Low Inventory Means Big Opportunity for Agents

Low inventory actually means big opportunity for real estate agents, and I’ll explain why today.

Thinking about a career in San Diego real estate sales? 
 Email me today for a private San Diego real estate career consultation.

There are a lot of agents out there who are moping around because there are only one-and-a-half months of inventory on the market.

On the contrary, low inventory actually means big opportunity for you and your real estate business.

In fact, just last month we sold 214 homes. That is the second-highest month that we’ve had in 10 years of being in business, beating even our May, June, and July numbers.

So, how are we doing that when there are only 4,800 homes on the market?

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You have to proactively prospect every single day.

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We’ve helped our agents realize that low inventory means big opportunity. You can’t just do three of the four P’s in real estate. You can’t just put the sign in the yard, pop the property on the MLS, and pray that another agent brings a buyer along.

You have to proactively prospect every single day to find listing inventory.

Send mailers, knock on doors, and consult your sphere—there are several strategies you can use to turn this market into a great opportunity for your business.

Click here to download additional buyer plan of action strategies

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!

Market Conditions in San Diego Present a Unique Opportunity

The San Diego County market is suffering from an inventory crisis. However, the best agents are turning this into an opportunity for more business.

Thinking about a career in San Diego real estate sales? 
 Email me today for a private San Diego real estate career consultation.

The latest numbers are in for San Diego County, so I wanted to take a moment to talk about the real estate market and what I’m seeing right now.

We’re down about 9% in the number of new listings from last year. We’ve only brought about 12,000 homes on the market this year compared to 14,000 last year. The pace of sales is slowing down a bit too. We saw 7,400 home sales by this time last year, but right now we’re sitting at around 7,300.

Combined, those two factors are really knocking down inventory in the market just as the busy season is starting. That’s going to make prices shoot up. Who knew that San Diego County could get more expensive to live in, right?

Our median sale price is up by another 5.5% from last year and sits at $510,000, which is absolutely incredible. Half of the home sales are below $510,000, but the other half are above that number. That’s a higher figure than we saw in 2006.

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There are only 1.6 months of available inventory right now.

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The big question looming for Southern California is what will happen with our active inventory. We’re down by 30% year-over-year.

As of April 1st, we had 4,864 properties listed for sale in the entire county, a 1.6 month supply. We typically sell about 3,700 homes each month and that number can rise as high as 5,000 in the summer.

Buyers face a scary proposition in this market. When you consider that half of buyers are also sellers, the inventory problem makes sense. Sellers are hesitant because it’s hard for them to answer the question of where they are moving next in this kind of market. That’s where the best agents are turning this market into an opportunity.

Next time, I’ll talk about how you can turn these market conditions into a big opportunity for your business. If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Why Do You Need to Be Wary of Tying Arrangements?

Are you aware of tying arrangements and the risk they pose to agents? You need to be careful when tying a buying and selling transaction together with the same client.

Thinking about a career in San Diego real estate sales? 
 Email me today for a private San Diego real estate career consultation.

Most agents know about tying arrangements, they just don't know what they’re called.

A tying arrangement is when we talk to a client who wants to put an offer in on a property and we ask if they will list their home with us. Any time you tie two transactions together, you put yourself at risk for an antitrust violation.

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This can put you at serious risk for antitrust violations.

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The biggest instance where this can show up for agents is when an agent takes a listing and the buyer says 'If I sell this house with you and buy the next one, will you give me a discount?' Agents can't sell a house for a client and buy the next one with them at a discount.

It's a tying arrangement and it just can't be done. If you want to give them a discount independently of their ability to perform on two transactions, it's your money and you can do what you want with it. You just can't tie two transactions together.

If you have any other questions about tying arrangements or any transactional violations, give me a call or send me an email. I'm here to help.