I have never been much of a card player. DeAnna on the other hand is an absolute card shark. That sentence alone kind of gives you a glimpse of our personalities and our amazing friendship. Where I have been uneasy of taking risks, DeAnna has always encouraged me to go outside my comfort zone. Where she has been reluctant to hold still, I have encouraged her to enjoy all the bounty. As we search for our “people” and our advisors in life, it is so important to not always just find the ones that are exactly like us. We need to find the people that will also show us the other side of the coin to ensure we are making the best decisions as we move forward.
As any local real estate broker would inform you, we saw a mass shift in the market (again) in March. As the Fed increased rates once again, you saw the buyers pull back, sellers deciding not to list and inventory remaining low in most price bands throughout Jackson County. Sellers seem to only be selling if they have to or they really want to. From 2020-2022 we saw clients selling at a high and buying at a high, but because the rates were in their favor their new mortgage payment was typically lower or close to what they were paying on their previous property. Now, sellers are finding out that in order to upgrade their living situation it may also come with a larger payment. This is keeping inventory levels low which is helping us not see a large impact on pricing, as much as we would expect (not yet at least), because supply and demand is in a seller’s favor.
As we are meeting with clients about buying and selling, we are really spending more time diving into their story, their immediate needs and their future goals. You can find us asking more personal questions: What do you owe on the house? What is your current interest rate? How long will you be in your replacement property? Can you buy without selling and in return rent out your primary residence? Do you have an immediate need to pull equity out of the property and so on…. We want to be a sounding board for our clients and help them look at different avenues they perhaps haven’t considered. My dad often reminds me, “Dyan, it’s not the questions you ask, it’s the ones you don’t know to ask.”
Real estate will always be a great investment, rates will always fluctuate, and timing will always depend on the product (property) and the client. As you continue to decide if you should hold, fold or double your real estate portfolio, we would be honored to help guide you and maybe even point out a few ideas you may not have thought of just yet.
