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...

What's more important than the interest rate you're paying on a home?

It's the price you're paying for a home, obviously.

So when we're talking to our potential buyers, this is something we should be talking about with our social audiences, our sphere of influence, our farm areas, and really beating this drum that they need to refocus their attention on this idea that prices are coming down. And we have some real opportunities in the market.

The way we're gonna frame that up is gonna say:

"Hey, listen, a lot of people get really focused on interest rates. But I want you to start looking at price because some smart buyers that I know, some savvy buyers are really starting to get out there and find some incredible bargains. There's really two areas that I like to talk about with all my friends that I think are huge opportunities.

One of them is luxury housing. There's a 38% drop in the last quarter of 2022 in luxury home sales....

Hey guys, can you think of an investment that is safe, stable, and secure in today's environment?

We know the stock market's crashing.

We know the crypto market crashed.

And we know other market assets are crashing right now.

So is there an investment out there that people can really trust?

The answer is yes.

And Americans already know this:

The most recent study shows that for the last eight years straight Americans trust real estate more than any other asset class.

Here's the question mark I have for you:

Are you out there beating this drum? Are you the evangelist about real estate to your own clients and talking to them about the fact fact that they need to diversify their portfolios, you know, rebalance their assets, and get some of that money over into residential real estate?

One of the safest, most stable, secure investments they could possibly make.

Now, how do we know that?

Well, all markets are based on supply and...

When you drive around your neighborhood or your community, you're gonna see some dilapidated houses. And you know, who else sees those? The city and county.

So what the city and county generally have is a compliance officer that's in charge of enforcing the city and county standards for how homes and properties should be maintained.

Now their standards are probably much lower than our standards, but they have to keep these properties to a certain standard. And if they don't do that, they give the homeowner or the property owner a violation notice. And this violation notice can become sequentially more serious with large fines attached to them.

So why am I bringing this up?

Well, it's a marketing opportunity.

One of the highest concentrations of buyers today is buyers looking for flip opportunities. These dilapidated properties, they can turn around and flip and, and turn a profit on. But there's not very many of them out there.

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,...

A recent study that shows about 6% of people are taking advantage of eviction moratorium laws. In other words, they're not paying their rent and they're just staying in place. In those cases where the tenant is unable or unwilling to make their rental payment, it can become a burden on the people that own these investment properties.

Why? Because they have to continue to make their own mortgage payments.

As a real estate professional we should reach out to investors as a resource. How? Try using the "Lock In Your Upside" script:

"My name is (your name) with (your company name). I am calling about an investment property at (address of units) did I reach (owner name). Great! Quick question - how did you do with rent collection last month? You know, the biggest challenge that I'm hearing from rental owners in the market when I'm talking to them is that they're having a challenge with the eviction moratorium. The reason for my call is that we have still...

What if I told you that there's a new opportunity in the market and no one's looking at? It's what I call a New Delta. A Delta is a point between two markets statistics which creates a gap, and that gap is opportunity. 

The National Multifamily Housing Council, a trade organization representing apartment owners, surveyed 11.4 million apartment units and found that 80.2% of apartment households made full or partial rent payments by May 6.

That number is down slightly from 81.7% on May 6 of last year, but up from 78% on April 6 of this year. This is great news investors - but many are still nervous about eviction moratoriums affecting their market.

Check out this easy script that can unlock opportunities for working with investors in your area:

“How did you do with rent collection last month? There is some goods news I came across today that I thought you might be interested in hearing nationally 80.2% of apartment households made their rent payment by May 6th – last year that number was 81.7% so not to far off. The biggest challenge I am hearing from rental owners is with the eviction moratorium, but buyers are still in the market, and demand is still high. Have you ever thought about...