Ep.36 “Buyers Are Missing the Window… And They Don’t Even Know It (2026 Market Truth)”

Is now really a bad time to buy a home… or are buyers missing one of the biggest opportunities in years?

In this episode of Real Estate UnRaked, Eric Rakers, Dane Coussens, Bridget Hodges, and Jaycee break down what’s actually happening in the 2026 housing market—and why so many buyers are getting it completely wrong.

While headlines continue to push fear about interest rates, affordability, and inventory shortages, there’s a major shift happening behind the scenes that most buyers don’t see.

👉 And it’s creating opportunity.

We’re diving into:

•  The hidden buyer advantage that didn’t exist just a few years ago 
•  Why price reductions, seller concessions, and deal fallouts are opening doors for buyers 
•  How to win offers WITHOUT being the highest bidder
•  The truth behind days on market and what it really means for negotiation power
•  Why the “there’s no inventory” narrative is starting to break
•  The real impact of the lock-in effect and why it’s cracking in 2026
•  How early buyers gain leverage while late buyers get stuck competing again 
•  The dangerous mindset of “waiting for the perfect time” and how it backfires 

This episode is packed with real, on-the-ground strategies from a team actively working in today’s market—not theory, not headlines, but what’s actually happening in real deals right now.

If you’re a homebuyer trying to figure out when to make your move—or you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to change—this episode will completely shift your perspective.

👉 The window isn’t coming…
 👉 The window is already open.

🎧 So grab your coffee… or something stronger… and let’s UNRake this.

I do not own the right to the music or sound bites used throughout this episode.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If I told you right now that buyers actually have more leverage than they've ever had in the last three years, would you actually believe me? Because most buyers today are still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for that perfect moment. They're waiting for rates to drop, prices to crash, or something to make them feel safe again. But here's the deal. If I did tell you that the window is already open, and the people who recognize it first are the ones who are quietly winning right now. And the scary part is the same buyers that sat out in 22, 23, and 24 are about to sit out again in 26. Not because they can't buy, but because they don't understand what actually is happening in the market right now. So today we're going to break it down for you. The real buyer advantage nobody's talking about and why the inventory excuse is starting to fall apart in front of you. So grab your coffee or something stronger and let's unrick it with your favorite real estate team. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Everyone else good?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Yeah. Everyone else is fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Alrighty.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

We're doing good. I mean, we've been staying pretty busy here lately. Yeah. Girls, you're you're showing houses and doing things.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

We're getting there.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

We're all having a lot of fun right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Oh, yeah. You can do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

It's great when you have a couple of closings in the same month, you know, two, three going on. You can't beat that.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Yeah. I love taking care of people. It was funny. We were we're getting set up for the podcast today, and we had a vendor come in and we got to talk about what we were doing. And she's like, Real really stayed on right. She goes, Are you with the Rakers home group? And we're like, Yeah. She's like, Oh, you're Eric. And it's it's pretty cool for people that are actually paying attention to what we're doing. So thank you for doing that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

That's the first time I've heard like that's so exciting to hear. Awesome.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Reaching the masses. Reaching the masses. Very cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

But we've been heavy the last couple episodes on buyer stuff. And before we get into our segment today, we always gotta do our traditional stuff, and I love it. Dad joke time.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

Dad joke.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Ladies first. Oh, we're going ladies first. Yeah, because Dane.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Dane claimed that last one. Okay. Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? Bo Drizzle.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

Oh that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

I don't think of the character cartoon character Snoop. I don't know why I thought that's Snoop Dogg. I don't know why I got so confused for a second.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Snoop Dogg.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Martha Stewart's best friend.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

There you go. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt.

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Well, mine is why did the house wear makeup? It had a foundation problem. Yeah, the YouTube were just like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

All right, the Spence is killing me, David.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

It always has something to do with my wife, correct? Yes, of course. So I think my wife started to show first signs of dementia. She says she can't remember what she ever saw in me. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Does that beat the other one?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

That's pretty close for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

Yeah, that's up there. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

That's a good one, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

All right. What temperature is the corner?

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Is the corner?

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Is the corner? What temperature is it?

