From WXXI news.

This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made in March of 2022, when Realtor.com rated Rochester as the toughest market for home buyers in the country.

Since then, Rochester has frequently held the top spot or close to it on a number of housing lists.

Tough for buyers.

Great for sellers.

Zillow's market heat index in the spring of 2025 had Rochester at the top of the hardest markets for buyers in June of this year.

Just four months ago, Bank rate rated Rochester the number one toughest home buying market.

So we're number one.

However, it looks like some things are finally changing.

Zillow still has Rochester near the top for seller's markets as of September, but go look at available houses and you'll notice some things that weren't happening a year ago or three years ago.

Some houses are not getting the asking price.

Some are sitting on the market for several weeks without a bidding war.

Now the likely culprit is rising interest rates, primarily.

Suddenly your dollars are squeezed and you're paying more per month just because of interest rates alone.

And of course, it is the fall.

There are typically more buyers in the spring.

Rochester still has an inventory crunch, but I've been wondering exactly how much the professionals think.

We are seeing things change, or if it's just the vibes that I've been getting talking to people who are in the market.

So let's talk about it.

We'll take your feedback.

This hour.

Have you tried buying or selling recently?

What is your experience been like?

You can call the program toll free.

844295 talk.

It's 8442958255263 WXXI for call from Rochester.

2639994.

Email the program as always connections@wxxi.org.

And if you're watching on YouTube you can join the chat there.

We'll take your feedback.

Let me welcome our guest.

We'll go around the table right next to me here.

Tysharda Johnson-Thomas is manager of the Wealth Forward Rock program and a licensed real estate broker.

Welcome back to the program.

Thank you so much to Evan.

Next.

Great to have you.

Next to Tysharda is Richard Sarkis, an associate real estate broker with Howard Hanna.

Richard, welcome.

Thanks for being here.

Thank you.

Go across the table to Andrew Hand.

Andrew is team leader and owner of the Hannon team.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Happy to be here.

And let me welcome Lanie Bitner back to the program.

Associate real estate broker with Remax plus.

Hello there.

Hi, Evan.

Thanks for having me.

So, Lanie, I mean, we've talked a couple times in the last couple of years.

We have.

Is it all different now?

It's not all, but it's significantly different.

We're talking.

So it's not just vibes.

No, it's not vibes.

It's definitely.

It's it's we're talking downstairs.

It's like somebody flipped a switch.

And I think I saw in August that it was this dramatic change in just not being what it was.

I think honestly, but I think slowly since 2023, we have seen a shift from sort of 2020 to 2023.

It was crazy.

It was insane.

And then the 23 saw things that went on.

Everything was going crazy.

And then since 23, it's kind of like a slow drip.

Like as, yeah, like a Soulja Boy.

I think, you know, I was one of the only people at one of your recent shows that said I, you know, I was seeing pockets that were still going crazy, but it wasn't everything.

And so I think those things that are still going crazy, they're getting fewer and fewer.

Give me an example of the kind of change that you're seeing.

I am things houses are sitting on the market there.

I mean, significantly less prices, lower prices.

I know somebody who had two appraisals done, and I think in the past year, and then I went in and I actually we're going to list it and give them a even lower price point in terms of what they had gotten.

Their two appraisals were done at different times of the year.

So it's just it's been a shift.

And there was a very good comparable for that.

The house that listing I just told you about that I that there was another house in the neighborhood that was remarkably similar, that has been on the market for three weeks, and they just took it off the market and relisted it a little bit less.

So things are sitting a little bit longer.

It really depends.

I think it's it's not everything.

I think things that are completely updated are still going crazy, regardless of price point.

Those are typically that is I think the number one thing that I'm still seeing that's going crazy is things that are very updated.

Nothing to do but walk in everybody's sort of dream house in terms of what's done to it.

Is that because the turnkey is always attractive, but especially so if you're a buyer and you think, okay, this is the price I'm paying, but I don't have to do a roof myself, I don't have to get a furnace.

I don't have to build a new deck and deal with not only the cost of that, but whatever the inflated cost of materials are.

I see interest rates for those kind of projects.

I think it's all the reasons I think buyers.

I think, you know, back when I bought my house.

Right.

It was very different.

I think, you know, buyers were willing to, to buy for less, put some equity, you know, put some sweat equity into the house.

And I just think the world's different now.

I think it's it's the expenses in the world is lazy.

You know, it's just different busier maybe people are busier.

Right.

There's a variety of things.

I'm not saying this.

Maybe some people are lazy.

I don't know.

But I think there's a variety of reasons.

And I think that it's it's a variety of reasons that buyers really would prefer not to do much any more when it comes to.

So they want to get in and they want to get to something that's completely done the way they love.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But that's that's what I'm still seeing is going crazy.

Somebody is going to email me and say, I want the fixer uppers, but well, then God bless.

I mean, that's right.

I mean, I think now it's a great time to to do that.

And I think it's always a good market to do that to, to buy a fixer upper.

But, Drew, what are you seeing?

What's different?

Fewer showings.

Buyers are negotiating and buyers are getting picky.

And as Lainey said, condition is crucial.

Now, where it wasn't prior.

Things need to be moving, right?

You can't just roll your house out onto the market and expect multiple offers.

You need to prep it.

You need to make the repairs.

You need to paint the rooms.

You need to get it so it's moving.

Ready.

Buyers do not want to do anything right now.

So we're seeing fewer showings overall, fewer offers, fewer houses going over, ask things, sitting.

