“I want to get a good deal on my next house” or “I’m not buying one at all!”

Have you heard that one recently? We’re going to hear it some more over the next few months. Here’s how to reset your buyer’s – who want a great deal in today’s market – expectations.

First, 66% of all people are visual learners, so if we want to communicate something quickly and efficiently, we want to give them some visuals. The image below is a visual tool for resetting your client’s expectations around what a deal looks like.

Deals are had when a market is over supplied, when there’s more supply than there is demand. Well, we’re coming out of the most undersupplied market this country has ever seen. A balanced market is six month’s worth of inventory, which means it would take six months for all the buyers in today’s market to buy all the inventory if no new inventory was added. This is also known as the absorption rate.

We have a balanced market when supply matches demand. During the Great Recession we were oversupplied, but in 2021 there was only 2.3 months worth of inventory in the Cincinnati market. This is the most acute seller’s market we’ve ever seen. They’re projecting for 2022 that we’ll finish with about 2.5 months worth of inventory. Until we go to six months of inventory, it’s still a seller’s market.

It’s important for our buyers to understand, despite what the media may say, we are still in an undersupplied market. That will change over the next 12 months but not as profoundly as buyers may think. Many sellers recently refinanced and have a 2%, 3%, or 4% fixed loan. Interest rates have gone up – they don’t want to move!

Showing your clients this visual may help them understand that getting a deal is not necessarily “stealing a house.” Becoming a homeowner and receiving the massive, long-term economic benefits of home ownership is the “steal.”