Guiding Agents Through Atlanta's 2026 Real Estate Market

John Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer of GAMLS, joins us for a candid conversation about how Atlanta agents should operate in today's market.  We discuss recent shifts, effective strategies, and which playbooks should be retired.  It is an informative, approachable session that welcomes different industry perspectives.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I really feel this is a in it, we're in a healthier place. Um, it it just the the frenzy that we had on the sell side, the appreciation of properties that we had seen in terms of just the the housing prices going up, that caused a lot of problems, specifically first-time home buyers as we that are still struggling at this point. Um the the market now is more of a where it should be, I feel, than uh, than where we were previously. Um, had never experienced anything like that before. And hopefully we don't see that again.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

We have our my other co-host, Mr. Mark Hall, Atlanta Communities President, and Natasha Rooscrans, our other co-host, our chief business development officer. And today we have a very special guest with us. We have John Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Georgia MLS. Good morning, everybody. Welcome. Good morning. Thanks, everybody, for being here. We will uh get to the meat of our conversation in a moment, but I do want to I behoove myself if I didn't say that. John is our first guest here on the podcast. And John and I have known each other for going on 30 years and uh worked together for about 13 years and uh spent a lot of time together with our families. And John, thank you really very much for being here today. Johnny, Mark, Natasha, what a pleasure to be here today.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

It's an honor to sit amongst uh the uh leadership of Atlanta communities and have to say how much I respect your company and what uh you've achieved and uh the fact that I'm here today, uh it's an honor. So it's a pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Yeah, and thank you very much, John. Well, let's get started. So uh as mentioned, this is the very first AC Pro Talk podcast. We're very excited to be here with you today, and the timing couldn't be better. If 2021 was the frenzy and 2024 was the freeze, then I'm calling May of 2026 the great normalization. We finally moved away from the chaos into a market that actually makes sense for both professionals and families alike. Here's the high-level framework. The median price in Metro Atlanta is holding steady between $360,000 to $430,000. We are not seeing those 20% price hikes anymore. We're back to a healthy three to four percent appreciation. But the big shift is inventory. We've gone from a bidding war environment to a negotiation environment with nearly five months of inventory. Buyers have leverage again, and homes are averaging 60 or more days on the market. But you can't talk about the real estate market in Atlanta in 2026 without mentioning the FIFA World Cup. It's more than just soccer, it's a massive accelerator for the West Side and downtown. Projects like Centennial Centennial Yards are online, and the lifestyle premium, homes near the belt line or the transit hubs, is where the strongest equity is being built. Finally, the mortgage rate sticker shock is behind us. We are no longer going to see those mortgage rates in the two to three percent, and buyers in the marketplace have normalized themselves with that, roughly hovering around the six to six and a half percent mortgage interest rate. Sellers can't just slap a sign in the yard anymore and expect it to sell within 48 hours. It has to be turnkey ready. And for buyers, it's about being surgical, knowing which neighborhoods are still undervalued before the next wave of growth hits. But for a bit of humor with us here this morning, in 2026, we've traded waving inspections for actually checking if the HVAC works. Imagine that. What a novel concept. All right. Well, so with that, uh, let's go ahead and continue our conversation. I'm gonna turn it over to Natasha. Perfect.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

