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We’re #2 in the nation!
The Wall Street Journal and Real Trends just announced that among the top small teams in the nation, we’re ranked number 2! We’re extremely honored and humbled by this recognition. We wanted to tell you this news not to toot our own horn (...okay, maybe a little), but because we want you to share in this moment with us.
15 years ago, when we came here from London, we never dreamed that we’d reach this level of success. It truly seemed out of grasp, let alone our imagination. But that is precisely why we started this newsletter and our podcast, Rise Above the Ranks. We want to encourage and inspire other agents out there. We want to show them that, in this business, anything is possible!
Yes, success takes a lot of work and sweat and time and energy. We can’t give you that. But we can give you one of the most valuable tools out there: information. We’ve learned that the more informed you are, the better you will be at this job. It’s what got us to the top… or, well, second-from-the-top!
On that note, we’re hosting a free live webinar on June 20th. From systems and operations to hiring and building a cohesive team, it’s our comprehensive guide to building a modern real estate business. Sign up here!
- James and David
Zillow updates its 2023 forecast
Boise: https://tinyurl.com/299tdfe9
Zillow now predicts that home prices will rise by 5%, while home sales will decline by -17% in 2023. That’s according to the company’s updated monthly forecast. Here are the reasons behind these projections:
The number of for-sale listings in May was the lowest for that month on record.
The lack of existing inventory and new listings resulted in the fastest month-over-month home value appreciation in nearly a year, as buyer demand was insatiable despite high mortgage rates
Zillow now expects only 4.2 million home sales in 2023, down -17% from its previous forecast, since the supply of homes is unable to keep up with demand
Our take
Take this with a grain of salt! We know that Zillow’s forecasts tend to be more optimistic than others. But this is still a dramatic shift from the start of the year, when Zillow was expecting home prices to rise by 1.7% for the year. Their new projection of 5% is a full percentage point higher than the historical annual average increase for home prices. Amazing!
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Rents see biggest annual decline in three years
Myrtle Beach: https://tinyurl.com/yr2vfjyt
The typical U.S. asking rent fell -0.6% year over year to $1,995 in May, the largest annual decline since March 2020, according to Redfin’s latest report on rental trends. Other takeaways from the report:
In the West, asking rents declined -2.1% YoY, nearly four times the national pace. But they rose 5.4% in the Northeast, 4.9% in the Midwest, and 0.8% in the South.
Rents are cooling the fastest in the West and South in part because they rose so much during the pandemic
Rent growth has been steadier in the Midwest, which is home to many relatively affordable markets.
Our take
This is excellent news, not only for renters but also for our fight against inflation. The more rents fall, the less likely the Fed will raise interest rates. Our only fear is that these new stats might not show up in the latest inflation numbers coming out this week. Regardless, we’re headed in the right direction if this trend keeps up.
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10 cities where home prices are dropping the fastest
Sacramento: https://tinyurl.com/5692aeju
Realtor.com determined cities where home prices are falling the most. They studied the median price per square foot (ppsf) along with its year-over-year change in the 100 top metros. Here are the Top 10 cities with the biggest drops:
Boise, ID (-7.8% YoY)
Austin, TX (-7.7%)
Myrtle Beach, SC (–7.3%)
Phoenix, AZ (-5.6%)
North Port, FL (-4.7%)
Salt Lake City, UT (-4.0%)
Pittsburgh, PA (-3.9%)
Winston, NC (-3.6%)
Sacramento, CA (-3.4%)
Chicago, IL (-1.1%)
Our take
This is such an insightful report! Who would have thought Sacramento would make the list but not Vegas? Beyond that, it shows that prices are falling the most where prices shot up the most during the pandemic, specifically in the Western and Southern regions of the country. In most of these places, there has been a lot of new construction which has helped ease the housing shortage and kept prices from rising to intolerably high levels.
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Schematics
The news that just missed the cut
Pittsburg: https://tinyurl.com/4zyvk2y6
We're hosting a free webinar on how to build a team, sign up here!
How two agents got a hedge fund billionaire’s cell number
Avoid these pitfalls when buying a beach house
Use promo code BLUEPRINT to get $750 in free digital advertising from Boomtown
Foundation Plans
Advice from James and David to win the day
We’ve learned that, in this crazy business of ours, there is no way to avoid mistakes. What’s important is how you react. Here are the three things we keep in mind:
Own your mistakes, but don’t beat yourself up about them - When you make a mistake, don’t be the person who always finds an excuse to deflect and blame something else. Just own it. But when you own it, don’t wallow in self-pity. Take responsibility and move on.
Learn, but don’t make the same mistake twice – After you own up to your mistakes, seriously think about what went wrong. Make corrections and don’t let it happen again. It’s alright to make a mistake once, but not twice.
Your response sets you apart – The best baseball players in the world strike out, ground out, or pop out more often than they get a hit. Really internalize that fact, and carry it with you. You’re going to make mistakes and have failures in anything you do. Real estate is no exception. What matters is how you respond. That’s what sets you apart. Champions don’t run away from losses. They know it’s part of the process to becoming a success.
Building a resilient mentality is a huge subject, and we’ve just scratched the surface. We recommend starting here.
Q+A
You ask, James and David answer!
Q: Hi, I totally agree with everything you both say about knowledge, consistency, confidence…but I want to ask, if you both transition to the UK market, do you guys think you will have the same success as you’ll have now?
A: Haha, that’s a great question. The real answer is probably not. It’s taken us 15 years to build what we have, and it’s all relationship driven. Changing markets is hard. We do have the advantage of already having clients in the UK + being from there. We’re confident in our skills, but being #2 in the UK market would be a challenge!!
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!
