Hey guys, some new interesting information from NAR regarding how far people move when they buy a new home.

For decades, the number was about 10 to 15 miles from where they were moving to where they were going to.

Now that shot up dramatically last year to 50 miles—an unheard of number. And where are people heading?

1. Small towns: up 9% from last year.

2. Rural areas: up 7% from last year.

So people are wanting to exit urban areas, kind of that urban exodus we've talked about for a long time. And why are they doing it? Well, they have remote working, they have a remote school, and they want to get out of the urban jungle. And affordability is a big issue. They can buy a much bigger house, much nicer house by going out to these rural and small town areas.

So what about your market? Are you starting to see this in your market?

Maybe you're on the flip side where you live in a rural market like I do and you're benefiting from people coming to you. And on the other side, maybe...

A stat from a Zillow study that came out shows that 30% of Americans have cited climate change as a reason to move in 2022.

Now, I think about that and I reflect on my own market where I live here in Southern Oregon. And I think, well, a lot of people wouldn't consider this being a climate change issue here, but it is.

You see, we've had, and we've been surrounded by fires for the last four or five years in our community. And those fires create smoke. And it creates a situation where people don't love going outside during the summer, one of the best times to be outside. Coupled with the fact that last year we had a fire rage through the entire city and burned down 2,700 homes. I had three duplexes burned down myself.

So when people have that experience, it's very detrimental. They are in fear of it. Of course they might think about moving. And a lot of people did move away because of that.

Or think about your...

Hey guys, quick question:

Are you a global REALTOR or a local REALTOR?

What do I mean by that? I just had a phone call from a guy that I worked with years ago. His name is Dick and he's an amazing guy. He called me and said, Jim, I've got a referral for you. He's living down in San Diego now. But we haven't seen or talked to each other in 15-20 years, but he has a referral for me.

Now, keep in mind: Dick is 83 years old and still out there selling real estate — so congratulations to Dick.

But when he referred that client to me, it just made me remember this concept of being a global realtor versus a local realtor.

Sometimes I have agents come to me that are in coaching and they say: 

"I've got my database, but it includes some people from my hometown or from a town I moved away from years ago, maybe in Texas, Florida, LA, or New York. Should I keep these people that are not local in my database? Why would I spend money...