All right, John. So if you had to describe Atlanta's 2026 market to an agent who has kind of buried their head in the sand for the last six months, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Natasha, I would say that um there's been a movement toward towards a balanced market. Um and I think the process has been going on here for the last couple of years. Tony mentioned inventory has played a big role in how the market has really moved to where we are. Um, post-pandemic, right during the pandemic, you know, Georgia in the last, you know, we were carrying about 17,000 listings in our inventory, which was anemic. I mean, it was uh we would normally in a in a high-end side of that market, we'd have 80,000 listings. But when we saw the market shrink like that, all of a sudden you saw the behaviors of both agents and buyers and sellers change. So we have shifted towards a balanced side of things. Um, it's giving equal opportunity to both sellers. Um, sellers have to make sure that their house is properly priced. I think that is a very uh important piece of it. And they also have to give a compelling reason with all the inventory of why a buyer, when they come into the property, should be looking to say, this property reaches out to me. And that's all knowing the market, being prepared, knowing the local space, but also knowing the communities as well, because right now buyers have uh a little bit of leverage. They can pick and choose, they don't have the urgency that they had. They're being a little more decisive and not having to do it at a pace of making that quick reaction that um that they had to jump in during those previous years. So I really feel this is a in it, we're in a healthier place. Um it just the the frenzy that we had on the sell side, the appreciation of properties that we had seen in terms of just the the housing prices going up, that caused a lot of problems, specifically first-time home buyers as we that are still struggling at this point. So we've seen a bit of a flattening in terms of uh medium prices, Tony said. Um the the market now is more of a where it should be, I feel, than uh than where we were previously. Um, had never experienced anything like that before. And hopefully we don't see that again. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yeah, yeah, amen. Yeah. Uh I remember, you know, we see our agents, and they in during that frenzy, you know, they they wouldn't even have to put the sign in the air.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

No.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

They they put it in the MLS and they were getting multiple offers within 24 hours. Yeah. And then as things continue to shift, and I know Mr. Hall doesn't like the word shift.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

So when I said it, Mark, I was like, Yeah, I won't jump right out. Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Right. Right. But we we saw that on our community chatter, uh, on our community chat or with the Atlanta communities real estate professionals, they'd say, Oh my gosh, I'm putting this on in the yard. I haven't seen any activity, but it's only been out there 24 hours. So we've everybody has had to adapt with this market change. And again, it's a it's a better market for everybody involved, right? But for agents that were not prior with us or in the industry prior to 2020, and if they got in in 2020 or maybe 2019, all they knew was that frenzied market for the first couple of years. Right. And now they're having to adapt how they are strategically working with their buyers and sellers to inform them that we are not in those days anymore. Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

We're we're back to a balance, balance market. And I think there was a level of frustration, both on the the buyers where they were putting in offers on property and not even being close to it to where the property sold. And I think agents also were just, you know, a little discouraged about that, where you know, that they have a buyer willing and able, ready to go ahead and and and get into a property, but then when you have 10, 15 multiple offers and going through that process over and over again, there was they were getting discouraged. You know, and then thinking, do is this the time really that I should be buying a property? And uh, so that that whole market, I anecdotally, you know, I told the story of property across the street where there were agents and buyers lined up at half hour increments just to go in and show the property. And when I spoke to my neighbor, they had an offer before everybody had cleared out. Sure. That they were making offers right there on the spot with other people lined up outside to go ahead and do it. So yeah, that that was a bit of an imbalance. There's no doubt sustainability to that.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Oh, absolutely. And again, waving the inspections or people making offers on properties that they hadn't even seen. It had just come online and you know, they're sending offers over without even going out and looking at the property.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Oh, it's interesting to see as a broker, uh, agents that have come into the the market within the last five years and calling distress because they're like, we don't have multiple offers. The property's been on the market 48 hours. What do we do?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yeah, that was the norm. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

When I first got into real estate, my first year, it was, and this was a very long time ago, the average time of market was 365 days. So you knew you had to just, you're gonna wait a year before you see a paycheck. So uh yeah, 24, 48 hours, not no 30, 60 days. That's the average. Yeah, 60 days. That's a perfectly healthy market.

SPEAKER_02 9:16

Absolutely. Interesting, you say 365 days. I just heard Brian Bufini speak at a conference last week in Charleston. And he mentioned when he was selling real estate in San Diego, back when he was just getting going, before he got into his coaching program and all that he is today, he said that he would not take a listening agreement that was less than one year. Absolutely. That was less than one year. Yeah, very interesting. How do you live with that? How do you live with a seller for a year?

