Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Listen and learn how some stand out from competition and gain market share. Information helpful to agents and buyers. Conversations with professionals and entrepreneurs regarding their stories and what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain competitive advantages. Listen to stories from Ohio real estate agents and related businesses to help you know how to improve and who to consider using for yourself or friends. Created by the owners of a highly rated home inspection company in Ohio and the Winners of Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest https://homeinspectionsinohio.com/
Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Ways to increase your business Strategies to Stand Out and Succeed
Is it possible to thrive in a real estate market where 10,000 agents are competing for fewer than 3,000 homes? Tune in to find out how you can not only survive but excel! In this episode of the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, we uncover powerful strategies for boosting your real estate business in the ultra-competitive Central Ohio market. Discover how selling higher-value properties, increasing transaction frequency with existing clients, and offering additional services can give you the edge you need. We also discuss the importance of expanding geographically to tap into new client bases and diversifying your service offerings with home staging, deep cleaning, and maintenance tasks for a fuller market capture.
But that's not all—standing out takes more than just the basics. We explore unique ways real estate agents can differentiate themselves to become a one-stop shop for their clients. From free moving vans and tax services to credit repair and loan processing, offering these additional services can substantially boost your value proposition. We also emphasize the core business of selling homes and the critical role of home inspections, even for new builds, to enhance your service portfolio. Finally, learn why expanding into new geographical areas can be a game-changer for reaching a broader audience. Don’t miss these actionable insights designed to help you stand out and succeed in the real estate market.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com) Schedule online if you need a home inspection or related services.
If in need of a real estate agent definitely recommend checking the agents that have been guests on the podcast.
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For home buyers: What to expect from a home inspection. YT video for home buyers
Homebuyers, Help Protect Yourself When Going Commando (buying without the home inspection) – Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, where we discuss topics, upcoming events, news and predictions with real estate professionals and entrepreneurs. Listen and learn what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain advantages over the competition and gain market share. Subscribe for the latest news and discussion on what it takes to stand out from the crowd. Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast. This is Jim, and with me, of course, is Laura, the office goddess.
Speaker 3:Hi everyone.
Speaker 2:So all right. Some of this one is ways to increase business, Right, and that could be my cash raking in, it could be the number of transactions, but things are tough Everywhere, everywhere, nationally.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 2:I know we're more familiar with Central Ohio here, but how many real estate agents are there in Central Ohio?
Speaker 3:Last I knew about 10,000.
Speaker 2:And how many houses on the market? Maybe 2,800 now.
Speaker 3:Maybe. Well, it was up 4% and if there were 2,300 houses on the market, whatever 4% over that is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I got one of the 2,800, but I could be wrong, but anyway it's around that is. Yeah, I think I got one of the 2,800, but I could be wrong, but anyway it's around that area Under 3,000.
Speaker 3:Yeah, For 10,000 agents.
Speaker 2:Which is not good numbers. We talked to a very experienced agent months ago and she stated that for Columbus Metro, this size of a market, a healthy market would have about what was it? 15? 15,000? 15,000? 15,000 to 18,000? 15,000 homes, and there's 3,000.
Speaker 3:So we're like one-fifth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which means it's really off, it's tough, it's really off, it's tough.
Speaker 3:And the Fed did not change the interest rates today, so they're staying the same.
Speaker 2:Which is fine People are getting used to it.
Speaker 3:People are getting used to it.
Speaker 2:Anything that didn't bump them up, because that freaks some people out. So no bump. Historically it's not a terrible rate, but anyway Right. But first let's listen to this.
Speaker 4:Habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in Ohio.
Speaker 2:All right, let's talk about ways to increase business, and this does not.
Speaker 3:It's not specific to an industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not limited to just the real estate. It could be anything. So there's three different ways you could sell larger items. What if, instead of selling a small house, you started selling houses that were $750,000 plus? We'll just say that we know there's a lot of houses in the little sweet middle class spot. So one way to increase your business or your income is sell larger things Bigger ticket items. Another way is you sell more often to the same people or you have a database yes and you send new services, new what, what?
Speaker 3:good, let's just say you're selling houses.
Speaker 2:You sell more. You sell a house to that client more times, probably an investor, probably, or somebody who likes to move around a lot, which I don't know why you don't like doing that.
Speaker 3:But still be an investor because they can live there for a year or so, get that good interest rate for living in the house and then move at the end of that term and sell it.
Speaker 2:So we have two ways. You can sell larger, more expensive items or houses. You can sell more often to the same person, or maybe sell to new people. Okay, another way is you can sell other things or services to those people. Like you expand, we'll stick to real estate. You're expanding. You do more than just sell houses or help people buy houses. You have other services you can go along with that. So it's covered in ways. And then what I want to talk about, that one thing is selling to more people means you probably have to expand geographically.
Speaker 3:And I do know some agents that have started doing that. They're typically in the Columbus market.
