Beyond the Headlines: What’s Going to Solve Real Estate’s Inventory Crunch?

The real estate headlines are scary right now. All across the country, inventory is at or near all-time lows. Buyers can’t find homes, or when they do, they have to compete against 20 other buyers to get the home. (Often, more than 20!) There’s no end in sight. Or is there?

On this week’s Walkthrough, HomeLight’s Caroline Feeney is here to unpack data from today’s release of our Spring 2021 Top Agent Insights Survey. And three top agents from across the country join us to talk about what’s going to solve real estate’s inventory crunch.

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If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to get future episodes delivered automatically: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | YouTube

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Links and Show Notes

• HomeLight’s Spring 2021 Top Agent Insights Survey
• Caroline Feeney – HomeLight profile
• Linda Edelwich – real estate agent profile on HomeLight
• Lisa Binggeli – real estate agent profile on HomeLight
• Chris Martin – real estate agent profile on HomeLight
• Join our Facebook community for The Walkthrough listeners
• HomeLight’s Agent Resource Center
• Subscribe and listen to The Walkthrough: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube

Full Transcript

(SPEAKER: Matt McGee, Host)

Let me read a handful of recent news headlines about what’s going on in real estate right now.

[sound: news theme]

Red hot real estate market freezing out first-time buyers.
Las Vegas housing market on fire.
Looking to buy a home in Sioux Falls? It’s never been harder.
Seventy-six all-cash offers on one home. The housing madness shows no signs of slowing. That one was from CNN, by the way.
One last headline to share: No end in sight to Rhode Island’s dog-eat-dog housing market.

[sound: Man: What the heck is going on?]

What the heck is going on? That’s the million-dollar question. But we have some answers. HomeLight’s latest top agent insight survey is out today. And, yes, inventory is one of the main topics of discussion. No doubt things are tough, but our survey says things a little more nuanced than those headlines. For starters, a record number of agents are optimistic about the direction the market is heading.

Today, let’s go beyond the headlines. We’ll talk with three agents who know what’s happening on the streets. And we have HomeLight’s managing editor here, too, to help make sense of the new data. What will it take to balance the market? Are buyers overpaying? What tips can you use to find sellers who are ready to list? We got a lot to talk about. So, let’s get started.

This is “The Walkthrough.”

(INTRO MUSIC)

Hi there. How are you doing? My name is Matt McGee. I’m the editor of HomeLight’s Agent Resource Center. Welcome to “The Walkthrough.” This is a weekly podcast. We have new episodes that come out every Monday. This is the show where you’ll learn what’s working right now from the best real estate agents and industry experts in the country. At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re on a journey to find out how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

If you want to get involved in the show, there’s a few different ways you can do that. Number one, find me in our Facebook listener community. Go to Facebook. Do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough. Group will come right up. You can also leave a voicemail or send me a text, either way. The number is 415-322-3328. If you prefer email, the address to use is walkthrough [at] homelight.com.

Ten years ago, in the market where I live, Tri-Cities, Washington, there’d be about 1,200 to 1,400 homes available most months. Five years ago, it was about half that. Last week, there were less than 200 homes available in our market.

Right now, you are nodding your head in agreement. You know exactly what that’s like because things are the same for you, I bet. According to our new Spring 2021 Top Agent Insights Survey, 97% of agents say they’re working in a seller’s market. Ninety-seven percent. I remember one podcast last summer, I said, all real estate is local, and there’s no such thing as a national real estate market. I would not say the same thing right now.

My guest today is a familiar voice. Caroline Feeney is HomeLight’s managing editor. She’s also the driving force behind our quarterly Top Agent Insights Survey. Before Caroline joined HomeLight in 2018, she was at Inman for two-plus years. So, she’s been on top of industry trends for a while now. Caroline is here to share data from today’s Top Agent Insights Survey. It’s about 70 pages or so of terrific insights from you and your peers. I’ll make that PDF available for download in our Facebook listener community.

Also joining us today are three agents from across the country: Linda Edelwich, who works just outside Hartford, Connecticut, Chris Martin in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Lisa Binggeli, who works in the Boise, Idaho area. Together, we are going to discuss a few really important questions:

What will it take to change things? In other words, what are the levers that will bring more sellers to the market?
On the buyer’s side, how are your clients dealing with the frustrations of trying to buy right now? And how are you talking to them about rising home prices and the risk of overpaying?
Maybe most importantly, what can you do to find more listings? Our agents have some great tips to help with that.

