Storm Before the Calm: Navigating Pre-Election Real Estate

What does the future of the real estate market hold for us? Well, it's uncertain with this election. We got a lot to unpack. We're gonna try and do this in five minutes, so let's get to it. My name's George Philbeck. This is my incredibly talented wife, Jackie. We're real estate professionals in the state of Florida, and we're here to offer some direction and advice. If you feel you're getting some value from this, consider liking and subscribing. Let's get to it. There is a freeze in the real estate market right now. People are freaking out, and I'm one of them. You probably are as well. Half of the country wants one. This election is so close, we have no idea where it's going to end up, and that scares everybody because people don't work with uncertainty. So we've seen the real estate market really chill out. I've got some more information I'm gonna give you in just a couple minutes, some tips for buyers and sellers if you're in the market right now or considering going into and what you should do in the short future. But first, let's jump over to this article. People are like, I need to see who wins to know how it's going to affect me. I get that. I'm the exact same way. That article matches the voice of the population right now. This is the slowest year for real estate sales that we've had since the 1980s. Now think about that. That means it surpasses 2008 when the market was just horrific. We had our Great Recession. I was in the market at that point, horrifying for buyers and sellers. Good point to put in there. If you're getting value from this, please consider hitting the like and subscribe button. It would mean the world to Jackie and I because it shows us that our work actually makes sense. And remember, we're here to help advise, help support, help with anything you've got that's real estate related in the state of Florida. Let's jump forward. So I just spoke of how this was the worst year we've had since the 1990s and even worse than 2008 and 2009. We also have to consider that our interest rates have gone up again in the last couple of days. Last couple of weeks, we're almost at 7% again. This is horrific. However, good news on the horizon, the Fed is meeting the day after election. They're meeting for two days on the 6th and the 7th. Chances are we won't know the results of the election at that point, but at least we'll get some interest rate reductions. They're forecasting a quarter basis point, which is a quarter percentage of interest rate reduction, possibly a half. Now, what does that mean for the buyers and sellers? We're going to cover that, but it means that we'll have more activity. Now, also important to put in there for you, you might want to consider that the fourth quarter tends to be pretty darn busy. We do more in the fourth quarter than we do in the third. So this is kind of a, it's been a dead zone, and that's okay. Hopefully, we'll pick up. We have used up in my month of October already as it's been horrifically slow. All right, I just touched on that. Lower rates are coming right now. If I were a buyer, what I'd be doing, I'd be looking at properties, getting an idea of what I want, but I probably wouldn't pull the trigger yet because I want the lower rates. I want to lock in lower. I'll still do a buy-down, which is a, if you've got a great lender, I've got great ones anywhere in the state of Florida. I've got two lenders that'll do this. We'll buy down the rate by 1% for one year. So you're qualifying for a lower rate, and that'll give you a chance to refi as the rates come down. Depending on the election results, we're going to see either a stronger economy or a weaker economy. I'll leave it to you all to decide which way that goes because ultimately, that's our job. There's more inventory out there for buyers as well, and the sellers are motivated. Now, that creates an opportunity, but again, not yet. Hold on. For all those homes that I've got listed on the market right now that Jackie, she's the one, she's the brains, that we have listed on the market, I'm sorry I'm telling you that, but the bottom line is they're doing that anyway, and barely anybody's watching this. So it's not like I'm affecting your buyer pool, but the bottom line is I'd probably hold off a little bit, see if I can get some better rates before I start the purchase process. Folks, if you're buying a home, chill out. Let's get the rates down. Let's get past this election. See how comfortable you feel. For sellers, knowledge is critical. You need to be the best home on the market, period. You need to know what is selling in your area. Now, I did this. I wrote this down because I was checking it out. I was just in the Orlando area where I happen to live. I just pulled up the MLS. We are seeing dramatically less homes sell. So the homes that are on the market, our properties, are the best-priced properties. Sorry, that's what it takes to sell. Not what you want, but what the market will bear. And you need to be strategic. Your agent should be showing you how to structure your home to be the best value. And it's not all price. It's features and benefits. Now, here's the thing. This is for the sellers. If you're buying a home and you're done, just, you're done. This is it. I'm going to cover all of it, cover what you do for buying. If you're going to be selling a home, terrific. You need to stick around for this. You need to know your features and benefits compared to all the other homes. We've got a property on the market as an example. We're the best-priced property and we're the biggest home, and it's not highly upgraded, but then a lot of them aren't. So we should be logically the first choice. We've got a buyer we know is going to be looking at eight of the homes available, and they'll start with the best price, best value. So they're in there. So they're doing a live CMA. We're going to see for real, on Saturday, did we actually sell this property? Because this buyer is cashed, they're coming down, and they know the community they want to live in. We get a real example. Value speaks volumes. You have got to be extraordinarily knowledgeable. All right, thanks for sticking with me. Jackie and I are here to help. We'll answer questions, advise anywhere throughout the state of Florida. We have great lending partners, great real estate partners throughout the state, and our job is to give you the best information so you can make the best decisions, period. Thank you. God bless you. Please get out there and vote, from Jackie, from me. We love you all. Have a great day. Bye now.