I don't hear too many Agents discuss retirement, nor do I see the local associations paying too much attention to it neither.  You should always ask yourself... How much money have I put away and how much will I need to maintain my standard of living?  Can I put 3-6% away with every closing to ensure I have money for a rainy day?  

I know many Agents have another job while they try to grow their RE business.  Hopefully you have planned ahead and started saving early.  For the Agents who work F/T, this is for you mostly! 

I recently rolled out a Recruit & Earn Program that allows Agents within our company to recruit other Agents and get paid monthly on their sales.  Now, I want to make it clear that the money comes out of COMPANY PROCEEDS, not the Agents pay you recruited!  Basically, we are paying you to chat about our company to other Agents.

If you can recruit only 5 Agents to your tier 1, you can bring in as much as $14,000 per year in additional revenue.  That figure goes up tremendously if those five recruit another five... and on ... and on.  This is income you don't have to sell a property to make and most likely didn't even plan on having at all.  

What can you do with that additional income?  Could you fund your IRA?  Could you buy an investment property?  Would it help pay bills if you can't sell real estate this month?  Better health care plan?  Pay for your kids college? 

Out of all things, there is no better feeling than stability.  

If you would like to learn more about our R&E Program, you can watch a video I made here.  If you would like to learn more about our Agent & Team Programs, contact me directly at 315-804-4847.  

Mark Gilbo

NY Lic Broker

Gilbo Realty

So rates have approached the 5.25-5.5% mark for wanna be home owners and over 6% for investors.  Obviously, the market will slow with higher rates, and if this continues, inventory will see an uptick as well.  We did an open house today on a new listing and only one buyer walked through the home.  Two months ago, there would have been several buyers in this price range.  

So where is the real estate market going? 

I see it leveling off this summer and more buyers hopping into the market that recently decided to wait for this moment.  There will be lower prices to match the higher rates.  We will also see a return to No Income, No Assets Loans to prop the market up even further. 

How does this compare to 2008? 

Completely different beast and no better or worse in certain ways.  2008 was just flat out "your going out of business' chaos and millions received pink slips over night, especially in the real estate and mortgage industries.  Builders walked away from new neighborhoods, banks weren't lending and some of the largest lenders in the country closed their doors never to be heard from again. 

Is this 2008 all over again? 

Maybe, but I believe the banks are more prepared this time than 2008 and hopefully many learned from their past mistakes. 

Mark Gilbo

Broker/Owner

The biggest problem I see when selling investment properties are Agents and Owners who price their properties so high that it is no longer a good investment.  I recently talked to an owner who had a property listed for $500,000 FSBO and he truly believed that if someone came in and bought the home ALL CASH it would cashflow every month.  Well yeah... they paid cash!  But, why would they do that unless it was an amazing return on investment?  

See, leveraging money is the key to investing.  If I had an investor with $500,000 cash, I wouldn't advise them to sink all their dough in one property when they could buy two million dollar properties with 25% down and favorable financing.  Plus, there is a good chance that the million dollar property cash flows better, has more units to rent and is in better condition.  

Last but no least, ignore the agents cap rate.  I have yet to run into an Agents cap rate that made any sense or was accurate.  Most use fluffy numbers or POTENTIAL income in their rates and thats completely useless.  If there was potential, why didn't the current owner implement it for their own benefit?  

Want to be successful as a real estate investor?  Leverage your money.  

Prices are up and buyers are getting priced out of the market.  If we continue to ignore this major problem the only ones who will be able to afford a home will be Institutional Buyers and Investors with deep pockets.

I will admit, many of our home sales in the last few years have been to Institutional Buyers and Investors and its dramatically increased from 2019.  I'm all for capitalism and good healthy competition, but, this problem has been created by good ole Uncle Sam under the disguise of capitalism and the dream of home ownership has set sail for many people in the US.  

At what point do local community leaders protect their citizens?  All you have to do is look at Vancouver or Hawaii to find out.  For years they allowed foreign investors and institutional buyers to purchase property and dry up all the local inventory to the point of pushing home prices from 100 thousand to MILLIONS today for the same property.  Yes, many of the locals sold and made a million bucks but ended up having to leave their lifelong city all together to find cheaper housing and standard of living.

The biggest concern is that locals in Hawaii and Vancouver have been priced out of their markets and can no longer afford a home there.  Do you want to be the next Vancouver or Hawaii?  If not, then start asking questions and talk to your leaders.  

Canada finally bans foreign buyers...  Better late than never I guess. 

