Embracing the NEW WORLD of Real Estate
I’ve seen enough videos and taken enough seminars to know a positive attitude will help you through the toughest of times. OK, I’ll keep doing that, but some of the things that have changed are rather obvious, some are more subtle, but we have turned a corner in the market. I’m not talking about housing numbers, shadow inventory totals, or even listing more homes. I’m talking about the actual industry as seen through the eyes of a full time Realtor.
I am aware a lot of the agents are in survival mode. Some of the best agents have had to sidetrack their business and take jobs for the survival of their families. Finding an agent in today’s new market is daunting enough, but finding an agent who still available and eager to help seems to be hard to find.
My last two clients started to work with agents, but never got a chance to see anything because the agent never returned multiple calls for a callback. I was trained to believe in the caller; the caller is golden, even if why they call isn’t. I also suffer at the hands of agents who seem to have better things to do besides doing business together. That’s really an intricate part of the major problem- you have to work at the business to make it successful. It’s no longer a “perfect fit” customer world where the buyer just walks up and buys. I have learned to leave messages for their brokers when the agent fails to return my calls for a third time. I have to wonder why some agents do that. That makes no sense.
I am also seeing another trend; showing homes based off the listing description are not like they used to be. There is a huge chasm between the two housing types, the common home sale and the distressed home sale. I have been a foreclosure mitigator for a major bank in Chicago, so I have seen homes on both sides of that story, but now they seem to go through the foreclosure system but never list again.
Homes are best when they have been lived in or at least used. How can a bank take back an asset and not try to recoup that investment? Is it the banks hope to have the Federal Government relive them of the loss with another type of bailout? If these homes are not going on the market, how can the lender justify a deficiency balance when the home doesn’t sell for 2 years? 3 years? The estimates of these foreclosed homes, known as shadow inventory, are in the area of 700,000 homes. Add in the fact each day they foreclose and you have to wonder where all the good homes are.
We need to be better at working together to find solutions, even if it’s a simple returned phone call- it all matters in the end. It’s a skill to navigate the distressed market- the special challenges it brings are nothing like the retail home market. As a full time Realtor, I welcome all buyers but the special challenge is matching up buyer and seller the best you can by working together before the home simply disappears off the market. Buyers need to trust agents to get the job done more than ever before!
For more information on helping buyers, look for me in the cover story of IL Realtor Magazine- http://www.illinoisrealtor.org/illinoisrealtor/May2009foreclosure helping buyers make better choices from the market we have. I EMBRACE THIS NEW WORLD OF REAL ESTATE!