SPEAKER_01 9:43

What's happening? What's going on? Every time you look at your phone, you're like, oh my God. Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Well, it's a I'm gonna move us on to our next question, which is what is the single biggest shift between the market agents trained in in 21 to 23 and the market that they're selling in now?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

I think technology, Natasha, I think the advancement of AI and some of the things that I have seen over the last year and where this industry is moving and the the way the data is being consolidated to go ahead and give presentations that's out there. Um to think that in within a four-year time period that we would say and that there is such a an industry boom, I I have seen uh uh systems that, you know, through your phone can say, I would like to see this property on 123 Main Street, I would like to build a CMA on this property, I would like to put it in a format that I can do it in a presentation and and present it and have that grind and actually get the information that comes back in a format, not just the the data coming back, but in a presentation mode that you can take and put right in front and then add the additional questions on top of it to go ahead and refine that presentation. Um, I think the technology is incredible. It really is. But I but it in the other side of it, agents still need to know their marketplace. They cannot rely just on the tools that can go ahead. We at George MLS, we look at the data as the bridge that where agents can take the data and then have that bridge to their clients and then present it in a in a non-emotional way. This is what the marketplace is. But the way that that data now is being consolidated with that, it's um we are gonna see things here in the next year, both in the MLS world and the broker world, I think that's gonna make a big difference because consumers have they have an expectation now. Data's out there more available, they are way more knowledgeable than they ever used to be. I mean, when Natasha started when you were in the business, uh, it was the books when I first started at George MLS. We had listing books. Yes. And then it went to the modem where the telephone was the means of connecting with the squelching. And you know, we went to 9,600 bod, which we thought, oh, you know, and then we had networks, and then the internet came and that changed the way. But this AI technology and the way that that is being um uh gathered and harnessed right now, it is moving at a rapid, rapid pace. And I think it's gonna impact our industry to the good for sure. But I think going back to full circle, agents still have to know the marketplace. They still have to know the communities, they still have to know the neighborhoods to go ahead and bring that concierge value and guide people into that transaction. So um, yeah, leaning on technology, I think it's at the forefront of everybody's uh mind right now. And I think the um agents that accept it will be, you know, will really have an advantage to that because as I mentioned, consumers have expectations out there now. They they are out doing their own homework. So your the agents aren't going in, you know, as the the holder of all the knowledge. No, consumers, you know, have as just as much knowledge that's out there. So um I think being able to harness that, present it in a manner that uh resonates with their clients, um, but it's happening. Systems are changing. And um so when I hear you say that, all I hear is context because the data is all out there. And so it's it puts it in a nice neat little thing, except for what is the context of that, which we still fortunately, for the most part, I think have the context. Yeah, absolutely. And right instead of doing uh a lot of searches to pull up data and then have that data and then having to manipulate that, now it's querying, it's asking questions and then building on those questions about you know, narrowing down so you can be specific to the needs of that client. And and to be able to take that data and do it in a quick, fast, efficient manner, um, that's gonna change the way that and it's changing now. It's happening as we speak. And um, so it's up to the MLSs to be able to go ahead and provide that additional technology, be up to speed with it. Um, but uh and also be able to go ahead and and have our members that uh you know that that make our business what we are to go ahead and give additional tools and additional access, mobile and so on, maybe outside of what the brokerage provides, but harnessing that data in a manner that uh is gonna really put that agent um as the person that is uh most knowledgeable about what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

And what we've told our agents and and continue to preach to our agents is that you don't have to be an AI expert, but you need to understand enough. AI, in my opinion, and I know we share the the same feeling here, is AI is not going to replace a real estate agent. This industry is face to face, sitting across from each other, having conversations, always will be. Uh, but the agents today have to be knowledgeable to make them better, to make them better by use utilizing the technology in the artificial.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

You can't run from it because again, what I think is the consumers are we're just a part of their consumer life. And they can go to the internet. And if you think about Amazon, you know, Amazon scores a lot, but sometimes their prices are not as inexpensive as something somewhere else. The difference is convenience and and speed and all the other things that they provide, very good all the time. And real estate agents compete against that too. Yeah, and really, yeah, and and and also but have the knowledge to understand that even what is presented to give a better, if you have a better view of that, AI is not going to give you the the the full picture. You have to be able to take that and mold that into what you know about it. And to your point, Tony, absolutely. I think it's gonna be an assistant, but it will not replace it. There's still it's this is a belly-to-belly, this is a trusting environment. I mean, agents and consumers have to have that trust with each other for such a big, you know, part of their life. And um, so the agents have to go ahead and be able to take what they have, but then also go ahead and provide that concierge. What I think is please, no, no, please, after you what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

