A buyer told me recently she hated the rate. Couldn’t stand it. Then we got the seller to cover part of her closing costs, wrote a few extra inspections into the contract to protect her, and her lender bought the rate down for the first couple of years. She closed on a house she loved, with room to breathe, in a market everyone keeps calling dead.
Here is what I think is actually happening with a lot of agents right now. It’s not that they are telling their buyers to wait. It’s that they do not know what to say to them. The rate is above 7 percent, the buyer is nervous, and the agent goes quiet because they are not sure how to make the case. So the outreach stops, the buyer drifts, and everyone decides to check back in the spring.
That is a shame, because you have a genuinely good story to tell right now. Most agents just are not telling it.
The story is affordability and choice
Start with the part your buyer does not expect to hear. There are real ways to make this more affordable than the rate makes it look. You can negotiate seller concessions toward closing costs.
You can get a lender who will buy the rate down, even temporarily, to get your buyer comfortable through the early years. Sometimes the listing agent has already partnered with a lender to offer a buydown right on the home. These are not rumors from a headline. These are things you can actually put in a deal.
Then there is the inventory, and this is the part buyers really do not know. The shelves are full again. Your buyer can walk into homes today that would have had five offers over asking two years ago. They have choices. They have time to think. They have room to negotiate and to write inspections into the contract that protect them, instead of waiving everything and praying. That is a gift, and it is yours to point out.
Your buyer may still hate the rate. Let them. You are not arguing them out of a feeling. You are showing them what is possible underneath it.
Know who you are reaching out to
The business starts with outreach, and you already know who to call. You have three groups sitting in your database right now.
- There is the buyer who is active today, who needs you to keep showing them what is possible instead of letting the rate do the talking.
- There is the buyer who was active earlier this year and went quiet, the one who got discouraged and drifted off, who has no idea the inventory picture changed since they stopped looking.
- And there is the person who once told you they were thinking about it, who never pulled the trigger and is still sitting there, waiting for a reason.
Each one gets a different call. But the message underneath is the same. You have options now that you did not have before, and I can show you how to use them.
5 moves to make this week
- Call your three lists this week. Your active buyers, the ones who went quiet earlier this year, and the people who once said they were thinking about it. Each gets a different call, but the same message underneath. Their options are better than they think.
- Lead with affordability, not the rate. Do not open with the number that scares them. Open with what you can do about it. Seller concessions toward closing costs, help with the monthly payment, a path that actually works for their budget.
- Ask the lender to get creative. Rate buydowns are back, temporary and otherwise. Some listings already come with a lender partnership offering one. Know which of your deals and listings have that, and bring it to your buyer before they ask.
- Sell the inventory. This is the part your buyer does not know. The shelves are full again. Show them homes that would have had five offers over asking two years ago, and point out that they finally get to choose.
- Get the contingencies back in. This is the biggest shift from two years ago. Your buyer can put inspections, the appraisal and financing contingencies back in the contract, which means they get all the information about the home before they are locked in. No more waiving everything and praying. They go in with their eyes open and the strongest position this market allows.
Go find the ones who still need to move
Here is the truth about every market, hot or cold, high rate or low: There are always people who still need to make a move. Life does not stop for interest rates. People still get married, outgrow a house, take the job in a new city, need to be closer to family.
It’s fall, and the easy story to tell yourself is that things slowed down so there is nothing to do. There is plenty to do. The rate is high, the inventory is good, the tools to make a deal work are better than they have been in years, and the business is still out there.
You just have to know what to say. Now you do. Go get it.
Kyle Crawford is VP of Strategy for Century 21 New Millennium. Get connected on LinkedIn and Instagram.
