Aren’t All Agents the Same?
Does it make a difference on who you hire to sell your home? Are all real estate agents the same? Are we just a commodity? And in a competitive seller’s market, do proper marketing and negotiations even make a difference? Lastly, does it pay off to hire a discount broker? Somebody who lowers their commission drastically to drum up business. Well, let’s review the data, the statistics, the numbers when analyzing and answering these questions. I want to first start off by saying that we respect and appreciate our fellow agents, but some people may say that real estate agents are a commodity, and in a lot of cases, that is very true. And I can appreciate why some people would think that. In fact, it’s very easy to get your real estate license. Do you know that in Oregon, it takes 2,300 hours of pre-licensing to get your cosmetology license, and it takes 1,450 hours to get your hairstylist license, but only 150 hours of pre-licensing prior to taking the real estate exam? So yes, many agents lack experience, training, and education. But what does the data say? Does it make a difference who you choose to sell your home? And when someone says that marketing doesn’t matter because homes are flying off the shelf, is that true? Is that right? Well, in answering these questions, let’s look at the data. We took this information straight from MLS, the Multiple Listing Service in January of 2022. We reviewed all single-family detached homes that sold in the Portland area in 2021. Homes sold for an average price of 623,808. At Eleete, our average sold price was 841,051. And my listing sold for an average price of 854,286. Over $850,000, which is nearly 37% higher than average, or over $230,000 more on average than other Portland area agents were able to obtain for their clients. You’ve probably heard that people were selling their homes for more than asking. When we look at sales price to list price ratio in 2021, the average for all homes sold in our market was 1.84% over list price. My ratio was 3.16% over list price. So my strategic property marketing help my clients get almost double in that category. Now, let’s look at market times. The average cumulative days on the market was 24 in the Portland area, but my clients enjoyed an average of just 11 days on the market. And my median was five days. So far, it’s looking like the data definitely shows it does make a difference based upon the experience, market, knowledge, education, and marketing level of an agent, as far as what you’ll net on the sale of your home and how quickly it will sell. Now, let’s answer the next question. Does it pay off to hire a discount broker? Will you really save money? Let’s compare two discount brokerages whose marketing proposition is that they will sell your home for 1%. First of all, you’ll need to read between the lines to find out if you qualify and what you’ll get for that amount. You may be required to purchase your next home through them as well. It’s also important to understand that in Oregon, it’s customary for the seller to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission. So you need to pay the agent, bringing the buyer, which is on average 2.5%. So when a discount broker says they charge 1% to list your house, you need to remember that you still need to pay the buyer’s agent commission. So, in essence, you’ll be paying 3.5% commission, not 1%. That 1% offer seems enticing and it’s used to get their foot in the door. So is it worth saving 1.5%? Well, again, let’s refer to the data. The average sales price for discount broker number one was $570,060. And for broker number two, it was 583,194, which all combined, the averages more than 8.5% lower than the market and over 33% lower than my client’s average of 854,286. So, if you look at what you’re losing by hiring a discount broker, that could be tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars by potentially trying to save 1.5%. This doesn’t even take into account the headaches of having representation that is anything less than full service. You need a responsive agent by your side to help you with strategy, negotiations for repairs, timing, possession, and problem-solving to advocate for you throughout the entire transaction. And let’s look at one more set of numbers. The average star rating on Google for each of these brokers is 3.6 stars. Eek! If you want to go out to eat, do you look online and say, “Hey, here’s a restaurant that’s cheap and has 3.6 stars.” That sounds perfect. Well, of course not. Then why would you do that with what is likely your most valuable asset? So, I want to let you know, I didn’t make this video to brag or to put anyone down, but I did make it to make you think because there are 15,193 member agents in our MLS who sold 28,506 single-family detached homes in 2021. So that average is less than two homes sold per agent last year. Not all agents are the same. We take our education seriously and are on the cutting edge of innovation and technology to get you the highest return on your investment. So give me a call if you’re thinking about selling or just looking for some perspective or advice, I’m always here to help.
