In our October episode of Monday Market Minute with Carrie McCormick of @Properties, Carrie assesses the market in Chicago as bipolar – properties in suburbs seeing excessive movement while properties in the city are struggling with showing requests. Carrie also discusses the importance of agent knowledge about the history of the real estate market to be able to add value for your clients. Last, the importance of open houses is discussed and best practices around making the most of them.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Carrie can be reached at carrie@atproperties.com or by phone at 312.961.4612.
Please follow Carrie on Instagram by clicking here.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
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Hey, welcome to keeping the largest podcast for real estate agents and buy real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris. I am your guide and host through the show and today on the show. We have our monthly series The Monday market minute with Carrie McCormick from App properties and from the Carey McCormick Real Estate Group. Now Carrie is a top 1% producer in Chicago with over 20 years of experience helping buyers sellers and investors. In fact, in the past 12 months out of 44,000 real estate agents here in the Chicagoland area. Carrie is currently ranked number 16 in production, she’s a true true superstar and expert and in everything from first time homebuyers, veteran investors and luxury properties. She also works with a lot of developers and is often chosen to represent their high end developments. And I know this to be a fact because I am purchasing a property that Carrie also represents through a developer currently. So that is just how she is everywhere here in the Chicagoland market. We are thrilled to have her on our show, please visit Carrie at her website, which is Carrie McCormick r e.com. And also visit her on Instagram Carrie, what is your Instagram? I don’t have it in front of me.
Carrie McCormick 1:58
It’s Carrie McCormack real estate.
D.J. Paris 2:01
Yeah, so at Carey McCormick real estate on Instagram, but please check out her website Carrie McCormack r e.com. It’s really, both her social media and her website are great, great models for what agents can aspire to have to promote yourself, you know, to your sphere of influence and for people to find you online. Carrie, welcome once again to the show.
Carrie McCormick 2:20
Thank you. Thank you for having me. What a wonderful and crazy world we’re in now, right? Yeah,
D.J. Paris 2:27
well, not only not only are we connected in this home that are this, this condo that I’m buying, we also just found out that we might be going to the exact same resort on a vacation coming up in October, which I cannot even begin to calculate how this is not something near where either of us live. And we just happen to be going to a similar place, possibly. And she goes, Well, where are you staying? And I mentioned that or she mentioned the place I couldn’t remember it. I was like, Oh my God, just last night, I booked a hotel there. So this is I guess we have to keep doing this show because we’re so connected from there. Well, what’s going on with the market what’s what’s what’s happening?
Carrie McCormick 3:05
Markets is bipolar. That’s the way I look at this Chicago market. It’s very, like in one part of the city, things are flying off the shelf, we’re seeing multiple offers, we’re seeing some great activity, and then you go to another pocket in the city. And it’s crickets, it’s just it’s extremely quiet. There’s a lot of articles, you know, that come out daily, to the real estate community that I read. And it’s interesting, because they’re all a little disconnected to some degree, you’ll read some that your activity is doing really well. And I think that is supported by the suburban market, because everyone knows with COVID And what’s been happening, there’s been this movement to some degree to the suburbs. So are our friends in the suburbs have gotten this great pickup of activity, and the homes are, you know, flying off the shelf there. So again, we’re getting great activity there. But then you go into like a Streeterville, or a Gold Coast into these high rise buildings. And, you know, we’re just not getting any showing requests. And it’s, it’s frustrating, because those sellers will, you know, read a headline of, you know, activities up or prices are up or whatever it is, and they’re sitting there waiting for the phone to ring. So, you know, that’s why I call it a little bit of a bipolar market, because it’s really it’s dependent on the neighborhood, the size of the home, whether you have good outdoor space home offices, offices now for your children to learn out of, you know, so the way people live is has changed quite a bit. But one thing when I just looked back at the history, as you mentioned, you know, been in the market for 20 years and just kind of watching trends and you know, what’s happened just you know, activity leads to pricing. So like, for example, in 2005 we had Add a tremendous amount of activity. And I remember like it was yesterday, I was working on a building at two to two, Columbus. And that year, we had sold 381 condos. And I remember it just because it was like such a record, sales velocity, and there was all this activity. And what happened then from 2005, with all that activity in the market, is in 2006, it bumped up prices, right, because now, the supply and demand took an effect of, you know, all this demand, Rose prices. And then, you know, obviously 2008, it happened and we cracked, the market crashed, obviously, not just in Chicago, but all over. And then we took a couple years to recover from that. So really, from 2012, is when Chicago really started to recover, to now, there has been somewhat of a healthy incline in our prices. Like you kind of saw it go like this over the last couple of years. But then for the last six years, it’s flattened out, right, which is a little disturbing to watch pricing, you know, kind of just kind of just hover, no big spikes, no big decreases, which in some degree is a good thing for our market. Because there’s some markets like the east and west coast that have huge highs and lows, Chicago, just kind of, you know, kind of trucked along here. But then when COVID hit, we hit another decline, you know, in our market, and then we’re starting to back up. So we’ve got this big roller coaster of, you know, activity. And when we guide our buyers and sellers in a market like this that has volatility and is ever changing, you know, we really as realtors and professionals, we need to know a little bit of the trends in the history and to help guide our clients in the best possible way. And that’s one thing I had mentioned to my sellers, is, you know, there’s data out there, right, and we all can look at the data and absorb the data and make predictions on that data. However, when you work with a seasoned broker who’s been through 1000s, of transactions, and we can somewhat forecast how these deals are going to go, it’s important for a seller to work with someone who’s been through a lot of these ups and downs and knows how to guide the clients through this because it’s never just a straight road, you know, there’s always bumps and turns. And there’s got to be these expectations that we and predictions that we can, you know, give to our seller. So I do encourage anyone that’s listening, who is a seller or buyer in the market to interview a few different agents and make sure you, you know, have the same goals and in are guided by the right person. And as real estate professionals, you know, that’s our job to do that. I know that was a long a long answer to your question. But that’s just kind of where the market is right now.