SPEAKER_01 3:37

I'll tell you, but you told me not to answer.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

It's 90 degrees.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Yeah. I hate that. I mean, of course it's 90 degrees. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

There we go. I knew it. I knew it. I'm like, all right.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

All right. Here we go. So we're going to talk about the hidden buyer advantage right now in today's market. And that's where we're going to start because this is where buyers are getting getting it completely wrong right now. Yep. And we're no longer really in a seller's market like we were a few years ago. But buyers are still acting like we are. And that mindset is costing them opportunities every single day.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

And you know what? This is wild because I'm literally saying buyers hesitate on homes that have been sitting 30, 45, even 60 days now. And that didn't even exist a few years ago.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

No. And here's the thing: buyers don't realize how much leverage they actually have right now. I mean, we're seeing price reductions, seller concessions, repairs are getting negotiated, and that wasn't happening beforehand.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

And it's even crazier. Homes are falling out of contract again, deals are collapsing and coming back on market. It's opportunity. So have I.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Even I've been in multiple offer situations, and we've lost deals by almost $5,000. Right. So it's coming back. And it it's not one of those things that is is spread out to the masses. Because if you're paying attention to the news right now, it's gas prices are high, interest rates are high. Oh my gosh, here we go. Right. You know, we're still an overall record low for interest rates.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Right. Well, we we are, and they're dropping. I mean, if you look the last week and a half, they have slowly been dropping back to where they were before the war started. So it's it's going back in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

You know, and we really deep dived on a lot of things last week when we talked about concessions and rate by down and stuff that we can get. With it being the market as it is right now, you can get that stuff for your customers. So, you know, that that price reduction psychology, you know, sellers don't want to drop the price for fun. It signals fatigue or urgency. Right. It really does. First, that first price drop, it's really testing the market.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

It is. The second price drop is motivation is rising. Third price drop is just bring me a buyer.

SPEAKER_04 5:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

When in reality, uh taking those three little scenarios, okay. If if you start out right and do a real market value uh listing and get the price out on day one, Dane, you know what's the first 14 days, the most crucial part of that.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Those are the very most crucial you're not even getting into the first and second or in the second and third price. No, you won't even get in probably past the second week if you if you price it right.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

No, I've seen houses go in days right now because they're priced right for the market.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

They have the right concession amount listed on it, and they're willing to negotiate. If they had they know that up front, that's fun. The days of, well, we're just gonna throw it out there. I'm gonna get as much as I can out of this. That's gone. Yeah, you're shooting yourself in the foot, you're cutting your leg off at the knees, and it's just not gonna work.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

And the issue I'm having is even though I educate the seller, they still want to go back to the 21, 22 times where no, I want to start at this high price, and I'm like, please let me help you. I can get it sold for if you just let me do my job.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

And and it's hard to convince them sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Well, here's the thing if you want to price your house ten thousand dollars over market value, do it with a strategy, do it with a plan. Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

And what we usually tell our sellers is do it ten to twenty thousand dollars, but make that for concessions. You know, that can save buyers way more on a monthly thing than doing a price cut. So if you start out, for example, on a home that you know it's like 350,000, 360, and we know that's what we're gonna get for it, let's put it in for 375. Or, you know, I I think going 380 is pushing it too much.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

But getting at least a maximum of 375. All right. And then you're offering $15,000 worth of concessions, and we we advertise that for repairs, rate by down, etc. But closing costs isn't that that's usually what a buyer is uh yeah, you know, happen to cover, isn't it? That's an expense. Besides throw down payment.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Well, it's also our job as realtors to let the buyers know the advantage of those concessions.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Because some don't realize how it can really help them out in the long run, uh, rather than reducing the price of the home. So we got to definitely educate them.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Yes, yeah. Concessions are a big part.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Yeah, they are, and you know, do you know the days on market? This is that leverage meter. Yeah, you know, like we said, zero to 14 days, as strong seller position. Yes, 15 to 30 days, we're in a negotiable area, 30 plus leverage shifts to basically a buyer, absolutely, and then 60 plus days, which we are seeing a lot of them on the market right now. It's 60 plus days, and that's just because of the fear of buyer, yeah, and that that affordability feel. Yeah, you know, I was showing houses yesterday and these people were stuck at a certain price point. And I explained to them, I said, Hey, go a little beyond that. Don't be afraid of that, because I want to show you what the difference is in the physicality of each house.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

So let's go look at one fifteen thousand dollars over your max budget just to do it. They're approved for more, but this is where they want to be because they got that feeling, right? That comfort zone, yeah. Yeah, I said, let's go over that, right? Because what we can do, if you find out that all that stuff that you feel like you're okay with fixing and doing, what if you didn't have to do it?

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

And what if I could save you money that way?

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

And then she's she actually wanted me to explain that to her. She's like, Well, what do you mean by that? And I'm like, You're okay with doing a new kitchen, you're okay with doing floors, you're okay with doing paint. What does that equate to dollar wise? I have you really thought about that. Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Yeah, a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

She's like, I I know I never really thought about it. And I said, Well, if you are you gonna be doing the work? She goes, No, no, I'm gonna have people do it. I go, Well, what you just told me right there is anywhere between 20 to 20, 25,000.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Yeah, even though it's better on their 30,000, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, and I go, so you're looking at a house at 250 that you're probably gonna try to offer less for, or if not, they've already got it set to a lower price, right? That they're not gonna offer anything.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

You're gonna spend after the fact another 30 grand to get the house ready the way you want it, and that's what now you've got $280,000 if you look at the total, right, total line of things. Go find a house that's ten, fifteen thousand dollars more in your budget, and guess what? You may not have to do that. Yeah. And I just saved you five thousand dollars there. That's and on top of it, these the closing costs that you're gonna have to pay. What if I can get that covered by the seller too?