And buyers are negotiating.

They're negotiating in inspections.

They're they're negotiating in concessions.

So it's going more towards a balanced market at the moment.

Do you have any sellers who are like, listen, I, I've been watching this market for years.

What's going on?

Where is everybody.

Yeah it's it's been difficult.

The conversations have been extremely difficult because the sellers are comparing to their neighbors that sold six months ago, nine months ago.

They want the same thing, but they can't get it right now.

They can't, get the same results that we just that we had just six months ago in today's conditions.

So the conversations are harder.

Reality checks are, you know, being given across the board and, you know, buyers are getting more power and sellers are getting less.

Now, those are the exceptions.

Move in ready in the correct price points are still seeing great action, great demand.

But, there are some sections of the market that are really soft, and especially if you need any repairs or if your house is not updated, be prepared.

You're not going to get multiple offers.

You're not going to get a lot of interest right now.

Tamara, what are you seeing?

Very similar.

So, you know, even if, let's say you purchased a home last year as a, as a first time home buyer, and this year you go to sell it.

What they're seeing is they're having to sell it for about the price that they purchase.

Because prices were so high last year.

I do believe that the reason, you know, first time home buyers, as Andrew alluded to, though, the sweet spot for first time home buyers are any price under $200,000.

So if the median sales price that we're seeing is $300,000, of course they're going to have to negotiate because of their buying power.

They're not coming with a lot of first time home buyers are not coming with that generational wealth, a gift of a large deposit, anything to bring that price down.

And what I'm seeing is that even if they are approved for 250,000, they don't want to spend 250,000, because interest rates are higher, because they don't have as much money to put down.

They're looking to negotiate so that they can be in a price point where their mortgage is something that they can sustain, whether or not they're working two jobs or working just their one job.

So, Ty, you're giving me a number of reasons that things are changing.

But as interest rates, the number one, I don't believe interest rates are the number one reason I believe interest rates add to it.

As as Lainey said, you know, it.

It depends on everything.

It depends on, your mindset, how much you want to take care of, how much you want to put on your plate.

I've been using this term scraping my plate, this year, because buyers do not want to take on all of those risk.

Having a furnace go out in the dead of winter or any of those things, we have to remember that they're coming from a rental place, a place of renting, and they are used to someone taking care of those things for them.

So they're very afraid.

They're afraid of and, and how much it's going to take to heat this house.

Their minds go everywhere when they're thinking about purchasing a home.

Well, let's see, let's see if Richard agrees with his colleagues here.

What do you see, sir?

Well.

Let's go.

I've been in this business 42 years.

We are now entering a normal market.

We have been, you know, we have seen since Covid the last seven years.

Well, six and a half years.

This is not a real market.

Agents put the sign in the ground price the house.

Right.

Staged it, and they were gone in six days.

And usually when 25 to 125,000 over asking price that was not a real market.

I knew it.

A lot of agents in my, you know, being in this business this long understood that.

So I'm prepared for this market.

And in preparing, you have two things to do.

You have your buyers and you have your sellers.

You have to have a serious conversation with both of them.

The seller needs to recognize that we are in this market.

We can sell your house in this market even at 9%.

I remember house is selling at 17% interest rates.

Seven.

So it depends on how you educate your seller and prepare them.

Now, if they can't hear it and they're in denial, it ain't good to sell.

And you know that.

And you need to let them know that it has to be a very straightforward conversation.

But let me give you an example scenario, and I want to know what you would say to a seller.

So let's say it's a flip a year ago.

And that in sort of the heat of the market, someone buys a house for 275 300.

And they put in 50 to 70 of work.

Right.

And they've got it pretty turnkey.

But they want 400 plus in a location where there's really not 400 plus around it.

And there's not comps and probably they're, they're going to struggle to get that.

Yes.

How many people who are in that position are going to accept three 5375 390 when they wanted at least a 2550, 100 K profit based on the market, they were saying, I will take the listing.

Excuse me, I won't take the listing if they are not willing to.

I mean, if they're not realistic, if they are not realistic, I will not waste my time.

It's it's very simple.

It's not a complicated problem.

And if the seller can't see our market, the political situation, we're going through, oil prices, the cost that it's costing people right now to live and all of those factors.

And I believe most people understand that, and I think most people will hear it eventually.

But if a sell and I've walked away from listing appointments because of that and I'll say, well, you guys, you got 2000 other agents that you can use it, you can interview and in the past, I get called back in because the, the, the agent lists the house based on what the seller wants.

Big mistake.

You're hurting yourself as an agent, and the seller is hurting the value of their home because it comes back on the market.

People see that you can go into the MLS and see where it was listed.

Richard Sarkis comes in and lists that status the right price.

People are going to even want to discount it more.

Price your house the minute an agent comes in.

Listen to your agent.

They know what they're talking about.

We're professionals, and if a seller doesn't want to listen to that, you need to walk away.

Oh, let me let me read a couple of quick emails here.

Before the our first break.

And we're going to take your feedback as we go throughout the hour.

Because now I'm really curious to know how people are feeling about this market.

I think I saw a lot of nods around the table, by the way, everybody, when Richard said, we're now back into sort of a normal market, everyone's got like, yeah, we're out of the insane period.

Yeah.

Forever.

Right?

Yeah.

Okay.

Agreed.

Okay.

So Kate wrote this morning and said, Evan, I guess we waited too long.