So what I think is interesting too with AI is it's different than other technologies where you have to learn new platforms and you have to learn um all the ins and outs of it. Instead, it's prompting. Yes, it's the questions to your point that you're asking. And the better the question, the better the result. And the craziness is that it gets to know you, it gets to know who you are, right? How you want to respond. And so it really does make that great assistant. And you're teaching it how to kind of clone yourself. It's uh scary yet kind of awesome all at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Absolutely. I signed up for a Claude account yesterday. I'm love Claude. Okay. I am I've been a big Gemini user because that's what we get uh with our Google workspace. And Gemini is great, but I heard at the conference last week about Claude, and people were the speakers were talking about Claude and how it can work on projects for you. And my colleague Blake and I just had the light bulb went off. And I said, All right, I'm taking this on. I'm gonna tackle a couple of projects that I know that we need to address from a brokerage level, and I think Claude's gonna help me get there.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

And so I'm uh I'm real excited about chat GPT. The reason is because it pumps me up. It talks good about me. Right, it tells me I'm still smart. Right. Right. Yeah. And to your point, Johnny, we we have a server that is a cloud server internally that we that I can query. We take things of like our call tracker that call in when the agents have um, you know, call us in and have uh questions for us. We track all those. And to be able to go ahead and take that and then throw it into cloud and ask the questions. What's the most prevalent question we've had over the last week, the last month? What do we need to do to go ahead and market towards that? Is there something that we might be able to fill a gap that would stop them from having to call in because they have it right there in front of them? And and we can go ahead and present it. So we we've dive dived into uh you know internal servers using Claude for that one, and we're looking at MCP servers and things of that nature because we have such a huge data set. And it's the one thing that the MLS that we do have is we've got the view, we've got the picture. Sure. We just have to be able to go ahead and take that and get the messaging out from that. What can we glean from the information that comes in there? And for me to sit back and say, okay, I have a question about this and get an immediate response instead of having to go to my data team and say, hey, could you give me a little some of these data points and so on? To have that at my fingertips just makes everybody's life easier. And it, but most importantly, my life.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

So not to get off topic, but I'd love to, you know, speak with you off uh off the pod of the team that's doing that and see if I can gain any insight from them.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

And the only limits is is the questions that we we ask. And see, I found that what it does for me is it focuses me into what I'm trying to figure out. So, in other words, I am laser focused on how to prompt, how to talk to it. And then I get back and I'm like, um, you know, you're close, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. And then it gives me bag. So it really has enhanced my ability to think, which I was surprised at, you know, yeah, in the role of president of Atlanta Communities, XYZ come back out, and then well, it just formats it in that manner, and uh and it makes us all smarter. Our bitches all look better. You know, that uh, you know, for me to sit down and have to write a press release, you know, and I grind over it and now, you know, what I can put the, I can put what I feel is out there and then massage it to your point, Natasha, in the way that I write and come across. Um, and I think agents will be able to go ahead and and harness that data to be able to do exactly the same thing to their clients, to present it in the matter, and every client's different. Every, you know, everybody you know thinks differently about their property and different personalities, and to be able to tailor a presentation to a personality, uh, you know, give options. Yeah, one size fits one. Right. Uh there we are. Yeah. Um so we're it's moving. It's moving, it's exciting. It'll be, you know, five years from now. I can't I can't imagine. Can't can't imagine. And there's a lot of smart companies and people out there that are just the accelerating the use of AI, but it all relies on the data and the computing power. We do have the data and we can get the computing power. So those are things that we consider, you know. Historically, we don't throw data away at all. We we go back years and years. We present a 10-year view to our membership. But um, in terms of what we have harnessed to siloed in the in the back of our building, we can go ahead and then and really take a look at long-term trends, short-term trends, where are we going? So that's the beauty of it, and but doing it quickly, not having big projects that linger for two weeks and say, where are we? What's the answer? No, we can get those answers quick, and then we can be quicker in what we do.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Incredible.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Yeah, excellent.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