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

The higher price you go on a home a little bit, the more negotiable you're gonna see those things happen.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

The seller's gonna have a little bit more realization on that. They're like, oh, never thought of it that way. I said just keep an open mind about it. I'm not forcing you to do it. I just want you to take a look because my job is to educate you and give you all the options, all the avenues.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

And what's the better fit for you?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

And if we decide that we're going back down to that lower range, then we're that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

Now you know.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

But at least you have an understanding that if a little bit more price point is gonna have a better representation and have a better home with it. So back on the market deals is also a big thing, too, because we we're saying the multiple offers thing, we're seeing you know how deals fall through through the due diligence period. Again, the inspection fallout, that's the due diligence period, and that gives another opportunity for somebody to negotiate harder that sellers probably don't want to do.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Or financing fallout. I've seen a lot of that. I've seen that more in the last 90 days than I have anything. And I don't know whether this because of the rate changes or where we're at with it. But sellers now are a little bit more nervous about the next buyer, right? You know, when they run into that. And what, you know, again, why did it fall out? You know, why did that deal fall out? We got to explain it to our sellers. Because they think something may be wrong with the home. Yeah, they might be, yeah, you know, and they again they lose that lack of trust and confidence in that deal is gonna stick all the way through. Right. Offer strategy shift is is huge value, you know, clean offer versus a highest offer, flexibility closing dates equals a good power move, and inspection confidence versus weaving inspections. Okay. Oh god, we we talked about that last time. Yeah, never, ever, ever do that.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Never never in a billion trillion years.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Okay, please. So let's say this is the way buyers need to hear, just like this. You know, we don't need to be the highest offer anymore. You need to be clean, strategic, and position say that five times.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Position, position, position, position. Sorry. Thanks, bro.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

You said it position correctly. The buyers need to be positioned correctly because sellers right now, they're tired, they're frustrated. And when a serious buyer shows up, they actually do listen. So buyers are walking into a negotiable market, acting like it's still a biddy war, and then wondering why they're not winning. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

So if you're a buyer right now, here's the move: stop waiting for perfection, start looking for leverage because leverage is everywhere right now if you know how to spot it.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Or your agent knows how to spot it. Or your agent does your agent know how to spot it?

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Yep. That that is super crucial. Well, let's let's throw a question in the air for all of us real quick before we jump into our fun part. Is how many agents do you really think can spot it right now in the market?

SPEAKER_03 13:06

Well, maybe not as many.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah, I would say more than I would say less than half for sure. We'll leave it at that. I'm being generous, so we'll just leave it at that. I'm trying to be nice. We don't want to piss everybody down.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

No, no, we're not being but it's it's good to be real. Yeah, right. I like being real.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yeah, same.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Real and transparent. All right, here we go. I've the last couple episodes taking it away, and it's back in full force. Uh it's game time. Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_03 13:39

Game time. So we're jingle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

So anyway, I'm bringing back deal autopsy. All right. All right. I'm bringing it back. This is where we're taking real deals, real situations, and we're dissecting them like a crime scene. Because somewhere along the way, the deal died, and one of these idiots pulled the trigger. Your job is to figure out what actually killed the deal. And fair warning, some of these are really dumb and should be illegal. All right. Here we go. The boat that sank the deal.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

The buyer is under contract, everything looks clean. Guy's got a 720 credit score, fully approved, passed inspection. Seller even agreed to concessions. We're 10 days from closing, and the deal died. What do you think of the deal?

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Because he bought a boat. It's in the headline.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Well, he but he made a purchase.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

He made a purchase that affected his um approval.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

That's right. The buyer went out and bought a $75,000 boat and financed it.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Do that.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

And absolutely nuked their debt to income.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Yep, sounds all right.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

All right, next one. I'm not gonna tell you the title of it. We're just gonna go with it. Buyer loves the house. We're under contract. Everything's moving smoothly. Inspection comes back. There's a minor scuff. The deal should be done, right? Buyer walks. What killed it? Didn't agree on repairs?

SPEAKER_03 15:10

Wait, wait. There was just a scuff, so nothing.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

Minor scuff. The deal should be done on this. The buyer walks. Ooh, this one. Anything, Jason? You got anything?

