On this day, 248 years ago, The United States Marine Corps was established on November 10, 1775, to augment naval forces in the Revolutionary War. The recruiting headquarters was set up by Capt. Samuel Nicholas in the Tun Tavern on Water Street in Philadelphia, which is considered to be the birthplace of the Marines. Yes, the Marine Corps was born in a bar. If you know a Marine, please wish them a happy birthday. They will smile back at you and say, “thank you”.
NAR Lawsuit
Some of you may be wondering why you didn’t receive a market update from me when this judgement was announced. Given respect to your time and your inbox capacity, I would’ve likely been just another email, summarizing what happened. However, I’ll keep an eye on how this decision rolls out to us client-facing industry pros over the next few months and pledge to continue providing accurate updates regarding how these changes could affect our buyer agents and buyers.
For the few of you who may have just returned from vacation on a different planet, The National Association of Realtors (NAR) was found guilty of conspiring to inflate commission on October 31, 2023 and was ordered to pay $1.78 BILLION. Treble damages could result in NAR and brokerages paying roughly $5.36 BILLION.
In summary, a worst-case scenario for agents could mean that a ban would be placed on “…the cooperated compensation rule national on the MLS, which would prevent listing agents and home sellers from predetermining buyer agent commission rates. Listing agents would be prohibited from sharing commissions with buyer agents, and buyer agent commission rates would not be published in the MLS.”
More to come.
Online Leads
As the market continues to put pressure on agents and lenders, online lead generators seem to continue selling leads. After previously working for an online lender for nearly a decade, it appears that the online lead space is saturated. If you’ve been paying for online leads lately, you’ve likely noticed that the quality has deteriorated immensely. These leads are either bots, completely non-responsive, people who aren’t looking to buy, or others who have little loyalty and demonstrate even less respect. Then there are the remaining 2-3% of all mortgage leads that actually convert.
Is it worth your time and money to spend on these leads? These days, most would say no.
Tired of online leads yet? I have a solution.
Organic business built over time through relationships simply cannot be substituted. That’s why I have assembled my top real estate agent relationships from across the nation to join me. Have you worked with me in the past? Were you satisfied with our working relationship? Would you like to be a part of this team and begin receiving warm client referrals instead of cold, online leads? Then contact me to learn more.
World War 3?
Ever day, the possibility of a global war seems to grow closer to becoming a reality. How will this affect rates? Great question. No one can answer this question without knowing how this will affect the U.S. economy. In short, if it negatively affects the economy, i.e. rise in unemployment, fall in earnings reports, etc… then 10 Year Treasury yields will fall and that’s when you can expect mortgage rates to follow.
Lower mortgage rates likely will not provide much more buying power for your clients as they may hope for, however. If housing inventory remains stagnant with today’s levels and rates drop, your clients may actually lose buying power, even with falling rates if home prices rise as a result of the anticipated demand.
Things will certainly get more interesting as we embark upon another Presidential election year.
As always, I’m here for you and your clients. Contact me if you need anything.
Semper Fi,
Terry Roberts
Terry Roberts, USMC Veteran Sr. Mortgage Broker NMLS 397987 E Mortgage Capital, NMLS 1416824
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