If you’re a real estate agent, mortgage lender, investor or anyone involved in residential real estate — this applies to you.
Real estate investors would be very well-served to be familiar with what’s going on in the homeowner and consumer side of things. It seems to us who work in the investor world that so many transactions are investor-related, but the reality is that a vast majority of residential transactions are homeowner purchases.
There are a few important ways that the consumer side of the industry affects investors, but the main one is financing. Conventional mortgage lending drives a lot of what’s happening in real estate — interest rates, loan terms, such as down payment requirements — and the list goes on.
Believe me when I say that the market is driven primarily by the state of mortgage financing.
On the other side, real estate agents should be aware of what investors, such as renovators and builders, are up to. Their product is crucial to what’s going on in the neighborhood where you sell properties and where your clients buy.
Moreover, agents could benefit from the business knowledge that investors have. Being a full-time investor, such as a builder, requires a broad breadth of knowledge related to marketing, finance, construction and more.
So whatever your role might be, learn the other side. Don’t get trapped in your little bubble and ignore what other real estate professionals are doing that might affect your business.
Chris Haddon is an entrepreneur based in Washington, D.C., a partner at Hard Money Bankers and a co-founder of REI360.net.