SPEAKER_02 15:26

I had to have been wanting repairs and just not being able to agree upon it.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yeah. Alright, I'll give you a hint. The title of this is called The Facebook FBI Agent.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Are they just listening to people online?

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Oh, I don't know. What do you think, Dane? Hell upon the JC, what'd you say?

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Like repairs weren't agreeupon?

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Possibly. Are you ready for this? Yeah. Oh my gosh. The buyer went on Facebook, joined the neighborhood Facebook group.

unknown 15:54

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Read one post from somebody named Debbie. You know, Debbie that's wearing the apron, serving cookies to all the new neighbors, has a mustache.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Oh my gosh. Mustache Debbie.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

And you know what Debbie said? Hey, yeah, the streets flood sometimes. Deal's dead.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

Well, okay. I get uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Yeah, nothing kills a deal faster than a bored neighbor with Wi-Fi and options.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

That's why those Facebook groups should be hey, are you actually living in the neighborhood? A lot of them are. You should not be, yeah, that's how mine is. You should not be allowed to be emailing.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Some of those open source ones are too. They want you in the neighborhood. Yeah, and my post doesn't get posted until Tuesday. Yeah, literally four days after.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

Come on now. Don't give me go in there.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Don't give me go there. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

One of the most frustrating things is when they don't approve your post.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Yep. Yeah. Till after.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

But they're gonna approve deputies. Yeah. Yeah, please. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Social media equals miss. It's a misinformation machine.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

100%.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

One opinion versus professional guidance in the buyer's mind. Importance of verifying versus reacting. Yeah. Okay. All right, ready? I gotta bring my favorite people back in California.

SPEAKER_04 17:11

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Oh the mom from California. Here we go. The buyer's ready. Reapproved. House locked in. Numbers make sense. They call their parents. The deal dies. What killed it?

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Bad advice from dad.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

Yeah, let's do that.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Bad family member advice. Um mentality on the home they're buying.

SPEAKER_03 17:38

Yep. Just getting influenced by wrong advice.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Wrong advice. You're close. Yeah. I think I think you guys are pretty good. You know what mom from California said? I don't think now's the right time. You should wait. Yeah. Bad advice. And just like that, the deal's dead.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Boom, mom.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Yeah. Just like that, the deal's dead. There's nothing like taking financial advice from someone who bought their house for $90,000 in 1987.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Oh, I was right. 1987.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Outdated advice. We we brought that up last week. It's dangerous in today's market. It is. That emotional influence versus logic. And buyers need current market guidance. They don't need correct. What was happened 10 years ago? Heck, even a year ago, dude. Even a year ago. I mean, even a year ago now is totally different. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Even the beginning of this year.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

It was different. Okay. Uh you guys have all ran into this before.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

The perfection addict. It happens all the time. Buyers seen 27 homes, offers on none of them. Finally finds the great one. D1. It's the right price, good condition, solid location. They pass, deal dies. What killed it? You said they passed on it? Yeah, they finally find the right one. Right. Good price. Good condition. Solid location. So they didn't make an office. They pass on it. Deal dies. Deal doesn't even start. It was dead on arrival.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

It didn't check all the boxes. It had one box that was unchecked.

SPEAKER_03 19:05

Yeah, just unrealistic wish list on that, on their part.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

It could be scared. It could be waiting for something better.

SPEAKER_03 19:15

There's always something. Okay. No.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

They think prices.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

There's never the perfect they've so they're waiting for the interest rate to get below three again.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Yeah, like they just how do I say this?

SPEAKER_00 19:26

I want you to say this. I'm trying to draw that out. You talked about a couple of instance ago.

SPEAKER_03 19:31

Unrealistic expectations.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yes. And you say there's never ever a perfect scenario.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

There's never one. And that's what the I don't know why my brain got. I haven't had caffeine yet, so.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

You guys, all you all said it correctly. It's all the above. Yeah. But really, they're addicted to perfect.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

These people are out here. Dating houses like it's tender and swiping them up in homes that can't afford to lose.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Oh my gosh. That just gave me like an app idea.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

We'll talk about it after. Just getting a patent.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Sounds good. Yep. Yep.

unknown 20:08

All right.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

I think I'm onto something.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

The rate obsession disaster. And this is the last one. Buyer says I'm waiting for rates to drop. Sits out. Six months later, rates drop slightly. More buyers flood into the market. Home prices tick up. They try to buy, get beat out three times, deal dies. What do you guys think killed it? The weight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Oh, those buyers flooding market.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

You were just competition? Yep. Again, that's all of it. That was good. But mainly, they were chasing the wrong metric.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

And it's that rate. Everybody's chasing that affordability rate. You know, they saved 0.5% on the rate and paid $30,000 more for the house. Congratulations. You played yourself.

