Our thoughts on the Maui wildfires
As we begin today’s Blueprint, our first thoughts are with the people of Maui. We are glad to see our industry rally to support them. If you would like to help, consider contributing to the disaster relief fund of the Hawaii Fire Relief Housing Program and NAR.
We can’t control what comes our way, but what counts is how we respond. When the unexpected hits, that’s when we should stick together and help each other.
– James and David
What a difference an MLS makes
Source: Unsplash
Homes listed through Bright MLS and Northern Nevada Regional MLS (NNRMLS) sold for over $50K more than homes not listed through their respective MLSs. That’s according to two new studies authored by Naniik, LLC, a data services and analytics company, and Kevin Gillen of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation.
Here are the key findings:
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Bright MLS found that homes listed through Bright sold for 18% more than homes not marketed through the MLS in 2022. That boost equates to $53,890 in the average sales price.
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Homes listed on NNRMLS between 2015-2022 sold for 17% more than homes sold off-MLS, equating to a $55,250 increase in the average sales price.
Our take
Listen, we’re never going to stand in the way of a pocket or off-market listing. Just a couple of years back, during the mad rush of the pandemic, a lot of sellers went off-market so they didn’t have a bunch of random people coming into their homes. But these numbers show that going around the MLS can not only limit offers, it actually takes money out of your pocket. We encourage agents to use whatever marketing they can to get the highest price for their clients. It’s not only common sense, it’s part of our jobs!
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Nearly 1 in 9 US homes command $1M
Source: Redfin
The share of homes worth $1 million or more rose to 8.2% in June. That’s just shy of the all-time high of 8.6% last year at this time, and up from a 12-month low of 7.3% in February 2023, according to Redfin data.
Here are the markets with the highest share of million-dollar homes:
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San Francisco, CA – 81.2%
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San Jose, CA – 79.6%
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Anaheim, CA – 55.4%
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Oakland, CA – 49.0%
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San Diego, CA – 39.7%
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Los Angeles, CA – 38.1%
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Honolulu, HI – 38.0%
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Oxnard, CA – 34.5%
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Seattle, WA – 33.0%
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New York, NY – 28.6%
Our take
We all know what’s causing this trend–higher mortgage rates and virtually no inventory. This sends buyers on a mad scramble to compete for the few homes that are out there, which sends prices up, up, up. Some of those “million dollar homes” wouldn’t sell for that much if there were more options out there. We expect this trend to continue.
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Cyberattack cripples popular MLS
Phoenix: https://tinyurl.com/3948kunh
MLS system provider Rapattoni has been down since last Wednesday due to a ransomware cyberattack, leaving tens of thousands of agents unable to add listings and update information.
Rapattoni serves about 5% of U.S. MLSs, with its primary focus on organizations under 10,000 subscribers. It serves agents in multiple major markets in states including California, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.
Currently, there is no ETA on when the issue will be fixed.
Our take
This is absolutely crazy and somewhat disturbing news. We rely so much these days on our computers, so we can only begin to imagine how frustrating this must be for all the agents involved. We are including this story because it’s a great reminder that we all must be extra careful with our security. Make sure your passwords are strong. Never give out sensitive information. And never click on anything that seems suspicious.
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Schematics
The news that just missed the cut
Source: Unsplash
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How Krys Benyamein used this script to win a $2M expired listing
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This is how much NAR pays its CEO and other execs
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3 things to know about REX’s lawsuit against Zillow
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House hacking: a real estate investing strategy for beginner investors
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Fashion mogul buys Jackie O's childhood home in the Hamptons
Foundation Plans
Advice from James and David to win the day
Buying and selling a home is always a tough decision, but it certainly seems very tough right now. You can help your clients feel more assured by knowing their needs and knowing the market. If you want to help your clients feel more comfortable about entering the market, keep these tips in mind.
Do in-depth market research – Before you even meet with your clients, make sure you know the answers to these questions: Do you know how prices are changing year over year? How days on market are trending? Do you know the price point at which demand gets a little soft? If you know these numbers cold, clients will know they’re with someone who is truly on their game.
Understand neighborhood demographics – Make sure you have a firm understanding of the neighborhood demographics and amenities, and which buyers would be interested in these areas. It helps to have a profile in your head: How much is the buyer’s income? What did their previous home look like? Why would they want to move to this type of neighborhood?
Really understand the sales data and property values – It’s essential to know everything about active listings, pending sales, and closed sales. Active listings show the current competition (which may not be much) to gauge what the market is trying to do. Pending sales give an idea of where the market is heading. Closed sales show what the market has done in the recent past.
These are just a few of the approaches you can use to win more business. To learn more, start here.
Q+A
You ask, James and David answer!
Q: How many years were you in the business before you started your team?
A: We hired our first assistant after a year and a half in the business. And year over year, we’ve added on as things progressed organically. We were still so fresh in the business, and since we weren’t in a position to offer a high salary to attract the kind of quality assistant we wanted, we had to sell ourselves actually. We ended up hiring our assistant on a lower starting salary but tied their ultimate compensation based on our production. We wanted them to buy into us because our production was also their success. And it worked out great.
We’ll be back next week with another answer to a real reader question. Submit yours here!
Just in Case
Keep the latest industry data in your back pocket with today’s mortgage rates:
Source: Rocket Mortgage
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you Friday!