All right, I'm gonna push us on to the next question.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Please do.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Yes. Now uh we talked a little bit about this, but I'd like to go a little bit further back into the days on market, seller concessions and price deductions, uh reductions. That has been something we're seeing more of. And it's interesting, some of our agents don't realize that in a normalized market, these things are normal.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

They happen.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Yeah. And and we're some people are still into the old way of thinking. We've considered old now. And some are understanding that markets ebb and flow. I'm not going to say that.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

I like that.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yeah, so let's talk about that bit.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Yeah. So as I mentioned in the beginning, you know, average days on market for active properties are hovering 60 or more days. And I know John's got some statistics with him as well that he's going to share uh on the 12 county areas what he's seeing uh from the MLS perspective. But uh here at Atlanta Communities, I know we're at about 54, 55 days is what we're seeing uh for our properties here year to date. Um, and we're actually in this, you know, we've been in the flat market for really the last, you know, the going on the third year. Um, but I know that uh from our chief information officer, Barry Arnold, we are up uh 4.9%. Uh year to date uh through March. Uh through March in 2026 versus 2025.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Yeah, we've seen um as that market has ebbed and flowed, Mark. I'm sure a lot of you and that's gonna stick with me as we go through. Um but uh 67 percent of the listings that uh have sold basically from January to present have had sellers price concessions. So you know the buyers understand that that's a that's a piece that they can go ahead and and and sellers are are willing to go ahead and do it. The the median is about five thousand dollars per transaction. Interesting. Yeah. So um, so almost, you know, two-thirds, a little over two-thirds of the listings are showing price concessions as well. And then on the we call them price changes, status changes that that we see, um, about a third, 32.9 percent of the listings um have shown uh uh just price changes, excuse me. And I can almost guarantee that 99% of those are price reductions. Reductions. There are some pockets of of local areas that are still very desirable and very hot, and then they're getting close to that 100% list price, sell price. But uh, in terms of just the broad overview that we have seen, uh third has shown uh price changes with that one. So uh ultimately pricing uh the property is key. It uh, you know, being, you know, are you willing if you overprice it, are you willing to wait those extra 30 days to sell that? And then even then, are you will you have to come down with that? So, you know, putting it uh, you know, in a in a position to go ahead and sell it quickly at the highest price that is very important. And I think that's on the uh list side of agents that they have to be very aware of of that as well. Um, so I I have a a question because I want to make sure that everybody understands what we're talking about. So so this is a surprise question. Do we have, can you explain what the median is? Because I I think people hear that term. Like I remember from stats, mode, media, median, mean, and how you arrive, average, right? How do you arrive at what that number is? I to me, it's the sweet spot, Mark. That's how I look at it, right? So median is half above and half below. Okay, so that median price is the sweet spot of what the market is. We talk about median pricing, how housing prices, you know. Um, Tony, you mentioned about 420, you know, from 360, depending on where the market is. Right. About 414 um is the sweet spot of median price. And we started out at the beginning of the year at 400,000, and we it's crept up, and and seasonality plays a little bit in that as well. Um, a little tailwind to you know boost it up and and so on. But uh media is half above and half below, but it really to me is the center of banks having I think that's important because again, for people that are dealing with data, they understand the terms and all this, and I'm not bright enough to know that. So I want to make sure that everybody else understands what we're talking about. We'll talk average price, you know, but averages can be affected by big sales, lower sales, and so on. So median seems to be, well, it is the the actual metric that um you know where the market is lying. And and different parts of Georgia have different um median pricing. But here in the Atlanta cores, we see it, it's about 414 is what we saw in April. Okay. Interesting. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

And that's good information for agents that might be uh tuning into us, you know, to hear about that, you know, what that median means. And then also the information on 67% of seller concessions and you know, uh the price changes. That that's that's good information for agents to know when they're working with their buyers or sellers. Sure. You know, whether they're going in with that prospect, sitting down with them for the first time, or it's a seller that they're trying to have to say, hey, we we may need to drop this right, you know, list price a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

