@outpaientzero I live in a small town and twice found people that lived less then 50 milles from me.

I'm not talking FB that is different

Good. Sounds like you are going to get a satisfactory resolution.

I didn't disclose this in the initial conversation, but I'm a retired appraiser, a former realtor and a very experienced buyer and seller in multiple states.

The gold standard for determining a good potential sales price is to get an appraisal. Appraisers have standards that we have to meet. But, they cost money. That's why I always suggest three agents, three interviews and the full broker market analysis. Some will be better than others. But, they are free and three is enough for you to get a reasonable feel for the market and how your residence compares to your competition.

Looking forward to hearing how this will work out. Let us know. We all want to hear.

@homechef59 I figured you were or had been in real estate. Thank you for your help. Even though the guy is from the same agency, I think it will work. I listen to him and I go wait, why wasn't she saying and doing that. Truly believe that she totally planned on having my house under contract with the other family. with out ever listing it. As this agent said, there are a dozens of dozens buyers out there looking for the a house. My eyes probably popped out.

Still think that there was more than just agent & client relationship with the people who did a walk through and my agent! Never thought of it until someone brought it up elsewhere.

Do believe what she tried to do was so unethical its horrid.

I did mention to the new guy, if it was a cold market that would be different. In a cold market one usually doesn't care where the buyer comes from as long as it is a warm body that can come up with enough money for a decent offer.

When looking for brokers to do the full market analysis, I’d suggest looking at who is the listing agent on comparable closed sales in your area. The realtor who sold our condo was a recommendation from my husband’s boss, but I already had her name in my mind from looking at closed sales of similar properties.

When we interviewed, she didn’t have the glitziest presentation and she was in the same ballpark but not rhe highest number. Her number was consistent with my amateur analysis of the market though, she lived a block away, knew the area quite well and also had the best plan for addressing a recent fire in our building. She earned my trust and rhe listing.

@Lisette Mauch @homechef59 @Jennifer Hogan question...since I think you guys manybe others have been relator selling

My relator is doing an awesome job on that end.. But another hot area it is hard to do bidding. I know they get commission from sale. But if you feel your relator went above and beyond what is a good thing to do besides giving a hardy thank you.

I am not a realtor, just an average buyer and seller, but I was told the best thank you was a referral. We also happened to know our listing agent enjoyed a certain local pizza place and sent her a gift card to there as well as writing a glowing review on her agent page.

Get through closing before thinking about a thank you gift. Seriously.

I'm talking buying, the agent on the other end, got to get this place sold...

With the other relator it was not the money per say...it was how she played it. Whether the other people where just clients, friends or even family I'm not asking., but feel they were more than clients.

But what she was trying to do even the new agent said in hot market you don't accept offers before its been listed at least a week or so!

Actually looking like I getting a better deal then I ever thought possible . but that is the highs and lows of buying and selling. its like a roller coaster.

I gave my agent a nice gift basket filled with products from LUSH (bath bombs, soap, shampoo, moisturizers) and a $100.00 gift certificate for a local restaurant and four gift passes to the local theater.

Typically I would say that my gift was excessive, but she earned that and more. Melody had taken me out to see homes every time I flew to PA for 2 years prior to my move so that I could get a feel for the market.

I found the perfect house almost immediately after getting into town. I made an offer and it was accepted with a 30 day escrow. Midway through escrow I was hospitalized. I needed major surgery and was diagnosed with cancer. I was released from the hospital on a Friday and closing was the following Monday. I was buying my home as a sole owner, no spouse, no kids. My siblings were willing to help, but Melody took on so much more than realtor's normally need to do. She handled everything for me (Inspections, repairs, radon testing, final walk through, brought all the papers that I needed to sign to the hospital, helped me get insurance and have the utilities transferred, drove me to the bank to get the certified check for closing, drove me to closing and back home. She and her husband showed up on moving day and worked with my siblings and friends to help me get moved in. She also held the sellers hands and walked them through every step - their realtor was one of those who did minimum necessary to get her commission and the couple that was selling were old, moving to assisted living and the wife had advanced Alzheimer's. It was difficult - the wife got very agitated that her husband was entertaining women in her home.