SPEAKER_03 20:59

You really did.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

That rate versus price trade-off. Monthly payment versus purchase opportunity. There's a huge difference with that.

SPEAKER_04 21:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

And market timingness. Oh, yeah. You know, waiting for the houses to drop. Oh, it's going to crash. This is what we're going to do. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and blah. So the reality is with all these ones, the deals just don't die, they get killed by bad decisions, bad timing, bad advice, or just straight up dumb moves. Yeah. Well, thanks for playing, and I hope you learned something. All right. Fantastic. Moving on. Moving on. Moving on. So the next thing that we're going to be talking about is the lock-in effect is cracking. We're going to talk about the biggest lie buyers are still holding on to right now. There's no inventory. Is that true?

SPEAKER_03 21:43

No, that's not true, but you hear it all the time. Hear it all the time.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

But here's what's actually happening the locked in, the lock in effect is starting to break.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

Yes. And for anyone that doesn't know what that is, that's homeowners who locked in super low interest rates and they refuse to sell. Because why would they? They're out like three percent. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

But what now? Life happens, job changes, divorce, growing families, relocations. People have to move.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Yeah. Life happens. Life does happen. And you know, JC, you're right. Those those really four things the job changes, divorce, growing families, relocation. Right now the military's got their orders, so you're seeing a lot of those guys relocate right now. Right. That's important. And some of them that have these finances that have been here for a few years, that you know, that are they're on the military a little bit and they may have to get relocated one or two more times. You know, they have that great rate. I mean, even two years ago, you're you're getting rates in the mid-fives, mid-fours. Heck, I believe it or not, I got two houses that are selling. Well, it's closing tomorrow. You know what their rate is? You would think it'd be in the sixes, right?

SPEAKER_03 22:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Nope. 5.8. Oh. Nice. VA? Nope. FHA? FHA. Wow. And I got all closing costs paid for by the buyer. Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Oh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

So it's out there, it's happening. And it happens quite a bit. So the you know, the sellers are finally moving because they got the life versus interest rate movement. Something's gonna have to break away for them. Correct. Trust me, I've got the 3% interest rate as a homeowner. Dane, I know you're there.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

And it's a good feeling to have, but we're developing the equity. The equity is gonna overcome the interest rate anytime. Because the equity you probably have in the house is pretty damn close where I'm at, too. Well, it's double than what I paid for. Exactly that. So we can actually go and upgrade on a home. And even though we're paying a little bit higher interest rate, I guarantee our monthly payments are gonna be cheaper.

SPEAKER_04 23:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

Because we're taking that equity and destroying the rate. Right. Right. Because 10% of something on a smaller amount is nothing. Right.

SPEAKER_04 23:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

You got that. You also still have people that are outgrowing their homes. Family, remote work isn't as prevalent as it used to be. But you are seeing multi-family stuff.

SPEAKER_04 24:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Right. You're seeing, you know, I hate to say this, but kids get out of college and they do that stuff. Are they coming back home, guys? Are they on their own? Most of them are coming home. They are. I mean, there's a lot coming home right now. It's not like we expect everybody to get out of college and they're going to go buy their first house. Right.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Or get a job right out the gate, because even looking for jobs, I know some friends are like that too. Yeah. You know, I'm 35 years out of college.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:34

So people are moving back in.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Now I may be wrong on this advice thing, and I'm going to have my squirrel moment for the episode, okay?

SPEAKER_03 24:41

All right, go for it.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

And it's actually not a bad one. But you have these people that could get out of college and they're paying rent. They're doing the things they need to do. Okay. Right now, what do you think is a very good investment? Because the first time home buyer house has kind of gone out of the market. You really don't find a starter home anymore.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Well, they're they're not price low anymore where they can.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

They're not, but you know where the deal is right now? Townhomes. Yup.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Well, they are. You can find a good town home in the 200. Yeah. Now, the hard time right now, what I'm seeing is them selling.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Yeah, they're hard to sell because these a lot of these people have bought when it was higher, and now they're trying to get out of it. But as a person that just got out of college that's got a new job, that does have an income, their monthly payment can be right at what they're paying for rent. If not a little cheaper.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah, I would think it would be less.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

So that's a good uh and most younger kids and you know, starting out their life, why wouldn't you want to help them develop the generational wealth that they want? I had a conversation about this with a first-time home buyer just recently. She just got out of college. Yes, she is an engineer, but her friend got out of college too, is not an engineer. We were talking about these things. Believe it or not, the one that wasn't wasn't the engineer actually understood what I was talking about. And she's like, this is actually a smart move.

