The Fallacy of the "Neighborhood Real Estate Agent"
Posted by Hank Miller on
The best agent isn’t defined by proximity; they’re defined by competence. The fallacy of the neighborhood real estate agent as having an advantage over others is one of the biggest myths in real estate. It’s easy to assume that the best agent to sell their home is one who lives in the neighborhood or has the most signs nearby. It sounds logical, who knows the area better than a local? But sellers that don't challenge this myth might very well be stepping on a financial landmine.
The Hidden Flaws of the “Neighborhood Agent” Approach
Familiarity feels comfortable and safe. But proximity isn’t expertise — and in today’s shifting market, comfort isn’t strategy. Expertise comes from decades of writing contracts, analyzing data, negotiating, and working…
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"Torture the data, and it will admit to anything". Something the MSM and all of the click bait publications know well. Every day, it's continuous hand wringing and self created angst about real estate. Designed only to generate clicks, gone are the deep, well researched missives. Now the reports are tic toc level, AI generated, pablum. And just about all of it is wrong or misleading. ALL real estate is local, VERY local.
Home sellers can be a prickly group. This is especially true when markets are shifting, like now as sellers lose the edge and the market balances (mid-summer ’25). The trendy label is "accidental landlord", but an accidental landlord is nothing more than a stubborn seller. They don't listen, they know best. Their home is the “exception”; they have the one that all the buyers will flock to. Data? Meh, that’s for the others, not them. They know what the house is worth, just ask them. They are "experts".
was one of the quietest months in memory. Fortunately, the market quickly woke up (as the economy settled) and the Atlanta market got back to business in May.
Wake up! Is the Greater Atlanta housing market in trouble? These Q1'25 charts show a market that was active as Ole Red after he raided the garbage. This wasn't a local trend, Q1'25 across the nation was a snooze fest. Underwhelming; to be sure. Alarming; no, but we expected to see a return of the typical patterns.
“We’re like roaches; when it’s good we eat, when it’s bad we feast”. My long time friend Rob dropped that pearl a good 25 years ago. He successfully flipped homes around Atlanta before it was a “thing”, through the crash, and a good decade after. Flipping homes in Atlanta is for apex predators, it's the majors in every way. Rookies and HGTV Rangers are prey, few people understand just how difficult it is to be successful flipping homes. "Investors” are vilified, especially by the MSM who blame them for anything and everything that ails the housing market. It’s a disingenuous and lazy take, regularly taken out of context. As for "Wall Street", if they didn't gorge during the crash, we'd still be awash in listings and things would be much different. They…
this January. We in the field felt it, I was curious so took a look at the data…and it confirms what we thought. This is a stumble; this market will snap back, but we see a few reasons for this lackluster start.
We're bullish on the spring '25 Atlanta real estate market. Now that the "interest rate" situation appears over and the election is done, this market can get back to being boring. Boring real estate is good, boring housing markets are safe and predictable. Significant challenges remain, but with the election over what appears to be an end to the "Fed Watch" on rates, things should settle down. One unknown is how agent compensation is received now that it is in effect. Q4 was the roll out, this spring will be a chance to see how that plays in a busy market.
“Why didn’t mortgage rates drop when the Fed cut the discount rate?” A simple question with so many variables that even experts can’t agree. The focus seems to always be on “the Fed”; how does all of the economic news impact decisions made by the Federal Reserve? Through most of 2024, all eyes were on the Fed as everyone wondered if they would cut rates. They finally did in Sept and again in Nov…and mortgage rates, well, they remain about where they were. So, what happened? But, did anyone (other than the disingenuous media) really think rates were getting into the 5's or lower? No one here, nor anyone associated with legitimate real estate organizations, did.
The bite is severe and it’s going to get worse. HOA issues are on the rise, but the vitriol directed at them is not always justified. Homeowner associations exist to maintain property and community standards; to ensure that owners, their properties, and community property, meet agreed upon standards. Over the last several years, many HOAs have been financially stressed and that stress is being passed to residents. The catalyst was the Surfside Condo collapse, the mismanagement there was a clarion call to many.