Speaker 2:They've moved to Dayton, cincinnati or different areas that are outside of their norm they're expanding the range and they're getting into the mls and those areas wow, we've done some house inspections all the way down by macarthur logan, athens, athens, and the and I can't remember which agent it was and I wouldn't tell the name anyway, but it was a Columbus agent that's going out that far Because that's what their client wanted. So if you have a client that wants to go out that far, that's one way you have to. If you want that business, that's what you'll do. It expands geographically in the area that you'll cover. Now the other thing to make more money is you offer new services or additional services, like for home inspection. We do the home inspection, of course, right, but we also do termite, radon, mold testing, voc testing, sewer scope, chimney scope. Did I say radon?
Speaker 3:Yes, you did. Okay, we pretty much do everything. Water testing, water testing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so pretty much everything. So we expanded. One-stop shop One-stop shop.
Speaker 3:So an agent of the day their stager.
Speaker 2:I don't know if they flake, ghosted them, had an emergency come up. Anyway, they weren't able to provide the service, so the agent had some stuff in storage she had her own stuff in storage. She did it herself.
Speaker 3:And it looked good actually.
Speaker 2:Oh, did you see pictures of it? No, we were there. I don't remember so many houses. So, anyway, so you can do your own staging so many houses. So, anyway, so you could do your own staging and you, so you could do that. You could offer staging to other agents as well, or for for sell by owners which they would probably want to do their own, but you could do that. You could do a staging service. You could also offer a home prep services like deep cleaning, painting. Uh, maybe you know what's part of the pain touching up the walls, things. I can maybe tighten up some loose rails mow the lawn service, lawn service.
Speaker 2:You could offer that service and charge people. I don't know. You probably have to tell people you're you're charging for this. At least you got to be above board for all the walls and everything, but that's something you can do. You can do a clean out service. Somebody has.
Speaker 2:It's a for a state sale and the house is just full of 50 years worth of stuff. No kids are out of town. You could offer to do the clean out service for a little bit of extra cash, Right, or well, we'll get this. So, clean-out service you can rent a moving van to people. I don't know the legalities, but this is some ideas.
Speaker 3:I do know that there is an agency that advertises that for their clients they have a moving van that they will let them use.
Speaker 2:Correct, I'm going to get to that. I'm going to get to that. So move in, sell moving boxes, moving items like packing supplies. You could do that. You can put an Amazon affiliate link Go, hey, if you need supplies, go here. This is my affiliate link, which tells them that you can make a little money off that right. Here's my affiliate link for your moving supplies that you're gonna need, or for cleaning supplies, or you know yeah, but you can also provide a cleaning service to somebody just before they move into the house.
Speaker 2:Some people are freaked out about germs, some people just they're just clean, clean freaks and they want it cleaned out. That that's what you do, so you can provide these other services and charge for that, okay. Or you could provide these services for free. Some people are going to go shit. No, I'm not mowing anybody's yard for free and all that stuff. I know agents go out of the way and help people out, because it's hard for some people to get things done. But all these extra services, especially them for free or at a discount, would be something unique to make that agent stand out.
Speaker 3:And more likely to have people use them, which would bring more referrals and it would bring more people to them in the long run and get their name out there and you wouldn't have to do it for free or all the time. I mean, if it's something you know just to get you over the hump right now in a tight market and to get your name out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can easily. I mean staging services. Instead of when you get my new furniture, instead of donating or throwing it away, put it in storage. If you have a storage unit already, it's not going to cost you anything more. Put it in storage. When somebody needs it, here you go, put it in there. Save your cardboard boxes. You put blankets on top of that. It looks like a bed.
Speaker 3:We've seen that.
Speaker 2:I've got tricked a couple times. One time, blankets on top of that. It looks like a bed. We've seen that. I've got tricked a couple times. Oh, and one time I was falling back in through a window. I was on the roof. I went out that window Fine, coming back in A little harder. So I put my hand on the bed, which wasn't a bed it was just an air mattress and a bunch of cardboard boxes. The whole thing slid over.
Speaker 3:And you hit your face on the carpet.
Speaker 2:No, I didn't do that. I came close. I'm glad nobody was around. It was a little embarrassing.
Speaker 3:I'm kind of sorry I missed it. Yeah, I know it happens Tragedies, but it's just cardboard boxes and an air mattress 19 bucks at Walmart the last I knew for a twin air mattress.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so if you did freestating, which won't cost you anything other than your time and maybe your gas, just get in there, you're going to stand out, right? I mean, I don't know, we've never done staging before. We probably won't here when we sell this place, but we may leave.
Speaker 3:I don't know.
Speaker 2:All we'd have to do is leave a few bits of furniture and just leave it here and it stays. We clean it up. It's not bad to leave a few stuff here. We'll take it eventually, but it could stay there.
Speaker 3:Or it could just stay.
Speaker 2:I don't know how many people charge for staging.
Speaker 2:I don't know, I don't have a clue $500?, $1,000?, I do not know, I have no idea. Yeah, or emails and let us know. However you want to do it, well, we can look it up. But anyway, because agents the ones I've interviewed or we talk to, like, hey, what do you do? That's unique. There's almost no differentiation between one agent to the next Some offer, hey, a free moving van if you use my services. That's unique. They're not the only ones doing that and you'll never be the only person doing certain things for long, if ever. But you can start that trend. You can start. Well, you do three unique things. There's not many people going to have all three of the unique things you do or the extra service that you provide. So, man, if I was a real estate agent, I would be doing some of these things. I would definitely do stuff that other agents would not be willing to do, that the buyer or the seller would value.