My husband and I debated selling a few years ago, but we didn't pull the trigger.

We dreamed of a bidding war and a pile of cash to buy our next house.

Now we have friends who are struggling to sell for the price they want, and we are dreading it.

We will take any advice your guests have, so let's go around the table to give them 2 or 3 things that you tell them about getting on the market.

Now I'm going back to what Andrew said.

Prepare your house, prepare the home.

Those photos that you're looking at when you're looking for a house, when sellers are looking.

So you're helping them sell and buy.

I say the pictures that you're looking at, the what drove you to want to see that house.

That's what you should be preparing your house to look like.

You know, we're not there.

If a house is prepared, it will sell and if it is listed at the right price, as Richard stated, it will sell.

But it's harder to get people to come see it these days.

Definitely.

If it's not, if it's not prepared, if it's not staged, if it's that we know what we want to see when we go look at a home.

So preparing your home.

All right.

Short answer for for Kate here on the email Richard go ahead.

Sure.

Kate.

All right.

My question is what is your financial situation.

Why are you moving.

Why do you want to sell your house and be where do you want to go and how much do you want to spend?

I would want to know where they are financially, to see how realistic that could be.

I may say, don't put your house on the market right now.

I may advise that to the person.

I would have to ask those financial questions and the urgency, you know?

So to answer her question, I would need to know those pieces to advise her properly.

I think that's a good piece of advice.

So don't feel like you have to force yourself onto the market in this condition.

Okay, Drew, I would say invest in your house, invest in the sale.

Invest in the repairs that need to be done.

Invest in the updates right now.

Invest in an agent that's going to use professional photography.

Invest in staging.

Your house needs to look pristine when it hits market.

Now you can still get a great price, but you're not fooling the buyers anymore.

You need to present a great product, so put your best foot forward and invest in your house before you put it on the market to get the best results.

But to be clear, JR, let me just ask you about investing.

There's a difference.

Well is there a difference between saying, look we know that we need a new furnace.

The buyers are going to know we need a new furnace.

Let's pay for the new furnace.

Let's pay for a water heater versus you know, the deck isn't great.

It's okay.

It's not falling apart.

But are we going to knock it down and spend, you know, five figures on a new deck?

Are there different kinds of investments that you would advise making?

100%.

But your house needs to be as move and ready as possible.

So if you're if the buyer is going to come in and need to knock the deck down, then unfortunately you have to be proactive and do it first.

Anything that, you know, a buyer is going to say, I'm going to need to fix that before I move in.

If you want to get the best results right now, you need to invest in it before you roll it out on to market.

With the exception of the bottom of the market, you can still get away with a couple things.

You know, under under 200, the demand is still quite high.

But you should still be making your house as nice as it can be, as move ready as can be and presenting it with, you know, investing in staging and professional photography, but especially not having any major repairs that the is going to inherit because they're not going to inherit them.

They're, they're, they're choosing to move on from that house that has major high ticket items that are going to need to be replaced.

Okay, Laney, I don't think there's anything I can really add that I would agree with everybody here with the one exception is, I mean, I've seen listings that have been under 200,000 that are still sitting.

And so it's not you know, I think again, there's opportunity for buyers in every price point in every area.

I don't think everything under 200 is still going crazy.

And I think sellers.

Yeah, if they can invest because that's a big that's a big.

Right.

Richard.

Questions are perfect.

You have to take the whole picture.

What makes sense for each and every seller when it comes to getting the house ready to sell and ready to list pricing, staging, getting all those improvements done if you can, and timing right.

Can they wait until.

Because I think I think part of what we're seeing in addition to interest rates is buyers are exhausted, buyers are beat down if they have.

I think we've seen this for the past few years.

And I think by this time of the year, if someone has written, you know, five, ten, however many offers a buyer has written on different houses and not gotten them, they're beaten down and they're like, I'm taking a break, right?

And they're pulling themselves from the market.

And I think that's part of what we've seen.

Besides interest rates that they didn't reenter, they're not reentering that they're renting for another year or waiting.

And I think at the beginning of the the new year, hopefully we'll see another rebound for sellers.

When people get reinvigorated at the after the holidays, you're hearing Lanie Bitner, associate real estate broker with Remax, plus Andrew Hand and his team leader and owner of the Hannon team, Richard Sarkis, associate real estate broker with Howard Hanna Tysharda Johnson-Thomas, manager of the Wealth Forward Rock program and a licensed real estate broker.

Very, very short break here and we're going to come back to more of your feedback as we talk about our changing housing market.

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We've got plenty of feedback already, and we're going to keep taking your feedback and try to get as much in as we can with the experts this hour.

Jennifer in Brighton says we have a home in Brighton in a lovely neighborhood that we need to sell.

Fortunately, we don't have to buy another home.

Should we hurry up and get it onto the market in November, or sit on it until the spring?

Let's go back around the table.

All right.

I mean, again, I want I want to just put a little caveat.

Our guests are going to do their best to answer your questions.

Not having a full picture.

So to the extent that they know about your comments, they'll do their best to help you.

Go ahead Lanny.

So my I would say wait, if you can wait, I would say if you have not contacted an agent, contact your agent.

The sooner you contact an agent, the better.

They can tell you that if you've got some time to get your house prepared, get it ready to put on the market.

And I'm hopeful that at the beginning of the new year, we'll see more of a rebound for sellers.

But we'll see with if interest rates stay high, it could affect certainly the demand out there.

