Commentary February 20, 2024

Living Indoors is Not a Fad

In some respects, the housing market is like the biggest, longest domino set up in the universe. Chances are, with rare exception like the purchase of an empty house, that the person you are buying your home from is going to be moving somewhere that someone else moved out of, and they in turn are going to move somewhere where someone else is moving from, and so on ad infinitum.

Part of our job as agents as a matter of fact, is coordinating the move out and move in for clients, and it can get a little complex. But the bottom line is when someone does move out of a residential domicile, they are moving into another residential domicile.

Not an igloo.
Not a nomadic wagon caravan.
Not a houseboat.
Not a teepee or wigwam.
And no, they do not begin a new life as an avid camper.

So it amuses me when another agent is taken by surprise that the logistics of my clients relocation might have an affect on their client’s plans. We as agents don’t set closing dates in New York- that is left to the attorneys, lenders and title companies.  But I  have to have these discussions with my counterpart agents nonetheless. It’s like setting up a lunch date with an old friend.
How’s next Monday?
Oh, Mondays are bad, what does Tuesday look like?
Tuesday is fine with me.
Great! Tuesday it is.

This is not rocket science. But sometimes we make it harder than it has to be.

This text exchange is an example of what I’m talking about. The other agent sent me a text stating that we should be closing in January, to which I replied that we are not, because my clients would not be moving until February. Somehow this caught them offguard.

Bless this agent’s heart. As I’ve said before, it is difficult to explain these things without sounding sarcastic. My clients had a choice: rent their next home or buy something. They chose to rent for the time being. Renting is far less involved than buying, so I’m unclear as to why the fact that they are renting was such a curveball.