Real Estate Tips For Success in the 2025 Property Market

2024 wrapped up unbelievably for RE/MAX in December. Our network registered a new all-time record in the company. R4.1 billion worth of registered sales happened in December. On top of that, R3 billion worth of reported sales.

If that's how we ended 2024, I can only think of what 2025 is going to mean for each and every one of our network. This is normally the time of year when we start setting our goals, objectives and targets. Hopefully you've already done that. Hopefully you know exactly what it is that you want to show up by the end of December 2025.

I know that can sometimes be quite a big task to think so far down the line; even if you've only got a reasonable idea of what it is you want to achieve, and maybe you don't even put it into Rand value. Maybe it's a personal achievement, or just a thing that you want to do – whatever it is, write it down, put it on a piece of paper, put it in your diary if you have one, or put it in your phone and remember to keep looking at that.

I always talk about these five areas, as recommended by Buffini: the spiritual, personal, business, financial, and family. In all these areas, you really should have goals, aspirations, and objectives to achieve for yourself.

On the work front – and in real estate specifically – we all know that whoever controls the mandates, controls the market. Probably every real estate trainer under the sun has mentioned that. And that's because it is so true – and now it couldn't be more pertinent going out into this 2025 market.

How will the property market perform in 2025?

You can expect it to be better than 2024. I would. I can comfortably say that it will be better than what it was last year. We can expect a couple of interest rate reductions over this year which will ease things a little bit, not just for you, but for the consumers as well and existing homeowners. I think you're going to see a lot more unit turnover this year.

But, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be easier, because there's a lot of competition around you. Everybody's fighting for the same deal, the same transaction, the same house, the same mandate.

And, if you want to land that mandate – it's something I share with all those new to RE/MAX – there's three things that you need to bring across in any interview, interaction, or meeting with a prospective seller, and that's three things that they want to know of you:
1) Are you good at what you do?
2) Can you be trusted?
3) Do you care about the situation?

How to stand out in a competitive market?

I've done a lot of other talks on this and if you are already a RE/MAX agent, you could dive into our archives on E-Learning and you'll find a session on it. But, essentially, when you're presenting, when you're interacting with any client for that matter, but in particular sellers, they want to know, are you good at what you do? This person standing in front of me, are they competent? Are they the right person for the job? Are they going to get me the right price and achieve the shortest amount of time for the sale of my home?

Then, are you someone that can be trusted? Does your reputation precede you positively? “Are you someone that can be trusted with my most important investment” is what they're thinking to themselves. Remember, trust can only be earned. You can't magic up trust. That happens over a period of time and slowly, people start referring you. That's how you know you're a trusted real estate agent.

And thirdly, do you care about me? I'm the seller. Do you care about me, my situation, my family, my needs? And the way that you display that is that you ask more questions than what you talk. You listen, and then you engage on the feedback that I give you.

Anyway, you're the experts. I'm not. You probably know this already, but if you don't, you might want to engage with people in your office that have been there before. And I've seen some ridiculously big sales numbers last year from many of our sales associates. I know that in your offices are the best real estate agents in the country. So, if you can't find the answers in a textbook or on a website or on an app or anywhere else for that matter, you're probably going to find them to your left and to your right if you’re with RE/MAX. Your colleagues are probably going to have some sound advice that you can take into 2025.

But remember, if you want to get ahead of the game, focus on “good, trust, care” – because everybody in real estate, when interest rates start coming down, gets the upside of that benefit. For you to benefit from it, you still need to add the 1° of separation.

So, “good, trust, care”. Think about that. It could be your key to success in 2025.