I don’t know if a day goes by and people don’t ask me what is happening with real estate prices. That question is hard to answer unless I know the persons perspective. If it is a seller who bought their house in the last 10 years or had an appraisal done on their house in the last 10 years, I always say prices are going down. To them any price lower than what they bought it for or were told it was worth means prices are going down. If I said they are starting to stabilize, they always seem to assume their house is worth what they paid for it or what the appraisal said some years ago.
If I am talking to a buyer, they need to realize that prices are about as low as they are going to get. Interest rates are crazy low and it is time to buy. Really everyone fits in one of these 2 categories in one way or another. Every home owner, if they want to sell or not, thinks like a seller when it comes to value and every renter or first time home buyer needs to think about the once in a lifetime opportunity that is out there.
People need to forget what prices were in the past and base their decisions on what prices are now, because prices are not expected to be where they were for 10-15 years. So let’s quickly morn what we lost and move forward with the new opportunities that the current market can bring.
The last couple of weeks, one of the non-profit boards I volunteer on was in the process of hiring a new director and I was on the interview committee. What a great experience! Here I am sitting there listening to these very qualified applicants talk about their experiences and some of their ideas for this non-profit organization and I am learning so much. It made me think that God did not give me gifts to do everything and we need others around us to help grow our business and help our clients even better than we can do alone. Over the past 2 years I have been working to build a team of agents who can help each other serve our clients the best we possibly can. Sometimes I am tempted and want to hire people who think like I do, but the last couple of weeks has taught me that my team needs to have similar values, but different ideas to make sure we are helping our clients the best we can.
Today I met with a potential client who wanted to sell her home. Her husband works nights and she has 4 kids. They want to get out of the city they live in and get out into the country. I visited their home to figure out the price of their home that they purchased in 2002. As as with many of the sellers today they were not going to get out of their house what they paid for it and they also would not get as much as they needed to pay off their mortgage. But she really wants to sell, so she is willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. They would likely need $50,000 to sell their home and then more for a down payment on their next home.
My initial reaction was there is no way this is going to happen. It is probably a waste of my time. I have come to realize that sometimes I may not be able to help them sell any real estate, but it is still not a waste of time. In this situation, she needed help to solve a money management problem and communication problem in their marriage before moving would ever solve a problem. I learned to ask lots of questions to figure out the true need. She was very open and I felt her pent-up frustration released as she talked about their situation. At points, tears were shed.
Can they afford to sell? Don’t know…She has no idea how they are spending their money. Is there an income issue? No, they make close to 6 figures and live in a 100,000 house. Lots of other debt? Yes, some, but she really could not remember all the different debts they have. Nothing sounds too out of control. So whats the really issue? She has no idea where their money goes and her husband pays the bills. No written budget to know how much they are paying out. Separate bank accounts that are not in both of their names. Is he hiding something? Maybe, maybe not, but why not share everything with your spouse?
Based on their income they should be able to sell their home and buy another one within a year with no extra debt, but not if they don’t get their spending organized and in writing. It takes discipline, but it will change their marriage for the better and help them reach their goals faster. She’s on board, but will he be? Good finances and a happy marriage are deeply connected. She has figured that out and hopefully he will see that too.
I love being used to change people’s lives by helping them to a different way. They need to decide to act differently based on their new information. I have no control over them. I thank God that he showed me a different way. Never a waste of time.
So, What will tomorrow bring?