I probably should have done more.

Over the years when I sold real estate I got gifts from both sellers and buyers. I think the best gifts were those that showed they were listening when we talked or took notice to my actions. I remember one that got me a 6 pack of Pepsi and a 6 pack of Hershey bars. They noted that I would pick those items up when we were driving around looking for their home and stopped at a 7-11. Another gave me pictures that their kids drew of their new home. I remember those better than the gift cards, edible bouquets and gift baskets because they were personal. I also had quite a collection of pictures of families in front of the home I helped them find. I hung those behind my desk as a testament to the number of families I helped find the perfect home.

Something thoughtful and personal. Gift certificate. Glowing review on Google, Zillow and a referral to everyone you know. I have a realtor that I text whenever I hear about a potential listing in my neighborhood. She has gotten a couple of listings from my tips.

Fly out Tomorrow....TY all when I come back on Wednesday I pray I have pictures for all you awesome people.

wow so crazy out there. but I am in escrow here and there officially unless someone wakes me up and says its a dream. .

Thank you guys for everything

Congratulations!!

I want to make a comment about dual agent. When buying, if possible, I always approach the listing agent for dual agency to to have more control of the transaction. This saves everyone time, I know the agent wants both sides of the commission, when necessary the agent can easier reduce their commission, on my house the agent gave up $40,000 of her commission to the seller to complete the sale. The agent still received more money as a dual, the sale was completed quickly, everyone was happy. I'd viewed the house a few months earlier at an open house when scouting out our desirable area, it quickly went off the market but I saved it on Redfin, continuing our search, but still liked this house best. One day I got a Redfin notice the house was back on the market, priced $50,000 more than month's before (with sily staging and cheap paint. We quickly contacted the new listing agent and purchased the house.

I know many others don't like dual agency, I just want to mention it can be useful. I will also clarify that I'm very experienced in real estate transactions, I'm not suggesting it is great for a first time buyer.

@C Marlin In my case I do not feel it was even close to my best interest. Do believe my agent was working more for the buyers and did not give a crap about my needs.

Technically, I really don't think it can work out. How can someone coach two teams, so they both win.

In your case, I agree with you, it seems you had a bad agent. I was making my point for the many people who will read this thread.

I don't think one agent can coach two competing teams. In my case I never wanted or requested any "coaching". I made my offer, never disclosing any information, except to let her know I was willing and able to buy the house on the terms of my offer.

Thank You @C Marlin People really need to know & be leery of this practice. Do believe that any tools a seller or buyer has when purchasing or selling a house is very good.

In many professions that involve rendering services to a client, representing both sides of a transaction or both parties to a contract is considered unethical unless disclosed and waived by both parties. Even when permitted, it's ill-advised in any event because in doing so one (as one of the two parties) is essentially losing independent representation and advice. I'd never deal with a service provider who ever suggested doing so.

There were times in my professional career that we had two clients of my firm engaged in a transaction we were advising on. It was especially difficult when both clients were served by people in the same office. In addition to strictly isolating the different client teams and assigned staff, we'd sometimes bring in colleagues from out of town offices to assist one or both sides, simply to avoid any possibility or appearance of unauthorized back channel communications.

This thread has gone on for a while (that's good) and I don't remember if I'd made this comment previously, but whether or not, I'll say it - realtors are not a group known for consistently ethical or professional conduct with their clients best interests ahead of their own. Looking for a saint in a group of realtors is like looking for an innocent working in a house of ill repute. They may theoretically exist but don't expect to encounter one.

@Elmer J Fudd-TY At 72 I'm finding that I'm not too old to learn. This might seem to be crazy, but at 72 I also trust that others will be as honest and ethical to me as I am with them. Has my attitude changed due to this, yes to a very small degree.

