Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this Tuesday, December 10th, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here.
Welcome in the studio.
Our good friend, David Farmboro, for Reality Radio.
Let's go ahead and talk some real estate with our good friend David.
We're talking local and we're talking an interesting topic today, David, that I think
you have for us.
The holiday advantage.
Let's get into this.
It's wonderful to be with you again.
Yes, I thought it would be good to do a seasonal snippet today.
Because there is a lot of talk, I hear a lot of talk from people, which is that the real estate
business is dead in the winter.
And it is absolutely not.
I'm still working full days, more than full days.
And there is a lot of activity out there in the market.
Yeah, this is a, I think that, David and I actually are pre-key, we're just touching on
this a little bit, that there's certain things that we don't, we just assume sometimes
in life and in society.
And this is one of those industries that kind of gets pegged with that from time to time.
But it only takes, and we're not talking about a deep rabbit the whole dive here or
anything.
It doesn't take a lot of digging to find that there is not only a great thriving housing
market in the winter, but there is oftentimes some opportunities in the winter that might
not be in other times.
Yes, that's absolutely right.
So the first thing is, if we look at our local housing market, I've got some stats for
you.
If we look at year on year, so obviously we're not at the end of December.
It's like when you go on social media and people are posting their Spotify tracks to show
what they've listened to through the whole year, well we're not on the 31st December yet,
so we don't know.
It's the same with the housing market, so what I've done is I've pulled some stats going
back to this time last year to now, so I get a full year's worth of data.
And then I've done the same exercise for the previous year.
And what I found is that the previous year, there was a total of 524 homes sold, sorry,
properties sold.
That actually includes things like land and commercial properties in the Rapids area.
So that's greater than just the city of Wisconsin Rapids and the places that use Wisconsin
Rapids in the postal address like Grand Rapids.
It also includes places like Porte, Woods, Bearon and a little bit of the Nikusa area.
And right away an encouraging number, I think.
It is.
So last year it was 524, this year 536, so it's not a huge increase, but it's not going
down.
One of the things that we've suffered from a little bit since the pandemic is a shortage
of houses for sale.
And that is being eased a little bit.
And not a great deal, but it's not getting worse, so that's good.
And the other thing that we find is that the house prices are going up a bit.
So the figures from Zillow tend to show about an 8% increase year on year.
The figures I've pulled from the MLS actually show a slightly higher rate of increase,
which if you look at the sold prices rather than what they've been put on the market for,
it's actually 17.5% higher.
So I don't know where the discrepancy is between Zillow and what I've pulled, but it may be
that I've also factored in some of my vacant land in there and some like commercial properties.
But at any rate, the house prices here are increasing higher than the rate of inflation.
So if you buy a home, it's going to be a good investment, unless we have something
I'm foreseen like a property market, right?
Right.
But again, very encouraging numbers.
And I think even better numbers than your average person might guess when it comes to that,
because again, going back to this kind of preconceived notion we have of real estate in
the winter.
Those are great numbers, great stuff to bring to us.
Thanks for the data.
And you know how much I love numbers and everything, David, so that's an interesting thing.
What are some of the kind of preconceived notions that we have regarding the winter and
why the real estate industry freezes up when it actually doesn't, but we have these thoughts
that it does?
Well, there's a couple of factors.
And some of this is our fault as realtors.
I'm talking to a realtor recently who said something like, oh, I'm looking forward to taking
three months off for the winter.
I'm not going to take three months off.
This is what I'm working my hardest.
A lot of people who are out looking for houses choose not to go out and look when it's colder.
But this year and last year are very different from a few years ago because we don't have
nearly the same amount of snow.
So when you have two feet of snow, people really only want to go out and look at houses if
they need to move, you know, now or in the next couple of months.
If people can wait, they will often wait until the spring.
And so you do get fewer people looking to buy homes at this time of year.
But maybe not as many as if we had snow on the ground right now.
So the buyers are still out there.
We also have fewer homes on the market.
Now this sort of gives you an advantage in terms of numbers because if you're looking
to buy a home, it's less likely that you're going to be ending up in a competitive bid
situation.
If you're selling a home, it means you're competing with fewer other homes on the market.
So there's a quid pro quo there.
Right.
David, and not to get us down a side path here or anything, but in your data there, you
and mentioned that we're seeing some ease in the housing market as far as getting new
new houses put up or some new inventory out there.
And that feels like one of the, with this segment that we've done for many years and
you know, the newer version of it here, it seems like a very consistent thing where we've
been needing more properties.
We've been needing more of that.
And that sounds like there's some ease to that that's been happening.
Yes.
But it's only gradual.
Every time I go to the capital building in Madison and we talk to the elected representatives,
we as realtors are saying to them, look, can you please pass these pieces of legislation
that will enable us to maybe free up some federal money to go into grants for home building
or maybe give a tax break for someone who wants to build new homes or maybe take away
some red tape that was preventing home building.
Now this is all great, but the number of homes we're talking about is really a drop in
the ocean compared to what's needed.
So we're not going to see an ease really that makes much of a difference for people who
need housing anytime soon.