When you see how much equity that, you know, when they publish the numbers of how much equity people are sitting on, and then you have to fight with the seller on any one individual property, even though they've had rapid acceleration between 2020 and where we are now. And nobody wants to lose money, and they'll say, Oh, I'll be losing money if I do them. Well, you not not $200,000 in equity is not losing. Losing is not selling the property to go wherever you want to go after you sell the property. And they, you know, it's it's tough in terms of explaining and setting the expectation right with your client. And going in saying, okay, this is what we know, and this is that bridge of the data to the client. We can assume that we were probably going to have to, sellers' concessions are probably going to be in play. Sure. We may have to make sure if we if we see uh an ebb and flow in the market, we may have to adjust that property a little bit. So setting the expectation to where that, to your point where you know the sellers have in their mind, um, you know, my property should be because a year ago it was this, or three years ago it was this. And to your point about the equity that's built, Mark, that that is a piece I think that has really not been talked about a lot. And it goes back to affordability, where first-time home buyers don't have not been in a property to gain that equity. And when you see that, you know, um older demographic groups are the are the ones that are buying more properties than you see in the the uh first-time home buyers, that is an imbalance right there. That historically it's always been about 40%. The the home sales have been through um, you know, the uh first-time home buyers. Well, now all the everything we've seen is it's because of the um older demographic. They have that additional money they can go ahead and get up. But the individuals that are trying to get in, they can afford rent, but it's coming up with the down payment money. And and that goes back to another agent, knowing what the the mortgage vehicles that are out there to get somebody in a in a property, which you know, agents can bring to the table. But yeah, that equity piece mark is is something I think is not talked about a whole lot because people on paper made quite a bit of money sitting on their property. Yes, it is, you know, doing in some cases nothing, nothing, yeah, exactly. Not even not even basic maintenance, you know, where they'll say, well, we put in a new HVAC system, put it on a new roof. Okay, that's not an improvement to the property. That is just right. Yeah, happy for you. I'm glad you spend that money, but it's uh that didn't change it, you know. And and as individuals, uh, you know, we have access to the listings, and you know, you go in a public listing, the first thing you need to go to the photos, and then you look at the photos and you think, wow, not much has happened in this property. But boy, the uh the list price of this property from what historically that it has been, you know, but no real improvements on it, no real um, you know, it was just the the market drove that up. Right. And I think that healthy balance is is pulling it. I don't we won't see price the housing prices go down. I I I don't feel that, but I think the stabilization of the housing prices and not having the big accelerations that we saw. I don't think we we will we would see that and the inventory, building up of the inventory, I think it is the the main reason behind that. I think you're right.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

Um is that we have uh you you asked about a definition, and I think that that was great. Um I think we should define a seller's market, a buyer's market, and a normalized market so that that agents can understand what that means as well. Because we hear those terms all the time. But what does that mean for somebody who who's just hearing it or maybe heard it many times and just you know have made their own assumptions?