That is all straight ahead. So, without further ado, let’s get started. Here’s my conversation with HomeLight’s Caroline Feeney.

(BEGIN CONVERSATION)

Matt: Caroline, this is our fourth time getting together to talk about what’s going on in this crazy real estate market. Every time that we’ve gotten together like this, we talk about how unbalanced this market is, what a heavy seller’s market it is. Somehow, the market today seems even more extreme than the last time we spoke.

Caroline: Yes. That’s what the data would indicate, Matt. A few stats for you, our survey shows that headed into spring, 97% of top real estate agents across the nation were reporting seller’s market conditions. That’s up from 92% the prior quarter and up from 77% the year before. In addition, 91% say inventory is lower than they expected this spring. So, a strong majority there. Up from 82% the quarter prior, and up from 72% the year before. As for property values, 93% say home prices are rising compared to 74% the quarter prior.

So, based on every metric we measured here, we can really conclude that the temperature of the market is rising. We have yet to see any sort of reversal in buyer’s favor. And this is true, virtually, everywhere in the country right now. That’s what’s incredibly unusual about this. Not only is the market getting more extreme, but everyone’s experiencing the same environment. And that was also echoed in the conversations we have with agents firsthand, who are all in very different regions and said, “Yeah. This is exactly what I’m seeing, too.”

Matt: I posted in our Facebook listener community a few days ago just asking, you know, “Hey. April is here. Is anyone seeing any signs at all of new inventory coming into the market?” And I got…there were, like, 10 or 12 replies, I think. And most everybody was like, “Matt, you’re crazy. There’s no more inventory coming in.” But there were, like, one or two people who said, you know, there’s a little sign that maybe things are just starting to get better. And one of the agents also said, “Let’s just keep in mind that it’s only April.” So, it is still early in what is normally a very busy season.

I think, Caroline, since the last time we spoke, that was in January, maybe the biggest development since January is that people, being consumers, are now starting to get vaccinated. Are we seeing any impact? Did the survey show any impact from that?

Caroline: For sure. You know, more shots are going into arms. That’s only going to increase in the coming weeks and months. And we were really curious to hear and measure what kind of impact this could potentially have on housing. At least this spring, only 22% of agents nationally say vaccines are starting to affect their market. As for what kind of impact they’re seeing, 54% of this group say vaccines are encouraging some people to make plans to sell later this year. But meanwhile, 42% say the vaccine is bringing even more buyers to the market and just encouraging activity in general, which is, I think, likely to spur just a really busy spring and summer real estate season.

In the short-term, I think vaccine distribution will likely help to fuel both demand and supply, and maybe start to mobilize some sellers who are maybe being extra cautious about opening up their homes before. But given the inventory situation, supply just has so much catching up to do.

Matt: Let’s hear from our agents because we did ask them when we had our group conversation a few days ago. We asked them what they are seeing in their markets. Is this rollout of vaccines having an impact? So, the agents that we’re going to hear from, we’ll go in this order. Let me introduce them real quick. I gave their names earlier. First is going to be Chris Martin in Tulsa. Then Linda Edelwich. She is in the Hartford area, just outside Hartford. And then Lisa Binggeli is just outside Boise, Idaho. So, as you said, we have a good cross-section of the country, east, center, and west. So, let’s hear what they each said about what impact, if any, they are seeing in their markets from the rollout of the vaccine.

Chris: Finding housing and helping people find housing is obviously important. So, people continue to look. And we don’t do the big open houses like we used to. We don’t have, you know, large crowds of people. We try to figure out how to do things safely, but it still moves forward. And I can’t say that anybody…I can’t think of an example where anybody said, “No, I don’t have the vaccine. So, I’m not going to buy or sell a house.” People just do it, and they do it safely, as safely as they can.

Linda: So, no. No way, shape, or form have I seen the vaccine having any effect. I ran into one seller who was older, who said that she had an autoimmune disorder who wasn’t going to put her home on the market until she got the vaccine. And her house just hit the market two weeks ago. So, we wish her a lot of luck and that she’s able to move on to where she needs to go.

Lisa: So, we’re just being more careful, taking more precautions. But the vaccine coming out and more people getting the vaccine, I think we are definitely seeing more people shopping, but it’s retail shopping is what we’re seeing right now than we’re seeing with just house shopping.

Caroline: I feel like that’s exactly what the economy needs. Like, let’s spread a little bit of this real estate shopping craze to the other industries that might need it right now. Let real estate cool a little bit. In other news, you know, it’s a big day today. President Biden has asked all states to make vaccine eligible to Americans over the age of, what is it, 16, 18.

