Welcome to the March edition of Monday Market Minute with Carrie McCormick!
In this episode Carrie speaks about the current low inventory situation and how sellers should take advantage right now. She also comments on the stock market and how it’s correlated to the housing market in Chicago. I provide a marketing tip on why to send out postcards to your sphere of influence (tip courtesy of Stephen Hnatow).
Carrie can be reached at carrie@atproperties.com or by phone at 312.961.4612.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:15
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real, the only real estate podcast made by Chicago real estate agents for Chicago real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, and welcome to our monthly feature the Monday market minute with Carrie McCormick.
Carrie McCormick 0:30
So welcome, Carrie. Hello, and thank you.
D.J. Paris 0:33
Thank you. And I would like to give Carrie a little accolade because I noticed this on Friday that and this is not uncommon, but it’s I think it’s worth mentioning. So because somebody is new to the show and says Who is this, Carrie McCormack and why are we Why is she talking to us about what’s going on in the market? Well, not only has she been in business for 20 years, and the top 1% producer, she’s actually even higher than the top 1% producer. Because as of today, she is the 15th highest producer and all of Chicago for 2018. So congratulations to you.
Carrie McCormick 1:08
Well, thank you. It’s been a great year so far.
D.J. Paris 1:11
I guess so so. So what we do on these on these episodes, if this is your first time listening, is Carrie talks about the market. And since we have so many listeners, we have 1000s of listeners who are brokers, most of them and are wanting to know what is a top producer thinking about what is what is the top producer telling their clients what’s going on in the market. That’s what Carrie is here to talk about. So I’m going to turn it over to you.
Carrie McCormick 1:35
Well, thank you. Thank you. So I mean, it is true being in the industry for such a long period of time. You know, I love to educate my clients and my colleagues about the market of what’s happening. So right now, you know, there’s a lot of external forces in place in the real estate market across the country, whether it’s tax related legislation, legislation, whether it’s mortgage rates, unemployment changes, family formations, the appetite for buying a new home remains very strong. And it’s enough that it’s driving prices upward in most markets. So in Chicago alone, our biggest thing is inventory here. So right now in the city of Chicago, we are down 7.3%. For detached homes detached homes are single family homes. But the inventory or I’m sorry, the new listings inventory was up 7% For attached, which is the condos. The median price in Chicago is up 9% For single families, and up almost 4% For attached properties, again, which are the condos, and then listings that went under contract have increased almost 13%. So really, you can see that it’s what March now that our market is moving. And I really predict that we’re going to have a great 2018
D.J. Paris 3:02
was so what what are you telling buyers right now? Because inventory is not as prevalent as it has been? What are some of what are conversations you’re having with buyers?
Carrie McCormick 3:16
So you’re right, that is the big story right now that there’s low inventory in in Chicago right now the inventory is down about 5% from the same time last year, meaning there are fewer choices for buyers, and then less competition for the sellers. And the market is trying to sustain a healthy number of listings to keep pace with this consumer base. And it’s you know that we’ve got consumers that are definitely in a buying mode right now. And I talked to colleagues of mine, which you know, is important for the listeners, you know, we are a great team and resources. And it’s just great to talk to each other about the market and what they’re seeing. And there’s evidence of increased showing activity in the market. So again, we’re set up for a nice busy year.
D.J. Paris 4:04
Yeah, that’s, that’s amazing. What questions are you getting from buyers and sellers this time of the year? Is there anything that you’re seeing any patterns?
Carrie McCormick 4:14
Well, I’m seeing that, you know, some of the sellers are hesitant about putting their homes on the market because the inventory is so tight, right? So they feel like if I put my home on the market, am I going to be able to find something else. So if anyone’s listening that has a home to sell, I would encourage you to do that now. Because our inventory is low. We’re driving up pricing, it really is a great time to sell and we’ve got buyers in the market that are ready to make a move.
D.J. Paris 4:41
And then what do you tell them if they’re like, Well, I am worried that if I sell it so quickly, I might not you know there might be this disparity in time before I find a new place.
Carrie McCormick 4:51
There’s always options you know, we can we suggest either a longer closing date, we can suggest doing some interim housing for them. Again, it just depends on their goals. And that’s our job as real estate professionals is to coach them through it and create a nice plan for them.
D.J. Paris 5:10
Yeah, that makes that makes perfect sense. I guess it is. It is a seller’s market right now, so might as well take advantage of that. And I wanted to ask you about the stock market. Do you do you watch the stock market? Do you feel it’s there’s a relationship between the stock market and the housing market here in Chicago?
Carrie McCormick 5:28
Oh, of course, I think the stock market has an uncanny ability to predict the future. Or at least, it’s better than some of our Professional Forecasters. Therefore, if you want to know how the outlook of the housing market is, I would take a look at the trends of the s&p Homebuilders index. That’s something that I like to watch closely.