I will say that through this thread I have gained a wealth of knowledge, along with seeing that there are still good people around.

@kinthenorthwest sorry if I missed your update, but did you sell your house?

@maddielee seller backed for crazy reasons, nothing to really even do with the inspection. . But even though the agency gave me another agent, things were not really kosher with the agency. Have a home in SD, if I sell my home here. Home is back on the market under a new agent and boy have I learned more life and real estate lessons.

I know this horse is on the wagon and headed off to the glue factory, but let's hit it one more time.

Suppose you signed a listing contract with my realtor and she calls me up and says she has a house for me. I offer $250,000 but am really willing to pay $260,000. Since your realtor is really working for me, she doesn't negotiate on your behalf and you lose out on the extra $10,000. However, and this is the important part that people are ignoring, that doesn't mean you would be better off without dual agency. If my realtor had never called me then I would not have offered the $250,000 and you would have missed out on my willingness to pay $260,000 anyway. If your next highest offer was $240,000, then you are $10,000 worse off than you were with dual agency.

In my small town three or four realtors split most of the higher end market. If you will not consider offers from their buyers then you are disqualifying a significant chunk of the buyers (I would guess 15-20%). That is generally bad. This problem is largely mitigated in larger cities because there are so many realtors and so your realtor might represent only a tiny fraction of all buyers.

@Elmer J Fudd - it's ill-advised in any event because in doing so one (as one of the two parties) is essentially losing independent representation and advice. [...] realtors are not a group known for consistently ethical or professional conduct with their clients best interests ahead of their own.

The question then becomes do realtors have loyalty to the seller or the sale?

The study linked above found, "On net, allowing dual agency has virtually no effect on housing prices." That isn't advocacy for dual agents, it is largely a condemnation of listing agents altogether. The only logical conclusion is that listing agents are always incentivized to grease the wheels so the deal goes through and a lower price is a lot of grease.

Studies by academics, many of whom wouldn't recognize a duck if they heard a quack, don't overcome professional experience, ethical requirements/practices and common sense in circles where bigger money and state licenses and loss of credentials are at stake. I interacted with a lot of academics, including those at good schools where my prestigious firm recruited and also with several who were department chairs at universities in departments with national reputations who sat on Audit Committees of my publicly held clients.

Academics asked questions of those of us who did our work in the real world, not the other way around. They lacked insights and experience when it came to many of their so-called studies and publications. I was sometimes asked to read draft papers and articles. Not one I ever met, without a career's worth of comparable real world experience as I and my firm colleagues had, was capable or good enough to be successful as a service provider in our demanding profession or at my firm. There's an old saying - those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Oh boy, another "Last Word" contest! We are all just so bored.

Nah, I'm done.

I might argue way longer than I should, but I try to attack the position taken rather than the qualifications of the person taking that position. However, I am going to set that aside for a bit and give an honest and supported personal narrative on my experiences with Big 4 accounting.

As most know I graduated with a double major in chemical engineering and accounting. I only did the accounting because my father owned a large plumbing HVAC company along with a few hundred rental units. My father's accountant actually leased space in my father's office and I worked with him from time to time. However, it wasn't originally my gig, so I went into oil and gas, but an engineer with an accounting degree ends up in management, and I did. After a bit more than a decade in oil and gas, I was lured away from industry by a big four firm.

It was different than I expected and it was miserable. The only members of my team who had an ounce of intelligence were those fresh out of college. Anyone with any real ability just left after three years. Not a single senior person on my team could do anything above basic level math. I realized then that the big four firms are really just mediocrity multiplied. They are business supercomputers.

Supercomputers don't actually use high performance processors, high performance processors take a lot of power and generate a lot of heat, so supercomputers work by stacking up more and more low performance processors and having each processor specialize a bit more. Once you get enough crappy processors together you can achieve cost effective supercomputing. That is Big Four accounting and it isn't a bad thing, thousands of people with specific but limited expertise can accomplish incredible things collectively, but any of those pieces away from their expertise are individually unimpressive.