But I think better chances than what I'm seeing right now.

I think it it makes sense to wait.

Drew I agree with Lanie.

We have seasonality to our market.

And if you have the ability to wait I would wait until the spring.

I would expect to to change a little bit, a lot of, a lot of people are comparing to the rates that they saw six months a year ago, and they're taking a break right now.

There's also high gas prices.

It seems like a inflation's creeping back in.

So people are kind of taking a rest.

I think they're going to come back out in the spring.

So I would wait if you can okay Richard put it on now.

All right.

We got some let me tell you what.

Okay.

It's just not the real estate.

It's the world.

And the global situation is unpredictable.

Interest rates could go to 8% or more in the spring.

I don't know that.

But do you want to gamble that there are buyers out there in Brighton right now for your house?

I know that I would not wait till spring, only because my sense is interest rates are going to be harder and it may be tougher to sell.

I think right now you have, a pool of people to look at your home in Brighton.

If it's in good condition and it's priced properly, and you may get a bidding war if it's priced right.

And I'm not saying that to get listings.

I'm saying that from 41 years of experience living through 1991, living through 2008, and living through now, the best time to list your house is now.

Let me just briefly push on one point before I get Ty on this here.

You mentioned politics a couple of times.

Yes.

And my sense is that the president wants lower interest rates because he wants more action.

And this higher interest rates means a cooling of action.

You don't think he's going to exert pressure to try to prevent any future interest rates?

I think he's got smart people in the feds, and the feds are watching the inflation rate right now.

And I because I watch the market every day.

Of course, the real estate market, I watch the global market business and I watch the, the our, our, our countries, Dow, you know, the Dow Average, the S&P.

Yeah.

And I don't like what I see going on.

That's my personal opinion.

So I think that we have and I'm not getting political here, but we're living in a, unpredictable situation, and we have a wars.

We have two wars going on.

And the oil is a is a big issue.

Again, Richard, you know, I get political, but the vice president says they're not actual wars.

All right.

We didn't come here to talk about war.

We came here to talk about real estate.

Well, it's all tied.

It's tight.

Okay.

Yeah.

Ty, what would you say?

I would say that now is the time to establish a relationship with an agent.

Now is the time to perhaps do a preliminary inspection on your home.

Look and see what?

See what the health of the house is.

Because I'm always looking from the buyer's perspective.

If you want someone to offer confidently on your home and you want to get the price.

Not only does it have to look good, the health of the home should be stated.

So if you do an inspection and you can lay that inspection on the table, it's already been inspected.

Perhaps buyers will feel more confident when they come through the home, no matter what season it is.

If it's now or if it's in the spring.

Okay.

I'll get to your phone calls in a second.

Let me get a couple more emails.

A comment from YouTube.

What does this group think about quiet listing with an agent where it isn't staged?

You still live in it, but you don't need a bidding war.

Ty, what do you think?

I don't know, we sell a lot of homes that way.

People, you know, are the owners are still occupying the property, and it's not staged.

It it is sometimes difficult for people to picture themselves there, but we sell a lot of homes that way.

I don't see, I don't honestly see a reason for someone to say, oh, I have to move out of this home in order to sell.

Some people have more flexibility than that.

Exactly.

Exactly.

If someone has purchased and they can move on, that's fine.

Obviously.

Yes.

To see a clean palette and to see something staged.

Yes.

In a lot of the things that we have to remember too, is that social media is huge.

I've had a lot of buyers tell me, you know, well, this doesn't look the way I would expect if I invite people over.

And that's not first time homebuyer establishing a legacy, you know, should not have to be worried about what the home looks like.

More of the health of the home, but you can make the home your own.

But I think I see a lot of people that are, you know, of that mindset that the home has to look a certain way.

Okay, Rich, I totally agree with you on that.

I totally agree with you on that.

Since there are people who are in a situation where they might have an elderly parent living with them, or their children are in school, they have two dogs and a cat.

And it's impossible for them to move out of the house.

They can't have the luxury of buying a house, moving out and getting their house ready.

So there is a way, though, to to move that house to this person who's asking that question.

If if it's urgency that they need to sell, there are some things your realtor can help you to declutter, some small things that you can do.

Clean up the basement.

Make sure that everything is in order and work that way.

So, you're absolutely right.

There are people who, cannot have that luxury to move, but we can sell your house.

If you listen to your agent living, you know, people who come into your home and who have had the experience, such as these people around the table, any any one of us can do a good job for you because we know how to prepare your home and prepare you for what's ahead.

If we listen to you, listen to your agent.

That's a consistent theme today.

I get a sense that sometimes the people who don't listen to their agents, but.

No, I think having gray here in the experience, it's, you know, I've seen the difference.

I remember when I was 30 and I had.

And I had black hair with no gray hair.

It was a tough me to make.

Today it's easier, because people know you have the experience.

And I'm being honest.

And I tell people, don't sell.

This is not the time.

Mr.

and Mrs.

Jones, based on the information you're giving me.

And and agents are honest with their people.

You know, I of course, we all do this for our living, but our our responsibility and our fiduciary responsibilities doing best for our client.

Yeah.

You know, and I believe you and your reputation will get the best of you if you're not doing that.

No question.

Absolutely.

All right, Drew, what you want to say here?

Quiet.

Sale would not be ideal, in my opinion.

As far as I'm concerned, real estate sales has become more real estate marketing than sales.