D.J. Paris 8:02
Yeah, I think expertise is maybe more important than ever, I was just reading an article in cranes, which for those listening who aren’t familiar is a sort of city by city. It’s a while there’s local Chicago, particular business newspaper and business news organization. And they were saying that downtown in the loop and carry you were sort of mentioning certain areas that have just a lot of inventory, and not a lot of buyers. And that may be due to some of the the unrest that we’ve seen, especially down in here in our city, maybe due to other factors. But you know, if you’re an agent who hasn’t been through some of these changes, these types of cycles before, I think it’s a great opportunity to also then get mentored by somebody, maybe in your office or another broker who does have experience like Carrie has, you know, this is a big reason why people join teams or partner up. So if you’re newer, and there’s so much uncertainty right now and real estate, a great opportunity is to reach out to somebody who’s who’s been there and knows how to weather those storms and knows what to say to clients. My girlfriend’s starting her career right now and she wouldn’t in nor should she know what to say, but she absolutely doesn’t know what to say. So she’s partnering up with someone that can help you know her with those questions as well.
Carrie McCormick 9:18
Yeah, another thing for brokers to look at is, you know, the stock market is has the ability to somehow predict the future a little bit. If you want to know like the outlook of the housing market, one place I would say to look at is the s&p Homebuilders index, they have a graph and it really if you track that, you’ll see that this index keeps hitting new highs, but it’s a good tool to put in your pocket and to use and to look at each day. So that’s, you know, a tip that I would recommend. The other thing I was going to mention is again, if there’s buyers that are listening or brokers that represent buyers. One of the best things I think a buyer can do right now in this market, because interest rates are so low. And there’s a lot of inventory that’s sitting on the market that hasn’t moved. And most of that inventory that hasn’t moved, they need a little bit of a refresh, you know, it’s got either the yellow paints or the maple cabinets or Ooba, Tuba countertops for those in my age bracket know what that is. But those are great buys, because some of the bones of those places are really great. And they just need a little bit of a facelift. So if those have been sitting on the market for some time, it’s a great time for you as a buyer to go in, offer a price that you feel comfortable with, do a little bit of work, you know, be your own HGTV star, do some work on it, and you might be the person that’s gonna get a decent return on that investment for putting the hard work into it. So I think those are actually good buys right now.
D.J. Paris 10:56
Yeah, it’s a good, it’s a really good tip. I know, when I was looking before I selected the property that I’m purchasing, we looked at a lot of what I’m doing as a new development that carries representing, but the we looked at a lot of existing properties as well. And we saw, you know, marble choices or granite choices from 15 years ago that were like, oh, whoa, you know, a very extreme choice that maybe was cool back then certainly hasn’t stayed as current. And so we, you know, my, I’m so used to not having to do work around things like homes, that I immediately was like, nope, nope, nope. And I should have thought more more specifically about, you know, how much would that cost to replace the, you know, the tile in the in the bathroom that looks like, you know, something that I don’t isn’t my aesthetic? And I just immediately went no, and I bet most buyers are sort of wired that same way. So this is a great opportunity as an agent to really say, you know, what, don’t worry about that we can fix that, that can be swapped out. And you know, we’ll just build it into the price. Because I know, I just want something ready made and perfect. And obviously, that’s that’s not what you get in most cases. So. So that’s a little tip. There’s just a dope.
Carrie McCormick 12:07
Yeah. And I agree, they’re mostly like that. But for the ones that you know, want to dive a little bit into a project, those are great properties to buy and do a little project done.