I usually tell people that I got into academia because my kids needed some time back in America and I needed a resume filler. That is true, but it is incomplete. In reality, it was so frustrating working around peers who couldn't even manage the basic understanding required to do their job that I decided I would rather spend three years in school and take a 60% pay cut, rather than that being the rest of my life. The only bright spot at my time in the big four was working with the young people who all left. Big four accounting is just a live demonstration of promotion to incompetence.

I am not alone in this analysis... Go over to the big4 reddit, another71.com, goingconcern.com, etc. and see if my experience is unique. I will save you some trouble, it is not. I can't make you believe that I am correct, nor am I going to try, if you want to do some research and read you will see and can judge for yourself.

----

So when I see a big four accountant (Elmer J. Fudd) talk about his or her real world experience, I can't help but immediately think of a cog in a giant machine, who spent a lifetime doing their one little part, trying to take credit for the work of the entire machine. Every person who runs their own business, including the many pro's on this forum, has more real world experience than a big four accountant. Every accountant has successful clients, but if we are going to count that as real world business experience then every employee who has ever worked for a successful business has real world business experience and probably more of it than the accountant does. More specifically, every person who has bought and sold homes is just as qualified to talk about buying and selling homes as Elmer or I.

The constant denigration of others is an attempt to accomplish with bluster what can't be accomplished by substance.

ETA: I am not going to follow up on this and I am unsubscribing but I want to make one last plea to please not take my word for this. Go search the internet and read the many experiences of others who have worked in these firms and decide for yourself.

ETA2: Just for clarity, it is a five story office building with a nice pond and fountains out front. It is a standard glass and concrete office space and rents to various people who need offices. As I have stated many times before, we specialized in hotels and apartments. Your visual of a plumber is probably not what we did.

"I can't help but immediately think of a cog in a giant machine, who spent a lifetime doing their one little part, trying to take credit for the work of the entire machine."

You couldn't possibly be more wrong. You're speculating from the outside looking in and don't have a inkling of understanding. Years spent working with the best and brightest of all callings in the world of business and finance, with companies throughout and at the top of the Fortune 500, imparts a wealth of knowledge and experiences to all of us working in that world . That's what clients pay big bucks for, for expert advice from individuals and their teams in Big 4 firms and other major consultants, to lawyers, to Wall Street types, and to others.

An accountant renting space in a plumber's office? Hold on to that image.

It's all just boring. You two need to get a room.

@sushipup1 Thankyou I feel like Urkel right now! It was a good thread

I was trying to initiate a discussion on something we likely share some common ground on, but there is too much history there.

I view this particular thread as three separate but related points: (1) the theoretical problems of dual agency, (2) the actual reality of dual agency, (3) the solution to dual agency. On the first part I am in absolute agreement with the majority here, on the second part I question whether realtors have loyalty to the client or the deal (which is where I thought Elmer and I agreed), and on the last part I think the things said in this thread are problematic and can cost people real money.

No one should ever refuse a deal because of dual agency. It is an objectively bad decision. Deals with dual agency need to be considered differently than other deals, specifically advice on offer acceptability is even more suspect, but you should entertain every offer on a property regardless of who submits it. There is no financial advantage for refusing to accept an offer because of dual agency. There are, of course, advantages to removing dual agency, but that has an entirely different set of drawbacks.

In the OP's case, she had the original agent removed because there were serious questions about that agent, but the original agent is still likely to get paid a commission (probably .75% - 1.5% if it was originally 1.5%). So in the end, she likely gets a commission and doesn't even have to show up at the closing. In this situation, I would have done the same as the OP, but I would also feel guilty for making my new agent provide full service for reduced commissions.

Last word

I am trying to meaningfully contribute to this thread if that is a problem for you and you feel it is inappropriate then report it. Quit pretending like you are special here. This site has moderators and if they asked for your help please let us know.

