We have created a series of blogs to help you find new customers quickly in your existing database. This is the most cost-effective approach to prospecting in a contracting marketplace. 

In this first blog we look at the stock shortage issue that agents are currently facing, the reasons behind it and most importantly what agents can be doing to build their stock levels quickly and cheaply.

What’s causing the stock shortage in the property market?

The stamp duty holiday has certainly had the desired effect of keeping the housing market moving throughout the pandemic. However, with so many buyers and sellers bringing forward their plans to move to take advantage of the stamp duty savings, the market now faces a different challenge – where are new listings coming from over the next few months?

Research from TwentyEA revealed that most areas of the country have between 2.2 and 2.4 months worth of stock available. There are a few variations with some areas in the North having even lower levels, and central London having much higher levels of stock available with people looking to move out of the city to more rural or suburban areas.

Fortunately, demand remains high. There are a number of reasons for this including:

• High loan to value mortgages are now more readily available
• The vaccine rollout will give confidence to the older generation and enable them to return to the market to achieve their downsizing goals
• Divorce and separations have increased during the pandemic and split families need more housing
• Work from home has caused people to re-evaluate where and how they live
• The last 12 months has highlighted the importance of having family and friends nearby 

Who are the target audiences you should be speaking to?

The beauty of working with existing customers is that you already have all of the information you need to create a personal and relevant nurture campaign that is likely to deliver results. So who are the target audiences within your existing database that you should be talking to right now and what message should you be delivering to them?

Failed market appraisals where the property is still for sale

We all know that demand is extremely high in the market at the moment. Consequently, stock valued at the right price and marketed well should fly out of the door. Identify all of your failed market appraisals in your database and see if the properties are still for sale with another agent. If they are then now is great opportunity to win them back by getting in touch to find out how their sale is going and during that call highlighting that properties are selling like hotcakes at the moment so why hasn’t their property been sold yet? A vendor in the current market should be inundated with viewings and offers, so if they aren’t, something is going wrong in the marketing process, so explain what you can you do to solve this issue.

Vendors who were disappointed with your valuation figure 12 months ago

Property prices have increased over the last 12 months as a result of high levels of competition from buyers. Now is a good time to get in touch with vendors who were disappointed with your valuation figure 12 months ago – they could be tempted on to the market if prices have now caught up with their expectations. Give them a call to update them on the current market.

Properties that were withdrawn ahead of or during the pandemic

The vaccine rollout should have given these people confidence to return to the market. Check in with them and see how they are doing and update them on how the market is performing. Whilst they might have missed the opportunity to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, with demand outstripping supply, there is an opportunity to sell their property for more money. Veco clients can run a specific report or filter their data to view based on the opportunity and/or data range – it’s as easy as a few clicks. 

Categorising the Property record as ‘Withdrawn’ will allow you to quickly identify these.

This then will offer you a selection of data relevant to you and your teams needs which can then be contacted either by phone, text or email.

Tenants

Update them on the new high loan to value mortgages that are available and invite them to find out what they could afford. You could then tempt them with properties that they could buy and where the mortgage would be less than their current monthly rental payments. 

Veco clients have the ability to concentrate their campaign efforts on specific data sets based on key information filters. Knowing that your target audience is relevant tenants who are currently in situ, recently moved in or even recently vacated allows you to capture interest at specific milestones through the tenant’s journey with you.

Landlords

After a difficult year, it’s worth checking in with your landlords to find out how they’re positioned. It’s estimated 30% of tenancies receive a notice to terminate within a ‘normal’ calendar year and 80% of these tenancies are relet by the existing agent. Therefore 20% of the properties are doing ‘something else with their properties’ – do you know what they’re doing? Call up all of your landlords with tenancies due to expire in the next 6 months and find out what their intention is and see if they want an up-to-date valuation of the property.

Chain free vendors

If you know of any sellers in your database who are chain free or who are relaxed about selling their property before purchasing a new one, they are in a terrific place to capitalise on current market conditions. Get in touch to find out what their current situation is and see if they could be tempted with a quick sale.

Conclusion

Your database is a goldmine of leads, use it!