What goes up... must come down

Let's dive into the up and downs and in's and out's of this real estate market. We give our perspective on how we have tackled and continue to tackle our business all while serving our clients in the best way possible! 

Cheers friends! 

Transcript

Hey y'all, it's Ashleigh, Kira and Melissa, um, it's episode two of season two. Um, and let's just get right into what goes up, must come down, unfortunately, but we all knew it was going to happen, but y'all it's here and it's happening.

We're in the thick of it right now. It's not coming. We're in it. We're in it. Right. Um, and I mean, I kind of, last night, just, you know, couldn't sleep, so kind of was thinking about like, okay, you're at Six Flags, or what your favorite amusement park is, and you're going up that roller coaster, which I hate roller coasters.

I love a good roller coaster. No. So, like, you're all seated there, you're strapped in, you're going up the climb. Like, which is always one of the first things on the roller coaster. You're going up this huge climb. It's super slow, but it's exciting. You know, you're like, oh man, this is gonna be awesome.

You know, you're going up there and you finally get to the top, like you're on top of the world. You're at the highest point of this rollercoaster, and you're living your best life up there. You can see it all, and then it's like, oh shit! And then you drop, and you're like, oh this might not be for me.

I think that just described the past three years. Yes. In real estate, you know, especially for these agents that got into it in 2020, maybe the end of 2019, you know, pre, I'm not going to say the word, pre pandemic market was great. It wasn't a bad market. It was a normal, steady, functioning, great market, which we lived through.

We saw that a lot of other agents did. But it struck gold and you could sell a home with your eyes stinking closed 2020 to 2020, beginning of 23, maybe 22. You know, it wasn't that hard. Get a license. Do it. There was people everywhere. People were going bananas. Interest rates were awesome. You know, but now we're like, nope.

Going downhill. And if you're an agent that's never experienced before, you might be like, I'm out. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. . I can't handle this pressure. I can't handle the unsteadiness of this. Like we're going down and I don't see it ever coming back up. Mm-Hmm. . Guess what? When you get to the bottom of the roller coaster, you go, boop, it has to come back up again.

There's only one way . You have to go back up at some point. And it might be another slower crowds with some like big twist and turns and you might go upside down and flip and feel like you're gonna fall off again. But hey, like you're eventually gonna come back home and be like. That was fun. This is crazy.

But like, that's why we say real estate is like a rollercoaster. And it's just like, you can't, you can't get off, right? Like you just, it's like the seatbelt won't unbuckle. And you're like, okay, let's do this again. But then like on the highs, that's awesome. On the lows, it's scary. But if you can stay consistent and see through it, it's going to be okay.

You just have to persevere through this low time and through this challenging and hard time and look at it as an opportunity to grow your business where before you didn't have the time to market, you didn't have the time. to work on your business plan and your listing presentations and marketing because you were just go, go, go, go, go.

These were just being like handed to you. It's like you didn't really have to make an effort. Right. your phone is ringing off the hook. You're like, this is awesome. It's a little different now. It's a little different. It's a little bit different, but don't, it's, it's scary. And I mean, even for us being in this market for a long time, I'm like, okay, girls.

What are we going to do? What are we going to do? Our phones aren't ringing quite as much as they once were. Our sellers, you know, the home has been on the market two to three weeks and they're getting antsy. Our sellers have a little bit of anxiety. I'm not used to sellers. I think on are very apprehensive now.

They're not like willing to. You know, take your hand and just jump like they're like, wait a second. I don't know. We got to think about this So and you can't be so quick to be like, oh just refinance. You can't stop saying that To your clients because they have to afford it. Mm hmm today if you can't afford I couldn't have afforded a 2, 500 a month Absolutely mortgage as my first home like get out of here That's not what my mortgage is now, y'all, and I don't want that to be my mortgage, you know.

Thankfully we bought when it was great, but you know, it, it's just like, okay, you have to repair your clients because they are wigging out. They are freaking out. They have no idea. They're not listening to these podcasts. They're listening to the news and depending upon which news site. I mean, the world is ending.

And so, well, and then they're, they're listening to the people around them too, that aren't in the industry that are saying, you know, I would never at that rate, but rates have been here before. Yeah. And historically, and people hate when we say that, but historically these are not as high as they once were actually 13, 14%.

I think my in laws were up at like, um, like closer to like 17 when they bought an Oklahoma. Which now if you think about that, it's like, what would that look like now? You know? Don't even think about that. But like, it, I get it goes hand in hand, but it's also not very relatable because those, you could buy a 90, 000 home in a good neighborhood back then in the 90s.

It's true. It's a different time. Versus now. Yeah. I can't tell you the last listing I showed for under a hundred. Yeah. No. I'm having a hard time thinking of like under 150. So it's like preparing to have that conversation, you have to continue learning, like you need podcasts, listen to books, yes, watch the news, but that's just take it with a grain of salt.