ETA: I have another post coming for those interested in discussing dual agency... do put on big girl panties and wait for that one before you snarkily reply again contributing nothing other than hall monitoring.

ETA2: The "last word," "grow up," "get a room," etc. comments are not going to work. You are not my mother, preacher, or teacher, and the fact that you believe you can brow beat an anonymous internet poster, just tells me that we have different internet experiences.

First, as a real estate investor doing multiple purchases and/or sales in a single year, I don't relate to the experience others have with realtors. In all my years doing this, I have had one bad realtor. I trust my current realtor completely and have written multiple offers on her word alone. She is the third in a row that I feel that way about.

Next, putting aside the real estate investor hat and moving over to a purely academic interest, there is this incredibly interesting part of this story that others seem to avoid discussing and that baffles me.

The entire idea behind commissions is that they maximize the benefit for the seller, the salesperson's pay increases as the seller's profit does. Dual agency gives us an interesting way to test this because the agent has increased control over the transaction along with even more incentive. If commissions are working properly, the realtor should want the home to sell for more money, so we should see sales prices increase in dual agency. So, why don't we?

If realtors settle for less money when there is double commission wouldn't it also be likely to happen when there is half as much at stake?

"If commissions are working properly, the realtor should want the home to sell for more money, so we should see sales prices increase in dual agency. So, why don't we?"

Yes, the realtor wants to sell for more, but also has to find a price their their their buying client will like or accept - otherwise that client potentially won't buy. So then they lose both ends of that commission.

@Toronto Veterinarian Then there is the possibility that the client is either a relative or a very good friend. Many people would not mind losing a few if it means their relative or very good friend gets the place they have been looking for.

Many of us would give up some money for certain friends or even relatives.

Selling to a friend or relative is not a dual agency problem. Do you imagine that if they got a separate realtor in their office to represent their friend or family member that they would suddenly give you good advice which makes their friend or relative pay more? Of course not.

The advice would be no better without dual agency and so that is just a general problem if friends or family members are involved in the transaction.

@bry911 if an agent signs on a seller & then brings in their buyer client that is a very good friend or relative that would be being a dual agent. If they did not disclose to the seller that they are representing the people who want to buy the house that is the pure definition of undisclosed dual agent.

@kinthenorthwest - if an agent signs on a seller & then brings in their buyer client that is a very good friend or relative that would be being a dual agent.

But what if a third party brings in a buyer who is your listing agent's very good friend? Will your realtor give you good advice then? If you ever find out your buyer was the best man or maid of honor at your realtor's wedding, then you are about to get screwed regardless of who the buyer's realtor is.

Here is a great test for causation... If you take away the behavior and the end result is the same, then the behavior probably isn't the cause of that particular problem.

Listing agent is friends with buyer + listing agent representing buyer = You're screwed.

Listing agent is friends with buyer - listing agent representing buyer = You're still screwed.

The major issue with this deal was not dual agency, it was keeping the home as a pocket listing. The listing agent created an unfair advantage for her buyer and was not acting in the best interest of the seller.

If we are looking at a typical real estate transaction the listing agent gets a call from a seller and goes to a listing appointment. They talk to the seller (who has talked to 2 other agents already or has appointments to talk to 2 more agents after they leave) , explain what they are going to do to sell the house and tell the seller the price that the seller can expect to get for their home.

A good agent will come armed with the evidence to back up their valuation and be able to pre-empt greedy agents who will inflate the value just to get the listing. When the selling agent is lucky the home owners sign a listing agent on the spot. Sometimes you have to give them a couple of days to decide.

If the agent gets the listing they typically post it on the MLS and start marketing the home immediately. Getting listings is the name of the game. Active listings are the #1 tool used to market the agency. People who are looking to buy call about the house they saw on the internet or the sign they saw in the yard. Potential sellers see your sign in their neighbor's yard and call when they get ready to sell. They may not even remember seeing your sign, but it was there and the memory stuck.

