Welcome to the February edition of Monday Market Minute with Carrie McCormick!
In this episode Carrie discusses how the market slowed last year, but that in 2019 we’re starting to see some increases in activity. With rates being down, Carrie is noticing her buyers are poised to purchase and provides a tip on how to prep them now with a sample contract. I also talk about contacting past clients to discuss the possibility of a refinance.
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 podcasts made by Chicago real estate agents for Chicago real estate agents. This is our monthly series called them the Monday market minute with Carrie McCormick. If you are a new listener and haven’t listened to one of our Monday market minutes before Carrie is a top producer without properties for over 20 years has been a top producer. Last year she finished in the top 15 of all realtors in Chicago and that’s out of 40,000 Realtors. So we are so honored, she comes on once a month and tells our listeners what they need to know about what is happening in the Chicago real estate market. And also, before I bring carry on, everyone should follow Carrie on Instagram, just do a search for Carrie McCormack real estate. That’s the thing, you can also find her on Facebook as well Carrie McCormick real estate, and welcome to the show. Carrie,
Carrie McCormick 1:06
thank you, thank you Happy 2019
D.J. Paris 1:10
Happy 2019.
Carrie McCormick 1:12
So just to get started, the one thing that people have been focused on is interest rates. And with the Fed holding off on further interest rate increases, we see that this year is starting off very good. So we’ve seen a lot of activity in the market. All of us that have been in the market for a while we know that q2 was kind of flat. So last year of 2018. Really after, I’m gonna say like July, the rest of the year was just flat. And the reason going back and looking at that, you know, interest rates were increasing, taxes were increasing, there’s a lot of talk about increasing taxes. And you know, the second bill came out and people were worried about that. And actually, the wage growth wasn’t as favorable either. And it just created this affordability issue. And people I think were just hesitant about buying. People were out looking, but they weren’t actually pulling the trigger and buying. So I do still think that housing affordability is going to be an important storyline this year. But we are definitely seeing buyers starting to get out into the market. And they’re getting motivated to buy, which is great. So also, one thing to look at is last year in 2018. Because of the interest rates and taxes, a lot of people have just decided to rent. Right? So now we’re seeing an uptick in the rental rates just because of the whole supply and demand factor. So rental rates are starting to tick up this year, which now those renters are saying like, why would I rent or pay more in rent, now let’s go by, right, because interest rates are going down. So again, looking just at the economics of the market, we’re gonna see a shift this year. But we’re going to be tied to those lease months, because, you know, obviously the spring, like April and May are big lease months, so those leases will end then and we’re gonna see buyers enter the market at that point as well. So I am happy to report though, I’m starting to see multiple offers start to happen. We’re seeing high traffic counts at open houses. I do work all of my open houses. And this past weekend, I had 22 People in WoW, one of my open houses. It was energetic, it was exciting. And I woke up the next morning with three offers in hand. So you know, again, the excitement’s there, as long as you price and position the property correctly, you’re going to start getting activity in offers on those. But for now, inventory still remains low. However, in the next few weeks, I do expect that to change quickly. So my suggestion to the brokers out there is if you are working with buyers, prep them now, one thing that I started to do, which is just a little tip, is I started going through the contract already and sending them a sample contract with you know their information on it and reading through it. So just so they know what to expect. We have a new 7.0 contract that is out, right, a little different language, so I’m walking them through it. So when we do make an offer, they they’ve already read the contract, they know where I’m putting information in and they’re ready to go. And lastly, everyone knows get your pre approvals letter ready for it from your lender. So make sure you’ve got that in hand. So your offers ready to go. You’ve got your pre approval, and you can make your offer.
D.J. Paris 4:41
Now is there a preferred lender or do you have a lender that you prefer to work with?