SPEAKER_04 25:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Because not only can I have other roommates live with me at the moment because it's a three-bedroom.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

When I go to upgrade my house and my job gets better in the next three or four years, or I may have to relocate. I can one, either rent out the entire thing, yeah, or sell it in that three to five year period. But I told her, I said, don't get rid of it. She goes, You're right. I'm just gonna keep it as a rental.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

And it turns into an investment property. Well, what are we doing? We're generating generational income. That's right. And these girls, I mean these ladies that I was talking to, it made sense for them. But these younger crowds are they just need to look at the market and see what they do. You just can't go buy, you know, $150,000 house, do some work into it, and okay, oh, I'm gonna keep it and rent it. Right. Most generally that's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

And you gotta look at the areas where those houses are at. Is that is that a place where you want to live in?

SPEAKER_03 26:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

You know, we ethnically can't discuss that, right? But we can express the neighborhood taking a look about how the neighbor takes care of their house, vice versa, and then then let them make their own opinions on it. Sure. Because ethically we can we can't discuss that.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

No, we cannot uh sway them while we're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

And I'll focus on the property and I'll say, hey, this is where we're at. Yeah, this house is 1952, it's an investor speciality, you want to do the work. Getting into your first home doesn't require having to do work sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 27:16

Yeah, no, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

But if you find the right move in a right area, heck, there's things over in St. John's and Silverleaf.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

That is a good deal right now. Why not? You're in the area that you want to be, you don't have to do maintenance in the yard, you don't have to do any of that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

No, and the area is growing out there too, so it's only going to increase the value of that home.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

That's right. I love St.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

John's. Yeah, great area.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Well, that was my moment. I mean, it's no that was a very yeah, so that was like a golden, a golden squirrel moment.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I like that. Like that.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

The golden squirrel.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

But some other things, like inventory right now, isn't flooding, and we're not seeing that, but what it is doing, it's layering. Right. So there's not really much of a surge, but just like a steady drip. There is. I agree with that. Steady drip, and we're getting to the the time of the year where you're gonna see more listings come to the market anyway because naturally it's what's gonna do. You're in summertime, and you know, kids are almost out of school. It's time to make that move. Right. So more listings each month, it's gives that compounding effect. Buyers don't notice gradual change. That's a psychological thing. Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Well, you know, this time of year, too, for the compared to the last three years, this is actually the lowest the interest rates has been in the last three years. Last three years. Yeah, during the spring. And they plan on continuing to go down. Yeah, and they're they're dropping.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

I know they keep dropping, but I did not know that in the last three years.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yeah, in the last three years, that's from Freddie Mac. So Freddie Cater from Freddie Mac.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

So Freddie.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 28:42

Thank you for that insight.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Yeah, a little research. I like it. I like it. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Well, we gotta back up what we're talking.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

So yeah, that's right. So glad you mentioned that. That perfect that perception lag. Yep, it's just it's a problem. Market shifts before headlines catch up. That's right. Anything that happens in the news, especially in the housing industry, it's four or five months old. Yeah, and it's it and it's always national, nothing local. Pay attention when it happens local. There's different things that happen just here in Northeast Florida. Well, it's different from across the river.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Yeah, I mean, well, not only that, I mean, compared to other states, we're a lot better off than a lot of other states that we're gonna do. Oh, heck yeah, we are a lot better off.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

So we are the earlier, and again, getting that perception lag, it's the news cycle's way behind the real times. Right, buyers are waiting for confirmation, and the which ends up turning into missed opportunities. Yeah, yeah. Don't if you're expecting somebody to patch you on the back, hey, great job. You know what? That is a good decision. I think you need to do that. If that's what you're waiting on, okay. Yeah, good luck. Reality check.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

It was funny. I had this couple, I mean, they missed an opportunity on a house that they ended up actually liking more than they thought. Right. But they kept thinking about it, they kept thinking and they kept thinking. See ya, waiting, and then they saw it was pending and they're like, darn, I missed it. Yeah, they missed it.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

I had I had a couple three, three homes like that where they dragged their feet, they love it, and they're like, are we ready? And it went under contract either within the hour before or the day before. Three times.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Yep. So early versus late buyer advantages. Let's get into that real quick. So early buyers equal negotiate. That's where it's at. All right. If if it's not exactly you feel like it's the timing, we what's that phrase we use all the time?

SPEAKER_01 30:25

If you can't find the deal, let us. I mean, let's don't wait for the deal. We'll go find the deal for you and make the deal for you.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Yep, that's right. Do you like that, France?

SPEAKER_03 30:34

No, I do. When did we say that last?

SPEAKER_00 30:36

We started talking about that last year. Let's don't wait for the deal. Let's go out and make a deal. I like that.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

I think that's my first time I've heard this.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Don't don't wait on it. Let's go make it.