Matt: All adults, right?

Caroline: All adults, yeah. So, super exciting. And 34% of agents in our survey said that reaching herd immunity with vaccinations, they believe, will help unlock inventory. But there are some other levers they mentioned as well that would be interesting to explore here.

Matt: Yeah. I think the question is, if we’re just now starting to see that there’s maybe a little bit of impact from the vaccine, hopefully, as Lisa said in her quote there and as you were just hitting on, hopefully, more of that normalization of consumer behavior will start to impact what’s going on in real estate and just our daily lives. But I think, if that’s not going to be the huge thing, like, what is? What are the other levers that will increase inventory and start to, like, balance out this market? What did we hear about in the survey?

Caroline: Yeah. So, going back to the data, 35% of agents say they actually believe warm weather will be the first lever to provide some inventory relief. You know, the thinking is, as spring arrives, you start to see your neighbors put out for sale signs in yards at least in a traditional year. I think, in your four-season northern climates, for example, where I’m in, Iowa, we’re just starting to see that weather really warm up consistently. So, I think it’s a little too soon to say whether this has happened or not, you know, whether it will materialize in the coming months, if it will be like a normal spring season that encourages more or less things to come on the market.

And then circling back to vaccines, you know, 26% say they actually do believe an increase in vaccines will unlock inventory first. But I think the vaccine impact in some ways has to be viewed as more of a long-term trend to watch. You know, as the world fully reopens, the economy normalizes, could that also snap the housing market back into a more typical cadence? We were talking earlier about how there hasn’t really been those seasonal shifts. I think only time will tell, but that’s something to watch, for sure.

Matt: Yeah. I think that we all have to cross our fingers that all of this plays together to change behavior and get sellers into the market and just help with this situation that we’re in right now. When we had our conversation with the agent group a few days ago, I thought it was interesting when we talked about, you know, if not the vaccine, what might it be? All three of our agents wondered if the recent interest rate increases, like, what the impact of that would be like. Will that impact seller and buyer activity enough to create more inventory? Why don’t we listen to what they said about that?

So, first is going to be Lisa, and then Chris, and then Linda, all talking about the potential for the interest rate as it inches up to maybe have an impact on the market.

Lisa: What I’m wondering is, as the interest rate starts to go up a little bit and…you know, usually, when interest rate goes up, the prices naturally have to come down because your buying power is less. Then if we start to see any drop in prices, I bet you anything, we’re going to see people wanting to capitalize on that value, that money, not real money, but money that they have in their equity in their home. And then we might see an influx of people selling, which will help kind of level us out a little bit or at least provide some more inventory in the market.

Chris: There’s two drivers there. One is, home values, home prices. If they continue to increase at record levels and if the average sales price in our area has gone up 20% to 25% over 24 months and an interest rate that goes up to 5%, 5.5, 5.25, those two things are going to drive enough people out of the market that inventory will balance itself at some point. So, that, to me, is at least a year away before we even start approaching that balanced market again.

Linda: I don’t really see that being a deterrent here right now even for the next year. I don’t see that really being a deterrent for buyers necessarily until we maybe start to tick upwards of, like, 4.5% or so. Then I think that that’s what we’re going to start to see a pause and just a reevaluation of then what that purchase price has to look like. And then to Chris’ point, prices will have to come down.

Matt: So, from hearing the agents there, Caroline, it sounds like they’re maybe expecting that interest rates will have some impact if they continue to inch up. But again, it may not be for a year or so. That’s what Chris and Linda said, which reminds me of the conversation we had three months ago about interest rates. And everybody just agreed that there’s not going to be a real significant impact until it gets to, like, 4% or 5%. So, it’s interesting to hear them echoing that as well.

We also talked a couple days ago with Lisa, Linda, and Chris about new construction. That’s a huge issue across the country. Linda said that she thinks that will be potentially a big lever to get a more balanced market. But if I recall, all three said there are some trouble issues with new construction as well.

Caroline: Correct. They all spoke to in their markets, builders facing barriers. Namely, they don’t have enough lots to build on. They’re having trouble finding construction labor. Meanwhile, lumber and other material prices are skyrocketing. There was a period of time in the pandemic wherein a lot of lumber mills had to shut down. Back to our survey, only 9% of agents say they were confident that new construction would provide inventory relief in the immediate future. You know, houses take time to build and replenish. And builders are facing a number of setbacks right now, impeding their progress.

