VIDEO: The Truth About Low Inventory

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I want to share with you the truth about low inventory in real estate.

I get it. I hear it every day. There are no houses to buy and everybody’s paying cash.

I am here to tell you that I am living proof that that statement is not true. My team and I are closing financed purchase transactions in Jefferson County every week. If there were no houses to buy and everybody was paying cash, I’d be starving. And you only need notice my, ahem, ample figure to recognize that I am not missing any meals.

So there are three things I’d like you to recognize about inventory.

Point 1. When you hear people on the news talking about, “We only have one month of inventory available or half a month of inventory… Inventory is calculated by dividing the total number of active listings in a given month by the total number of closed sales. So if you had 30 active listings and 60 sales, you’d have 0.5 or ½ a month of inventory.

If you had 500 active listings and 1,000 sales, you’d have the same amount of inventory: 0.5 or ½ month. The “number of months of inventory” doesn’t tell you how many houses are available to buy. Instead, it tells you the number of listed houses that sold.

Point 2. You don’t need 500 listings because you don’t need 500 houses. You don’t even need 50 houses. Unless you’re some kinda dope investor with piles of cash, you only need ONE. And the more flexible you can be, the more likely you’re going to find that ONE. Maybe Port Ludlow isn’t too far from your volunteer gig. Perhaps you can make one bathroom work. You could always build that garage. Or sell one of the kids. The more flexible you can be, the more likely you are to find just one house.

Point 3. And the last thing I want you to recognize about inventory is that it often looks like there is nothing to buy because houses sell so quickly. Pick a day – any day – in the last two years – and go online and you’ll see about 30 to 45 houses for sale in all of Jefferson County.

Now wait four to six weeks, and go look again. You’re going to see 30 to 45 houses for sale in Jefferson County. But guess what? HALF of those 30-45 houses weren’t there when you looked the first time! They already sold. Half of those listings are new.

It looks like nothing is on the market because many houses sell – or at least have offers accepted - in a week or two! But there are actually new listings coming on the market every week.

Think you can’t compete with cash? Think again.

My name is Emily Caryl Ingram. I lead a team of mortgage loan specialists at New American Funding in Port Townsend, WA.

If you would like my team and I to help you navigate the current market and today’s inventory, click on my web site to find my contact info and give me call.

Thanks for watching!