And you got to make a lot of noise, and you gotta to, put your house out into as many different, avenues as possible to get the best results.

But we are all paid to solve problems, and everyone at this table can 100% sell a listing where the seller has a unique situation where they need to be home, where they can't do the the repairs.

They they don't want a lot of traffic through.

We can certainly solve that problem.

Everyone at this table can.

We can make it happen and and set you set that particular seller up to get the best results.

But if you're asking my opinion, if a quiet sale is a is ideal, I would say no.

But I'm I'm one that likes to make some noise with my listings.

Okay lady, I think I think in terms of people being in the house, we're going back to how it was pre-COVID, right?

In terms of that, you didn't see so much of people had to go find their house and move and buy before they could sell.

Right.

So that really has been huge in the past six years, where when you're a buyer looking at houses, you're seeing either staged or vacant houses, because that seller has moved on, they've bought and they've they've gotten out of the house.

So we're kind of going back to how it was a little bit pre-COVID of people being in the houses.

And I think that's okay.

I think in terms of in terms of marketing and advertising your house, I agree with that.

You do want to be able to market it to as many people as possible, I think.

But is there a market for people who don't want to do that?

Sure.

There's a market for anything.

And I think in terms of all the information we have as agents, you know, what what a specific seller situation is, what they need, what their financial situation is, where they're going.

All of that factors into our recommendations when it comes to pricing, when you should list staging, all that stuff.

All right.

Keith and Victor on the phone next.

Hey, Keith.

Go ahead.

Evan, how you doing?

Good, sir.

I got a question.

I know it's more of an opinion, but I have a follow up statement.

Five years ago, we bought a house that was, almost 30 years old.

Contemporary theater sided, like a lot of room that were built in the late 80s.

And we had some windows that probably could have been changed.

The integrity of the window was good, but they couple of them had, feels gone.

Nothing really egregious, but you could you could see it.

So we got prices for eight windows and I could not believe how expensive it was.

So I said to my wife, I go, God, for that money, we could probably get solar panels.

So we opted for the solar panels, which were less than the eight windows and fortunately our yard faces south, so we are able to install the panels on the ground.

They're non-intrusive.

They offer us some more privacy because we have a big pool.

But I've had some realtors, but we know is friends say no, you should have never done that.

And, I said, well, I don't know because our electric build in the dead is summer when other people have five, six, $700, ours is a paltry 50 bucks.

So in your opinion, again, just your opinion.

What is it, the decision to do that.

Now, everything else in the house that we bought was updated, had a high efficiency furnace, relatively newer appliances on main gas water tank.

Even came with a new riding mower for that matter.

But we went with the solar panel, and we're extremely pleased with them.

Well, we occasionally meet people, and you talk to them and, you, you know, they're really.

Oh, you should never do that.

Nobody wants that on there.

Okay.

Well, I mean, everybody wants lower bills, but we'll see what they say.

Let's go around the table here.

Thank you.

Lady.

I mean, the question is, is whether or not that was a good move in my opinion is if you're happy then yes, that's the right move.

That's all that matters.

I think, you know, as agents, there's a difference of when I give what, what advice I give to clients when they're buying a house versus when they're selling house versus when they're living in the house.

If any of my friends ask me, should I do this?

Well, the first question is, how long you been House?

Is it going to make you happier?

Is it going to make your life easier?

And so you made a decision that was the best for you.

And I think that's the right I mean, it's the right decision because, you know, is it going would it make it harder or easier to resell.

I don't think I think there's, there's I've definitely seen a lot of I mean, even when I take walks in the morning in my neighborhood, I've seen a lot more solar panels going up.

And I think there's there's a lot more demand for people who want that type of thing.

And I think it's going to take specific people.

Not everybody wants it.

But I think especially because it's not on a house, I think that's a nice feature that it won't affect where you roofing.

I think the ones that go on the roof, obviously long term, you have to think about if there does need a new roof, all that stuff.

So I think it's going to be dependent on the buyers.

But I think people so a lot of people are getting more green and they are seeing the rising cost of utility bills.

And I think for some people, yeah, it's going to be a it's going to be great thing.

Well let's go around the table.

I'll say this to Keith though, I laughed a little bit because I, I don't really get this question.

Keith, you put solar on your house, you cut your energy bills by a huge amount and you think that there may be people who don't want that.

I mean, like, is it such an esthetic thing that for some people that they would rather pay that much more?

You've already done the work, man.

But I get I look, I get it, I hear the debates about windmills in the Southern Tier, which I actually kind of like when I drive by, I'm on 390 and some people don't like them, some people don't like solar arrays.

I get it, I I'm a little confused.

To me.

It's like, oh my God, it's amazing.

Somebody put solar on the house.

One of my other question would be is, has he saved enough money to to start putting when the windows in?

Right.

Can he take that investment that he put in that savings.

Right.

And, and start investing in the windows.

But okay.

But let's go around the tip.

Good.

What do you think.

So I don't think it will dissuade any buyers, but I don't think that it was necessarily a better investment than windows.

I'm still not seeing a lot of returns on solar panels in Rochester.

Okay.

Sold a couple houses with them, represented a couple buyers that bought with them, and the overall consensus was from the buyers was that it didn't really move the needle for them.

So, investment wise, I don't think it's necessarily a great investment.

As Laney said, if he's enjoying it and and he's reaping the benefits, then it's a great move on his part.

I don't think it's gonna dissuade any buyers, but I don't think it's going to move the needle on price very much either.