Matt: You’re right. There were issues related to, like, the permitting timeline, how long it takes, as you just said. And I recall also…I don’t remember who it was that said this, but one of the agents we spoke to said that the builders in their area, they are no longer selling homes until they’re finished. Because they don’t know what the cost of all that material is going to be, which just sort of speaks to the challenge that the current situation is having on builders as well as agents.

Caroline: Right. In the span of time it takes to build a home, the cost could increase in that time alone. That’s insane.

Matt: We have been talking mostly on the seller side, about the inventory issue. Let’s switch over to what is happening with buyers. I saw a headline recently. I don’t recall where it was. Buyers are getting frustrated and dropping out. Might that be another thing that helps create balance in this market?

Caroline: You know, when you hear stories of homes selling 100K over asking, receiving 20 plus offers, that certainly doesn’t sound like an environment any typical buyer would be happy about. You know, my fiancé and I, we bought a house in Des Moines, Iowa in 2018. We thought conditions were pretty competitive then. In fact, it can be kind of intimidating as first time buyers, especially. And luckily, we were able to view and make an offer on a home the day before it was sent to go live on MLS. We did end up bidding a little bit over asking to sort of encourage the seller to take our offer. But, you know, I don’t think we’d have that luxury now, of being the sole bidders, even in the Des Moines area. You know, we’re not in Seattle or San Francisco. So, even in these smaller metro areas.

So, certainly, we’re in a different market now. Going back to the survey, headed into the spring, 13% of respondents said they believe frustrated buyers will eventually step away, helping to put a little bit less pressure on inventory. You know, that’s not a huge number, but I anticipate this trend could grow as prices become truly outrageous.

Matt: Yeah. When we spoke with agents a couple days ago, I remember Lisa talked about this specifically. So, let’s listen to what she said about her experiences working with frustrated buyers in the Boise area.

Lisa: I am seeing some buyers drop out because they think it’s just stupid. And that’s the word. These prices are stupid and I’m not even going to do this right now. They’re going to wait for things to calm down. They’ll reenter the market later, but they’re not even going to…this whole outbidding other people and the competition of all of it, and overpaying for properties, they’re not going to have it. And so, we are seeing people just say, “No, I’m not interested.”

Caroline: Chris and Linda also said they’re seeing buyers balk at the pricing wars that are happening in the market now. And Chris made a really interesting point that when first buyers drop out, there’s a minimal impact on the market because they don’t have an existing home to sell. Right? But when current homeowners drop out because buying is so difficult, that directly translates as less inventory. And in our survey, we found nearly 70% of agents believe sellers aren’t selling because they have nowhere to move to.

Matt: When we talked with the three agents the other day, all three of them talked about that. When they are talking to people who might be willing to sell, might be in position to sell, maybe they need to downsize or they want to get to a different part of town or different part of the country, where do they go? Right? That is the real challenge at this point on that issue.

One of the things, too, that all three of the agents emphasized is that this is the time you really have to be, like, over-communicating with your buyers and sellers. On the buyer’s side, one of the things that they are talking about a lot is what Lisa just said at the end of her quote. She mentioned that buyers are frustrated with overpaying for properties. That’s one of the areas of communication that both Chris and Linda also talked about. What did we hear in the survey about this idea? Is there, like, fear? Is there concern among agents that their clients might be overpaying right now?

Caroline: Yes, 67% of agents in our survey or about two-thirds expressed concern over this exact thing. If you think about it, when you purchase a home at the right value, at fair market value, and then let’s say something happens in a year or two. Maybe you’d get laid off, you realize you can’t afford the home anymore. In that case, because you didn’t overpay, you can probably sell with your skin intact. Right? You might not make a huge profit, but you can also probably avoid a serious loss. But what happens if you got caught up in one of these bidding wars? You intended to stay for 10, 15 years, but end up having to sell on 1 or 2. That’s, I think, the more dangerous territory. You know, will your sell price in that case cover your outstanding mortgage balance and selling expenses, or will you potentially owe money on that transaction?

We recently conducted a survey on our blog, which found that it costs on average $31,000 nationally to sell a home, accounting for all the taxes and fees involved. So, when you don’t have time to build that equity and you overpaid in the first place, the margins can be pretty tight.

