If you’re at a stage in your real estate career where you feel ready to take the next step, there are certain hurdles you may need to clear in order to achieve further success.
Perhaps you’re looking for ways to grow your portfolio without having to spend valuable time each day poring over listings, or maybe you just need additional opportunities to sell or lease properties on top of your tried and tested methods.
You may even be looking for additional ways to increase your income besides the approaches you already take.
In this article, we explore a few of the ways in which you can successfully grow your real estate business and make it as profitable as possible.
Use Property Sourcers
If you’re planning to add to your portfolio, seeking out the right type of stock at the correct property values for your purposes can be something of a challenge.
This is particularly the case when you’re looking to expand into another geographical region - or if the time you need to spend on the management of your current properties does not really allow for you to take on additional activities.
There are unique ways to track down interesting new properties and projects, such as auction hubs and independent estate agencies, but it can be tough to keep tabs on all potential opportunities when you’re already managing a complex portfolio.
The time pressures involved in your day to day work may also mean that you are unable to undertake in-depth research and make informed decisions in the way you might want.
This is where property sourcers come in. By working with an experienced firm or professional in this field, you’re more likely to be able to make sensible investments with huge potential returns without the loss of valuable time and energy.
Property sourcers specialise in securing desirable properties for investors and putting together the deal that will work best for their client. They negotiate with both buyers and sellers of property in order to achieve the best possible outcome for both parties.
There will, of course, be a finder’s fee to pay if you choose to follow this route - but the resulting deals that will be presented to you should enable you to make that money back and then some.
Request Referrals
If you’re not getting the referrals you need, don’t hesitate to push for them. After all, most real estate professionals get a large proportion of their business from referrals and word of mouth.
Receiving very few referrals does not mean that others in your industry do not rate you as a real estate professional. Much of the time, people simply do not think to take action of this kind - and many may not even know that it is possible, or how it can be done.
This is where you need to give your contacts some gentle but persuasive guidance. Why not offer perks for those who refer you, and make doing so as easy as possible by including resources on your website, e-signatures, branded stationery and paperwork?
It’s not just about the immediate gain - referrals are a mark of trustworthiness and quality, so the more of them you are able to secure, the better you look as a businessperson. This will set you up for success in the long term, not just the here and now.
Network
In order to become a big name in the real estate industry, you need to be easily recognisable. It’s a surprisingly small world; the more events you attend, the more likely you are to regularly run into - and therefore form a connection with - the right people.
The more real estate professionals you meet - and the wider their reach in terms of industry areas - the larger the pool of experienced potential partners and advisors you will have at your disposal.
Pick your networking opportunities carefully. After all, you need to attend events that will attract the professionals with which you would like to work in the future.
If you find that there are too many attendees with the same job titles and aims as yourself, there might not be many opportunities to move forward - and there may be too much competition for the same limited number of business opportunities.
The key is to choose a rich variety in order to meet specialists in as many areas as possible.
Spread the Word
You need to be able to effectively market yourself - and a good portion of your professional budget should be spent on advertising and promotion. This is the case for any and all industries, but it is particularly vital for those who are currently looking to expand or grow their business.
Even if you use a specialist marketing firm to help get your name known, there is a lot more that you can do yourself in order to support their work and ensure it reaches all of the right places.
Why not take to social media to share branded media along with information and opinions on relevant current affairs and new developments in the world of real estate? Research keywords and hashtags to ensure that the right people see it.
You can also write guest blogs and opinion pieces or put yourself forward for interviews with specialist publications and sites in order to position yourself as an industry expert and to create “backlinks” to your own website and company profile.
This approach will drive more potential clients and other relevant parties to learn more about you - and will instil a sense of trust both in yourself as an individual and in your professional practice.
This is likely to lead to more enquiries and greater success when networking, as more people will be aware of your work.
Take More Risks
In almost every walk of life, the greater the risk, the bigger the eventual payoff.
If you have significant experience within the real estate sector and are able to call on the support and services of other specialists with great track records, you are likely to be able to pull off more ambitious projects.
This will enable you to see moves that others may consider “leaps of faith” as something far more manageable and controllable. Just make sure that you know what you’re doing and that you trust those around you to make the right calls without having to be overseen too closely.
It’s important to take stock of your current position and abilities in order to determine whether or not a particular activity is “worth” the risk - but the more you test your limits, the more likely you’ll be to discover new abilities, strengths and potential new strings to your business.
You may also decide to seek advice from contacts who have taken similar “risks” before you commit to something potentially precarious.
The above approaches may seem straightforward, but by sticking closely to these suggestions and proactively grabbing every opportunity that comes your way, you can make huge changes to your business and its level of success.
Be it a potential business relationship with an established property sourcer, the chance of a strong referral, a new networking event, a marketing opportunity or a potentially lucrative challenge, you need to be ready to jump at it with vigour.