Speaker 3:Right, because that's what it's about at this point. It's about getting that contract, getting that buyer, getting that seller, and you need to stand out and you need to have people notice you, because you've got 10 000 people you're competing against and in a market that's got under 3 000 homes, the only way you're getting business is to stand out yeah, and a couple of those homes selling per month are new bills, such a new build and they don't always get inspected.
Speaker 3:No, we heard what 18 to 20 was a baseline guess as to the new homes, but we didn't have a specific we taught a CE class today and I asked the agents if they knew.
Speaker 2:Nobody seemed to know, but I said, hey, of the new homes that are being purchased or closed upon each month, what percentage of those are brand new construction? And I said I meant, I heard, I thought it was like 18 to 20 and the person who spoke up says no, it's way higher than that it's got to be higher than that is what they said, so I don't, I don't know. So it's a little rough for a lot of home, essentially companies.
Speaker 2:We're down a little bit, but not not like other companies so, which is a testament how our systems are pretty smooth, so consistent. The reports everything, yeah, so that is doing as well.
Speaker 3:But you need something and we're kind of a one-stop shop as well.
Speaker 2:Yes, so you, if you're listening, you're a real estate man. I would try and become a one-stop shop.
Speaker 3:I do know other agents that include tax services or credit repair services.
Speaker 2:Oh, a side hustle, yeah, like they're literally a one-stop shop.
Speaker 3:So Joe Schmo comes in and he's got crappy credit, so they work with him to get his credit up. They help Joe do his taxes, so they know you know what his income is. Then I know some agents that have now become loan officers and they're able to process loans. So there's a lot of different skills that you can have. It's not just the staging or the painting. There are other things that you can learn and that you can add to that that mean that you're adding value for your clients yes, and now I was a little caution.
Speaker 2:So you're a real estate agent, your main thing is selling houses. Say you started doing like lawn care for your clients, okay, and for your, for your listings. Do that for your listings. That's cool, especially if they're out of town. They would appreciate that. I would caution that person. If that landscaping starts going, it's getting requests from the neighbors refuse, keep it only for your clients, because do those extra side jobs which that will become will be distraction to your main focus. But your main focus is serving your client so well that they'll recommend you to others and always come back to you. And then because don't talk. My real estate agent was mowing my grass when I was gone and I sold that house for 15 over ask and it looked so amazingly good. That's what you want.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you want that, unless you've got somebody that you have managing that and they take over for non-clients. Yeah, so if you have a teenage child, Work them into the business, yeah, and have them learn responsibility and scheduling and all of that stuff. And who knows, maybe it's a jump start into them becoming an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Yep, because it doesn't have to be you doing everything. No, it does not.
Speaker 3:You can delegate that stuff out.
Speaker 2:You have to have your resources, your resources, yep, so I'm thinking about it. For that, keep us on mind for home inspections, we especially for new builds yeah, we do new build inspections, like pre-dry wall, final walkthrough, 11 month warranty inspection, and we do inspections on houses that are already existing. We've done them. I think the oldest house we ever did I think David did it was like day like 1790, something like this.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was like late 1700s.
Speaker 2:Crazy old, but we do them all.
Speaker 3:Ages, super old, brand new, any foundation condo duplex Commercial, commercial, we do them all Any innovation.
Speaker 2:Condo duplex commercial we do it all Multifamily, so we can do it all One-stop shop. So, anyway, keep us in mind for inspections and think of that list I gave of different ideas for extra services. And what can you add to help yourself stand out, because you can always sell larger homes, sell more often. Change geographical locations or you can add additional services.
Speaker 3:We've actually done that. Added a geographical location.
Speaker 2:We have a couple times.
Speaker 3:Well, we're doing it. Just recently we hired a guy who's been doing inspections for a while out in. He lives in St Clairsville right now.
Speaker 2:Which is almost Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3:He's looking to move to Cambridge so he can handle Johnstown, cambridge. Newark all of that stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have to think way out east. East on 70. We have you covered on that. So we, because we're first expansion was more into dayton area then marion delaware area. Yeah, yeah, marion delaware columbus, we've completely covered that. We've gone down to Chillicothe. Of course, gallup Police. I will go the further distances because I want the inspectors available to do a second inspection, right? So I don't mind.
Speaker 3:You're the rubber band man.
Speaker 2:I'm the rubber band man who travels. If somebody needs an inspection within that typical 48 hours that we provide, I'm the extra guy who helps make that happen. Not always, but we definitely try. So anyway, that's it everybody. Take care. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Bye, or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh episodes. For more, please follow us on Instagram, twitter and Facebook, or visit the website of the best Ohio home inspection company at homeinspectionsinohiocom or jimtroffcom. That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H and click on podcast. Until next time, learn and go do stuff.