Okay.

Time I, I agree with Lanie and Drew.

Windows would probably have been the better investment.

I do believe in saving money.

So the solar panels and we know we're dealing with, high electric and gas bills here in Rochester.

But I do agree that, you know, we want to increase the value of the home, the integrity of the home, always, because someone may not want for any reason.

So just for resale, it would be it would have been windows for windows first.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Richard, I have a question.

Keith.

Are are the windows foggy?

Are your windows foggy?

The windows that need to be changed.

Moisture are there.

Keith.

Let's make sure we get to heaven.

I don't know if it's still there.

Oh, no, you're still here.

Cuz.

Sorry.

What we eventually did.

We found out that, the front of the house face is due east.

So we get bright sunlight.

So what we ended up doing was finding a company to put mirror Film on, which took away the bright sunlight coming in in the morning and also obscured the two windows with the bed seal.

But the other thing I found out was, for example, we have, two windows in our garage that are casement style, but they're stationary.

Okay.

And the seals were gone, and both of them and I went to a, large big box home improvement store to get a quote on the two windows.

Now, this is five years, five and a half years later, after we moved in, they wanted a $3,500.

Okay.

But however, since they were quality windows 30 something years ago, I found a company that could take the stairs, take the window apart, take the sash out, get the glass remade, reassemble the window for less than 800.

Damn it.

You answered my question.

And that's what I would recommend.

That's very good.

Now you got solar panels.

Your your your, bill is 50 bucks a month.

And when, prospective buyers walk into your house, they'll see nice, clean windows, because that's what they want to see.

Fog windows are a turnoff for people.

So you did the right thing and you did the right investment.

Thank you.

Ready?

Go.

Keith, thank you very much.

Let me grab another, email here.

This is from David.

David says he's an Ovid down in the Finger Lakes.

As someone who's been waiting several years now for the right house to come on the market, I can say the big issue for me is inventory of the market.

I need a small ranch house close to stores and medical facilities for a downsized retirement home.

I'm still not seeing much of a choice, but hoping that improves.

Now he's looking in Geneva, New York.

But I mean, this is the kind of question that can apply in a lot of places.

What would you say, Ty?

His question?

What is this question?

A concern about inventory.

And if inventory is starting to change.

He still, he says, is still not seeing much of a choice out there.

But he's hoping inventory starts to increase.

We're still seeing tight inventory.

Yes.

And inventory will increase in the spring.

It's not going to increase around now, but people are still listing homes.

I mean, the number of open houses that I get in my email daily, is insane.

People are still listing homes.

And I would say that it depends on where he's looking.

So if he's looking to stay remain in Geneva or if he's looking to expand, a lot of, our buyers are having to expand, you know, their location where they see themselves.

But there's a lot of great ranches out there right now.

Still.

Okay, Richard, I think it depends on your price range, too.

There are some beautiful homes in your area.

I'm familiar with the Finger Lakes, new construction, but you're looking at 400,500, for a ranch, three bedroom, two and a half baths.

Newer.

This is newer in the last ten years.

If you can find a 1953, you know, a 1960 ranch, you probably can get that for under 300 in your area.

But I would keep keep looking, have your agent set you up on an automatic search for your criteria and price and check daily your email.

Okay.

True.

Inventory is currently increasing.

In fact, Richard, you and I were talking about it before we came on the radio.

We're we are seeing more inventory than we've seen in quite some time right now.

So we're going from like a historic low that's like rock bottom.

It's got it's a little step up.

I mean, it's not huge, but it's nice to see inventory is increased is going in a better direction.

How long will that last and how high will it go?

I'm not sure, but we are on an uptick in inventory right now.

Okay, Lanny, I think you know everything everybody said is just is making sure that you are in the best position to to buy that you're ready to go, that you're pre-approved, that you, that you have an agent that's looking out for you in terms of those houses on the on the market that you're dumping because Geneva isn't a huge market.

And so and ranches are still one of those things that, that there's a lot of demand for is the boomers age and and move to one level.

So it's one of those things that can can continue to be competitive, that you really need to make sure that you're putting your best foot forward as a buyer.

All right.

This is going to be our last and only, break remaining of the hour here.

We got to let Ty go because, you're a woman in demand, and you got to get out of here.

Tysharda Johnson-Thomas is manager of the Wealth Forward Rock program and a licensed real estate broker.

Thank you for your expertise.

As always.

Thank you for having me.

And happy selling and buying and hopefully a lot of happy clients for you out there.

It's a, it's been an interesting few years here.

So we'll let Ty go.

Will come right back and take more.

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Connections.

This is Connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

John writes to say this one's out of my league.

Guys, can you ask the participants to comment on the National Association of Realtors participation in the class action lawsuit alleging anti-competitive conduct?

The lawsuit is still open for potential members to sign up for.

I know anything about this, so I'm just reading John's question.

Lanny, I mean, I don't know, I don't know specifically if there's an ongoing, it sounds like it's a current legal action.

Is that right?

Yeah.

I'm not aware.

Okay.

Once I was done being put off, once I was done being president, there was one a few years ago that.

How long was your presidential term?

The terms are one year each.

Was it a coup?

Did they remove it?

You can only serve two years.

But.

So I think there a few years ago, there were some dramatic changes that happened as a result of some of some legal actions in the DOJ.

And there's been a lot of changes in the past few years as a result of that.

So that is the, the, the one that I know that has sort of shaken the industry up in terms of what's going on right now.

