Marketing and the NAR Settlement: 7 Things to Do Now
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In 2024, the real estate market has continued to shift, and with the surprising NAR settlement news, realtors are realizing that everything they knew about real estate might be changing. With the absence of required commissions for buyers’ agents, the livelihood of many agents is uncertain. So, assuming you want to stay in the game, how do you set yourself up for success in this wild new market?
First Thing’s First
Here’s a quick checklist on the NAR settlement contents to make sure we’re all on the same page.
What is included in the NAR Settlement?
- NAR will pay $418 million in damages through 2028 and will undergo reforms.
- NAR will no longer specify guidelines for listing agents to set compensation for buyer brokers/agents.
- Compensation offers for buyer brokers/agents will not be displayed in the multiple listing services (MLS).
What is NOT included in this settlement?
- At this time, this is still a proposed settlement, meaning it has not been reviewed by the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission.
- This settlement does not include ninety-four other brokerages that had a volume of $2 billion or more in 2022.
If You Plan to Continue Representing Buyers: Don’t Dally; Adapt
Although the NAR settlement’s proposed changes won’t go into effect until July 2024, don’t wait to develop a new strategy to react to the changes. Get ahead of your competition by adapting now so you can continue to attract buyers in what’s shaping up to be a much more competitive market.
7 Things You Should Do To Adjust Your Marketing Strategy For This New Real Estate Era
1. Do Your Research, and Get Good at Explaining the Changes
Read statements by real estate CEOs, top industry performers, and reliable real estate news sources on what the NAR settlement will mean. Find voices in the industry you trust and read everything they publish about how to adapt to this new market. Find your favorite explanations of the settlement and what’s next for the industry and rehearse them. Get good at explaining the changes so you’ll be ready to guide your clients through their concerns. Have responses ready for any questions you anticipate buyers will ask you so they can be reassured you’re an expert on the settlement and its repercussions.
2. Create Buyers’ Agreement Contracts, and Get Good at Negotiating Them
If you plan to continue representing buyers, write out an outline for your buyer’s agreement contracts now. Since compensation for buyer’s agents will no longer be baked into the transaction, you’ll have to clearly define your role in representing the buyer and how (and how much) you’ll be compensated for your work. Although contracts like these are already in use, it’s likely that many potential buyers have never signed an agreement like this before and may be hesitant. Make sure you define the terms of the contract clearly, such as how long you’re agreeing to represent the buyer, and make sure you’re able to explain each section of the contract in a way they can understand. You’ll probably want to brush up on your negotiating skills during this process, since you’ll be proving your worth to the buyer and coming to an agreement that will benefit both of you. Here are some scripts to help you explain and negotiate the buyer’s agreement.
3. Update and Complete the Contacts in Your Farm List
A crucial bullet on your to-do list for this new market is to expand and develop your farm lists. Just a first name and a cell number don’t cut it anymore – you need to gather complete contact records for potential clients. Full records will be necessary to get contracts in place to represent them in a home purchase. Look into programs that will help you secure full names, physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. Tools that will be helpful to you include:
- Options to couple a physical address with an email or phone number.
- Forms that encourage your contacts to scan a code, fill out a form, or provide an email/mobile contact.
4. Expand Your Farm List
There’s no time like the present to keep expanding your farm lists. Create demographic targeted lists for geographic areas you hope to draw from and mail to them consistently. Include a way for interested prospects to get in touch with you and share their contact information, such as including a QR code on the mailer that takes them to a contact form. Resources to help you expand your farm include:
- The Xpressdocs Storefront:
- Xpressdocs users can easily generate QR codes and include them on postcards from their storefront.
- In addition to branded materials for property marketing, the Xpressdocs storefront has an extensive library of curated content for lead generation that is turn-key and ready to send.
- Map-based search tools that provide carrier routes, with the ability to secure a list of names and physical addresses, like Xpressdocs’ EDDM® Elite.
- XD+ subscription members get free access to Social Sharing, curated social ads for personal marketing to build your social media presence and attract leads.
5. Schedule Out Client Touchpoints
Tools to help you stay in touch with your contacts will also be more important to your business. This can be overwhelming if you have a large database, but that’s where automation can help lighten the load. There are several programs on the market to automate calls, texts, emails, newsletters, postcards, and more over extended time periods, so your clients will have your name top of mind when they’re ready to buy. Some tools to consider:
- Scheduled Campaigns – automated postcards and newsletters
- Automated Property Marketing – instantly generated direct mail pieces
6. Build Your Brand
The importance of your personal brand is bigger than ever. Take time to evaluate and build up your brand identity so you stand out among the dozens of real estate professionals prospects can potentially contact. Building your brand is about getting a specific message across about who you are, your expertise, and what you can do for your clients. Remember that psychologically, a lot of people make decisions off of their gut feelings instead of data. Ease clients’ minds and help them have a good gut feeling about you and the homebuying process with the way you talk about your business.
7. Prove Your Value
Now that some homebuyers may view using a buyer’s agent as optional, it’s important to really lay out the facts of what you bring to the table. Develop a strategy for communicating your worth to your clients. Here is a handy resource to get started.
The New Way of Doing Things
To thrive in this new market, you’re going to have to be willing to change and grow. Just because everything is different now doesn’t mean you won’t be able to succeed. Have a growth mindset, which means not putting limits on yourself or your abilities. Get started with the seven marketing tips above, and you’ll be off to a great start.
Your Trusted Partner
Xpressdocs has been a trusted marketing partner for the real estate industry for over 20 years, which is another way of saying that we’ve seen a lot. And we’re still here. Keep trusting us with your marketing because we’ve always worked to give agents just what they need for successful marketing campaigns.