One question we always receive as REALTORS is - What's going to happen next? What's the crystal ball for where prices are going over the next 12 months? 

According to the NAR, Zelman, Realtor.com, Freddie Mac, CoreLogic, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average of all those top industry insiders and economists within those groups, their prediction for the next 12 months is that we're going to see appreciation at 3.9%. You might think that sounds low. After all we just went through a year where we had double digit appreciation and in many markets we saw appreciation as high as 15-16% . Why would this group of economists predict such a low number when most of us would reasonably expect it to be double digits or high single digits (at the very least).  

The reason is I think those economists know something - When you have a low supply and high demand, what happens? Prices go up. When supply increases, it puts pressure on...

How do you become your own bank? This is a question answered by our guest Financial Planning Expert Mark Willis. In this session we dive deep into how he and his wife used a simple strategy to not only get out of debt but to completely transform how they purchase big ticket items by becoming their own bank, including real estate. This technique can completely transform how you think about money, investing, and your financial security.

About Mark:

Mark Willis is a man on a mission to help you think differently about your money, your economy and your future. After graduating with six figures of student loan debt and discovering a way to turn his debt into real wealth as he watched everybody lose their retirement savings and home equity in 2008, he knew that he needed to find a more predictable way to meet his financial objectives and those of his clients.

Mark is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, a two-time #1 Best Selling Author and the Owner of Lake Growth...

There's something happening with new construction that you need to be aware of, especially if you're targeting builders as a part of your strategy going into the new year. 38.5% of the new construction sales are happening based on the floor-plan alone.

In other words, people are not buying a home, they're buying the home off the plans. They're buying a home based on what they believe to be built.

This is completely different from than where we were a year ago at the same time. At that time, we were 10 points less than that. Inventory has become more constricted and buyers are taking risks. This is an opportunity for all of you watching who are focused on targeting new construction and builders.

What if you approached builders in your market and you said, "Hey, I got some new statistics that blow your mind, 38.5% of new construction sales across the country are being done based on a the floor plans. Do you have any lots in your inventory that you're not...

What are the three biggest reasons why someone would not list their home today? We have a new study that tells us exactly what sellers are thinking, which is what great marketing does. Great marketing answers questions before they're asked.

When you're thinking about your marketing plan, think about the questions and the concerns that you're hearing from sellers today.

The study found that 39% of the time, sellers are anticipating a more favorable sales price if they wait to sell. 34% of respondents said they feel like life is too uncertain to make the change at this point. 31% said they are afraid they won't find or be able to afford a new home. 

We need to come up with answers to these concerns so we can form our marketing around them. We also need to be able to answer these questions in the field when they're brought up to us.

So how do you answer the first concern, that they will sell for more later? One response would be to say, "Hey, I...

8.9 Million people in the United States have moved during the pandemic. What's interesting is when you dive deep into those numbers. 85% of those folks have moved outside of Metro markets or moved away from Metro markets. They're moving into suburban and rural markets instead.

According to the United States Postal Service, large cities lost the most people during the first seven months of the pandemic. They're seeing people move out of some of the most populated areas and relocating to the suburbs or rural markets.

Now, what does that mean to us? That means that we have an opportunity. There's a seismic shift happening in the real estate market and the real estate world may never be the same. We should be leveraging this as an opportunity. Maybe one of the biggest opportunities we ever have in our real estate career is happening right now in 2021. The market is shifting.

So how can you leverage this? One way is by focusing yourself around relocation....

Would you buy a house sight unseen? According to a new study done by NAR, 1 in 20 purchases during COVID has been a done by a buyer who did not physically view the home they purchased.

When buyers are looking at homes through the lens of their devices according to the same study the most important digital search preferences are photos, the description, property floor plans, virtual tours, interactive maps, videos, virtual open houses, and virtual listing appointments.

Buyers also looked on average at nine homes over eight weeks. But surprisingly, out of the nine homes they looked at, five were viewed virtually. Yes, today buyers look at a virtual showings as being almost equal to live showings. This shift could fundamentally change how we practice real estate going into the future.

Questions for You:

Can someone virtually tour your listings and would somebody pull the trigger and buy that home based on how good you've done in terms of marketing?

Do you have a virtual home...

       I

I have a goal for you: Buy a rental property in the next 12 months.

Now, why would you want to buy a rental?

Years ago, one of my mentors said to me, "Jim, do you know the easiest way to make a million dollars in real estate and the hardest way to make a million dollars in real estate?" I said, no, tell me. He said, "Well, the hardest way to make a million dollars in real estate selling it. The easiest way to make a million dollars is owning it."

I never forgot those words.

Now that doesn't mean that I quit my day job and I tried to become a flipper. It also doesn't mean I'm chased some unrealistic get-rich-quick kind of schemes. What it means is that I understand the most powerful investment on earth I can make as a REALTOR is to invest in my retirement and buy rental properties every single year.

That's exactly what I've done throughout my 30 years in this business. My rental properties create stability and financial independence so that my business...

You may have some buyers today that will say: "I should have bought a house last year. I feel like prices have risen so much. Why would I go out there and compete with multiple offers and all these buyers? I think I'm just going to continue renting and see where the market goes."

When we hear this question what should we do as a professional real estate agent and someone whose job it is to help people build wealth?

Remember: The first person you have to sell is yourself. When you can help people become homeowners rather than renters, you're helping them build wealth quickly. The average renter has a net worth of about $5,000. The average homeowner's net wealth is 40 times that number.

https://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2020/10/07/a-homeowners-net-worth-is-40x-greater-than-a-renters

We need to demonstrate to renters that it's in their best interest to buy. We can do that by talking about the power of interest rates. You might say, "Hey, totally hear...

Buyers are in a very difficult negotiation environment today as with nearly every offer they write they will be competing with multiple offers.

Recently one of my own agents used a unique strategy to help her clients win in a multiple offer situation. In this case they knew this particular house was probably going to appraise at a certain value but because of competing offers it might go higher than that.

Their unique strategy was to go a little bit above list price in their offer (about the level they thought the house could reasonably appraise). But then they decided to do something else. They wrote in the offer that they would give the seller a closing cost credit.

Yes, they agreed to pay $5,000 of the seller's closing costs. By doing this, the seller would net more dollars, which is no different than if somebody had bid up the price, but now they eliminated the appraisal danger.

The strategy worked! Her clients won the bid because of this unique negotiation tactic!

Are you...

What do you think are the top 10 trends for kitchens coming into the new year?

Top 10 Design Trends for Kitchens

(According to Instagram)

• Granite countertops (46,619 posts)
• Pantry cabinets (29,429)
• Quartz countertops (23,652)
• Kitchen islands (23,436)
• Eco-friendly (5,785)
• Brass faucets (4,608)
• Copper hardware (3,698)
• Mosaic Splashback tiles (3,041)
• Induction countertop (650)
• Farmhouse sinks (141)

How can you use this information? Try creating an engagement post that pits two of these elements against each other... as in "Which do you prefer Granite Countertops or Quartz Countertops?". Of course you should include a photo of both options.

By using an engagement question you will find that your audience will be much more likely to stop scrolling and actually comment or like your content. This is crucial as the more engagement a post receives the more likely it is for the algorithm to place this content in front of even more people. Also when someone...