During the COVID years, we expected to list a property and have several offers within hours. That is simply not our market anymore. If a home is clean, move-in ready, priced correctly, it should still sell quickly. But it is not uncommon for a home to sit for 30+ days before receiving an offer.

Unless a seller has a great agent that helps them manage expectations, they might be antsy to get their home sold, and might drop the price in an effort to attract more buyers. If the home was already overpriced, a price drop could be helpful. Price drops and longer days on market DO NOT indicate an impending market crash. They simply indicate a return to a more stable equilibrium like we had n 2018 and 2019.

In 2020, the Ozarks saw a huge boom in people relocating from the east and west coasts and major metropolitan areas around the country. This is still the case. They aren’t coming in droves, but they’re still coming! And the folks who moved here in 2020 have stayed!

In the Fall of 2022, when the Federal Reserve increased the interest rate drastically to try and curb inflation, our housing market came to a major slowdown. Rates in the fall of 2025 are more like 2018/19, which eliminates a whole host of buyers that once qualified for home purchases when the rates were in the 2’s and 3s.

Thankfully, we are in a rate-decreasing environment. According to NAR, if mortgage rates drop below 6%, there will be an estimated 5.5 million buyers that come to the marketplace.

Most predictors pose that 2026 is going to be a banner year for real estate sales.

In recent markets, if there was a buyer looking for homes less than $250,000, there were only a handful (if that) homes to look at in their desired location. Today, there are more homes currently listed on our local MLS than any year since 2019. With more inventory, buyers are able be more selective.

Many sellers are still mentally living in 2020 and 2021 market conditions. They think that buyers will come along and purchase homes without inspections and without repair requests. This thought process completely misses the mark. Because buyers are HAVING TO BE more choosy due to rates, they expect a home with no major issues. And they are not afraid to ask for repairs.

Many buyers think that just becuase a property has been listed for 30 days or more, that something must be wrong with it or it is grossly overpriced. Historically, homes take between 1 and 4 months to sell. Buyers must come with realistic expectations.

Depending on the motivations of sellers, many of them are willing to help buyers by giving a credit at closing for closing costs.

With fewer multiple-offer-situations, buyers who are utilizing government loans (FHA, VA, USDA) have a greater chance of getting their offer accepted. In the past, government-loan buyers had a tough time competing with cash and conventional loan buyers!