Above the pay-wall spot in the online Boston Globe, reporter Andrew Bricker summarizes the local market. In short, the number of sales is down. Demand in the month of September was much lower than last September. The reason, says experts, is high interest rates.

For us at 4 Buyers Real Estate, the news of lowering demand is a blessing.

Good for our clients:

September was the best single month for getting buyer’s offers accepted in our 2023 calendar year. Our clients had some opportunities to purchase without massive competition. We had some negotiating room. We had a number of second chances, because other buyers had accepted offers, then backed out. Lower demand and lower consumer confidence works in the favor of our clients.

Good for our work load:

When competition goes down, we get more negotiating room. It increases the likelihood of our client’s offer being accepted. The more buyers are competing, the higher the likelihood that one will disregard their best interests; then they pay too much or sign away their rights.

Every offer that we write for a client takes two or more hours to create. We are doing a market study. We are then developing a negotiation strategy based on what we know about the potential fair market value, the competition, and specialness of this property for our clients. Then we write it up in a professional-looking presentation and send it off.

Everything we say and do around other agents and buyers at an open house is part of the property negotiation. Negotiation begins with “hello.” Some of it is acting—we suffer fools gladly to their faces. Some of it is just a habit of being agreeable in public. But, because of the percentage of fools in the marketplace, the acting can get wearing.

In the over-the-top seller’s market of the past few years, properties have been mostly selling themselves. A slowdown in demand will make it harder for people who represent sellers, but do not have good marketing skills. They will need to step-up and fully market homes. Inexperienced, poorly trained, and burned-out agents leave the marketplace. Good riddance. We can’t wait!

What else might be happening?

The data isn’t available yet, but I have a theory.

People who make a living in real estate investment often have deep pockets and pay cash for properties. They would not be affected by higher mortgage interest rates. If they have cash, why aren’t they buying?

My theory: investor confidence is starting to lag. Time will tell if I am right about that.