One in Five Home Sellers Cut Prices as Buyer's Market Persists
Just over one in five (21.1%) U.S. home sellers with active listings cut their asking price during the four weeks ending September 20, according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket. That's the highest share for this time of year in Redfin's records, which date back to the start of 2022—but it's up only slightly from a year earlier, when 19.8% of sellers dropped their price. Price drops are only becoming more common in the face of the strongest buyer'...
Negotiating Tip 52: Adding Issues
It's a rare individual who is so quick of thought that they can, on the pressurized spur of the moment, come up with the right action or effective response. Most of us only find that inspiration hours after we've missed the opportune moment. The solution is simple: Anticipate and prepare in advance. Perhaps there's no more critical phase of negotiating than that of having issues to "trade for" when the bargaining gets tough. We know what we want but we have little to offer our opponent to entic...
Three Real Estate Authors Launch “Triple Book Sale” Benefiting Wounded Warrior Project
3.3.1 campaign brings together three authors, three books and a day to give: Sept. 30 Three real estate industry authors are joining forces for a one-day fundraising campaign on Sept. 30, when profits from sales of three very different books will be donated to Wounded Warrior Project. The effort, known as 3.3.1, brings together Sam DeBord of the Real Estate Standards Organization, Greg Robertson of Giant Steps Advisors and Vendor Alley, and Kevin Hawkins of WAV Group and aka “The REAL AI Guy...
59% of Homeowners Say They’re ‘House Poor' [New LendingTree Study]
Homeownership has always involved expenses beyond the mortgage payment, but for many Americans, those costs are rising faster than their ability to afford them. LendingTree surveyed 2,000 U.S. consumers to determine how rising homeownership costs are squeezing their finances. Here's what we found. 50% of mortgage holders saw payments rise in the past two years—including 22% who say costs rose significantly. Of those affected, 87% were surprised (44% extremely). 59% cite higher property tax...
When Your 62+ Buyer Says, “I’m Paying Cash,” There May Be Another Option
An older buyer tells you they’re paying cash for their next home. Often, the reason is simple: “I don’t want a mortgage payment.” But paying cash and having no required monthly mortgage payment are not necessarily the same thing. For eligible buyers age 62 and older, a HECM for Purchase may provide another option. What Is a HECM for Purchase? HECM stands for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, the FHA-insured reverse mortgage program. While reverse mortgages are commonly associated wi...
How Landlords Are Using AI to Lease Faster, Collect Rent and Keep Tenants Longer
Property management has always been a high-volume business. But the operational demands on landlords and property managers have grown considerably as tenant expectations rise and portfolio complexity increases. Staffing costs make it difficult to absorb that volume through headcount alone, and the most time-consuming tasks tend to be the most repetitive: maintenance routing, renewal follow-up, prospect communication, reporting, and rent collection. That is where AI tools have found traction. Ad...
Negotiating Tip 51: Feinting and Misdirection
You probably know what misdirection is. Now feinting, as defined in Wikipedia, is "a maneuver to distract or deceive". What do these terms have to do with good faith negotiating? Well, it is meant to confuse your opponent. We've mentioned before that good negotiators are often like chess players in that they plan and strategize a number of moves ahead. If you're getting into planning a few moves down the negotiating trail then you might find the feint or misdirection a key element in an early m...
Selling This Fall? Don’t Shutdown the Outdoor Spaces!
How thoughtful preparation helps buyers recognize lifestyle value and protects seller equity Every September, a costly assumption begins to influence property preparation: once summer ends, outdoor areas no longer matter. Patio furniture is packed away. Planters filled with faded annuals are left at the entrance. Decks and balconies become holding areas for items waiting to be stored. Sellers assume fall buyers are concerned only with the interior. The problem is that buyers do not stop evalua...
Big Real Estate’s AI Chatbots and Steering
Large real estate consumer search engine platforms have been curating, and using their own personal algorithms to monetize agent data, and listings for consumers for years. Consumer data is now fiercely competitive and coveted by all parties, and larger conversations are happening about how algorithms impact exactly what homes consumers shown online. Is this steering? Is this a biased search are agents liable for it? In this article I will break down how algorithmic flows, and now A.I. chatbots...