Agent Advice

How to make 2025 your best year yet

Andrew Duncan

23 Jan 2025 — 6 min read

Forged by the fires of 2024, it's time to rise forth from the ashes, into the dawning of a new age where every house sells in a reasonable period of time, buyers are motivated to make decisions, and building inspectors collectively revert back to a 1960's 'she'll be right' mentality allowing 90% of deals to flow through smoothly.

Dreams are free, right?

Whatever the future holds, for now it's the beginning of a new year and hope springs eternal. We've all come back from a holiday break rested (hopefully), motivated and ready to make this year our best yet.

So without further ado, I want to share a few themes for the year ahead to help you make 2025 your best ever year in real estate:

The market is going to rebound. Are you ready for the change?

This is a golden opportunity for those of you who have made it this far. The market is going to keep improving. Sales volumes will increase. The salespeople who benefit most will be the ones who lay the groundwork (prospecting) now and stay consistent throughout the year ahead.

Increase your prospecting activity early, so you are highly visible to local vendors when the shift happens in your market.

Q: How many owners are you contacting or reaching with some form of marketing this week? How can you double that number? Or triple it?

Checkout our Kickstart Your Prospecting Action Plan, for ideas:

Take time to reflect on what we've been through.

By all accounts, working in real estate over the past 24 months has been challenging, to say the least. You've been through a lot. But you are still here, and that's what matters most! It's important to reflect on the ordeals you have survived and overcome and also to let go of any frustration or angst you are still holding on to.

Take a moment to consider whether your recent experience has affected your confidence in your own ability to market and sell real estate.

Just because a bunch of deals crashed, or didn't quite come together at the final hurdle doesn't mean you aren't a good salesperson. Just because you lost a few listings that ended up selling with another agent doesn't mean you don't have what it takes. A shit market makes everyone question their approach. Remind yourself why you are in this job, what you enjoy about it and let go of the negative voice inside your head (if there is one) chastising you for past listings / deals gone bad.

It's a new year — time to move in.

Take steps to protect your financial security.

Let this past market be a lesson to all of us that we must save for rainy days. Markets always work in cycles. There will be good years and bad years. Growth periods and recessions. We must remember to put money aside during the boom years, to help us survive when sales dry up.

Tip: Put a plan in place to pay yourself first from every future commission. What set amount, or percentage of each pay can you commit to saving or investing moving forward?

Aim for 3-6 months worth of living expenses set aside in an emergency fund to ride out any future recession or market slump.

Don't fall for the blame game

Coming out of a recession, with reduced incomes across the board, it's tempting to point fingers and blame a manager, office or brand for a lack of sales. When we aren't busy making commissions, we have time on our hands. It's tempting to spend that time pondering whether another office or brand would provide more support, better splits or more opportunities.

Chances are they won't, and making the switch could cost you 3-6 months worth of productivity (read: income) while you faff around updating your brand and learning new systems.

Tip: If things aren't going as well as you would like, take a look in the mirror and ask: 'Am I doing everything I can to turn this ship around?'

Could you be contacting more people? Turning up to the office earlier? Embracing a more positive mindset? Opportunity is everywhere if you are prepared to put in the work.

Move past your own barriers

What self-limiting beliefs are currently holding back your real estate career?

Examples include:

I'm not good with technology.
I'm not great at listing presentations.
It's hard to find time for prospecting.
AML is so confusing.
Disclosures are so tough.
No one wants to buy a home right now.

These beliefs are all part of your mindset, and you can change your mindset if you want to. Start by simply changing your language to allow space for growth.

Self-limiting beliefs transformed into affirming statements:

~~I'm not good with technology.~~ I'm getting better with technology all the time. I can see the potential for how it can help my business grow as I learn more.
~~I'm not great at listing presentations.~~ I'm constantly looking for ways to improve my listing presentation.
~~It's hard to find time for prospecting.~~ I carve out and prioritise time for prospecting every day because it's critical to my business. I carry a list of potential vendors with me everywhere I go.
~~AML is so confusing.~~ AML is just part of the process. We need to embrace it and make it as easy on our vendors as possible.
~~Disclosures are so tough.~~ Buyers appreciate disclosures. If you are ever unsure whether something should be disclosed, just ask yourself: "If I was a buyer, would I want to know about this before going ahead?" (always check with your manager, too!)
~~No one wants to buy a home right now.~~ There are always buyers and vendors who are motivated to make decisions in every market. Opportunity is everywhere if you look hard enough and ask the right questions: How soon do you need to move? How long have you been looking / Have you made any offers? If you found the right home today, would you buy it? (credit David Knox).

Tip: Print the positive versions of your own self-limiting beliefs somewhere you can see them every day.

In future, if you ever find yourself saying, "I'm not good at X" consider how you could alter that self-talk to create space for personal growth.

Take time to work on your business

This is the part of the year when everything starts ramping up. Hopefully, you are busy with appraisals, new listings coming on and all the activity that comes with that.

Before you get lost in the rush, carve out time to plan for the year ahead so you can be intentional with your focus and effort. Put a marketing plan in place that will help you build an attraction business with owners proactively calling you for advice.

Having a marketing plan you believe in is an effective way to get off (and stay off) the real estate income rollercoaster.