You really need to watch more industry related news versus just like, woe is me, the world is ending. I can't do this. whether you're left or right, they're going to Construe these facts so many different ways, but like keeping current matters. Go to Economist, go to when you're looking for your source on like, hey, I've been asking like, how's, how's the market?

And I don't know how to respond. Mm hmm. Yeah. See, it's insane. I mean, but ask them like, okay, are you looking from a buyer perspective? Are you looking from a seller perspective? Because they're, they're two different complete ballgames when you go to explain that. Well, and it's not. Yeah. Yeah. There's things out there now to help like, you know, 20 years ago, there was one way to get a mortgage and it was very cut and dry and that's, but you know, all the.

That generation, that's what they're telling their kids, but there's so many loan products out there now that are being designed to help a buyer still purchase a home. Absolutely. These things are happening. So again, you can't just listen to the people around you that did this 20 years ago. You have to have current information.

And you just need to kind of change the narrative from being scary and, no, I don't want to touch that market with a 10 foot pole, but like people are always going to need homes. People are always going to have a reason to move. Are you an empty nester and you just don't want a 3, 500 square foot house anymore?

Are you having a baby and you can't live in that two bedroom apartment anymore, you know, or are you relocating? Right. Jobs change. There's still a huge need for that. And with the way that rentals are going, those have skyrocketed too, but we are having hard conversations where it's like, look, you know, I was on that listing appointment and she did decide to list, but I'm like, you don't need to move right now.

You know, like our job, and yes, do I want that commission and do I want that sale? Absolutely. But you're also thinking long run. What's best for her. The big picture. She wanted to downsize. She doesn't necessarily have to downsize, but she would be spending close to a hundred, 125, 000 more for a home that's smaller and not a great of an area.

Right. And it just doesn't really, you know, but she needs to, which is fine. So there's always going to be that situation where people are like, look, I have to give it my rate. This isn't what I want anymore, but it's always going to come down to like that inventory spiral and supply and demand and all this pent up buying that is not happening.

Right. So, I mean, we're down. a huge amount from what people bought last year. And so all these people, they have finally realized, Hey, that's not going to get on to do three and a half percent. It's not going to happen. Probably not in the fours anytime soon. And so once it hits like five and a half, the minute it really takes any kind of drastic turn, people are just hanging there.

We got, you know, A bunch of buyers that are ready to go. They just can't pull the trigger because it's just so scary right now Which understandably so absolutely and if and if you can't financially do that, like don't don't say oh, it's okay Yes, they can refinance. So that comes with a whole another level of closing costs associated with that.

And we don't know when that's going to drop. So do they want to carry this payment that they can barely afford or they won't be able to go to the grocery store or go on vacation? You know, just to have that house now where they're still in a living situation where they can wait, but as soon as those get down into where there's a five in front of it, we want to be here in the market ready to help those buyers.

So like, we want to plant those seeds now. And prepare them and educate that buyer so when they're ready, we can go right and let them know that they are a priority to you, you care about what happens to them, right? It's not just that's really important to us. And it always has been a big thing is we hold our hand and we say, you know, from what I'm hearing from you, it doesn't seem like you're comfortable with this.

So let's hang back, reevaluate, you know, and then we'll, we'll come back to this, you know, I'm keeping in touch with you and, You know, we'll do what's right for you. But there's going to be a lot of realtors out there. And don't be, don't be one of them, y'all. That are like, oh, she doesn't want to buy now.

I need money now. You need money next year, too. We just had that conversation. She was like, you know how great my 2024 is about to be? I mean, she has a list, y'all, of people who are like, Everyone is waiting for next year. So I'm very happy for my future self. Myself now is not so much, but. It's fine, but it's okay.

It's fine. It is fine. And, I mean, we kind of talked about marketing, so like, you're rolling out some new, um, military centered... Yes, yes. postcards. Because, I mean, my military clients, like, that's always been my niche. Like, I'm a military wife, I get it, like, the timelines, the, you know, abbreviations of things, like, I will go to bat for them a hundred times out of a hundred, but...

They're going to have to move. They're going to keep moving. The government is not going to say, it doesn't change for them. There's no choice. They can't just hang back. So I'm really, really focusing my marketing right now on my military folks. And how you can help them navigate it. Because they're like, dude.

And like, BAH. You're talking, like, the adjustments aren't there. Yeah, the adjustments. So we have not had a significant increase in, our basic housing allowance that the military gives us. In three years, four years. So obviously all of these changes that have happened the last couple of years in the market and home pricing, that military pay is not, it's not reflecting it, not reflecting affordability.

Yeah. So you know, we're touching those military clients and just saying, Hey, how can I help? What does the next year look like for you? You know, what does. the new person coming into your squadron need from me, you know, like just having those conversations that I'm here to help. I understand exactly what you're going through and I want to be that resource for you.

