Florida has had relatively strong real estate markets for much all of the last decade, but some markets are much stronger than others. Currently, Tampa is one of the hottest markets around, with multiple buyers making offers on one property and single houses sometimes having dozens of showings in just a few days.
A hot market is a great time for someone to potentially sell their home, but it can be a very nerve-racking time to be a real estate agent. What are some of the risks that you should be aware of as a real estate professional trying to work in the current Tampa market?
Sellers may hold you to unrealistic expectations
Right now, with a lack of listings, agents have to compete to land a new seller as a client. Many times, potential sellers will look mostly at the price that an agent thinks they can get for the home when choosing whom to hire.
Unfortunately, if the market does drop off in the next few months, agents representing sellers with unrealistic expectations may find themselves facing accusations and negative reviews from those who can’t make the massive profit they had hoped to on the sale of their home.
Waiving appraisals and other contingencies can put your buyers at risk
If you represent a buyer and not a seller, your goal is to get them into a house. However, you don’t just want them in a house, but in a place that works for them.
Trying to make a bid more competitive might mean increasing the price and removing obstacles to the sale, such as contingencies about the property condition or waiving the appraisal or inspection. Those concessions make an offer attractive to a seller because they don’t have to worry about a buyer discovering any latent defects in the property. Your buyers could end up making an offer well over what the property is worth based on its actual condition.
Frustrations with the difficulty in finding a property can make it hard to represent buyers in a hot market, as they may have to go to multiple showings before you even write a single offer and make a dozen offers before a seller accepts one. It can also be a hard time to be a seller’s agent because you will have to coordinate all of those showings and review the offers.
Getting support when handling real estate transactions can help you avoid mistakes that could affect your reputation or your licensing.