So now the listing agent got one of the 6.5 million homes that will be sold this year listed. There are about 123 million households in the US, so that means that in a given year about 5.2% of all households will buy a home. Most adults have about 16 friends, but realtors are in general more social people, so lets say they have a circle of 20 friends. This means in a given year the realtor should have 1 friend buying a home.

Now we have to factor in the timing, price and suitability. What do you think the likelihood is that the one friend who will buy a home this year will want to buy at the same time that the agent listed the house and that the house is in the buyers price range, preferred neighborhood, has the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms and is the best suited home on the market for that buyer?

So my conclusion is that there is little risk that a listing agent's friend will buy a home they have listed.

In addition to this that listing agent had to compete with 2 other agents to get the listing and had to provide the seller with information on the value of their home.

So we got the perfect storm and this home that the agent listed is the perfect home for their friend/buyer.

How does the agent get the friend some fantastic deal? How do they go back to the buyer and explain that their evaluation of the home was way off and this is the best offer they will get?

How do they stop other agents from showing the home and making offers on their client's behalf?

Why would a reasonable seller take a low ball offer for their home when there are better offers on the table?

The whole concept of the realtor's friend buying the realtor's listing for some crazy low price is rather far fetched.

The current case is a bit different. The agent had a buyer in their pocket, someone looking for a house in a very competitive market. The buyer is likely to be frustrated and getting tired of competing for a home in a market where the average home is getting 4 offers and selling in less than 30 days with a 50% chance that it is selling over list price. The buyer may be ready to call it quits.

Miraculously, the agent gets a listing that roughly fits his/her buyer's needs.

Does the agent list the house and put it on the MLS where it will likely sell within 30 days - earning the realtor a single transaction commission, but will once again leave his/her buyer without a home or does the realtor try to come in with an offer from his/her buyer before the house gets listed on the MLS?

The problem was that they underestimated the seller and used the wrong approach. They tried to bully the seller into accepting the offer instead of coming clean and explaining the situation.

The OP seems like a nice person who may have thought about accepting the offer if they knew that a buyer being represented by their agent was being beaten out over and over again and were assured by the agent that they would cherish the home and be good neighbors to their neighbors and had adequate financing, but are first time home buyers who need to use VA financing to get their first home and this is hurting them when the competition for homes is so tight. The realtor, instead of being sly and greedy, should have sweetened the deal, offering a a discount on the commission to make up for the slightly less clean offer that his/her buyers had to offer.

If your a good agent you can make the right things happen without screwing anyone over, without being dishonest or slick. At worst the sellers would have rejected the agent's offer, but they wouldn't have had a reason to terminate the listing and the agent would have still earned the listing commission when the house sold. They may have also endeared themselves to both the seller and the buyer by showing them that they were compassionate and really cared about their clients.. If all worked out the agent and their broker may not have earned the full 6% , but would have gotten more than the 3% and would have customer loyalty that equals future business.

Thank You @Jennifer Hogan-Very good analogy and explanation. What the undisclosed agent did, never denied, or even never apologized for was not only illegal but dirty.

My current agent has already been told that if it is a family that is really deserving I am willing to lose a few. So now everyone on here will call me a nut case for saying I am willing to lose a few for the right family.

Just my opinion, but I don't think you are a nut case at all! I kind of like you!

Told you all I would keep you informed. This ole lady is staying put. Between everything that has happened, the market here has cooled down, yet heated up even more in the areas I wanted to move to! Right now I can't really sell and leverage myself into anyplace half-way decent, unless it is some crazy cracker box of a fixer-upper. At 72 I am too old for that anymore.! Yes what I have now is a bit too big for me, but at least I own it outright.

