The Shifting Market

I am writing this because today alone, this is a Jerry McGuire Moment and I hope it doesn’t bite me in the rear, I am just being real with all of you.  I have had this conversation about 8 times today with 8 different people. I don’t have all the answers but this is my take on the current market condition… Even builders and their representatives have asked me about this today, new contraction is not exempt from this….

I have been in real estate for over 14 years. In that time I have helped a 1000’s of people  move on with their lives and achieve their goals. I am a really good agent! I have given thousands pieces of advice over the same amount of years that they have thanked me for, some have used, some have not. I am a caring person. When real estate is good, most people are happy, when it is not good, they get upset, show their frustration and in times like these people question people like me, why isn’t my house selling, why are people not looking at my house, what are doing to sell my house… I get it. We are failing to meet the your goals, it is not out of lack of effort, marketing, money spent, open houses being held, it is a SHIFTING market. 

What is a shifting market? It is a market where inventories rise, prices drop and where the buyers are wanting more for less and the sellers want more. It doesn’t work for anyone. Making some money in a short period of time is a good thing but not as good as making lots of money in a short period. Those periods of time are few and far between because if it were like that all the time, at the end of the day, we all would make the money that we wanted and no one would lose. Agents (the good ones that care) are trying to put you into positions that you are happy with them and that you will choose to use them again, I am one of those agents. If we make some money, it is a good thing, but lets be realistic, we cannot make crazy money on each transaction every time, lets focus on making what the market will bare and move on with our goals. 

In the past 4 weeks, every agent local and national that I have had this discussion with has basically told me that they are stressed because they are letting their clients down by not selling their house at the price they want, I am no different. What I have heard out there is sellers asking why don’t people just make an offer and we will negotiate, we may even take it? We cannot put that on our listings because sellers do not want people to know that they are wanting, to move on. So why don’t we just price houses to what we will take, move on and then get into the house in the same manner? It is all momentum, if we can build momentum maybe that will help us all. SO do you want to talk about pricing that will actually bring in activity that may lead to a sale? It is about what you are willing to make, and what the market says houses are selling at in this shifting market. I can help identify your number, but it will be the market that will do the actual talking.