Which I think is so smart and and honing on that marketing right now because a lot of agents, you know, money might be tight. You know, you're not raking in and having all these closings that you might have had the past couple years. And so the first thing that they shut off is, Oh, I'm going to cut this marketing expense.

I'm going to cut this magazine. I'm not going to send out these mailers. And I think you have to be smart and I will never say go max out credit cards. That's just not me. A lot of people are and be like, Oh, I'll just spam. I'm not that person. I'm not, I'm very risk averse to that. But right now is not the time to cut back on marketing because everybody is.

Yeah, the majority is, especially to agents. And so, if you're one of the ones that remain strong business as usual, it's just gonna benefit you in the long run because people, you're still gonna be out in front of people. You're still gonna be the point of contact. You're still gonna be like, oh, she's still hustling and killing it and getting it.

This market, she won't care. Right. But there's also some marketing that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Right. Like there's stuff, there's tons of stuff that you can do for free. Even just getting out there, putting your, Absolutely. you know, getting out in the community, showing your face. Right. I mean, that doesn't cost you anything.

Go to local,   hotspots. Go to, local stores, local shops and just say, Hey, how are you doing? Right. Um, get some food for your kids. They're always, they're always hungry. Always. I mean, yeah. That's true. And show your face. I mean that's free marketing. Yeah, absolutely. Writing a card to past clients. We've been doing that.

 pandemic times, we didn't have time. No, we tried. We legitimately did try. Yes. And it just constantly, it was not consistent. It was hard. And so now we're really short enough hours in a day where now it's like, okay. What do we got out of you? I could write cards all day. But you can touch with clients you haven't talked to in a while and remind them, I remember you.

I remember, what we went through together you know, and check in on them. And I think, especially for the three of us, like we do get, like we were saying, so invested in their personal story. The things that they want in a home, it's great to be able to be like, I hope you're still enjoying that screen porch.

Oh, absolutely. Like, just those little things and they mean so much to people. There's something to remember from each. Hopefully all good. And they're proud of their homes. They are. Yes. They think you're super busy and all that stuff and don't want to bother you and I'm like bother me. Bother me please.

They're going to be excited to show you what they did to that playroom or how they renovated that kitchen and just check in and be like, hey, I'm just checking in. I know you have these goals to do and all these projects. How's it going? I'd love to see it sometime. And that's just an in person conversation with them to know that you care about them.

You haven't forgotten them. It wasn't a collect my money check. Let's never talk again. Don't be those people. But. Yes, you can be smarter financially with your marketing, like Melissa said, there's a lot of free resources out there. So work smarter, not necessarily harder. When it comes to that, just make everything that you do impactful in a way, instead of just, Oh, you know, that didn't really mean anything.

I checked the box because I did it, but it didn't, you know, it didn't benefit your business. You really have to focus your marketing resources on. the people closest to you. Absolutely. And whether that's clients, whether that's church members, whether that's the soccer team, you know, whoever it is, those are the people that you should really be focusing on right now because those are the people that are gonna.

I'm sure you've heard this time and time again, the fear of influence. I'm sure that's been drilled into your head. Yeah. That list you had to make as soon as you got into real estate, that it's like, Oh, there's my pastor. Right. There's the mailman. There's my Amazon delivery guy. You know, I mean. It's the deer in the headlights look when they say list, um, 200 people and you're like, Oh, Do I know 200 people?

You'd immediately go to Facebook friends list. Yes. I know. Absolutely. I literally print it off. Facebook friends list and I got the church directory. That's funny. I don't even know churches do that anymore. I don't think they do. Mine does. Oh, does it? Yeah, they want us to take pictures and everything. I called my mom and I was like, can I borrow the directory?

Yeah. Oh. Get those church directories out. Start writing those cards. I mean, the people that knew you since you can walk and come to your nursery. Yeah, there you go. I mean, those are the people that would be like, uh, I had no idea. Yeah. You know, so when you're new, there's so many little things that you're like, well, I didn't think of that before.

Hello. Right. You know, and there's even stuff like now that I'll see somebody else and be like, oh, darn it. That's really smart. Right. Mm hmm. You know? Creative. You gotta be creative. Just keep grinding. You've already put in this effort and energy. Don't come off this super high of this market and then say, I'm out.

I just can't do it. It's not for me. Stick in there, stay through it, let it run its course. This is the market and it's going to be like this. And there's going to be highs and lows. There's going to be busy time and slow times, but use those slow times to work in your business that you didn't necessarily have when it was super busy.

Um, and if there's any other questions that y'all have, or just get a little insights. We kind of got a lot of, um, you know, just ideas of what we learned over the years, and what kind of has worked best for our business and what absolutely has not. Yep. So, um, always feel free to reach out, Facebook, Instagram, um, our numbers are everywhere.

TikTok, you know, um, just slide into our DMs in there, but,  this wraps up episode two  📍   and we can't wait to see you next time. Bye y'all. Cheers.