I think it sounds like it's similar.

Okay.

Yeah.

I'm getting lost in the lawsuits as well.

There have been a lot recently.

There was one that did kind of change the way we did business, a little over a year ago.

Beyond that, I'm not sure which one he is talking about specifically.

Okay.

Anything to add there?

And I don't I cannot speak to it.

Okay.

Thank you.

John, Ed wants to know if you are pricing in the two hundreds.

Can you still get a betting war?

So let's just talk about, let me back up and say, if you're just joining us, our guests have have said that the market is changing pretty significantly.

And the changes happened slowly over the last three years, but more aggressively since August.

Some of it's driven by higher interest rates.

Some of it's just because it's the fall.

There's fewer buyers.

But we're seeing this happen in markets across the country.

It's just it's moving in the direction where, if you're selling a home, you know, you might have missed the peak of the market doesn't mean you can't sell a home at all.

But it's not as painful or impossible for buyers.

And, and sorry, I'd also had a second question on inspections.

So we're going to ask a question on where kind of you can price to try to get a bidding war, if that's still possible, in the Rochester Finger Lakes region.

And then we'll talk about inspections to go around the table.

Richard, if you're if you're trying to get a bidding wars, as, Ed says he wants, you know, how do you price it?

And is there a sweet spot that we see more of that?

Sure.

Do you have a brand new kitchen?

Do you have a brand new bathroom?

Is your basement floor painted?

Are the walls mold free?

In the basement?

Is your furnace four years or older or younger?

Is your roof in good condition?

Yes.

If you live in gate grease a run to court, Brighton.

You price your house accordingly.

If you're looking for a $200,000, if your house is listed at, you're looking for more than 200.

Price it in this market.

One 7099.

You'll definitely get a bidding war if you have all those things going on in your house.

Okay.

You can get a bidding war in just about any price point if you prepare and price correctly.

We're in the age of information, so the consumers have a ton of information.

And what they're looking for is a house that appeals to them visually online, meets their specifications and needs for what their lifestyle is and then looks priced below what it should be.

That's essentially what creates the bidding war is it looks like value.

I mean, almost every consumer is on the major portals looking at, you know, Realtor.com, Zillow, all the ones out there, they have tons of information.

So they're looking for something that looks visually appealing, meets their criteria and then looks like a value.

Hey, maybe that one was priced a little low by accident.

Maybe I should go look at it.

And that's what creates the bidding war.

So yes, you can get multiple offers in just about any price point if your house is prepared correctly and price correctly.

Planning.

And as as we've said, you know, previous on the show, it's if things are updated that's, that's really those are the things that I'm seeing that are still going crazy is if it's updated, right.

If a buyer can walk in and not do anything to the house, and then it's a house of their dreams, that's everybody's, you know, the eye candy of, as Richard said, the kitchens in the baths.

Right.

Those things that people really have their eyes pop out of their head in very cartoon like way, those are the things that that are getting bidding wars.

And again, around that 200 price point.

Yeah.

All the other updates because those are typically first time home buyers.

Right.

Is so the big things like roofs and furnaces and hot water heaters that that tend to be more expensive windows.

So that one color.

Right.

Those are the things that buyers, they're not as much fun to do.

Right?

They don't want to do.

They're expensive.

People can kind of get past the kitchens in the past if, if needed, because it's more fun to do.

But as a seller, there's a better return on investment if you have your kitchen and bath updated.

Okay.

And let me just push on something Richard mentioned, like all three of you to weigh in on this.

This is the way my brain works.

If I see a home priced at 179 nine and realistically, the seller's thinking this is going to go in the twos, let's see what happens.

As a buyer, I would think, what am I not seeing?

What is wrong with this?

Why is this being priced for 180 when it's obviously better?

And I like in my brain I'm like, they're hiding something, something is wrong.

I have to change that mindset, I guess.

Well, that's because your older, younger people.

I used to be, oh, you're the buyers out there.

The younger buyers are first time buyers.

They're educated.

They know what's going on and they know it's going to go more than that.

That's why they call mom or dad to come in and help with the down payment.

I've seen this, but I don't think that a first time home buyer think it's good to go for 180.

They know that they get, only because it's been happening.

And I, I think in this market, it will continue to happen if you have all those things going, especially in this 200,000, dollar range.

I think there's a lot of buyers waiting for that to happen.

Okay.

And, Drew, apropos of this, we've had questions in the past on this subject, so let's just hit this now, let's say you aggressively price on the low side, hoping to bid up.

And the way we're talking about, let's say you you put it 179 nine.

We've had questions in the past, along the lines of, well, if someone bids 179 nine, does that mean you have to legally take it because you listed at 179 nine?

You want to hit that point?

No.

And that's why it works in New York State is that they don't have to legally take it.

So, the risk is limited to the seller, and that's why this game is being played.

I mean, I wish, for the consumer sake, the game wasn't being played and where everything was listed transparently, it would make a lot more sense.

I mean, our, our market is is nothing if not confusing, especially to, to people that are coming from other parts of the country and have no experience with this type of market.

But no long story short is they don't have to take that price that they market it at, which is why the game continues to perpetuate.

And, Laney, do you see more sellers trying to go low, hoping to get bids better bids up right now, or do you see more sellers going, hey, this is what I want.

Put it at this.

I mean, I think in terms of the shift in the market rate, it's been it's only been a couple months.