SPEAKER_03 30:46

I like it.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

It is because it literally that there after it. There is some serious truth to that right now. Yeah. Right now, exactly. House, it's $399. For sure. We'll get closing costs paid. What do you want? Well, you know, I I don't have this much. I'm we're not really quite ready yet. Okay, well, what if I got closing costs paid for you? We got the repairs covered, and I was able to get a little bit of a rate buy down for you with the money the seller's gonna participate in. We would you'd be okay paying that and having a $2,800 a month house payment.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Oh, I didn't know that. Well, why don't we throw it at him and see if it's gonna work? Right. Because I got I have lenders relationships with, which we always offer three. Always that you can pick from, and you can choose the best lender that can probably get you approved in less than 24 hours. Right. But I've actually called somebody on a Sunday afternoon, got them a pre-approved, and we put an offer in that night. Awesome. It works, it can happen, it will happen if you want it to happen.

SPEAKER_02 31:45

I've seen lenders pay to end a lease early too.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

That's also a thing, too.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Flexible lender.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

Flexible lender. I can negotiate those into the deal.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

If your time is if time is your issue there.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

I've done that before.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Still negotiable.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

It's fun. I love getting flexible. Everything's negotiable. Excellent.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

I think he's so he's one of my favorite characters. Are you talking about Mr. Burns?

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Mr. Yeah, Mr. Burns. And saying it's a Smithers. Yeah. Smithers is his assistant. Thank you. Also, the you know, late buyers, they're competing with other people, and that late cycle equals multiple offers return. History is going to repeat itself. Yeah. We don't want to go down that road again. So why waiting is going to backfire? Well, more inventory inventory is going to equal more buyers, and then they jump back in. Lower rates equal more competition. Right. You want to pay them more for the house. And payment may not improve as much as you expected.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Remember that 10% analogy I was given? 10% of this amount versus this amount is completely different. Right. It matters.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

What are we we're actually starting to see is a slow shift. More listings hitting the market, not a flood, but cracks in the dam. And here's the problem. Buyers are still sitting out there going, I'm just going to wait until more homes hit the market. Truth bomb time. By the time it feels like there's enough inventory, you're already late. Because the smart buyers, well, they're already moving now.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

And here's where this matters. More listings means more options, less pressure, and better negotiation. That's your setup.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Yep. The floodgates aren't open, but the crux are there. Yep. And the buyers paying attention, they're already stepping through them. Yep. They're not waiting. So let's connect the dots on all this. All right. You've got sellers that are becoming more flexible. Inventory is starting to loosen, and the buyers, it's got rocks in the shoes. They're still frozen. Yeah, yeah. Going nowhere.

SPEAKER_04 33:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

There's a gap, and that gap is where opportunity lives.

SPEAKER_04 33:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

And it's thriving like algae. And that is where that fear versus data thing needs to change for these people. All right. They're emotional. And here's the thing investors are logical right now. They're doing the right things, which I'm seeing.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

All numbers.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

Oh, me too. But if we get these buyers to take that emotional feeling out a little bit, things are going to be fantastic. Yeah. That wait and see crowd always enters at the worst time, and we don't want that. No. And then opportunity, the opportunity windows feels uncomfortable, but it's not obvious. Right. We just talked about that. These people just don't exactly see it gleaming like for sale. You know, right. It's not like walking into Ollie's and you're getting 50% off or something. That's that's the discount. And confidence comes after action. Remember that.

SPEAKER_03 34:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

That is a powerful statement right now. You're not going to feel confident before making a decision because you're going to question yourself. You're going to question yourself before, after, and during. Yeah, you always second guess yourself.

SPEAKER_03 34:50

Yeah. And it's so natural as humans, like I taking the emotion out of it, like, of course, it is an emotional kind of thing happening, right? You're making a big decision, big life decision on a house. But at the end of the day, take the risk, right? And it's not even a risk, it's you're setting yourself up for success. You just have to reframe how you're thinking it. I think that's like the biggest message.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

All right. And for the doubters out there that think that, you know, we're just a bunch of realtors that are just trying to say, hey, it's okay. And we're just trying to make a sale. And we understand the reality of it because we're living in the same reality that you're living in. Yes, it costs more for fuel. Yes, it costs more for this.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

But here's the deal we are we're in, we put our pants on the same way everybody else does. Yeah. And so they they need to be logical about some of the decisions in the process. Correct. We do know that anytime that somebody buys, and even anybody knows this, most of the time it's emotional. If you go out and buy a TV, do you say, oh, well, $16.97, that's that's a good deal for a 75-inch TV. You know, I'm gonna do it. Actually, it's 85 inch now. They're they're not saying, well, you know, this is a good this is a good deal. I'm gonna save money over time by buying this thing. No, the first thing they're thinking about is, dude, yeah. Look at the movies I can watch on this.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Well, that's gonna look good up on my wall right there.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Yeah, I know where I could put it in three different places.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Don't tell me if I'm wrong if that's not what you think about when you do that. Of course. It's not. Do you go buy an iPhone, the newest version, because it's gonna make my life easier? No, you want the new latest and greatest. Right. You do. Same with cars, same with everything. Yeah, so why do homes have to be so much different? Why is the mindset so much different? So much more money.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

More money, it's more of a process.

