I’ll admit it. I’m human. Sometimes I get pulled into the negativity that seems to be everywhere. If you spend time on social media you’ll start believing real estate has completely fallen apart. Agents are discouraged, sellers are counting the days on market and desperately asking for advice and buyers are in uncharted territory, the market is theirs. As a seller what worked before definitely won’t now. It can feel pretty dark on the listing side.
Then I had a listing appointment this week ( I got it 🙂
After we talked honestly about today’s market, my seller, who is incredibly thoughtful, pushed back on the idea that everything is falling apart. She reminded me that life keeps moving. People still get married and they still have children. They still change jobs, retire, relocate, inherit property, and yes, they still buy and sell homes.
Logan Mohtashami says it all the time: people are still having sex, having kids, and buying houses. He’s right. He’s an economist who I listen to.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my own business reflects exactly that. In what everyone keeps calling a “terrible” market, I’ve somehow attracted 3 of the strongest buyers I’ve ever represented. They know exactly what they want, and because inventory is higher, they also know they have options. But here’s the challenge: what they want is what everyone wants.
Deep water access.
The problem is there isn’t any new deep water being created. Most of it was claimed decades ago. Many of the waterfront properties we tour are essentially million-dollar lots with aging homes attached. I’ve walked through beautifully renovated houses with portable air conditioners scattered throughout because the cooling system couldn’t keep up. I am not making this up. It’s a huge reminder, there are compromises everywhere. Even over 2 million bucks the house might smell…. musty.
It made me think differently.
Maybe for some buyers, especially in this market, the answer isn’t finding the perfect house? Maybe it’s building it. I came to that realization when the only viable options would still not work, for the boat of one buyer’s dreams would have to be kept locked away at a slip somewhere far off. For my buyer that would never do. If you do that, it’s just not the same. It’s just a house. If you get the house and the dock, for your glorious boat, you have the entire dream. Why fall short, especially when it’s well over 2M? Shouldn’t you get whatever the hell you want by then? That realization brought me back to one of my own listings at 1098 Seabreeze Lane. Flood Zone X. A wonderful neighborhood. and a canal where, during Christmas, some truly incredible boats parade by. It’s half and acre and ready to roll, with plans and even quotes. My seller, a former builder has resourced the best materials at the best prices and is handing that to who ever is lucky to buy. Even after building and buying the lot, the bottom line is far better than buying and remodeling. So for two different buyers I’m working with, building there may actually make more sense financially than continuing to chase a house that checks every box but still falls short. The house would go up like legos.
Sometimes opportunities don’t look the way you expected them to.
So I’ve decided to take my seller’s advice from this week’s appointment that I thankfully got. I am going to stay optimistic. I am going to present all options to my buyers even options no one considered, like building. I have a great option to any buyer looking for deep water, with boat house that can hold a 40 foot vessel. But as far as this market goes? From where I’m standing, there are still incredible people making exciting moves and I am lucky enough to be working with them!! Hell yes. There are still beautiful homes, meaningful relationships, and opportunities I never could have predicted. And like magic, real estate seems to bring those people together exactly as they should- effortlessly. That may mean more time, but once you get them together- the deal is as good as done. Long live optimism, it’s free and it will change everything.