I think it's to me, what I'm seeing is that it's just having those conversations and trying to get a sell it to be realistic.

So it really depends on what the seller's goals are, right and get it and how realistic they are about the current market.

So I think it's going to be very dependent.

Again, it's only been a couple months that we've seen this really dramatic shift.

So I think you've had some that are going to say, okay, I want to list it because this is what I want to get.

I want to be more realistic about what the value of my houses and put it out there for buyers to see that I'm looking for this a dollar amount, and some are going to say, no, I want a bidding war.

Let's maybe list it a little bit lower to hopefully garner get more attention, and get more people in the house, which gets more bids.

Okay.

We're going to keep ripping through the emails here.

This is Sandy in Mendon.

We're in Mendon.

Seven years from aging out of our house.

Do we rip up old carpets, replace with wood or new carpet, or just put a buyers qualifier in the listing?

I'll start with Lainey.

Again, I think.

I think replacing the carpet would be a good idea whether or not you put hardwoods right, and whether or not you want that investment, that's up to you.

But yes, hardwoods are going to do better.

Most buyers like hardwoods.

They're better investment.

Seven years is a pretty good amount of time where you can enjoy the hardwood floors.

And that hopefully they'll still look good for, for when you go to sell in seven years.

Okay, true.

I would make some sort of a change and not offer a buyer credit.

The modern buyer does not want to do anything.

You know, Drew's going to keep emphasizing this point.

People don't want projects.

They don't want projects at all.

They want to live in the house that they buy, just like they lived in their last rental, hoping that somebody else would take care of the problems.

But they don't want to do anything.

The younger buyers want to touch nothing.

So I would, invest in something.

I think you could go make an argument for either carpets or hardwoods.

If you're gonna stay there for seven more years, hardwoods might be nice because you'd be able to enjoy them, and they should, add to the value.

But I joked about it earlier.

But if someone really is very handy and loves projects, this is a pretty good market to be in because you're going to find homes on the market right now for a buyer, for the buyer, if you like projects that are not getting the traction that they got for the last five years because they have needs that are unmet and people don't want that.

But if you're really good at that stuff, it might be an advantage.

There's an opportunity for people that are willing to do work, and there's an opportunity for cash buyers right now because a lot of people are concerned about the rates.

If you have cash, you're not in that same pool so that there's to, you know, pillars of opportunity.

Right now, cash buyers have an opportunity.

People that are willing to do the work have an opportunity right now.

Okay, Richard, if you live in Mendon and I've sold quite a bit in Mendon over the years, do the wooden floors, your buyers are not going to be first time home buyers.

They're going to pay a good price for your home.

I would also make sure that, when you're ready to sell, make sure that the house is contiguous with what you're doing.

Are you a contemporary house with, old fashioned furniture from grandma?

Big mistake.

Look at all of those elements.

Bring your age and in and have them help you do this properly.

But definitely the wooden floors, I think, are very important, especially where you live.

I think you're going to attract that kind of buyer.

Done our last two minutes.

Two very quick questions.

They'll be really short answers for everybody here.

In the last five years there's been so many bids over asking.

We hear all these stories.

They're legendary.

And the market is changing.

Is it a situation where you see a house listed for 300?

Is it insulting to bid 250?

And would you tell people don't bid 250, or do you think there's a place for that just briefly, can you can you underbid right now?

Yeah, I've seen it happen already.

Okay.

And it doesn't like turn people off.

Because sellers are furious.

Oh, the sellers really?

The sellers are fear.

They don't like getting on it.

Yeah, but the market determines value, not the you know, the seller.

Okay.

So we have to find.

So sellers may not like it but such is the market okay Drew I think you can get away with it.

It depends on the situation.

If it's a if it's a second home for somebody or if it's an investment property, you can absolutely go low because you're not insulting their the house that they, you know, raised kids in or live in day to day.

You know, things are negotiable, right now.

People are also sometimes overpriced.

So sure.

So if you're overpriced and your list just because you listed at 300 doesn't mean you're going to get that.

And if we see pockets of of houses being overpriced, the offers are going to come in low.

And Caylee, as we've talked about all our it's dependent on a lot of factors.

Right.

Is is it one off coming in or is it multiple offers coming in.

If it's one offer coming in?

Sure.

I think we're back to the days of negotiating with inspections happening, that sort of thing.

And should a seller be insulted, they may be, but hopefully their agent has talked to them about the change in the market.

They shouldn't be.

An offer is an offer and you can negotiate.

Okay.

Lastly, because the the music's going to play, Ed had asked about inspections.

We don't inspections again away still waiting and I'm having one right now on my listing as we speak.

Okay.

What am I the days of like everybody has to waive inspections.

Again it's dependent if there's multiple offers and things are going, you know, that may still happen, right?

It still happens if there's multiple offers on a property and you're trying to be competitive, buyers may still waive it.

Okay.

I had an inspection on, Saturday.

I hugged, hugged the inspector, and I said, we're back.

Yeah.

It's amazing.

Richard.

Yeah, I had two listings this week.

They sold and both are having inspections and furnace inspections and engineering.

And that's a good thing, right?

That's a hell.

That's that's a much higher.

It's good for the buyer to know what they're buying.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It should be good for everybody.

Hey.

Thank you.

Tysharda Johnson-Thomas joined us earlier.

Thank you to Richard Sarkis, Drew Han and Lanie Bitner.

Thank you for your expertise, having some fun with us.

Good luck everybody.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Come back any time.

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