Let’s get honest for a few minutes. Our market is shifting, and we don’t know how long the shift will hang around. It might be a few months like we saw in 2017 or a 13 year drought after the housing market went sideways in 1991. However, there is some data that can shed light on understanding the market if you are planning on buying a home or selling one in this market.
A good quote about statistics is, “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” I like this quote given that most of the statistics we see in the media share the shocking numbers however they tend to conceal the important facts to help a person interested in moving.
Here are some hard facts. In 2021, 9,800 Agents sold at least one home in Durham Region. (2021 being one of the best years reported by our Real Estate board.) Of this group of almost 10,000 Agents, half of them sold 1 home, that is for the entire year. In fact, 95% of agents sold fewer than 9 homes. The next example I find shocking – in 2012 there were 33,000 Real Estate agents on our Realtor Board and currently there are 64,000. What this means is that if you are planning on selling your home, and you interview 10 Agents, you have a better chance of meeting more agents who sell 1 or 2 homes than one who works with a high volume of clients, and it might be a possibility you interview an Agent who did not sell any homes in the past year. For context Wendy Starr and I are in a group of 26 who sold over 50 homes in 2021. 26 Agents out of 9,800.
Why this is important, is when selling in a shifted market, my experiences has taught me to believe that using an agent who is not only a great negotiator and marketer, but one who has had experience in a shifted market can better your chances of selling, along with putting more money in your pocket.
When I went through my first shifted market, in 1991, it was all new, not only to me as a newer agent, but for most of the agents at that time. The market had been busy for about a decade and the agents, myself included, learned to sell in an “up” market. When things shifted, we were left scrambling to learn how to sell homes, coming up with creative solutions and new marketing ideas to make your Sellers homes stand out. What we did back then was we used our current clients at the time to figure out how to work in a down cycle. It wasn’t fair to the Sellers as they looked to us for guidance, but we, as a collective group were doing our best to adapt and implement new strategies.
What has changed now is that the market shifting is coming at a time when there are more Agents working than ever before. With our Agent membership doubling in the past decade, half of the agents have yet to see any other market than the busy Sellers market we have experienced. I am seeing this on a weekly basis. My most recent sale was a home in north Oshawa, with a lower than market value “strategy” asking price. There was a comparable home sold the week before so it was easy to determine a fair market price. From the questions being asked by Agents with Buyers, to the offers that came in I saw a trend unfolding. I learned that the Agents were repeating the headlines that they were reading and using “media talking points” about the market slowing and submitting offers dramatically lower than market value. In the end we had 8 offers submitted on the property, and only one Buyer successful in purchasing the property. This left 7 Buyers missing out on an opportunity. When dealing with experience, the statistics and data show the true picture, headlines can mislead.
With market knowledge gathered over years of different Real Estate cycles, I have had many experiences dealing with Agents using headlines as an approach to sell homes. The home we sold this week ended up not only helping the Sellers get a market value selling price but selling for more than the home in the neighborhood that was dramatically larger the previous week.
The market we are currently in is an excellent market for not only Buyers but also Sellers, if (and it’s a big if) the advice they are receiving comes from experience. Not only can experience put more money in your pocket, but It might also be the difference between selling or not.
When the “rules of the game change” leaning into experience tips the odds in your favour.
If you need help in Selling or Buying, or if you have a family member who needs to move, I would be thrilled to offer my 38 years of experience to help them.
Experience matters.
Creative solutions to sell homes in a shifted market.
- Price the home slightly under market value.
- Use an agent who has worked through a shifted market.
- Consider financing options – Sellers buying down the mortgage rate to attract Buyers, offering quick closing dates to allow the pre-approved Buyers the option of securing their lower rate guarantee and offering incentives to selling Agents to stand out among the many homes for sale.
- Advertise if you have a mortgage that can be assumed.
Offer to pay some of the Buyers closing costs.