What is sad is that I think that the window for me being able to sell at a decent price is going to cool off even more with the closing of the mortgage forbearance programs. Do believe the seller's market will end with a crash in the many of the states that closed up tight during the pandemic. The many who took advantage of the mortgage forbearance programs will probably be no better off after the programs end as when they started and not be able to get the money needed for their arrears. What that adds up to is a lot of people trying to sell, and short sell prior to being foreclosed on! That equates to the market being flooded with homes for sale which usually drives the prices down. (Just my opinion).

Thank you all for your great advice and support.

I very publicly made some erroneous predictions on the housing market and the pandemic. However, there are fewer mortgages in arrears today than in 2019 (that includes forbearance). I dunno why, but there it is.

@bry911 a mortgage forbearance crash probably won't affect the states that did not have the lockdowns and mandates, or that had them for much shorter periods.. I live on the west coast were many many people not only lost their jobs, but their businesses due to the lockdowns and mandates. Yes many got great unemployment! However, many of those on unemployment still did not wisely use it to keep bills paid. Many people looked the mortgage and rent moratoriums as a way to not have to pay certain bills. Heck there are many renters and home owners out there that will tell you that the they were getting a free ride, free mortgage or rent that does have to be paid back. I overheard a guy the other day telling another that they did not have to pay back their rent arrears. Oh how I wanted to butt in, but I didn't. (Just My Two Cents.)

@kinthenorthwest - Here is an article that mirrors some of my thinking on the housing market. It will be easier than typing out my thoughts... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-10/real-estate-prices-are-soaring-but-there-s-no-sign-of-a-housing-bubble

@bry911 I'm not saying it is a bubble per say. I'm saying the areas that the home owner crazies who thought it was neat to get what they thought was a free pass are going to end up with in the hole. Some of the holes will be so big that they will not be able to crawl out of it. Do believe that this will happen in the states that had the strictest mandates. A surplus of homes, just naturally has to drive prices down in those areas. When there is a surplus of any item, prices just go down, especially if one has no choice.

As for it being a bubble, I think you are right in that area.!

While the market may take a bit of a pause as school starts and the summer ends, the supply and demand issue of number of housing units available still hasn't been solved. Many potential sellers are making a similar decision that it is too hard to find replacement housing even if they want to sell their current housing. Baby boomers are staying put. Younger buyers are requiring housing. There are no bubbles.

There isn't enough housing product for the demand. Lumber prices and other building supply issues are easing but not solved. Financing is still very affordable. I just don't see a crash in prices or even a slow deflation. I do see an easing in the building supply availability. I don't see anything more than a seasonal easing of demand from buyers.

My town suffered a catastrophic tornado in the spring. While houses are slowly being repaired, the fact is there simply aren't enough skilled tradesmen available even at top wages. The roofers are making some headway. But, good luck finding a carpenter or even a landscaping firm to clear the debris. The carpenters that can be found are all close to retirement age. None of their helpers are young. The labor shortage is real and it's not going away any time soon.

I think paranoia has set in. If we look at median home prices for the month of June since 1953 through 2021 ( past 68 years) there were 7 years where the median prices dropped below what they were the prior year.

In 1959 and 1960 the price dropped by 0.2% ($42) and rebounded in 1961 with a 4.7% gain over the 1958 price. ($84).

Then in 1991 we had a single year drop of 0.85% ($834) and a 1.15% rebound in 1992 ($1,136.34).

In the more memorable years starting with 2008 through 2011 we experienced the result of years of greed, deregulation and predatory mortgage lending practices that caused the worst world wide recession since the depression.

Prices dropped by 21% ($43,030) over the 4 year aftermath of the crash in Sept 2007. The 2007 prices were not again realized until 2016.

Although the impact of Covid on our economy is real, the circumstances are quite different than the years of high risk subprime lending that led to the 2008 crash. Supply and demand has driven prices up and they will stabilize, but I don't expect that prices will drop. I think they will continue to rise at a slower rate over the next 20 years, just like they have for the majority of the past 70 years.

You dont have to go for a deal so fast. Look for the offers and also assess the market value and demand of your house.