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Yeah, and doesn't doesn't say, hey, by the way, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Okay, yeah. Um economists kind of look in the the real estate industry. Anywhere from four to six months of inventory on the market is a is a healthy, balanced market. As Tony had mentioned earlier, we were down below one month of inventory in there, and you know, 0.9, 0.8 percent. And like as I'd mentioned, we had 17,000 listings, and that was across the state. That was not just the Atlanta area. And and so everybody was in the same position with that low inventory, and that's where it caused that frenzy. We gotta act, we gotta react. And and I have to wonder if people jumped into properties that maybe wasn't their a property. They felt that they had to get into a property, so we're willing to go ahead and make a personal concession on this. And there's been talk a little bit of the pain of where where they were a couple years ago, and now they're maybe questioning the how you know. So yeah, we've heard stories, yeah. You know, so which is a shame, but that's that's the the the the movement of of what that that market brought. Um, we didn't expect it at all. We we just didn't expect it. But then again, even during the pandemic, we didn't expect those to be record years either. We we thought real estate was gonna fall off the the the the map with that one. But to the um, how would I say the agents that they just accepted the way things were. Our governor was great saying that um, you know, that uh George is open for business. Yes, that we were. And uh and you you know, we honestly we were not out of work for a month. We were only at home for back uh when it happened in March, you know, when the governor said we're open for business, uh our CEO said we're open for business too, back to work. You know, we stayed open. Yeah, no, yeah, we never closed. We did not so we we didn't expect the market, you know, the agents to really kind of accept what the market was at the time and then do virtual tours and doing uh you know, using the technology to go ahead and and and show properties when everybody had a mask on and didn't want to leave their house out of fear. Okay, you know, so um, you know, we uh the adaptability, I think, of our industry and the agents and and even buyers and sellers, I think uh is commendable. And I think we will I have I'm optimistic. I just feel that wherever the market is going to throw at agents and throwing, I think the the industry is gonna adapt to it. Um another good example is commission being removed from the MLS, right? So there was an uproar, you know, and even us, we were like, holy cow, that three, you know, three-legged stool and you're pulling one of the legs out from us. But look how agents have been able to adapt and brokers and have been able to adapt and still have those conversations, and and the market has still moved forward with that one. So yeah, it's kind of became a non-issue. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And then I even think some of the things going on in the industry today is a bit of a non-issue, but we'll work it out. Yeah, we will work out and we will go and I can tell you the MLS will be shoulder to shoulder with you to figure out what the needs are of Atlanta communities, the rest of our brokers and agents out there. We'll we will figure this out and and we will keep moving forward. Excellent. Well, we certainly appreciate that partnership and have for a long time. We have, yeah. Well, absolutely. I can tell you I have just nothing but mad respect for Atlanta communities. And, you know, I've got personal relationships, but uh the respect that I have for uh what you've achieved, especially as an independent brokerage. Uh, I'm looking over my shoulder at the leader. I'm bringing you into this, sir. But no, just just respect out there because the there are so many things going on at high levels and MA and um, you know, how the market organized real estate is being driven in in different manners. But um Atlanta Communities has always been just solid at the top. And I I just have to Well, thank you. And it really comes down to focus and how we we view things. I mean, we know that the most important part of the whole equation is the people, and we that's what makes the difference. It's not not complicated, right? It's just the rest of it is, like you said, a little noisy for us. Yeah, that's why we say, why get up every day and come to work? Because if it was boring and if it was the same thing day in and day out, which this industry is not as it just you know, it just feels like this is where I need to be. And um, you know, I always think, you know, future down the road. But you know what? Uh, as long as I enjoy getting up and coming to work and having the relationships that I is the best part of what I do, are the relationships that I've been able to build and the people that I get to work with and and so on, and and seeing successes of having companies start, come in, and then you look at them two years, three years, four years, and all of a sudden you see companies succeed. And we'd like to think that maybe that we've had a little bit of a help in in giving the tools and the things to get companies moving. So, um, like I said, Atlanta community is in a in a great spot, and just uh, like I said, mad respect for uh very kind absolutely thank you.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Yeah, uh now you did mention the four to six months is considered a normal market. So on the other side of that, if it's below four months, that would uh indicate the seller's market. Correct. And anything above six months of inventory is going to be considered a buyer's market, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

So we're kind of edging maybe to a buyer's market. I I think we're kind of I think we're kind of there, Natasha.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

I would I would have to say I I think we're kind of that it is a a buyer's market, but I think there's opportunity both on the sell side and the buy side. It's it's in a good healthy position. Um, but definitely buyers have the with the inventory that's out there. They can be very choosy. They don't have to be urgent, they can be deliberative in that. And they can look at a property and move on to the next one if they sow cheese. And and we've heard of the word due diligence where they put an offer on a property and then do the due diligence and say, Oh, okay, I'm gonna go ahead and back out of this and I'm gonna go look at this property. So that's the leverage that a buyer has. But but it's a like you said, it's a healthy thing.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

In any transaction, you know, nobody should feel like they're winning over the other for a good transaction. You know, everybody should be able to come out of the transaction and say, as a seller, I'm happy with what we're receiving on this, and the buyer is saying, I'm happy with what we're paying for this property, where if it's tilted one way or the other, somebody's gonna walk away with a bad taste in their mouth. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Yeah, well, well said, Tony. Agreed. Everybody should feel good about making that size of a purchase and and doing things to to build for their family and and and set roots up and so on and and have the next chapter. They should feel good about that. Definitely, definitely. All right. Where are we?