Matt: And what you just said, that’s really important because Linda, I remember when we spoke the other day, Linda talked about this specifically where she had a client that was thinking, “All right. I’m going to be move, but I’m only going to be moving and staying where I am for about three years.” And that sort of raised a red flag for her. So, let’s listen, talking about this idea of the timing and the potentially overpaying for houses. First is going to be Linda, talking about how she was having this conversation with the buyer in the three-year situation. And then we’ll hear from Chris also talking about who needs to buy versus who just kind of wants to buy. So, Linda and then Chris. Let’s listen to what they said.

Linda: Most of my buyers look at their housing dollar budget, you know, monthly housing dollar budget, and kind of look and say, “Is that number in my budget box that I’ve allotted to live on? And does it make sense for me?” And if it does, and again, that they have to purchase a home, they’re going to be willing to go ahead and do that. Because a lot of my buyers are looking at their homes being long-term, 10 plus years or more. I had to talk to a buyer who was really looking at a three-year situation. And I said, “Do you really want to buy right now?” I don’t really think this is, you know, your time because you are going to overpay, and I don’t believe I’m going to be able to stay in this sales price when you go back in the future.

Chris: That’s the big difference is, who really needs to jump in there and get a house? Who’s got the motivation and the means to make that purchase? And who’s just that casual buyer that, “Well, I would never pay this price for anything. And I would never ever pay over list price or something.” I hear that, and I’m hearing that from people. That may be the new normal is list price is just the starting price. And that’s what it looks like it’s going to be in my market for at least the foreseeable future. Let’s say at least the next 12 months. That’s the new normal in my market. That list price may just be the starting price.

Caroline: Lisa made a really great point that, ultimately, the buyer has to decide if the time is right for them and how long they plan to stay somewhere. It’s not the agent’s role to be the bad guy. You just have to educate them on what the risks are when prices are doing what they’re doing. And no one has a crystal ball. So, you just have to make the best guess that you can. Do what’s right for your current financial circumstances, and try to play it as smart as possible given how crazy prices are right now.

Matt: Yeah. We’ve been trying to figure out when things are going to start to change and get back to “normal,” whatever that looks like. Who knows what it’s going to look like? It continues to surprise, I think, both of us that even when we think the market can’t get any tighter, it continues to get tighter. Hopefully, that will start to change.

Now, for agents, obviously, the big question at this point is, you know, what are you doing right now to find new inventory? And we asked, Linda, Chris, and Lisa about this. And I remember when I asked them this, I said, you know, “Not that you ever want to pressure sellers to get into the market if they’re not ready,” right? But I said, “What are you doing to find those sellers who might be ready to sell soon?” So, let’s listen to what they said. Linda talked about reaching out-of-town owners. And then Chris and Lisa also had some advice for agents to help find new inventory. So, it’s Linda, Chris, and then Lisa.

Linda: I’m looking at out-of-town sellers, people that own property and they don’t live in the area, and they’ve had a rental property. I would say, if I’m doing any sort of target marketing, it would really be sort of targeting that market. I tend to get “come list me” calls and a lot of referrals. So, I don’t necessarily have to go out and find my inventory. I can stay pretty active, listing properties two to three per week.

Chris: I like to use what we call COI CMA. And I get my COI list out. Go down three or four, five a week. And bring up a CMA of the person’s neighborhood, not of their house in particular, and just put a handwritten note in there, “Hey. It looks like your neighborhood’s doing really well this year. Hope things are great. Let me know if I can do anything for you.” Drop in the mail. Every time I do that, you’ll get a phone call. Somebody would say, “Hey. Yeah, I see my house is…our neighborhood is doing really well.” And they just want to know a little bit more or they want to talk about it. But the handwritten note helps tremendously with that.

Lisa: One thing that’s been real successful for me in picking up additional listings is I actually instituted putting all my clients on the HomeBot automated, like, CRM system. That’s been a real fan favorite because they are receiving their updated value once a month. The funny thing is, I do send a disclaimer before I even put them on that system. I actually sent them all a personal email that said, you know, “The value is not going to be accurate. They’ve been $40,000, $50,000 off because the market is moving so quickly. If you want a value on your home, give me a call.”

Caroline: And on the topic of finding more inventory, one interesting stat from our survey was that 17% of respondents say, agents should continue to work really closely with builders in the coordination of new home sales. Oftentimes, you think of getting new listings as working with existing homeowners. Right? And, of course, new construction is limited due to the challenges we’ve spoken about. But if you’re bringing buyers to builders in your area regularly, they may also be encouraged to keep building and be willing to refer listings to you for any buyers who come their way. You know, maybe that buyer also needs to sell their home or they don’t have an agent yet. So, cultivating those relationships with builders was another key takeaway from our survey as far as agents finding inventory and also helping to get buyers in homes.

