Navigating Today’s Market - What I'm Telling My Clients

  After the booming market of 2020-late 2022, the market in Summer 2023 may feel like the dark ages to you and your clients - especially sellers.

While this market is different from the past few years, it’s no different than the markets most long-time agents have seen several times before, and while the energy from your clients might not be as exciting as the last few years, it’s important to remember our job as agents is to help people buy and sell in any market. 

So how do we then, as real estate agents, help our clients maneuver the uncertain times with confidence?

Here are 3 things I’m telling clients in this market:

1. Be Extra Flexible: When the future is a little hazy, it’s important to remind your clients to be with their home-buying or selling plans. This may mean adjusting their budget, considering a different location or property type, or even delaying their home purchase or sale. We’ve got to work with our clients to help them identify their priorities and adjust their real estate plans as needed.
2. Getting Pre-Approved is More Important Now Than Ever Before: Getting pre-approved for a mortgage is always a good idea, but its especially important for homebuyers right now with the steady interest rate hikes. Getting pre-approved will help homebuyers understand their financial situation and can have a clear budget and monthly payment no matter what the interest rates do.
3. Patience Will Win: Buying a home can be a long and sometimes frustrating process, even in the best of times. During uncertain times, it’s important to be patient and to keep the big picture in mind. It’s essential that we help our clients stay focused on their goals and remind them that the right home will come along when the time is right. In real estate, more often than not, it’s worth the wait.

I recommend staying on top of the local and national real estate markets, economic indicators, and the impact of relevant current events more than normal. As real estate agents, we need to keep our clients informed of any changes in the market and how those developments may affect their home-buying or selling decisions.

Your Action Items:

1. Start communicating these three things in all conversations with your buyers. This helps everybody get on the same page.
2. Remind everybody you’re working with to confirm when their interest rate lock expires and remind potential buyers to get approved to play it safe. 
3. Set aside time in the coming days to do extra research on the real estate market and mortgage projections.

While this market can make the home buying or selling process more challenging, you can become the agent of choice for years to come by helping them succeed in today’s market. Doing so will pay dividends for the rest of your career.

You've got this!

- Jon