Political Pause
The housing market has certainly seen buying activity pause across the nation over the past 60 days.
Why Is This?
Most people do not like change and regardless of political choice, an election means change, a new president.
Change causes uncertainty for many and most don’t feel good about making large purchase decisions when dealing with the emotion of uncertainty.
Home buying is an emotional decision. It’s why so many opt out from buying and continue to rent.
Did you know that approximately 35% of the US population does not own a home?
The emotions that renters feel about home buying is that the process is daunting and difficult. They also feel that they need a high credit score and large down payment.
I think we can agree that the process, especially when using a real estate agent, isn't daunting at all. As far as down payment and credit score, there are so many options with as little as zero down along with credit score requirements that are beyond flexible.
I challenge all of us to think about simplifying the process of home buying so we can show prospective buyers that it is truly not that difficult.
It’s been said that most bad decisions are based on emotions. I think we can agree that not owning a home can be detrimental to one's net worth. In fact, according to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, homeowners have 40 times the net worth over renters.
How should that make us feel? And are we communicating these facts to our prospective buyers?
What’s Up With Rates?
Slow Down or Play On?
We heard from our boss Jerome Powell yesterday and his optimism does not translate to ours. Powell spoke about the recent data we have seen regarding the strength of the economy and in his words "is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates".
Slowing down the pace of rate cuts? I call foul.
In most sports a foul stops the game immediately. But in soccer, there’s a rule called ‘advantage.’
If a foul is committed but the team that was fouled gains a clear advantage—like a breakaway with a chance to score—the referee lets the game play on, giving the fouled team an opportunity to capitalize.
What a powerful concept for our business and mindset.
How many times have we wanted to call foul? Mortgage rate spikes. Compliance changes. It can make the best of us stop dead in our tracks, throw our hands in the air and shout for the ref.
We must play on.
While some play small and wait for the ref to stop the game we must continue forward. Playing on is what gives us the ultimate advantage.
If other buyers are on hold we can negotiate better terms, secure seller credits and buy down our interest rates to those of 3 years ago. Through strong negotiation skills our buyers do not have to pay current market rates. Score.
So regardless of where rates are today or where they’ll be next week—let us play on and keep winning for our buyers.