D.J. Paris 12:17
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. So talk to your talk to your buyers about that and say, Don’t let some of the aesthetic scare you. We can change everything. And, and you’ll be able to get a better deal. So my mind just quick marketing minute. This is such a basic, simple, no brainer idea. I’m almost reluctant to say it because people are going to say Yeah, well, I already knew I’m supposed to do that. But I always you know, I always think we know probably what we’re supposed to do all the time anyway. So I’m just going to remind you what you already know. But it’s probably a good idea. If you’re in between clients right now. You know, you’re really in and again, this is one of those things that we probably all did when we first started out as agents. And maybe we’ve become busy. And so we’ve tapered off doing and now we can return to it if we’re not as busy. And this would be open houses. So you know, whether you have listings or whether you don’t obviously if you have listings, you know, do open houses as often as possible, because that’s, you know, where you might meet some buyers and also just learn how to talk real estate or learn how to better communicate, you know, the value of a property when people walk through. But also if you don’t have listings, what a great opportunity to meet other agents either in your office, well, I guess it have to be in your office, at least in Illinois, you’re not allowed to do open houses for people who work at other companies. I think different states have different rules. But if you have worked in an office with at least a few other agents, you know, a great opportunity to go over to them and say you know, I’m not that busy right now. I’d be honored to do some open houses for you would that be okay for you know, your properties? And you know, some agents will say yes, some some probably won’t be comfortable with that, but enough well and really you’re doing you know, a huge service to the to the seller and that seller’s agent, because of course it creates activity for the property and you know, the owner probably feels good that something’s happening and the agent you know, has somebody to help with that. So I always say you know, if you’re if you’re not busy, and you’re not you know, either going out and spending all your time meeting people to add your database which of course you should be doing to but you know, do some open houses try to schedule every weekend have I mean carry you have open houses, I got only knows how many times a week but I know even as busy as you are, you’re still setting those up constantly.
Carrie McCormick 14:25
Yeah, so I actually like to work with my own open houses too. And I do agree with you, they’re really great. And one another tip just to piggyback on that is I was working in open house last weekend, and a new agent had stopped into the open house and I was excited to have someone in there and he said you know I’m new to the industry. I just wanted to stop by to meet you and wanted to see an open house you know, What materials do you have out how do you greet clients, and it was really a learning you know session for him. And he was doing that with like a few different open houses. He just wanted to see how different agents conducted open houses, their signage, their materials. And I just thought, wow, I mean, that was a really smart thing to do. Just to, you know, in his, he said, I’m going to do my own way, but I just want to see how other people are doing. And I thought, well, that was really smart of them to spend the afternoon doing that. So that was a really, you know, good thing to do if you’re a new agent.
D.J. Paris 15:28
Wow, what a great tip. Yeah. What an awesome idea. So in Chicago, here, we have what are called the broker open, which we even have open houses just for agents to agents. And so your own local MLS or local association might also have similar similar things. But yeah, pick out the top agents in the area, and go see what they do. And maybe call them ahead of time or shoot a message. Hey, I’m going to swing by, I’m just here to you know, to say hello, and meet you. And I just want to see what how you form an open house, maybe even bring them a little, you know, bring him a coffee or something as a thank you. But But boy, that would be that is such a smart idea.
Carrie McCormick 16:03
I was glad that he didn’t call ahead of time, just because he kind of caught me off guard. You know,
D.J. Paris 16:09
that’s true. You might have said, no, no, I’m good. I don’t want you ruining. Yeah, that’s really smart. Maybe just show up and politely introduce. Yeah,
Carrie McCormick 16:16
yeah. No, I mean, I appreciate it. That that was just it was a hustle. I thought it was really good. Good on his behalf.
D.J. Paris 16:22
Yeah, learn from the best everyone and reach out to them. So yeah, reach out to people in your own office to see if they can give you some open houses to do and then go around and see what the top agents are doing. I’ll bet you the way they control conduct those open houses is different from other for other agents and just go in and politely Introduce yourself. And I’m sure they’d be honored. Like Carrie was saying it’s flattering to have somebody come say I want to see what you do. And I think that’s, that’s really cool. So great, great ideas all around. And Carrie, we are going to say thank you. I think we just lost Carrie unfortunately. So I’m going to say goodbye on behalf of Carrie. First of all, everyone who’s listening I want you to go to visit Kerry’s website Carrie McCormick real art e.com Carrie McCormack rt.com. If you are a buyer, a seller or renter and investor who is looking for a top agent in the Chicagoland area, we recommend Carrie as much as anybody because she’s 20 years in the business and exceptionally good. So you can reach her directly on our website. All of her social media is there including Instagram, if you’re an agent, go to her website and then get over to her Instagram and Facebook and look at to see the content she creates for her contact list. Another really, really inspiring effort that she puts together and it’s it’s really engaging and she gets a tremendous amount of traction on her social media profiles. So go to Kerry, McCormick rt.com. Reach out to Carrie. She’s always happy to answer questions. And if you’re, you know, somebody’s looking for a realtor here in the Chicagoland area, give Kerry a call. Otherwise, we will see you guys next month. And Carrie, thank you so much for being on the show. And on behalf of Carrie and myself. We want to thank everyone for continuing to listen and support us. Thanks, guys. We’ll see you next time.
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