marketing investment and have an accurate idea of how much they will get for every penny invested.

2. They invest some of the money they earn in their business

It is important for brokers and traders to invest in their business, whether it is new marketing tools, technology, staff (such as hiring assistants) or training. I see investing in your business as key to achieving future growth.

I'll take care of everything around the sale

Save your time and nerves and entrust the sale of your property to us. We will take care of all the administration.

4. Maintain contact with brokers for wider trading opportunities

Instead of looking at other successful brokers as competition, they look to them for inspiration. They work with them on joint business cases and, when it is an area in which they are not experts, they pass on business opportunities to each other.

5. Collaborate with subject matter experts in areas that are holding them back

Elite brokers know that they can't be excellent at everything and for that reason they have a team of people around them to help them in areas they are not fully experienced in. These areas may include marketing specialists, home staging professionals, or assistants for administrative work such as closing transactions and managing the business database. If a top broker earns £2 million a year, assume that his hourly wage is approximately £1,000. Therefore, he is willing to pay someone, for example, CZK 250 per hour to help him. In this way, he can develop his business very efficiently.

6. Higher workload

The work pace of top brokers at some stage in their careers is different from most others in the industry, although this is not a popular fact. These rules apply to any period, in times of economic growth and recession. A crisis represents a rapid change in the environment that splits the market into two groups. One group is able to adapt and emerges from the crisis stronger than before. The other group does not possess this ability and criticises the new way of doing business, but this criticism is not valid for them.