I took out some first time home buyers this weekend. Prior to the showings I started feeling a little panicky. They were initially looking for a 2-3 unit building so that two separate groups of buyers had units in which to live. Whatever the particulars about their living arrangement, the fact remained that there simply was no inventory of this nature at their price point. The on-market buildings I had sent and they had marked as “interested” were, even from the pictures, clearly in need of far more work than they would likely be willing to take on.
As a veteran broker, the lack of specific “home hacking” inventory creates a scenario that is difficult to manage. It is a term that is very popular these days and the available information that espouses its benefits is prevalent in certain online circles. It reminds me of an era when Redfin and Zillow’s algorithmic price estimates were new and all of us in real estate had clients that treated them as if they were gospel. The Zillow zestimate and the home hack are blunt tools that the public uses in their quest for real estate dominance. And don’t get me wrong, home hacking, where you buy a multi-unit, live in one unit and have the tenants’ rent pay for as much of your expenses as possible, is an amazing way to start investing in real estate. The strategy is simply much harder to pull off when inventory is low and the cost of money is high.
So what do we do as brokers when our clients have expectations that cannot be met due to current market conditions? We educate our clients and try to break down their goals and expectations so that they can be met based on today’s realities. That said, it is often a process that requires calm and patience and while that is our job, it is only natural to feel a bit chagrined when it was previously much easier to help our clients meet their expectations without altering them dramatically.
As I left for the showings, I took some deep breaths and reminded myself of my responsibility to my clients and took on a positive attitude. As we talked through their situation’s challenges at the first showing, they stated they would also be open to single family homes as one of their prospective roommates decided to rent for another year. This opened up many more options for them.
As sales people we are implored by coaches and mentors and movies and friends and family members to “Always be confident”. This is not always possible. Tough markets can wear one down. A return to your breath, a return to your duties as a fiduciary, and a return to your ultimate purpose, which is to educate, can have a profound effect on your outlook on a particular client or challenge.
