Texas and Florida Sellers Cutting Prices
While home sales and prices are fluctuating across the nation, two southern states—Texas and Florida — are showing signs of becoming genuine buyers' markets. New data shows that housing supply is surging in these two states, and sellers are responding by cutting their asking prices.
One reason: a surge in homebuilding in both states which was fueled by mass migrations during the pandemic era. In addition, out-of-town buyers who originally planned to head to Florida ended up buying in nearby North Carolina and Tennessee, where home prices are lower.
One Dallas, Texas agent described 2023 as her slowest market in 20 years, with many would-be sellers holding on to their low-interest mortgages. More recently, the numbers of homes for sale in Dallas grew 20% when compared to March 2023.
Of the 10 metro areas where sellers are most likely to negotiate prices, half are in Florida. North Port-Sarasota came in first with 48% of listings lowering their prices in March. More Florida cities followed, with Tampa seeing 44% of listings cutting prices and 41% of Cape Coral homes following suit. Texas metros Houston and San Antonio both saw 33% of listings reduce their original prices.1
Strategies For Racking Up More Client Reviews
Getting feedback from your clients after closing is helpful in two ways: in addition to gaining insight on how you might improve your services, posting positive reviews online will most certainly send new prospects your way. However, reviews and feedback can be difficult to obtain.
If your clients aren't responding to your requests for reviews, it may be time to rethink your approach. For example, it's important to know what to look for when asking for feedback. One recommended approach: ask clients about the services that you're working to improve.
Once you've decided what topics to address, compose a form with three specific and simple questions, together with a general "anything else you'd like to mention?" area. Asking more than three questions can backfire, as even the happiest clients are only willing to spend so many minutes responding.
Timing is equally important. Did you know that many agents increase response by sending review requests to clients before closing? You can also add a pop-up box to your website that asks for a review.
When you're ready to deliver your new questionnaire, it's time to decide where the reviews will end up. You can either steer clients to popular sites like Google Reviews or set up an account with a review managing site such as RatedAgent.2
Determined Buyers Push Up Property Prices
While the question "Buy now, or later?" will never have a definitive answer, there are still buyers who are serious about their home search this year. Unfortunately, buyer demand is one factor that may cause property prices to increase, even though inventory numbers have improved this year.
Last week, the median U.S. home price rose 5.2% year-over-year, hitting a record $385,725 during the first four weeks of April. This is one of the biggest post-pandemic price increases since October 2022. However, this didn't deter buyers, according to Redfin's Homebuyer Demand Index which tracks the numbers of requests for home tours and other buying services. Index numbers rose to one of their highest levels in April.
Redfin's Economic Research experts have noticed that some buyers and sellers are still "stuck" in last year's market and have suggested ways to deal with this. These include sellers accepting your pricing recommendations since prospective buyers are facing considerably higher financing costs. Buyers should keep their expectations realistic and buy affordably, instead of assuming that a 2025 refinance will be a fix for overspending this year.3
Mix Up Your Social Media
While your free (aka organic) social media may be providing plenty of engagement, paid social media can take your marketing strategy further. Here are some basic differences between the two.
Organic social media involves creating and sharing content that resonates with site visitors and helps build a loyal online community.
Paid social media enables you to target specific demographics, expand your reach beyond your existing followers, and drive more immediate results through strategic ad placements.
Campaigns that promote the same brand voice and visual identity across organic and paid content alike deliver a seamless experience while promoting your services and specialized skills. You can scale your campaign according to your budget and goals.
Here's how a mixed social media campaign can drive more business your way:
- Organic posts help build brand awareness, increasing recognition and trust. This can boost your paid campaigns' credibility.
- Paid social media campaigns will return the favor, driving traffic to your organic content. This will increase its reach and engagement.
- Insights from your organic social media performance can super-charge your paid strategies. These insights help you identify top-performing content and best posting times.
- Organic social media helps you build longer-term relationships that foster loyalty and advocacy. Paid social media can help drive short-term conversions and sales.
Get Smarter with a Free Online Course
- Learn basic blogging skills so you can expand your website, share your knowledge, and increase social media visitors.
- Want to know where your online traffic is coming from? Want more visitors? A course in Google Analytics answers these and other questions.
- Do you become nervous when a prospect calls? This three-hour course in Inbound Sales can help you polish your skills.
- Could your social media be working harder? This five-hour course covers everything from content creation to calculating your return on investment (ROI).
Sources: 1nationalmortgageprofessional.com, 2theamericangenius.com, 3redfin.com, 4buffer.com, 5blog.hubspot.com
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