Carrie McCormick 4:46
Of course I do. And hopefully they’re listening and they know who they are. You know, I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’ve learned a lot over the last couple of years and one thing that I would say is important is to surround yourself Have with pros, I always say like pros use pros, I’ve met some of the most incredible service partners and vendors. And I’ve created what I call my little white book, not black book, but little white, maybe it should be my little white black book of providers that I have for either whether it’s inspections, it’s mortgage lenders, of course, it’s handyman, it’s plumbers, it’s, you know, everything that you possibly could need. Wallpaper hangers, I’ve got, you know, people for blinds and carpet, everything, I’ve got the best of the best, I think, team around me, and that adds value to my clients. So they, I can hand that over to them. And even like I said, designer, so if I, if I know that I can refer my clients to these people I know they’re being taken care of, and it’s an extension of my service. And you know what I stand for my, in my job?
D.J. Paris 5:58
Yeah, that’s not so important. And I know also to some of these vendors, for the listeners who are brokers can also be your partners, when it comes to advertising, some of them can partner up. And they can do all sorts of different advertising, whether it’s postcards or mailers, or even other digital marketing as well. So don’t be afraid to reach out and say, Hey, I’m thinking about doing this marketing initiative. And can you help out with that, and we’ll co brand it together, it’s very common. Great idea. And so I have a quick idea of to piggyback on what Carrie mentioned, with respect to lending rates and pre approvals, and the buyer market starting to pick up. So because rates have dropped, and I don’t know how much longer that will happen, because I don’t have obviously a crystal ball, or the expertise to know but for right now, they are pretty low and they have dropped. So a couple opportunities for brokers, obviously, anyone who’s renting you can reach out to them and, you know, talk to them about making the transition to purchasing a home or, and maybe even a better idea or not, not a better but certainly as good of an idea as contact everyone you’ve already worked with, or anyone you know, that owns a home and say, Hey, I don’t know if you’ve been checking the news, but rates seem to be down. I don’t know if it makes sense for you or not to refinance, but I just thought I’d put that bug in your ear. And you should reach out to your lender or I can provide a lender if you don’t have a good one that you want to check rates with. And I can tell you as a homeowner, myself, that lender has never ever called me to say, hey, it’s a good time to refinance. So no, but the only way I ever knew to refinance is I saw like a new story on it before I got into this business. And I went, Oh, maybe I should look into that nobody ever called me. So I think it’d be a great opportunity just to keep your name in front of your clients and provide value. And, you know, it doesn’t mean they have to refinance, but it’s just you’re providing value by letting them know it might be a good opportunity. So that was my little tip.
Carrie McCormick 7:51
It is important. Yeah, I mean, always providing value to your clients is important in whatever fashion it is. So love it. Love that tip. Anytime
D.J. Paris 7:59
you can have a good reason to contact a client and not say, hey, I need more business. Can you refer your friends to me, which I think is a very hard thing to say and not something I would be comfortable saying but when you can actually say hey, I was thinking about you. And rates are down, you may want to look into refinancing seems like a great way a great reason to pick up the phone and call somebody. So all right. Well, I think that does it for this episode of the money market minute. Please send us your questions. So you can do that via Facebook. You can find us at keeping it real pod, also our website keeping it real pod.com. Send us your questions for Kerry. Any questions you would like her to ask we’ll have on a future episode in a month. And also follow us on Facebook and and follow Carrie on Instagram, Carrie McCormack real estate. And Carrie, what’s the if there are any buyers or sellers, renters investors? Anyone out there that is looking for a broker to work with? How should they reach out to you?
Carrie McCormick 8:57
Oh, thank you. Yes, absolutely. The best way to reach me is just to call me 312-961-4612. And if you prefer email, it’s Carrie at@properties.com.
D.J. Paris 9:10
Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Thank you to the listeners, if every listener could think of one person that they feel could benefit from hearing these kinds of podcasts, forward this over to them, we would appreciate it. Our numbers keep going up. Because of you guys telling every other people because we don’t spend even $1 in advertising. So we’re very grateful to everyone who’s listening and we’re grateful to people like Carrie who come on the show every month. So on behalf of Carrie and myself, we thank you for listening and we will see you next time. Thanks Carrie. Thank you
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