So as far as we can see, this is going to continue to drive these gradual pricing increases.
I will say it is great to hear of any improvement and it's really good to hear that you, your
colleagues are working on this and working so hard on this with our lawmakers and everything
that's encouraging to hear that, appreciate the work that's being done on that front.
Speaking with David Farmboro in our segment, Reality Radio, I love that name, by the way,
I'm going to say it as much as I can.
When we're talking about this subject, David, of the holiday advantage and the advantage
two looking at two buying or selling your home in these months, what are some of the advantages
to this?
Well, you often get a situation where you have really motivated participants.
So you find that someone who is selling their home now, usually, again, people don't necessarily
want to open their house up to strangers and have them trudging through it with snow
on their boots.
So people tend to wait until the spring if they can, but if they're selling now, often
it's because this, this timing is dictated by their life circumstances.
So it might be they've got a new job in a different town and they really need to sell now.
And working with a motivated seller can really help make a home purchase go through much
easier.
And it's the same with a buyer.
It works exactly the same way.
You know, if people are out looking, usually it's because their time scales are dictating
that they need to go out and look now.
Less competition seems one of those factors to this as well.
That does make a difference, yes.
It also, it means that sometimes you're in a very business-like situation where someone
goes in, they put an offer in, the offer's accepted.
If you're selling in the peak times right in the middle of the summer, you might have
a situation where you're one of five offers that gets put in and the seller then comes
back to three of those buyers with counter offers and then those buyers have to increase
their bids.
And you know, it can become very involved.
And you know, when it comes to most anything in life, we're looking for deals and stuff
and we're willing to wait or, you know, buy our time, if you will, until these things.
And then there's this industry again, where oftentimes for people, if it isn't the biggest
purchase they're ever making, it's one of the biggest things that they're selling ever.
So you want to get the most bang for your buck, if you will.
It feels like this is a lot of this conversation is leading towards, this is one of the better
times to be putting your house on the market almost.
It feels like just as a, you know, a person, a man looking out and everything at it, it's
starting to seem more and more like this is a good time to be doing this.
Yes, it really depends what you want to achieve.
And if you want to sell your home, this is a good time to do it.
If you're looking to maximize the amount of money you get, then it may be better to wait
until the spring.
So, you know, I'm not going to say to everyone, oh, this is the right time to sell.
But it really depends what you're trying to achieve.
It may be that if you have a home that is really well presented and, you know, immaculate
condition that you, you'd get the same wonderful price whatever time you sell it.
And for those that haven't been in this situation before, and I only have through my parents
and everything.
But most of the time in life when we had to move, we had to move a lot.
It was usually this time of year, you know, your rent is wrapping up and everything.
Your contract is up, so you're looking for a new place or some of those things.
And when it came to my family moving into the home that they're in right now, where
they went through a local real estate agent and JR and everything, that happened in the
winter as well.
And I think for some that haven't been in those situations, you may think some of the
things that you mentioned there, David, as far as the snow, the slush, and all of this,
my parents did this about 20 years ago and had a great, you know, a company helping with
it and some other things.
They were in and out and it was the quickest it had ever happened in our life.
We had moved a lot and this happened so smooth.
There's a motivation to selling and buying in the winter.
It's also a motivation of getting in the house and getting you in that house quicker.
And I think that a lot of that can happen a lot smoother and faster than some might
realize in the winter.
Again, this is a case by case thing and that's something that I would say that you can
necessarily, you know, oh, I know this is going to happen for sure.
But I would say that it is a lot better than I think some might realize too.
Yeah.
And some of the things that are sped up by the seasonal impact, the availability of
other professionals.
So you often find that if there's a peak period, you try and get a mortgage under it and
the underites, they have a five day backlog or you try and get an appraiser in and the
appraiser says, well, it'll take me two weeks.
Same with home inspectors, they are very busy in the summer months.
And the home inspector, if I called a home inspector today, they'd probably be able to do an
inspection in two days.
And the same with the the well and the septic inspectors, although sometimes they do have
a little bit of a problem if the ground is frozen.
If it's very cold, they have to bring out special equipment to unfreeze the ground.
But they are certainly more available.
And when it comes to getting the house on the market or looking for a house, doesn't
it does, again, just as layman watching this from the outside looking in, it seems to
me also, David, the sooner the better.
Like regardless of what time at year it is, the sooner you can get your house on the market
or at least get in the beginning stages of that, whatever you got to do to get your house
on the market, or if you were looking for a home, the sooner you can jump on this, the
better to be able to give yourself the more benefit of options or whatever they might
be.
Yes.
A lot of it is to do with when you start the process.
So if you're buying, then I would recommend the first stage is to call a lender and the
lender will then give you an idea of what your budget is, whether you need to do anything
to help sort out your credit, and also when they think you'll be ready to buy.
So it might be that your lender will say to you, oh, well, you can actually spend more
than you thought on your house, or they can say to you, you've got to pay off a couple
of things to get your credit sorted out.
But if you start on these now, you'll be ready to buy in March.
And if you didn't speak to your lender now and you waited until March to speak to your
lender, you might not be ready to buy until June.
