I have been thinking a lot about what value I add to my clients as a realtor lately. I understand the market and am able to pass that information on in a way that makes it relevant to you. I promise that I will go back to doing that in my posts as well. What I think I am going to do is split my posts so that it is half about the market, and half about what I am doing with my clients that I believe is above and beyond what the normal realtor does.
I think it is important to know that you are not just a transaction to me. If you become my client, my goal is to make you my client for life. Whether or not you have bought or sold a house from me recently you will get a call from me every quarter to check in and see if there is anything that I can do to add value to you. That question can mean anything. I have some clients who ask me for referrals. I have some clients who talk to me about what is going on in their lives. I have some clients who ask me questions that I never thought I would have been asked.
I have clients who celebrate with me. Just this week a client who I helped buy his home texted me several pictures of the kitchen remodel that I knew he had been working hard on. It is beautiful! I love getting to celebrate with my clients. I think a huge differentiator for me is that I will check in with you long after you have done business with me just as much as I did before you did business with me. You are more than just a sale to me.
Now on to the market:
Things slowed down in August, as they always do. With back to school and the State Fair in play, everyone is focused elsewhere unless they have to buy a home now. What is interesting is that usually once September hits and kids are back in school things have been picking up in years past. So far, 2018 is hitting the pause button longer. A simple indicator of this is our housing stock. As of today (September 19th, 2018) there are currently 3,921 active listings on the Des Moines Mutliple Listing Service (MLS) and 1,921 listings under contract on the MLS. These numbers are significant for a couple of reasons.
1. That is the widest gap we have had since the beginning of the year. For most of 2018 listings under contract have only been trailing listings on the market by three to five hudred units. Many times they have been within 100 units of each other.
2. That is the highest number of active listings that we have seen in months on the Des Moines MLS.
What does this mean to you?
If you are a buyer you have more to choose from and you are less likely to get into multiple offer situations. You can take your time (in most instances) and not be frantic at every moment.
If you are a seller you have to pay attention to your competition even more and make sure that you are positioning yourself in the market to be the home of choice. We are still in Seller’s Market inventories for more areas than not around central Iowa. We are trending more towards a balanced market in the last two months though. If you are thinking about selling, it would be good for you to get on the market sooner, so that you don’t have more competition later.
I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people that I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.
I would love to hear your feedback on this new format. Anything you like or not? Anything you would add or change?
~Ryan Lynch