SPEAKER_00 36:39

Yeah, it is a huge investment. Yeah, and that's where people pump the brakes. That's where they get mom and dad involved, that's what they get other family members on, people that they trust. But listen, at the end of the day, no matter what anybody tells you, they're not gonna hate you tomorrow because you decide to make a decision in your house. It's gonna be what's gonna work best for you. No situation is gonna be good for anybody unless they know it is at that moment.

SPEAKER_04 37:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

I mean, you can try to predict the future because listen, if I had a glass ball crystal ball, and I could tell you the future, I would not be doing this job.

SPEAKER_04 37:10

Yeah, right? I wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

And that's the truth. But what I can do is, and we all do, is we're smart enough to look at the market and make very good educated guesses.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Educated decisions on that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:23

Because there's I there's a prevalent difference. If you're out buying a house, you're only doing it once maybe every three to five years, which is now a seven to twelve. Do you think that those people know exactly what's going on in the market every day? No, no, they're only seeing what they're being told, what they're seeing on the third-party websites, right? Versus somebody like us that is looking at it every day, talking to multiple people every day, getting the opinions of so many. I would love to have a questionnaire to have every customer, whether they buy a house or not, just sit there and talk to us and say, hey, fill these three questions out for me real quick. Yeah. I want to know what you're thinking. And then you put it all together, I guarantee it's gonna be the same thing. Right for the most part. And then what do we do with that information? I don't say, hey, Mr. Customer, thanks for showing house. Oh, you wouldn't believe what Mr. and Mrs. Smith said last time I showed him a house. No, what I do is I take all that information and we compile it and then we use it, and then we help the next person educate them because it's a scenario we've more than likely have seen before. Sure. That we can help them through. I'm not trying to convince you to buy the house because at the end of the day, I want to have a relationship with you after the sale, and I'm gonna be there for you. Right. I'm not in it for a one house and done. I'm not gonna say at closing table, we're taking our farewell picture. That's just what we're doing. See ya. Thanks for the money, I'm out. That's not how we work, right? And we will never work that way.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Because you're gonna be living in the house. I want to help improve your lifestyle, I want to help you feel like you're getting to the next, you know, successful moment in your life because this is a life event.

SPEAKER_03 38:54

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

I want to be a part of that. I want to help you experience that. I want to give you the best feeling without having that buyer's remorse. Yeah. So that's where we're at. That's why it's emotional decision. Yeah, absolutely. It really is. All right. So here the bottom line is, guys, the buyers winning in this market right now are not the ones waiting, they're the ones who understand the shift. They see that opportunity that we've been talking about for the last 40 minutes and they move before everyone else catches on.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

If you're sitting here thinking, I don't know if now's the right time, that's exactly why you need to start having the conversation because clarity beats fear every single time.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

And you don't have to figure it out alone. That's the biggest thing. There are strategies right now that most buyers don't even know exist.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

And if you're serious about making a move or even just want to understand your options, reach out. We'll help you put a plan together.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

And there's a lot of truth to that. Yep. I love talking to somebody about a potential plan six to 12 months down the road. There's nothing better than planning ahead. So call us, we'll talk to you. You know, we'll we'll prove our worth. We really do.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:56

I love doing that.

SPEAKER_03 39:57

Give us one phone call.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 39:59

That's all.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

But hey, make sure that you guys are following us on all our platforms YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and everything and beyond. I'll tell you. Because we're breaking this stuff down every single week. And if you got value from this, I want you to hit the like button, subscribe to it, share it with friends, and someone that needs to hear this. Because to me, we're doing this not just for we're not doing this for us.

SPEAKER_04 40:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

We're not taking time out of our busy time right now and doing this. We want to educate people. We want to help people. Help people. That's that's all it is. We do. Yeah. Because chances are you're going to be sitting on the sidelines right now if you're not, if you're in and missing this opportunity, and then you don't even realize that if you're not hearing this stuff. All right. So reach out to us, come up with questions, and let us know. Yeah. But thanks for listening, and we're going to see you guys next week.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Have a good one.