Dear Readers,
This is not and will never be a political newsletter, but the war in Iran has been on all of our minds lately, specifically every time you pull up to the gas station these days I’m sure you’re all feeling the squeeze!
The war in Iran has had an outsized effect on our economy and interest rates, and it’s affecting buyer psychology in the marketplace. Let’s hope this new peace agreement holds.
We had a really slow January and Feburary here in Minnesota, due in large part to the ICE occupation of the Twin Cities, and then after the surge reduction, the market overcorrected. We have had the busiest March, April, and May on record (at least in the last 15 years of my career in real estate), and the Iran War has been causing serious problems in the marketplace due to interest rates surging up to 6.7%, whereas at the beginning of this year, rates were in the high 5s for the average buyer.
What does that mean for you?
Not much. Buyers should always buy when they need to buy, because life is what moves these decisions. We aren’t seeing any decrease in buyer activity this spring and it’s not slowing down as we head into summer market.
But if you know anyone looking to buy this year, October is always one of the best months to buy in, since most buyers are hibernating for the winter (and maybe giving up after getting outbid all summer) and you can get some great deals that might not be available during the rest of the year.
Okay, so what about sellers?
If you want to sell your home anytime soon, now is the time to call in the troops (i.e. me and Grace) because there are ***hungry*** buyers right now who are ready to fry some fish. While we have seen a slow down from spring highs the past two weeks, we think a rate reduction due to the Iran peace resolution could boost the market along side regular seasonality being favorable. We are seeing some homes receive 20+ offers in opening weekend.
A quick shout out...
My teammate and the other half of The Intuitive Group, Grace always-slays-her-outfits McDonald, after 9 months of heavy training is really starting to kick some serious ass. We are beginning to really be able to divide and conquer in a way I’ve never been able to do in 15 years. This is big, you guys. We are able to provide a higher level of service for clients with two of us, help more people, and give us some very rare time off.
No one dislikes Grace, truly it is impossible not to get along with her, and I’ve never met anyone who has picked up real estate this quickly. She has the gumption and audacity to make judgement calls in the moment and is right 99% of the time.
I am typically very critical of new realtors because I’ve been training/hiring/firing them for the last decade and the attrition rate for new realtors is 87%. Yes, 87% of realtors don’t see a fourth year. Even the first year is over 70%. Grace will make it to a year at the end of summer and she’s already performing at such a high level it’s actually astounding. If you have yet to meet Grace, you will soon. We have big plans for the future!