January 2022 Market Update
Here’s your 2021 recap for the real estate market in Tigard, Beaverton, NW Portland, SW Portland, Sherwood, Tualatin, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, and the Portland West suburban market! Hello, everyone and happy new year. Well, it’s time for our January market update with year-end stats for 2021 for Portland’s westside suburbs. So I know that inventory has been a hot topic for a while now, but we officially hit our lowest inventory of record in December at 0.6 months, that’s just 18 days. So yes, in just two and a half weeks, we would run out of houses to sell if no additional homes were listed. Now December is always the lowest inventory month of the year. So, I kind of saw this coming, but no matter what, I expect inventory to inch up for January and continue to increase in the months to come. I’ve been tracking inventory for the past 22 years, and for reference, the median December inventory over that time period has been 3.6 months. This is basic math and the rules of supply and demand are in full effect, making it a great time to sell with so little competition. And as long as interest rates stay relatively low, demand is expected to stay high. So just to clarify, this is a sellers market. And on the topic of interest rates, the federal reserve will end their quantitative easing program in March of this year. And they’ve created an environment that will result in mortgage rates slowly increasing. Now rates are expected to stay low relative to historical rates, but buyers should have better opportunities to purchase this year in 2022 than next year. So high buyer demand should cause our sellers market to continue through 2022. Now for sellers who also need to buy, but are fearful that they just won’t be able to find a replacement home, there are several solutions to this dilemma, including the revival of bridge loans that can help you purchase your new home before selling your existing home. For more information on this and other solutions, please feel free to reach out to me. Now prices increased in the Portland Metro area, 15.8% over the course of 2021 and closed sales increased 9.8%. Here are average home prices for December and market times for Portland’s west side and suburbs. So let’s first start with the overall Portland average sales price of 582,900 with 32 days on market on average. Beaverton/Aloha comes in at 517,600 with 24 days on market. Hillsboro/Cornelius/Forest Grove comes in at 523,100 with 22 days on market. Tigard/Tualatin/Wilsonville/Sherwood at 605,900 with 24 days on market. And Northwest Washington county coming in at 710,900 with 21 days on market. Now west Portland’s average sales price is almost identical to that at 710,200, but with 55 days on market. So they have a much longer market time on average in west Portland. And west Portland also has the largest number of active listings. Lake Oswego/West Linn comes in at 1,024,400 with 29 days on the market. And because I’m a visual person and a data nerd, I created a line graph showing the year in review by area. So this gives you a good idea where homes are more affordable and you can see that here in Hillsboro and Beaverton areas. It also shows that prices tend to fluctuate more as we get into higher priced areas, such as Lake Oswego. As always, reach out to me to find out what we can do to get your home sold for more money, for the best terms by professionals who live here, work here, and do this full-time, and have your best interest at heart. I’m looking forward to hearing from you and don’t forget whether upsizing or downsizing, my service will move you.
November ’21 Market Update
Hello neighbors. It’s time for our November Market Update featuring the new stats from October, 2021. I’m Julie Williams with Eleete Real Estate. So, remember that stuff I said last month about prices starting to inch down and inventory inching up? Well, nevermind inventory is down again, and prices are up a little bit. So in addition, there were 18% fewer price reductions on the west side last month than the previous month. So we are holding tight in our tight market and prices in October did not appear to be softening at all. So, if you’re thinking I’m ready to sell right now, but I just don’t know if I should pull the trigger, do it because inventory in December is usually the lowest of all. So, it’s just going to be a really great time for sellers. It’s a sellers market and yes, buyers, interest rates are still low for now. So there you go. Everybody wins. And where are mortgage rates right now? Well, conforming rates and jumbo rates are both at 3.125%. And as a little side note to that, to put it into perspective, my first mortgage was 10.25% and I was pretty excited to get such a low rate because it was a little higher than the day before. And while we’re on the topic of mortgages for medical professionals, Guild Mortgage has just come out with a new program for you. 100% financing, no private mortgage insurance with just a 700 minimum credit score and loan amounts up to 850,000. So that’s a pretty great program for medical professionals. If you’d like to get connected with that, let me know, and I will get you connected with somebody there at Guild Mortgage. Year to date, new listings are up 6.6%, pending sales are up 9% and closed sales are up 12.5%. Average sales prices are up 16.7% this year. Here are average home prices for October and market times for Portland’s west side and suburbs. So first of all, the overall Portland metropolitan area average price is 575,200 with 26 days on the market on average. Beaverton, Aloha comes in at 500,200 with 16 days on market. Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Cornelius comes in at 507,700 with 18 days on market. Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Sherwood at 633,900 with 18 days on market. Northwest Washington County at 665,800 with 20 days on market. West Portland at 700,500 with 51 days on market. I know that sounds a lot higher than the others, but I did check and that’s correct. And Lake Oswego, West Linn comes in at 853,200 with 24 days on market. In real estate news, Zillow has canceled their IBuying program because it was a losing proposition for them, but they own a surprising number of homes currently. So they will be selling all of those off. And many people are saying that this is proof that algorithm estimates of home values are very inaccurate. Now I’ve done some videos on this and related topics. So check them out on my Facebook business page or head on over to YouTube to see them there. As always reach out to me, to find out what we can do to get your home sold for more money, for the best terms by professionals who live here, work here and do this full-time and have your best interests at heart. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Oh, and don’t forget whether up sizing or downsizing, my service will move you.
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