The tech for a buyers' market

James is an experienced real estate agent and agency director that has been using Rex for a number of years now. He really knows how to get the best out of Rex and occasionally writes for us. Today, he's talking the tech for a buyers' market. I'm fairly up to date with the state of the real estate market. Sadly due to the tougher market conditions we have seen in the last 12 months, a dramatic number of real estate agents are leaving the property business.To give you an idea, approximately 10,000 agents have left the property industry in the past year!They're not promising figures.But, it's not all bad news, recently the RBA has held the cash rate at 4.75% and first home owners in various states (with the obvious exclusion of queensland) will be taking advantage of stamp duty reductions and first home buyers grants introduced to help stimulate sales in established real estate and bolster construction.A good agent needs to be reactive to sudden changes in market conditions. In a buyer's market consistent and on-target follow up can make all the difference in securing a good result for your vendors. Here are a couple of examples:- Mortgage brokers regularly send their clients updates on the interest rate decisions made by the RBA. This is an interesting service for buyers. Real Estate agents need to get in on this game by sending their clients email and SMS updates on events that impact the market. The smallest thing could trigger a phone call where buyers are asking 'what's on your books'. This approach also establishes you with a reputation as an educated market authority.- Price reductions are an obvious constant in buyers markets. Buyers can be very stubborn. A buyer that writes off a property when it first lists because its '20% overpriced' may be highly responsive to the same property 60 days later when vendors act to set a price that's closer to the market. Keeping track of the properties that your buyers have expressed an interest in and keeping them regularly updated is absolutely vital.- Stockbrokers make a habit of establishing themselves as specialist players in certain industries. Real Estate agents have a unique opportunity to position themselves as an expert in your local market. Why not gather local sales data (openly available on sites like realestate.com) and publish a regular monthly update to your clients - your vendors will appreciate you and your buyers will admire your market knowledge. These types of newsletters should be delivered via email, but why not post links to electronic content on social media. They key to establishing a solid social media presence and an effective social media marketing is to establish yourself as an 'authority'.But in between keeping up with rebellious vendors, picking up kids from school and paying the bills, it's hard for an agent to cover all the bases in this way.If you like the sound of some of these ideas and don't have the resources or time to do it, talk to us. Rex is a powerhouse online marketing tool - our software includes tools for social, email and information marketing.Don't become a statistic. You can and must find ways to succeed in the current climate. Rex can give you the tools you need to establish and maintain solid reputation in difficult times. This is the type of reputation that will put you in prime position to profit in the current market conditions: when your clients think Real Estate, they should think of you.