An old saying
“Rome wasn’t built in a day”
When you think about it, that might’ve been one of the earliest pieces of real estate advice!
Even centuries upon centuries later, it’s still great advice. We all know that building a successful career in real estate can take a long time.
While it’s good to see the big picture, it’s so helpful to focus on the smaller one. After all, there’s only so much we can achieve each day, and it’s too overwhelming to think about how far we have to go.
For us, it always comes back to consistency. While you can’t control which conversations will lead to deals, you can control how many of those conversations you have, how many doors you can knock, how many hours each day you spend responding to messages, and how much you connect with your database.
Remember, just because the market slows down, it doesn’t mean you have to slow down as well. Keep up the consistency, and over time, you will be living a Rome of your own making.
– James and David
Single-family permits declined in August
Source: NAHB
The total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date has dropped -15.6% compared to last year. The nationwide number is currently 615,453. That’s according to NAHB’s latest report on housing starts. Here are the other key takeaways:
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Single-family permits declined in all four regions of the U.S.
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Northeast: -10.7%
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West: -21.7%
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South: -13.7%
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Midwest: -15.4%
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Here are the top 5 metros that issued the highest number of permits:
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Houston: 34,841
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Dallas: 28,282
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Atlanta: 16,894
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Phoenix: 15,889
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Charlotte: 12,956
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Our take
We’re not going to sugarcoat it. This report hurt. We need more houses built, so these declines made us wince. Nonetheless, it’s still true that homebuilders have a backlog of new construction, and many of these projects are expected to be completed by Q2 of 2024. In the meantime, we can only hope that more permits are issued soon because we need to boost our housing supply.
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Top 10 states where people are moving
Ft. Lauderdale
In 2022, the U.S. population set a record with 8.2 million moving between states, which topped the 7.9 million people who switched states in 2021. That’s according to Storage Cafe’s latest migration report. Migrating buyers are largely motivated by the desire for more space, combined with financial incentives.
Here are the Top 10 states where people moved, ranked by net migration per 1,000 residents:
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Idaho (24.54)
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Vermont (23.99)
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Montana (17.91)
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South Carolina (15.09)
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Maine (15.07)
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Nevada (14.46)
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Arizona (12.49)
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North Dakota (12.32)
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Tennessee (9.91)
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Oklahoma (9.63)
Our take
We know this information is from 2022, but it’s still useful. We believe that next year will be a challenging year to close deals. Not all markets will expand, but some will. We think it will be useful for agents to start expanding their reach into those growing markets. Be selective, but start making inroads into those areas.
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Major real estate players stick with NAR
Just as Redfin has already cut ties with the National Association of Realtors, executives from Tennessee-based United Real Estate joined the call for separation of MLS access from association membership. However, not everyone is abandoning NAR. Zillow and Windermere, the largest residential brokerage in the Puget Sound region, plan to stick with the association.
In a statement to The Seattle Times, Windermere CEO Geoff Wood says, “Abandoning ship is not the answer to us. We would rather stay and help affect the changes that need to happen to make NAR stronger.”
Our take
Without a doubt, NAR’s reputation has taken a hit since the allegations of workplace harassment were exposed by The New York Times. But as these moves by Zillow and Windermere indicate, the NAR is down but not out. We can assure you that we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on all the latest developments here.
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Schematics
The news that just missed the cut
Chicago
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Jeff Bezos bought two mansions next to each other on Billionaire Bunker island
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The world’s longest open house
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How to create an agent referral list and automatically add it to your CRM
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What homebuyers need to know about mortgages today
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The 3 biggest home staging mistakes people make when trying to sell their houses
Foundation Plans
Advice from James and David to win the day
Before you build a successful business, you need a plan. Today, we’d like to talk to you about three aspects of every effective business plan:
Include SMART goals – Every one of the goals included in your business plan—from your big annual goals to your daily targets—should be S.M.A.R.T. goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Put it in writing and keep it visible – We recommend you keep your business plan to one page and post it where you can see it every day. Out of sight can easily become out of mind. Review your plan on a daily or weekly basis, and say no to anything that doesn’t match with your plan. Focus and ruthlessly manage your time accordingly. It will help you stay on target.
Build in accountability – We firmly believe that you must tell other people about the plan. When other people know about it, it’ll make it easier for you to stick to the plan, deal with setbacks, and eventually reach your goals. We practice what we preach. Every Monday, everyone on our team meets to keep each other accountable. Trust us, it works!
We highly recommend that you use this resource to start creating your plan for next year NOW!
The 1% Blueprint
An on-demand course created by James & David
Discover our strategies and techniques to attract a stream of high-quality leads, propelling your real estate business to new heights of success.
For Blueprint subscribers, the course is 30% for a limited time. If you’d like to take our course to learn how to become the top 1% of your market click here!
Just in Case
Keep the latest industry data in your back pocket with today’s mortgage rates:
Source: Mortgage News Daily
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Blueprint!
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you back here on Friday!
– James and David
