‘Unfiltered’: How great agents make content work for them 

NextHome CEO James Dwiggins has emerged as a significant voice on the topics that are shaping the real estate industry: lawsuits, innovation, leadership. But Dwiggins doesn't just answer questions, he asks them of guests on Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered, his podcast with Keith Robinson, NextHome's chief strategic officer.

On this episode of Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered, David Childers shares advice for agents who want to up their content game but aren't sure how. His top tip? Be consistent.

Childers is president of Keeping Current Matters, a company that analyzes market data and distills it into ready-made content agents can use in their marketing or client conversations. Which means he knows a LOT about the real estate market. 

He shares some of that knowledge in the form of 2025 predictions — and lays out a strategy for responding to real estate questions over the holidays.

Why agents struggle with content: Many simply "don't know what to say," Childers said, or they spend too much time "making it look like themselves or their brand or color."

That's important too, but: "The core issue with content in the world today is, okay, how do I talk about things? What do I say? And then can I do that consistently across multiple channels? That's what wins."

What makes a 'great' agent: "Most agents see the market, they know what's happening. Good ones sort of understand it. But great agents — and I think that's what most agents aspire to be — the great ones that are good at content can explain what's going on."

Striving for greatness? Start by focusing on timely topics, said Childers. Here's how: Think of a question you get asked a lot, form "a relevant market opinion" (that's the foundation of your content), then publish it on all of your social or marketing channels — and "do it in a consistent manner." 

'Consistent' doesn't have to mean every day: The key question, Childers said, is not how often you should publish content, but "are you going to continue to do it?" The struggle for most agents is that they "spend more time trying to make it look good than getting it out. My point is, get it out."

Navigating dinner table conversations: It's the time of year for social gatherings, which means getting cornered by friends and relatives who want your take on all things real estate. 

"Whenever somebody asks you a question about, 'Hey, what do you think prices are going to do next year?' or 'I think this market is going to crash' — I would slide this question in before I answered: 'Tell me what you've heard.'"

Consumers are seeing a lot of grim news, Childers noted, and "we have to be able to understand that and empathize." And for those worried about a crash? It's not 2008, he said: "We live in the strongest real estate market of our lifetime ever. We've never had this much equity." 

So what is going to happen next year? Childers laid out three predictions based on his company's analyses:

1. Total home sales will rise. Adjusting for population growth, Childers said 2024 will end with "one of the lowest transaction numbers in decades. So I think the first expectation is we will see more business next year. Why is that? Because most forecasters are projecting that we will see a better mortgage rate environment." 

2. Mortgage rates will improve. "That's based on a lot of things that are shifting in forward-looking data. But what I see from forecasters is that by the end of next year, we'll be somewhere in the low sixes, if not dipping our toe in the fives."

3. Price appreciation will normalize. "The ten forecasters we follow at Keeping Current Matters average out to about 2.5% price growth next year in residential real estate. I would say somewhere between 3% and 4% is probably likely, which is very normal, very historically average for home price appreciation, which in the end is a very good thing."

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in the Real Estate Insiders podcast belong solely to the podcast creators and guests, and not Real Estate News.