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/04/18/canada-bans-foreign-home-buyers-two-years-cool-market/

Vancouver Real Speak

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/business/economy/vancouver-housing.html

2021 craziness is back in 2022 so be prepared as a buyer for the wild ride.  House offers 10, 20, 30,000 or more above asking are being seen, once again, pushing real estate values higher than many buyers can afford.  What can you do?

• Work with a Realtor that knows how to write strong offers and knows the market.
• Think about waving home inspections and bring a contractor with you instead that can point out any visual issues. (I'm not a big fan of waving HI's but people are doing it)
• Can you come up with a higher deposit or down-payment?
• Think about looking in Not-So-Busy area's for a home.  Sometimes going a bit further out in the hillside can make a difference in some communities. aka.. be willing to commute.
• Can you borrow from your 401k to pay cash and then refinance the home to put it back in?
• Are you willing to pay over appraised value?  If so, you'll need cash to do it.  Do you have it?
• Can you get qualified for a conventional loan instead of FHA or VA.  Both of those loans are at a disadvantage in this market.

If you must have a home you will be asked or forced(by other offers) to make offers you normally would not.  Welcome to 2022.  

Mark Gilbo

NY Lic RE Broker

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Mark Gilbo

NY Lic Broker

Gilbo Realty

Historically, rising mortgages rates put pressure on home prices, which tend to lag behind rate changes.  The market has somewhat slowed over the last 3 months in many facets of Real Estate and rising rates may continue that trend.  Does it mean you should stop looking for a home?  No!  But, working with an Agent that does their homework is recommended.  

Listing your home may also be affected, so again, working with an Agent that does their homework is highly recommended.  Seeing trends in the market is imperative.  

I have come across many tactics used by Realtors that will hurt your chances of selling your home.  Be aware of the following...

1. THE LISTING AGENT MUST BE PRESENT AT ALL SHOWINGS!  For most properties this is just a ploy to deter other Agents from showing your property so they can get both sides of the commission (5-6% instead of half that).  Many Agents will either skip this listing or consider it to much of a hassle to show it to their client.  There is a company around us that does this routinely and their listings sit on the market many more times than others, mostly due to this policy.  I personally feel this practice should be banned by all MLS's since the point of the MLS is to create a FAIR environment among all members and their clients and I'm wondering how this fits in to that narrative.  
2. NO OR BAD INTERIOR PHOTO'S - This happens more so than not.  Even you have seen bad photo's, grainy photo's or unorganized photos on a website that makes you go hmmm, right?
3. NOT SHARING COMMISSION FAIRLY - One of our Agents sold a listed piece of land and we found out after the closing that the listing agent was taking 7% of the commission while paying our agent 3%.  Do you know your agent is doing this when you signed those listing documents???  This is one sure way to not only hurt the listing Agents reputation but also your sale.  This practice should also be banned by the MLS's who talk about open and fair disclosure, yet, continue to let the listing Agents hide their commission splits without any disclosure of it.
4. PUTTING A TIME LIMIT ON SHOWING A BUSY HOME - Recently the Syracuse Association of Realtors stopped the practice of changing time limits on listings.  Last year, when it was crazy, we'd be told all offers must be in at 6pm Monday, only to have the listing agent call us to say its changed to Sunday at 1pm.  That's great, but my showing is scheduled for Monday at noon!!!!  If your Agent wants to limit your home showing time, put at least a 5 day or 10 day period for people to get in and see it.  We do this for some bank properties we list and we ALWAYS get a higher price for the property.

These are just a few I've noted over the last year of craziness so I hope you take note of them as a seller!  If you are looking to buy or sell a home, give me a call at 315-804-4847 or email:  gilborealty@gmail.com.

Mark Gilbo

NY Lic Broker

Gilbo Realty

With Covid19 making its way through the world, businesses are faced with a cope or die mentality.  As a Real Estate Company, we are constantly making plans for the future and one of those new plans is how do we deal with disruptions such as a Covid Virus, natural catastrophes or other world wide events that effect everyone.  

Covid19 is going to force many industries to change, including our own.  If there isn't a real estate company out there not thinking about how to become better prepared for the future, they will not be around.  One thing that Covid19 has showed me is how irrelevant an office space is becoming to our business today.  People are looking for simplicity at a good price, period!

Real Estate Brokers have always believed that office space in the community is essential to their business.  What they have failed to realize is that its not the office thats important, but your agents within the community and how they interact with it.  Having good Agents working and communicating with local buyers and sellers is the key.  

The future won't be Zillow, Franchises, Trulia, Realtor.com, but good local Agents working the for best interest of their clients and community.