So I would say that the lender should be the first stop if you're buying, followed by
the the realtor.
If you're selling the realtor should probably be your first stop.
I would be happy to give anybody a valuation of their home, come along and take a look
and compare it with what's sold in the same market in the same sort of condition for a
very similar house in the last 12 months.
The other thing I can do is give people an idea of how to present a home.
And that is something that can take you a lot of time.
If you're like most people, you don't present your home every day as you would like it
to be presented to someone who's going to buy it, it's set up for living, not for selling.
So for example, this time of year, we do recommend that people decorate their home seasonally.
And so this means you want to generate a sort of Christmassy warmth.
So lots of reds and greens and pine cones, things like that.
It's really leaning into the season.
Yes, you need to do that.
But there's another aspect of that, which is that as soon as Christmas is over, that stuff needs to be
gone straight away.
Yeah, man.
You don't want it looking like it was just set up and then the house didn't sell.
Right.
You also have to be careful about photography.
So if you've photographed an exterior before there was snow and now there's snow everywhere,
it looks like your photography is from a different season.
So if you have a realtor who is switched on, they will go back and they will refotograph
everything to match the season.
Boy, and if you happen to be lucky enough to run into a realtor, it's also really good
of photography.
Boy, that seems like a great combination.
If only I knew, oh, that's right, David, right in front of me, is good at both things.
So that's a really nice picture.
Thank you, James.
That's very kind.
I have worked as a professional photographer and it's also something I enjoy as a hobby.
And that does help me a lot in how I market homes because I concentrate a lot on my photography.
So I don't like things going out into the world of the home buyer, which look sub-par.
So for example, if I'm photographing somebody's house and God forbid this would be your
house, but I have seen it happen once or twice where they've got laundry on the floor or
they've got a beer can on the floor, I've said, would you mind if we just move that out
of the way?
We'll photograph it.
And hopefully you make sure that's not there for any showings.
Right, right.
But attention to detail is really important.
And it's those added things, those extra things that we look for in our realtor's that you
are able to bring, like things like that, an insight like that, that not everybody has.
It's appreciated, but it also is really unique, I think very interesting as well.
And as we're wrapping up here, David, just leaning into that, giving into the winter season
and kind of embracing that, that's a really helpful tip, especially for, I think, an industry
where we're, we oftentimes, if I'm looking at a house on Zillow or something like that,
it's very blank, something like this can help you as somebody imagining, oh, I could see
myself and my family living in there.
So it's an interesting kind of note.
I appreciate kind of sharing that with us.
Yes.
And that's one reason that staging can be really important.
So if you're selling a home that's vacant, then most people have a hard time imagining
themselves living there.
And so I do always pay for a staging consultation for anybody who lists with me.
And then that home stage, I can give advice on the best ways to present a home for the buyers.
Hmm.
Again, we're speaking with David Farnborough and Realty Radio here on WFHR.
And David, as we are wrapping up, any other notes that you want to mention as far as
holiday advantages to buying or selling your home in the winter months?
Well, actually, as I am on the radio, I hope you won't mind my saying this.
This is actually nothing to do with real estate, but I want to remind people that the Community
Theatre has a wonderful show on at the moment.
It's white Christmas.
It's a musical.
If you've ever heard the song by Bing Crosby, that features in it.
And it's just an experience for the whole family.
So I'm just going to use some of my time to recommend people go and see our friends at
the theatre.
And they've got several performances coming up this weekend.
And you can find that all on the Wisconsin Rapids Community Theatre Facebook page.
WRCtheatre.org is the website.
You can go ahead and reserve and get tickets right now.
They have shows on 7 o'clock show on Friday and Saturday and a 2 o'clock matinee, I'm
sorry, Thursday and Friday, 7 o'clock shows, 2 o'clock matinee, this Saturday, I encourage
you to check that out, everybody, and thank you for taking the time for that, David.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
WRCtheatre.org is again the website and go to and be sure to follow them on social media
as well.
And as far as websites go, David, let's tell them about yours and how they can get in touch
with you.
Right.
If you want to see my website, it's very easy, rapidshomes.com, I'm on there.
And you can also call or text me on 715-323-8594 or you can have a look at my Facebook page.
And thanks so much for the time, David, for all the great information.
It's always great hanging out with you, wishing you and yours a happy holidays and a great
new years.
And you, too, James.
Always great catching up with David.
We'll be catching up with our friends, our family, really, from Family Natural Foods
tomorrow at 4 o'clock.
We should join us from Midday Magazine as Stephen, a Katrina hitner from Family Natural
Foods.
We'll be with us in part one.
And in part two, we'll catch up with Wood County Health Department.
On Thursday in part one, Chadl join us from Wood County Parks and Forestry Department.
And in part two, on Thursday, our good friend, Janelle Weir, from UW-Madison Extension.
We wrap up the week with a abbreviated Midday Magazine as we get out of the way for Wisconsin
Badger Hockey.
Well, our friends from the Visit Wisconsin Rapids Bureau on the Irradio with us this Friday
for an abbreviated Midday Magazine as we get out of the way for Badger Hockey.
More on that coming up.
Thank you for listening.
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