Debbie Bloyd is a contributing author to Weekly Real Estate News and can be contacted at 469-768-0337 or [email protected]
In the real estate side of the business, there is still a lot of competition for homes. Builders are selling homes at pre-construction and selling everything out before it even begins construction. Many neighborhoods are sold out when they don’t even look like they’ve started building yet. Last weekend, my client bought the last house in a subdivision that is at slab stage. The rest of the subdivision is under construction, but everything is sold.
This is the wave.
Another thing we’re seeing a lot of is people showing 25-30 houses in a day making multiple offers and hoping something gets accepted . I have many stories of clients that I’ve looked for months I think the problem lies with the real estate agents not being properly trained to work in such a competitive environment. The entry-level to become a real estate agent is not much to pass a test and pay a fee. If you work with bigger companies there may not be a lot of training, so most of these people are ill-equipped to know how to write and present offers in a very competitive environment. I think my clients that have suffered the most are with agents that are inexperienced or part-time and don’t take it seriously and it’s costing everyone a lot of money.
First time homebuyers are struggling to find deals with only 3 1/2% down in the FHA market or 100% loans in the VA market because sellers would rather know you have 20% down. There seems to be a lot of discrimination going on right now with first time homebuyers, but no one is talking about that. Most sellers want to know that the buyer of their property can make up any gap in the appraisal value and first-time homebuyers just don’t have that. No one is explaining that to these first-time homebuyers and they are not getting offers accepted. And, in certain states first time homebuyers’ entry into the market could be $300,000. But doing an FHA loan with a little down payment, they are finding it hard to get their offers accepted. I know this, but no one is telling them that… what to do? Find an off-market home with no competition! How to do that? Find an agent that will actually work and not just find things in MLS – get out there and hustle for their clients.
As both a realtor and a mortgage broker, I see both sides. Everyone is busy but we have to educate the clients about what they are up against. I had clients last week myself and we saw over 25 homes, put in an offer on one. I called the listing agent and spoke with her about what her seller wanted and put together just what she wanted… the correct closing time, the correct lease back, how much in earnest money – everything – all it takes is a conversation and we got the house. This does not have to be so hard for everyone – it is always about communication.
The other client I took out was looking for new construction and just because we did not see it in MLS we did not stop. We called neighborhoods and sales people for the builders and drove those neighborhoods and when it said sold out we still called. We did find a house that had been overlooked and now my client has a new home in 6 months.
Legwork and long hours is what is needing to happen now – there is so much more to buying and selling than just MLS and a sign. Or a pre-approval letter and a chat. We need to do a better job explaining options to our buyers and sellers.
It is not easy but a privilege to help someone find the place to live and raise their family.
This article is an overview for a general educational purpose only. The information presented should not be relied upon without the advice of counsel.
Debbie Bloyd is a contributing author to Weekly Real Estate News. She can be contacted at 469-768-0337 or [email protected]
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