The current market means expertise matters more than ever

The headlines have been impossible to miss: Climbing interest rates and a volatile real estate market. “It’s not the market, it’s the marketing” is RE/MAX Vernon Salt Fowler’s well-recognized slogan, and now it’s starkly evident that the value to their clients goes far beyond the marketing.

We caught up with owners Lisa Salt and Gord Fowler to hear about what’s most important in a real estate market like this.

Gord says “Whether it’s going up or going down, the value we provide is the same. But what’s most important when a market is starting to become quite volatile, you really have to have strong marketing and have a great understanding of what a market will do.”

When a market is changing quickly, understanding what it will do has to be based on something more than the stats from the Real Estate Association, which are based on transactions from at least a month ago or longer.

Whether you’re buying or selling, Gord explains the risk in relying on this data. “If you’re looking at history to determine value, you’ve already missed the market… If you’re looking at the data right now in a declining market, you’re going to be wrong.”

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So what do they evaluate instead?

Salt Fowler’s average of about a transaction a day means they have their own near-real-time data. And Gord and Lisa have been through dramatic market declines three times before. Pair that experience with the data that comes from their volume of business, and a pattern emerges…

“Buyer patterns. That’s what we watch, whether it’s $300,000 or a million or two million dollars, you start to recognize a pattern.”

Not being able to see this pattern in time, in a rapidly changing market, can lead to mistakes when pricing the property.

“An agent that makes that mistake of overpricing can cost a seller thousands of dollars.” Gord says that missing the change even by only a week is what gets expensive for the seller.

“Our objective is to be sure our seller clients are ahead of the curve so they don’t get caught trying to chase the market to find where the price is.”

Back to the marketing in their well-recognized slogan… Lisa adds that in a decline, the tendency for many realtors can be to cut back on expenses like marketing. “We make sure we’re consistent with our marketing – or doing more – in and out of town, because a declining market is when the sellers need it the most.”

With prices potentially going down, it can be tempting for buyers to wait for prices to continue to fall. Gord points out that as this happens, interest rates are climbing. “Even once you calculate a $100,000 drop in the price of the house, if you’re paying a significantly higher interest rate, you could be paying a lot more in the long run.”

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Lisa and Gord say with things moving toward a balanced market, the big opportunity for buyers is the significant amount of inventory there is now. Because it’s no longer the frenzied pace, there’s time to negotiate with sellers and for buyers to protect themselves with subjects on the offer.

For both buyers and sellers, in a market like this, it’s particularly important to choose your agent wisely.  Gord explains “It’s not where we were six months to a year ago. Now people need the service of professionals who know the science and understand how to see where a market is going and how to advise their clients correctly when it comes to selling or buying.”

“You have to set the price properly to be sure a seller isn’t leaving money on the table. And for buyers who don’t have an agent who knows and understands the real current value of that house, they’re going to overpay.”

Connect with Salt Fowler:

Online: saltfowler.com/
On Social facebook.com/vernonrealestate
Call: 250-549-7258
Text: 250-309-9586