Six Real Estate Myths for Agents in 2021 – Debunked

RE/MAX Chief Customer Officer Nick Bailey appeared at January’s flagship Inman Connect event to bust real estate myths that could get in the way of agents’ success in 2021.

Bailey’s session, formatted similarly to his Facebook Live talk show “Good Morning RE/MAX,” featured a lively discussion between Bailey and Laura Monroe, Global Head of Community at Inman, about current housing market conditions and how brokers and agents can educate themselves to be successful no matter how the market ebbs and flows.

“This industry has low barriers of entry but high barriers of success,” Bailey said.

He believes that while changes in the industry and the market are inevitable, some things, like the value of the real estate professional in the transaction, never change.

Here are the two real estate myths Bailey dispelled at Inman Connect, as well as four additional myths Bailey says people need to stop believing.

MYTH 1: Record Low Inventory is Preventing Agents From Having a Record Year

Debunked: “Don’t furlough yourself,” said Bailey. Many agents had record years in 2020, and the same possibilities exist for 2021. Bailey urged agents to go back to basics and work their sphere of influence. “Agents need to manufacture listings,” he said. He suggests making sure you’re keeping in touch with past clients, networking, helping out in your communities and, if you’re a RE/MAX real estate agent, letting the First app do a lot of this groundwork for you. “Fourteen to 23 million people plan to relocate in the coming months due to work-remote capabilities – that’s a lot of homes up for grabs if you’re staying top-of-mind with consumers.”

MYTH 2: Foreclosures and Short Sales Are Coming

Debunked: Pointing to recent data from CoreLogic and Zelman & Associates that found that 34% of homes no longer had mortgages to pay, 63% of homeowners had positive equity and only about 2% are upside down, Bailey said, “Ongoing efforts to ease the pandemic’s economic impact – including the CARES Act – have slowed the foreclosure process, particularly for properties where mortgages were federally backed.” The housing market is likely going to be one of the leading factors bringing us out of this economic crisis. His advice: “Don’t sideline yourself out of fear that short sales and foreclosures will be the only deals out there. And if a turn of events does shift the available supply of homes to lean more toward foreclosures, then get good at selling those homes too.”

Bonus Myths

MYTH 3: Most Homes Will Be Sold Virtually Even After the Pandemic

Debunked: Much of the transaction is and will remain online but most people want to see potential houses before buying – and that behavior is likely to return. (Seems a bit risky to buy an in-law suite without ever seeing it, amirite?)

MYTH 4: The Commercial Real Estate Market Will Continue to Flounder

Debunked: While some degree of working remotely will likely continue, the need for some office space will return to pre-pandemic levels and for those spaces that do not, there is a ripe opportunity to convert to affordable housing units during a time where affordability will likely remain an ongoing roadblock for many Americans. Conventional wisdom in the development world generally argues that it’s much easier to tear something down and start from scratch than to try to repurpose existing properties. But what if there are too many empty properties to ignore?

MYTH 5: 2021 Will Be the Same Market as the Second Half of 2020

Debunked: Recalling Brad Inman’s predictions for 2021, Bailey thinks this year is likely to be boring compared to 2020 in many ways. Just as it was crucial not to furlough yourself last year during the first peak of the crisis, the industry has seen an incredibly hot market the last few months defying seasonality. Agents should be prepared for a brief slowdown, if there is one, and the possibility that a small rise in interest rates could occur as early as Q2 of this year.

MYTH 6: Technology Will Replace Agents

Debunked: This is one myth Bailey has Debunked time and time again. People might be ready to order just about any product online, but when it comes to the largest purchase of their lives, they want a human professional involved. Someone to guide them, support them, advise them and validate that their decisions are sound. And that’s the role of an agent – a role best filled by an agent who knows the area, is an expert on process, can negotiate, can detect unseen issues, and has the experience to keep the transaction on track. As most ‘disruptors’ end up realizing, it’s not as easy as it looks – it’s just that great agents make it look easy.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 88% of buyers recently purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker, and 91% of buyers would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others. Agents who embrace technology are able to deliver a better consumer experience.

Luckily for RE/MAX agents, they can reach the right people through Megaphone, with the right message from Photofy, at the right time thanks to First.

“Agents need to leverage the tools their associations give them. Understand that they want technology, but they want YOU more,” Bailey says.

Other RE/MAX leaders featured at Inman’s January Connect event included Kendall Bonner, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Capital Realty in Florida, and Quintavius Burdette, Realtor with RE/MAX Experts in Tennessee. Talk about that #REMAXHustle!

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