Strengthen Your Real Estate Business Against Economic Recession

What was expected to be a strong year for real estate, and may still be, has been largely derailed by the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the United States during the peak 2020 home-buying season. Early indicators from first quarter show mortgage purchase applications down 24 percent from the previous year and the volume of newly listed properties down by 34 percent. The impact of COVID-19 continues, spurring business owners to consider plans for recovery in the near term — and long-term strategies to help protect their businesses from future economic dips and recessions.   
 

The outlook is not all doom and gloom though. Those who have been in the real estate industry for any length of time remember overcoming previous crises, including the Great Recession and the 2010 foreclosure crisis. What do the most resilient companies have in common? 

Successful brokerages focus on growth, customer experience, agent retention and low operating costs. Many of the strongest players diversify their offerings to include mortgage and title services, creating additional revenue streams. These services, however, rely on one-time real estate transactions, so if home sales drop, mortgage and title services also naturally decline. 

But adding insurance to your offerings is different.

Whether the market is up or down, people still need both homeowners and auto insurance. And since the insurance industry is less affected by ebbs and flows of the economy, it’s generally more recession resistant. While real estate, mortgage, and title are one-off transactions, insurance revenue looks more like building an annuity or a retirement account. Business income from insurance policies arrives annually, is typically paid through escrow, and historically remains in place for many years. Sales from insurance is usually more consistent and durable, leading to more dependable projections for you. 

No industry can guarantee complete recession resistance, but insurance has been a go-to for risk-averse entrepreneurs, offering to smooth out the inevitable cyclicality of real estate. So, why haven’t more real estate groups offered insurance? 

Traditionally, insurance is sold by agents working for one insurance company or operating as an independent agent representing multiple insurance brands. Captive models are known for providing deep resources and support to agents who solely represent the brand, while independent agents are their scrappier counterparts who represent many carriers and are responsible for their own overhead. While policies sold by captive agents may be more expensive because of fees associated with the one-to-one relationship with the insurance company, those from independent agents may not be able provide the same level of service due to the greater level of back-end support offered by large insurance brands. 

Unfortunately, neither model is a great match as an ancillary business for the real estate agency. The captive model is too narrow an offering for the customer, whereas the independent model offers choice but can lack the operational structure and support that larger brands typically provide.

We Insure offers the alternative — a turnkey model with premier-level access to carriers, along with robust operational and marketing support. We Insure incorporates the best that captive and independent insurance models offer to create an innovative approach to insurance that complements today’s real estate agency business model. 

We Insure provides its franchise partners with access to top carriers and a top-tier commission structure from day one. We Insure agency owners can focus on customers while corporate provides the necessary back-end and call center support, technologies and tools for success. We Insure offers home, auto, business and other policies through more than 100 top-rated carriers with franchise opportunities across the United States. If you’re a real estate professional looking to strengthen and expand your business, visit www.weinsuregroup.com for more information.     

 

Sources:

https://www.realtor.com/research/initial-impact-covid-19-housing-market/ 

https://www.mba.org/news-research-and-resources/newsroom