With competition increasing at an alarming rate in your market, there is a way to succeed against the odds. We are proof it can be done. Plus, it will be the most fun you have ever experienced in business.
I would like to share a few statistics about my local real estate market. My market is about 40 minutes northeast of Atlanta, in Hall County, Georgia. The population of Hall County is just over 200,000. Our real estate market has been booming here since the recovery from the recession in 2009.
Here are a few important facts from our market over the last 5 years.

In 2015 there were 2,268 single family home sales.
In 2020, there were 3,116 single family home sales.

[Number of sales increased 37%].

In 2015, there were 1,171 different agents or groups that sold property in Hall County.
In 2020, there were 2,374 different agents or groups that sold property in Hall County.

[Number of agents doubled].

My real estate group was the leader in 2015 and in 2020 (in either the number of sales or sales volume). In order not to skew the following numbers, I removed my group from the statistics below.

The top 20 agents here in 2015 averaged 37.1 real estate transactions.
The top 20 agents in 2020 averaged 34.7 real estate transactions.

[Sales for Top 20 declined by 6.5%].

The average number of sales for all agents here (and we only included agents that closed at least 1 property and removed the agents with no actual closings) in 2015 was 4.55 closings per agent. The number of closings per agent in 2020 was 3.23. (These numbers include all real estate sales, not just single-family homes).

[Sales for all agents declined by 29%].

While the number of sales increased by 37% over this 5-year period, the number of agents in our market more than doubled (103%). Today, it is much harder to compete in this agent saturated market. However, my real estate group, with the same number of agents, increased our sales by 35% according
to our GAMLS (the same source for all stats in this writing). In actuality, we closed 54% more, than indicated by GAMLS, based on multiple 2020 sales made independent of the MLS due to the pandemic.

An important take away from these statistics, it is doubtful many of our fellow agents noticed that they are making fewer sales. Why? The average sales price for a home in our market has jumped significantly over that 5-year period (47% higher). Even though agents are having fewer transactions, they are likely making more money per transaction. However, as we all know, losing market share will eventually kill any business.

How Does Your Business Look in 5 Years if Your Market Share is Eroding?

A decline in your home sales market share over a 5-year period is almost inevitable for anyone when you add 1,203 agents closing property during that time. The most amazing part of this story is what we did to set our group apart in this increasingly competitive real estate market. How can one group beat these odds?

Shining a light on others and our community is the difference. In 2015, my group began hosting and conducting the community project, The Faces of Hall County. We decided to share the story of our community through the people that make it so special. Sharing the incredible stories of our neighbors increased our visibility and connections within the community. Instead of making our marketing only about real estate (just listed or just sold), we opted to move away from the typical. As a result of stepping outside of the expected and sharing the spotlight, we are the most visible and relevant Realtors in our market.

This snapshot, taken after we started The Faces Of project in September of 2015, indicates the significant increase in web traffic. It has only continued to grow.
 

 
Based on our positive experiences with this incredible project, we decided to create an opportunity for someone in every community to achieve similar results. Please join us at www.abernathycochran.com to meet the inspiring Faces of Hall County. To find out how we can help improve your business, go to www.thefacesof.com. We currently have partners for The Faces Of in 30 states, in Australia, and in Canada.

Remember, as Real Estate professionals, we can never become complacent in this ever-changing market. With the increased relevance of social media and the steady influx of new agents, it is vital to reassess and readjust. Let The Faces Of show you our way.