What’s Worrying Agents Most About the Future of Real Estate?

What’s Worrying Agents Most About the Future of Real Estate?

We polled agents across the country to uncover their top concerns about the future of the real estate business. Three main issues dominated the responses, making up 82% of the votes:

1. Overall Economic Factors (53% of the votes) – The talk of a "soft landing" is everywhere, but agents see through the headlines. Despite government reassurances, we know what’s really happening with consumers. Financial struggles are widespread, and large companies are reporting weak consumer activity—all signs pointing to potential trouble ahead.

2. NAR Settlement and Industry Changes (18% of the votes) – While we believe the status quo will largely remain, agents are understandably worried about how the recent NAR settlement will impact their income. The rollout of these changes has been, to put it mildly, a mess.

3. Difficulty in Generating Business (12% of the votes) – With transaction numbers down this year and consumer confidence waning, fewer people are willing to buy or sell. This is leaving many agents struggling to generate new business.

Our Take on These Concerns, and What You Can Do About Them

1. Overall Economic Factors

While I don’t foresee a repeat of 2008, I’m not convinced we're headed for a smooth "soft landing" either. We’re seeing signs of a weakening consumer, rising credit card debt, and less than stellar job reports, which are all cause for concern.

What Can You Do About It?
The reality is that most homeowners are in a strong equity position. If the economy worsens, homeowners may look to access that equity through a HELOC or by selling their homes. In such cases, they will rely heavily on real estate agents to guide them through these decisions and ultimately sell their homes.

2. NAR Settlement and Industry Changes

My primary concern isn’t the settlement itself, but rather agents' ability to get their buyer representation agreements signed.

From our research, we believe that 70-80% of home sellers will still offer a commission to a buyer's designated agent. We expect this number to rise to 90-95% when sellers receive an acceptable offer. Despite the changes, we anticipate that much will stay the same, even if it feels like the industry is on the brink of a major shift.

What Can You Do About It?
The key is to continue educating your clients and ensuring they understand the value you bring to the table. Actively train, role-play, and workshop conversations with buyers and sellers to ensure you're prepared. Agents who master these conversations are the ones who thrive in this market. 

3. Difficulty in Generating Business

Traditional lead generation methods that worked in the past haven’t been as effective over the last 12 months. We interviewed an agent who reduced their marketing spend from $20K a month to $5K because many sources stopped producing viable leads.

What Can You Do About It?
Whether it’s cold calling, social media, or any other paid or free traffic source, it’s crucial to evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Focus on strategies that convert attention into leads and leads into buyers and sellers.

As agents, we are our business. Maintaining the right mindset is key, especially in challenging times. While it’s important to stay informed, we can’t let negative news control our actions.

How We Are Moving Forward

We’re forming a small, exclusive group of agents focused on not just surviving but thriving through these challenges. If you’re interested in being part of this group, where we’ll collaborate on best practices, marketing strategies, expert training, coaching, and more, you can apply here. Spots are limited. 

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