As a real estate agent, your No. 1 superpower is the ability to harness a great mindset—to transfer confidence, enthusiasm, and optimism to your customers, clients, and even co-opts. So, let’s talk about some bright spots of real estate in this day and age, starting with the Georgia MLS’ performance.
As you may know, the GA MLS announced that July 2020 was the greatest year in their 50-year history, which is pretty mind-blowing if you stop to think about it. Recently, Bankrate made an analogous announcement: The current interest rate of 2.9% for a 30-year fixed mortgage is the lowest rate ever recorded in the history of mortgage lending.
Meanwhile, the FMLS pointed out the massive appreciation occurring in our market; the average sale price has increased by about $56,000, and that shakes out to about $1,700 in your pocket each month. The FMLS is also reporting an average of 45 days on market, which is about as good as it gets!
The National Association of Realtors has some awesome stats to add to the conversation, too: The real estate agent usage rate is close to 90% right now—the highest usage rate of all time. A few decades ago, the usage rate was as low as 60%, and if you’re like me, you assumed that the advent of user-friendly digital technology would drag that rate even lower. Interestingly enough, the exact opposite occurred.
“The GA MLS announced that July 2020 was the greatest year in their 50-year history.”
Some other good news coming out of NAR is that, on average, buyers and sellers are choosing to move forward with the first person they interact with in 75% of instances. We spend countless hours perfecting our buyer presentation, and while that’s important, it’s clear that consumers are sticking with who they like, know, and trust.
The average number of showings is around 3.5, which is a far cry from the 30 or 40 showings on average back in the early ‘90s. Speaking of ‘back in the day,’ remember when you had to make seven inked copies, courier it, then courier it back whenever there was a counteroffer? At least a quarter of our jobs was just hauling around a thick stack of documents. Now, that hassle has been eliminated by e-signature. Finalizing a deal can now be done in seconds!
These are just some of the main reasons why I believe there’s never been a better time to be a real estate agent than right now. I hope you feel the same way and you project that confidence onto your clients. If you’d like to discuss this or any other real estate topic further, feel free to give me a call or send an email.