D.J. Paris 5:49
Yeah, that makes sense. And, you know, for all intensive purposes, the s&p, you know, is is a good indicator of a lot of things, the health of the economy, which of course reflects some on the housing market. I wanted to also, this is funny, we did an I did an episode on last Friday, and somebody the person that I interviewed actually had a really kind thing to say about our show, but but also about about Carrie. He said, You know, what’s so great about this podcast is, and this isn’t something that, you know, I need to toot my horn, but I did think this was an interesting point. And he goes, you know, you get access by listening to the show to a top producer, what in this case, Carrie, what she’s thinking about what she’s telling our clients. And you know, this is there are 40 I just looked at, there are 42,000 realtors, in the Chicagoland area, Carrie is literally one of the top top producers. So this is a very big deal. And and I know that listeners really appreciate your time. The other thing I wanted to mention before I get into my marketing idea for the week is to send Carrie and your questions where you can send them to me or to Carrie, but you can visit our website, which is keeping it real pod.com. And you can submit questions, you know, ask a top producer questions, right. That’s what Carrie is here to do. And she’s very kind and generous with your time. As we have found with most of the guests that have been on our show. They’re very generous. But Carrie, in particular is extremely generous. She comes on once a month to answer your questions. So please, this is a wonderful opportunity to do that. You can also visit our Facebook page, which is also keeping it real pod and submit your question your questions there. So please do that. Anything that you want to know about the housing market, or even marketing ideas or what to tell a client or how to run comps, or tricks of the trade, anything that you think Carrie could could assist with, please send us your questions. So that brings me to my marketing idea of the week. And it actually, I was telling Carrie just a few minutes before we started. It’s not my idea. And it’s from an interview that hasn’t yet gone live. So I’m going to give credit to the person who gave me this idea. You’ll hear his interview in a few weeks. It’s Steven Hanna Tao. And he had a really neat, simple idea. And I wanted to get Karis thoughts on it as well. So I asked Stephen, when he is also a top 1% producer. And I asked him what cash when you started? How did you build your business and he had a really concrete simple idea that I thought you guys would want to hear about. So his thought was that nobody is going to use him as a realtor, if they don’t remember, he’s a realtor. And since he was so new, this is in his first year, he figured nobody’s going to remember that I’m a realtor. So he says I better remind them. So his thought was that he would create a postcard and send it to his 100 closest contacts. These are the people he is closest to these are not strangers. These are not people in a certain zip code he’s trying to market to these people he already knows and who already liked him, because he figured those are the people most likely to use me. But if they don’t remember, I’m here they might not. So every Friday, he would send them a postcard and he would design a postcard. He used a service for that there’s plenty of online systems for realtors, I just looked one up, it was 65 cents a postcard, including the design, including mailing it out. And he said he would have that sent out every single Friday. So I guess his client or his prospects would contacts would get them every Monday or so. Or Tuesday, maybe. And he said, I know nobody read these postcards, because, you know, he didn’t expect them to but he said but he goes I know they’re just going to toss them in the garbage. But for the two seconds before they toss it in the garbage, they’re going to see my name. And they’re going to remember that I’m a realtor. And he said I figured I needed to do that every single week. And I said, Well, that’s a lot of work. He said it really isn’t a lot of work. But if you’d run the math on how much it costs, if it’s 65 cents you do 100 That’s $65 a month. I think that It’s around 780 or so dollars for the year. And I said, what were the results? Did you actually see? Were you able to figure out how much you know, business you got from it? And he said, I got at least 40 deals. Now this is over a few year period. I don’t think it’ll happen in the first year. But he did it for a year and he got ended up getting 40 sales out of it. So gosh, knows how much that isn’t commission, but it’s certainly a nice return on investment. And I thought, you know, sometimes the simplest things work. So I wanted to get your thoughts on on that. Well, kudos
Carrie McCormick 10:30
to him. That’s a lot of work. But no, I do I agree to handwritten letters are just getting things out every week to your clients is is critical. It’s it’s definitely something you have to do. So kudos to him.
D.J. Paris 10:43
Yeah. And in particular, I think in the beginning, when you know, you’ve become a realtor, and maybe not everyone remembers that you’re a realtor. So anyway, well, anything else? We want to do you want to talk about before we wrap up?
Carrie McCormick 10:58
No, I think that’s it. I think we’re in a nice healthy market. And you know, everyone, just keep up the good work. And look forward to talking to you guys next month.
D.J. Paris 11:07
Now, if there’s anyone out there who’s a buyer or seller, and is interested in working with somebody like Carrie, and you should be because she is quite good. And she doesn’t need me to tell her that she just is that good. What’s the best way that somebody can reach you, or you
Carrie McCormick 11:22
can always call me I try my best to pick up my phone all the time. 312-961-4612 Or, of course, you can email me at Carey at@properties.com. I also do a ton of social media. So if you’d like to follow me either on Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn, I’d encourage you to do that. I like to post a lot of educational tools on there. Little bit of entertainment, and of course, some of my pocket listings that I have coming up.
D.J. Paris 11:52
Yeah, and I would I would also encourage all brokers out there to follow carry on on Facebook and Instagram, Instagram, in particular, because I my personal feeling is that oftentimes Realtors could do a better job with with Instagram, I think and Facebook to Carrie does the best job I’ve ever seen with Instagram and Facebook as well. But specifically Instagram, her posts look amazing, and she does them herself. And you will be absolutely shocked at how nice these look. And you know, I just think it just adds to how professional you are in the field. It reflects in those posts and really impressive. Probably the most impressive I’ve ever seen. Thank you. Yeah, well, it’s, you know, congrats to you. So anyway, that wraps up another episode of the Monday market minute, please tell a friend, tell everyone who is a broker in your office about our show. And if there’s anyone else we should be interviewing in the future. Let us know that as well. And thanks again to Carrie and we will see you in a month. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you
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