FOBH & The 2017 Housing Market
Once upon a time, Twin Cities Realtors eschewed rentals (vs. purchases and sales).
Compared to the “For Sale” market, rentals were notoriously time-consuming, low-paying, and involved lots of red tape (the average lease has more fine print and addenda than a standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement).
Then, the housing bust hit, hard, starting in 2008, and many area agents turned to rentals to make ends meet.
Five years later, the market recovered enough that agents once again skipped handling rentals.
Adapting to the Times (Again)
Today?
Rentals are back on Realtors’ front burner, not because the housing market is cold, but because it’s too hot — specifically, because there’s too little inventory.
As a result, would-be home sellers fret that they won’t be able to find another property, and are turning to their Realtors to find temporary housing.
To facilitate that, Edina Realty recently added “Rental Needs” as a networking category for its 2,200+ agents (the others are “New Lists,” “Pre-Lists,” “Price Reductions,” and “Buyer Needs”).
P.S.: I doubt it will catch on, but there’s even an acronym to describe many Seller’s plight these days: “FOBH,” for “Fear of Being Homeless.”
See also, “Realtor Job Description, Circa 2017.”
