For the last three months, rents have been on decline, and that's kind of a shock. We saw rents skyrocket during covid, but now there's pressure coming into the market.

Two things have happened:

First, people are starting to come back into buying houses again, so they're leaving their rental units to buy houses, a small trickle there. Another big part is the fact that 500,000+ new units across the country were built and came online last year, and 400,000+ are coming online this.

So what's the opportunity for us as REALTORS?

Well, one opportunity is to target mom and pop investors in your local market. These are people that might own two to 10 units in your market. They're not major industrial investors, but they'll be impacted by higher vacancy rates and decreasing rents. Some of these folks bought and they stretched themselves to afford it, and if they have a couple of months of vacancy, they could really get hurt.

Still, it's a strong market and there are still investors acquiring...

Here’s a quick and easy technique when you're talking to investment property owners:

So, you're out there doing lead generation, looking for investment properties like duplexes, triplexes, or RV parks. Often, when you ask owners if they've considered selling, the answer is a flat-out no, right? Happens a lot. But here's the game-changer: ask them why they're holding onto the property.

"Why are you holding onto this property?"

Give them a moment to think, and their response might be about it being a good investment or passing it on to their kids. Respond with understanding, acknowledging the value of holding onto good investments.

Then, drop the bomb: ask if they know their current rate of return.

Offer an income analysis sheet to calculate their cap rate and return on investment.

Now, here's the kicker – if you can beat their current rate of return, would they consider moving their money to something even more profitable?...

One conversation that can come up as you're out there taking listings is, of course, centered on commissions.

And here's a great script to help your sellers look at the commission, not just cost, but as a marketing incentive to encourage showings and to encourage more offers.

So the script kind of goes like this:

"Hey, Mr. And Mrs. Seller, one thing I wanna talk to you about is the commissions that we charge. Now, I charge a listing marketing fee of X [fill in the blank, whatever you're charging]. And all we have to decide now is what we're gonna pay the buyer's agent. Now there's a little secret sauce here that a lot of people don't understand. Which is, that marketing fee that we're paying to the buyer's agent to bring that buyer in can actually incentivize them to show your home.

"Let me show you an example:

"I did a commission survey in your market area where your home is. I went out about a mile two miles, and I looked at every listing that...

There's one thing we've all done as human beings, living in the United States of America. I guarantee every adult has thought about this at some point:

They've thought owning a rental would be super cool.

Even if they're not homeowners yet, they've thought it would be nice to be on the other side of the equation — and not be paying rent, but also receiving rent.

So this makes for a great conversation. And there's something interesting that's happening in the world today, which we don't talk enough about in the real estate world, which is this:

A lot of millennials and the next generation of buyers coming in are being taught and embracing this concept that they don't want to own their own home.

They wanna continue renting their own home because they want a mobile lifestyle. And they wanna be able to move from New York to Miami to LA. They wanna surf around and have that mobile lifestyle, but they wanna own a couple rentals.

So...

Lawrence Yun was recently quoted as saying, "If you are under the age of 40, you have never seen inflation this high in this country."

The inflation rate in November hit a record 6.8%. That's the highest we've seen in decades.

So when we look at these numbers and everybody's talking about inflation, how does this relate to estate?

It's an interesting conversation. It's something that we should talk about with our clients.

Here's the good news when it comes to real estate:

Real estate is a tremendous asset and a hedge against inflation. That's why last year, we saw a record number of people investing in real estate. In fact, it was the the highest recorded ever. The percentage of homes purchased was 18.2% were sold to investors.

One reason is they're using it as a hedge against inflation.

So here's what's happened according to Lawrence Yun. He says that real estate has proven to be a good hedge against inflation. Some examples:

In the 1970s,...

Every year, Gallup conducts a survey of Americans to determine their choice for the best long-term investment. Respondents are asked to select real estate, stocks/mutual funds, gold, savings accounts/CDs, or bonds.

For the seventh year in a row, real estate has come out on top as the best long-term investment.

Gallup explained: “Real estate remains the most favored investment to Americans, as has been the case since 2013, when the housing market was on the rebound. More than a third of Americans have named real estate as the top investment since 2016.”

This year’s results indicated 35% of Americans chose real estate, followed by stocks at 21%.

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