The real estate industry is going through challenging times and REALTORS® need to be adaptable and resilient in 2024. The lineup of speakers at Illinois REALTORS® Winter Business Meetings in Bloomington-Normal in January offered a variety of tips to help you persevere from building a healthier mindset, forging stronger connections, finetuning your business plan, thinking outside the box on transactions and more.

Keynote speaker Kim Becking says change and uncertainty are certain but building a momentum mindset and learning to grow and thrive during these times can be a superpower. Give yourself the grace to acknowledge the challenges you may be facing and then try to shift those obstacles into opportunities, your fear into fuel and resistance into buy-in.

Takeaways

• Resiliency isn’t about powering through at all costs and enduring, but about resting, refueling and recharging so you can continue to bounce forward. That is where your power lies.
• Write down the things that recharge and refuel you. Those are the things you should focus your time and energy on.
• It’s just as important to set boundaries for yourself so you can show up as the best you can. Incorporate a “not to-do list.”
• Don’t expect everything to be perfect. Imperfect action is better than no action at all. You’re going to make mistakes, but how do you find the grit to keep moving forward? It’s not adversity that leads to growth, but how you show up that makes an impact.

Improve the customer service you provide your clients by being more intentional about genuinely connecting with people so that your interactions don’t feel transactional, says motivational speaker Colette Carlson. People prefer your personality to polish and they connect with you—and want to work with you—when they feel like you are being sincere.

Takeaways

• Being able to genuinely connect with clients and others is the greatest competitive advantage in a crowded real estate marketplace.
• Stop waiting for things to be perfect before reaching out. People prefer personality to polish and connection to perfection. It’s OK to be real.
• Be genuine and not generic in your communications and conversations. And don’t try to hijack the conversation and make it about you. Listen more than you talk, ask follow-up questions and make it feel like a connection and not a transaction.
• At the same time, use the power of your personal story to spotlight what you bring to the process and your real estate strengths.

Attorney and educator Trista Curzydlo shared tips to help REALTORS® avoid antitrust behavior in their real estate transactions and in everyday activities. She also discussed the class action lawsuits against some brokerages and the National Association of REALTORS®.

Takeaways

• Antitrust violations include three elements: price fixing, bid rigging or market allocation.
• Antitrust violations come with hefty fines and in “per se” cases, plaintiffs don’t even have to prove that the antitrust agreement was successful, resulted in harm or that the conduct was unreasonable.
• Think of your “Miss America,” or exit phrase to remove yourself from conversations that you fear may be veering into an antitrust situation. For example, “I am leaving before this before this discussion goes further’ or “I’m not comfortable continuing this conversation, I’m concerned it may be an antitrust violation.”
• Looking at the industry commission lawsuits, there will be appeals and other steps in the process. REALTORS® need to focus on formulating and sharing their value proposition.

Low housing inventory and higher mortgage interest rates may be making it harder for some of today’s consumers to buy a home, but there are creative financing options that can help sellers and buyers close those transactions, says top-producing agent and real estate coach Joshua Cadillac. REALTORS® who know how to navigate these financing options will bring value that can gain them clients and referrals for life.

Takeaways

• Owner Financing – The seller acts as the bank in the deal, agreeing to an interest rate and loan term. This option can make sense when the seller has a lot of equity and doesn’t need the sale proceeds immediately and the buyer might not qualify for financing otherwise.
• Rate Buydowns – The seller contributes to paying interest discount points, thus lowering the interest rate and mortgage payment for buyers. The option, which can be permanent or temporary, can be used when sellers want to offer incentives and buyers may be short on cash.
• Mortgage Assumption – In this scenario, the buyer takes over the seller’s loan. This can appeal to sellers because it allows them to sell for a higher price, makes their home more marketable and it makes the property more viable to a potential investor.
• Wraparound Mortgage – This is a home loan that wraps up the seller’s loan and a new second mortgage into one loan.

A good business plan is the roadmap that can help you succeed no matter the market, but sometimes you need to re-evaluate what is and isn’t working and do a simple reboot to get back on track, says real estate trainer Marguerite Crespillo. The best plans are fluid enough to handle change and simple enough for you to set concrete goals for finance, operations and marketing.

Takeaways

• Think about your business plan flow chart as a fluid document that can change and evolve, not something that is one and done.
• Every good business plan has three main components: finance, operations and marketing.
• Analyze your marketing tools to see which has the greatest referral success. Many agents pour resources into advertising, but conversion rates are typically 100 to one. More effective is a robust database where the conversion rate is closer to three-to-one.
• Keep a list of everything you do over three or five days and figure out the things you could delegate to someone else so that you can focus your attention on the things that can only be handled by you.

The 2023 commercial real estate market was challenging at times with high office vacancies and low construction, but there are bright spots in the market and reasons to be cautiously optimistic for 2024, says Michael Mallon, owner and managing partner of Mallon and Associates. Mallon, who has 40 years of experience in Chicagoland commercial real estate and development, offered his insight into the key trends to watch this year.

Takeaways

• The office sector continues to face vacancy challenges as many workers work remotely. Expect to see more flexible, short-term leases. Subleasing will also be less popular.
• The most in-demand office space will be interesting and equipped with the amenities workers want if they are to return to the office. Tenants don’t want boring office space.
• Until interest rates go down, builders in the multifamily sector may pause to determine what to do with their existing inventory and that could mean lower rental rates.
• Retail remains strong. Many retailers are expanding stores, but finding they need a smaller footprint, which could mean less rental revenue for landlords. In the grocery sector, 2024 could bring more mergers and acquisitions.

About the writer: Stephanie Sievers is Illinois REALTORS® Director of Marketing.