SPEAKER_00 36:05

We knocked out all of our questions. Did we really?

SPEAKER_02 36:08

Man, we did what a great conversation we've had. We can keep going. I love it. Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Let's just think right.

SPEAKER_02 36:14

Yeah, it has. Now, you know what? We are gonna uh do you have something different? Well, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

But uh, but I I I know in our show notes that's right here. Uh the the two questions we're gonna ask every guest.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Yes, I know. Thank you. I know, and I do have to give credit. We are really ripping this off from real estate insiders unfiltered. So, James Dwiggins and Keith Robertson, they always ask their guests uh two questions at the end. And that is number one, what is a book or a podcast besides AC Pro Talk uh that you should that that you're listening to or that you would recommend to the audience? Good question.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Um an industry colleague that uh many of us know has written a book, kind of a personal book, and uh gave me a copy of it. And it's called Dirty Disciple, and it is kind of a reawakening of his faith that um had kind of lost his faith, kind of moved to an atheistic position, and had some things kind of in his life change. And um it's about his reawakening. And I it's and the fact that I've known him personally, business-wise, and sold him cars and things of that nature. But to have him kind of put this book together and kind of put out his uh internal feelings of where he is at, um, I found it very interesting. So that's been the the most recent book that I have uh um.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

I received a copy of that book last week as well, and I don't mind mentioning his name, Matt Fagioli. I showed Matt, when you're watching this, uh much respect to you, my friend, as well. And I can't wait to dive into it. Yeah. And the second question? I don't know what it was. The the second question is, I do, I do. Uh if you were to have lunch, dinner, uh, maybe a beverage with somebody current or historical, um who would come to mind besides Tony? Besides Tony. All right, you know, put that right out.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

I know it's funny. Our conversation about it go from business to sports, you know. So we we can uh we can carry on. Um I I would a two-parter on this one for me. Um I'm intrigued by Elop Musk. He's a very fascinating guy to me. Okay, and the reason being not the fact that he's a bit quirky, but you've heard of the term bhags, big hairy, audacious goals. Yes. And you know, to him, to do the things that he has done at such a high-scale SpaceX, you know, he started out of PayPal, you know, of course, it fascinates me that people have huge goals and then execute towards those goals. What it takes. I mean, of course, you've got to have good teams of people around you. Uh to sit across from him, I think, and have a a meal or something just to listen to his. He, like I said, he's a bit quirky. He's different, you know. Um, but on the personal side, I would have to say my grandfather, um, who passed away before I was even born. Okay. And he was uh immigrant that um uh from Ireland immigrated through Ellis Island, uh, been able to research. I know the boat he was on, I got the manifest he was on, worked his way across um from New York out to uh the West Coast, worked on uh the John Day Dam, the Bonneville Dam. Um I would just like to have that conversation with uh father to sit in, you know, at a young age. What made you pick up and just go to uh the unknown? Yeah, and then uh and then set up and he owned a bookstore out in in Portland where he set up and fantastic. Yeah, so just on a personal night, I would love to sit and have that guy. I I know through family and friends, but I'd love to sit down there and just say, you know, what inside you made you make that move from? Yeah, yeah, that's a big move. Yes, you know, that's new or less, yeah, right. Late 20s, those are the east is your past and the west is your future. Yeah, yeah. So uh so if I had to really pin play, I'd be my grandfather for sure. Wow. Excellent, yeah, excellent.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

Well, uh, we're gonna go ahead and wrap this up. I want to thank uh my colleagues, Mark and Natasha. Thank you so much. But uh a very big thank you, John, to you uh joining us today and our partnership with George MLS. We uh really appreciate that. And uh, ladies and gentlemen, look for us on the next AC Pro Talk podcast coming to you very soon. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage. Content shared is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, financial, tax, or real estate advice. Listeners should consult with their own licensed professionals before making business or real estate decisions. Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage is an equal opportunity employer and supports the Fair Housing Act.