Watch Byron Lazine and Nicole White give a real estate agent’s perspective on industry-related topics. In this edition of The Real Word, they’ll discuss rising rent prices, alternative home financing and how Matt Lionetti stands out from the crowd.

Byron Lazine and Nicole White are two agents in Connecticut who give us their thoughts on the week’s news every Friday in “The Real Word,” a weekly video column on Inman.

Rent prices continue to rise, even throughout the pandemic. An Inman article published this week reported that “rent prices are significantly higher than they were at the same time last year, rising by 3.8 percent nationwide in January.” Why is this happening?

With the current inventory shortage, where do people move? “Obviously, they’re going to have to rent,” Nicole said. Potential homebuyers might be moving into rented digs while waiting for the right home to come up, or perhaps they’re resorting to rentals after being priced out of the market. Byron and Nicole discussed what does this might mean for the housing market as well as single-family rent changes based on select geographical areas.

More this week: With so many new alternative financing models cropping up, the home financing scene is changing. Are these alternatives better than a 30-year mortgage? Byron and Nicole weighed in on a piece by Inman writer Jim Dalrymple II that tackles this topic.

“The 30-year mortgage has been the best product for banks in the history of American banks, so that’s not going away,” Byron said. “But more options of consumers is always good — if they’re educated on what those options cost them … ”

Marketeer of the week

This week’s episode highlights Matt Lionetti — particularly the creative way he uses Instagram Reels for his business. This video, in which Lionetti hilariously asks Drake to pick him as his real estate agent, is a standout.

Want to nominate a “marketeer of the week”? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below, or shoot us an email.

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