Matt: Yeah. I think that’s a good point. What stands out to me from what you just mentioned about working with builders and what Linda, Chris, and Lisa said is that…I mean, this feels to me like a time that agents really need to have their eyes and their ears peeled to, like, what is going on, where are the opportunities to find sellers, where are the opportunities to find homes for their buyers. You really have to be on your game right now with what’s going on in this market.

We always, Caroline, like to end the show with talking about…I call it, like, the optimism stat. Like, how are agents feeling about the market? When we spoke with Linda, Chris, and Lisa, all three of them said that they are optimistic about how things are going to go for the rest of the year. But admittedly, there was, like, this little nuance going on that, you know, yeah, I’m optimistic, but if I was strictly a buyer’s agent, things are really tough and may not change anytime soon. What did we hear in the survey about agent optimism?

Caroline: In the survey, 84% of agents say they do feel optimistic about the year ahead. This was up from 64% pre-COVID actually. And it also represented an all-time high for our survey. We began tracking the stat in 2019. So, yeah, there are challenges to this market, but that isn’t necessarily creating a gloom and doom environment, at least among the nation’s top agents. And one thing I recall about our conversation with Lisa is that even on the buy side, it’s extra rewarding when you get the opportunity to have the winning bid on a house that’s had so many offers. She said it feels like winning the lottery on getting the chance to see that buyer move into their new home and how happy they are. So, there is an element of this being an extra rewarding process even though it’s very challenging on the buy side right now.

(Speaker: Matt McGee, Host)

That part right there, what Caroline was just talking about, totally relatable. When I’m on Facebook, my feed is filled with agents like you celebrating like party time when their buyer gets a win in this market. You can totally feel the joy in those posts. I love seeing it.

Caroline, thank you so much. Great stuff from our Spring 2021 Top Agent Insights Survey. If you want to take a look at that, reminder, check our Facebook listener community. I will make that PDF available in there.

Let’s do our takeaways segment. This is what stood out to me from today’s conversation.

Takeaway number one: the agents we spoke with are not yet seeing any impact on inventory from people getting the COVID vaccine. It might just be a bit too soon. In our survey, 22% of agents say the vaccine is impacting the market. And of that group, 54% say that their sellers are still hesitant, but they are making plans to list later this year. So, that’s good news.

Takeaway number two: as Caroline mentioned, 35% of agents expect warm weather to be the lever that brings more inventory to market. Another 26% are optimistic that those continued vaccinations will spur more sellers to list.

Takeaway number three: another 13% of agents think frustrated buyers will drop out, and that’s going to help create some market balance. You heard Lisa. She told that story about her buyers who are giving up because the market is “stupid” right now. Chris and Linda also said that they have heard the same thing from some buyers in their markets.

Takeaway number four: all three agents had some great advice for finding new listings in the current market. Linda suggested contacting out-of-town owners to see if they are thinking about selling that rental property of theirs. Chris is mailing what he calls a neighborhood CMA to a handful of people in his database each week. He includes a handwritten note, and that has earned him a few calls from homeowners who want to talk about possibly selling. And then Lisa suggested Homebot. It’s a service that sends out something like what Chris is doing, but it’s more of, I guess, a monthly update on your client’s home value.

And then takeaway number five: as Caroline said at the end, 84% of agents are optimistic about where the market is going. It’s the highest that number has been since we began doing this survey at the start of 2019. Bottom line, yes, the headlines seem scary. But, really, things are a bit more nuanced than what a lot of buyers and sellers are hearing.

Okay. If you have questions or feedback about today’s episode, you can leave a voicemail or send me a text. Phone number is 415-322-3328. You can send an email to walkthrough [at] homelight.com, or you can find both Caroline and myself in our Facebook listener community. Go to Facebook. Do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough. Click the Join button. And we will welcome you in. If you’re listening to this podcast, you should be in our listener community.

All right. That’s all for this week. Thanks so much to Caroline Feeney for joining me. Thanks to Linda Edelwich, Lisa Binggeli, and Chris Martin, for joining us this week as well. And as always, thank you for listening.

My name is Matt McGee. This is “The Walkthrough.” At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re on a journey to find out how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

Go out and safely sell some homes. I will talk to you again next week with another “Walkthrough.” Bye-bye.

Header Image Source: (Andy Dean Photography / Shutterstock)