While
it should have been a front-page, headline-screaming report, a VERY interesting
piece of information was buried several paragraphs deep into a Wall Street Journal story
on the reasons the housing market isn’t doing a better job at boosting the U.S.
economy. Buckle up, it’s a good one!
The
percentage of homeowners who are underwater – that’s a figurative term, of
course – is 8.7%. Not that anything
other than 0% is ideal, but let me put that into perspective for you. According to CoreLogic,
that statistic back in 2011 was 21%! You
have to agree that’s pretty impressive by itself – but wait, there’s more!
The
percentage of homeowners who BELIEVE they are underwater, according to data
from Fannie Mae, is 27%. Yes, you read
that correctly – 27%, as opposed to the 8.7% who are truly underwater. That means that for every three people who
BELIEVE they’re underwater, only one of them is. Let’s expand that number: in a sample size of
100,000 homeowners, 27,000 of those homeowners believe that their homes aren’t
worth what they owe; in reality, though, only 8,700 are really facing that
struggle. This means you instantly have
18,300 people whom you can turn from “no, I can’t” to “YES, I can” in listing
their house.
It’s
highly likely that this perception is one of the chief reasons so few homes are
actually on the market. According to the
National Association of Realtors (you’ve heard of these cats, right?),
inventories fell another 2% in October, and this remains well below historical
levels when compared to the sales pace.
I’m
just spitballing
here, but wouldn’t it make sense to make a VERY BIG DEAL of this in your
marketing? It could be something as
simple as “Two out of every three people who believe they’re underwater in
their home really aren’t – let’s talk!”
Let’s be honest, the average homeowner, when it comes to the value of
their home, relies on gossip and the flyer on the house two doors down. Do you want to rely on those two items as
your “marketing team”?
Food
for thought: In one of our past editions
of this extraordinary oracle of lending lore – sorry, I got carried away there
for a moment – we talked about properly reading an appraisal to assure you’re
getting the most for your seller. That
same expertise will arm you with the ability to BE THE EXPERT and convince a
potential seller that they’re ready to put their house on the market NOW.
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