Blog - Mike Gebhardt, Broker Associate

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Wall Street Truth: Why smart sellers play on the bid side and not the offer side

A “market” is made of two things: a bid (what someone is willing to pay) and an offer (what the best seller is willing to take). In an unfortuate twist, when you buy a home, you start with an ‘offer’ which actaully should be called a bid. Let’s break it down: Bid side: What buyers […]
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Who do you know that wants to buy but feels blocked?

I know this probably isn’t for you. But chances are you know someone who’s talked about wanting to buy a home and feels like it’s just not possible right now. As honesty as I can, I tell you that this situation makes me feel something: sad, sick, angry……not sure what else. Because our society can’t […]
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Death by price cuts: don’t let this happen to your home

Greetings, Let’s talk strategy. Every week I see listings get slaughtered by bad pricing. 🚩 They launch too high, “just to see what happens” – or to test the market. (bahaha, 1987 phrase). 🚩 Sit with no traction. 🚩 Start chopping – $25K, $50K, $75K. 🚩 Then… silence. Eventually they’re chasing the bid side down […]
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This market is punishing mistakes, Here’s how to avoid them

This market is punishing mistakes. Let’s talk about a few myths that are still floating around: “We’re just looking.” “We’re not really on a timeline.” “We don’t need an agent yet.” “We’ll probably find something at an open house.” I hear this every week. And I get it; people want to keep their options open […]

Hey! Read this Wall Street Truth: Why smart sellers play on the bid side and not the offer side A “market” is made of two things: a bid (what someone is willing to pay) and an offer (what the best seller is willing to take). In an unfortuate twist, when you buy a home, you start with an ‘offer’ which actaully should be called a bid. Let’s break it down: Bid side: What buyers […]

Hey! Read this Who do you know that wants to buy but feels blocked? I know this probably isn’t for you. But chances are you know someone who’s talked about wanting to buy a home and feels like it’s just not possible right now. As honesty as I can, I tell you that this situation makes me feel something: sad, sick, angry……not sure what else. