The Importance of a Good Realtor in a Shifting Market

By now chances are you have seen a plethora of news articles painting a doom and gloom picture of the housing market. Terms like “bubble” and “crash” are plastered on every headline with comments about recessions and high interest rates. 

We are here to shed some light on the changing market, and why a good REALTOR® matters now more than ever. 

First, let us say the past few years we have been in an extremely unbalanced market. It’s been unhealthy and highly inflated, and to top it off, interest rates stayed historically low.

In the Twin Cities, we are seeing the market cool off slightly. But, it’s not all doom and gloom as one may think! We really needed some relief in the market, which appears to be shifting back to pre-pandemic conditions when it was still a strong seller’s market!

With the changing market conditions, good REALTORS® will be more valuable than ever. Listing a home will require your agent to be an expert in their field to get it sold in a weekend with multiple offers - they won’t be able to slap a sign in the yard, take some cell phone photos, put the home on the MLS, and sell it immediately. 

So what’s a good agent’s marketing plan look like if it doesn’t entail cell phone photos? Not everyone is the same, but we can tell you that a good agent will take their time to do things right! They should do thorough research on your home, walk you through a detailed market analysis, and explain their listing process. They should also be a trusted resource for other professionals like quality stagers, photographers, and more, to make sure your home looks as good online as it does in person (& vice versa!). Professional photography, staging, well-designed listing flyers, well-written listing copy, and little details like feature cards throughout the home go a long way in the overall presentation. 

The shifting market is also going to shine a spotlight on list prices. Pricing your home correctly is a huge factor when listing a home, but now more than ever it’s extremely important to price it right. If priced too high your home can sit on the market for a longer period of time than anticipated, and you could end up getting less for it than you wanted.

While we are seeing a shift, it’s still a seller’s market, so for buyers, that means you’ll need a crafty REALTOR ® that knows how to help you get an offer accepted, and can think outside the box. You’ll want an agent that stresses over the details and knows how to communicate with other agents. When you're a buyer, all the little details matter when it comes to submitting an offer and getting it accepted.

Overall, you’ll want to make sure you connect with a REALTOR® that has your best interests at heart, thoroughly understand the market and what they need to do to help you buy or sell a home. Hint: we think all the agents here at VIBE do just that and more!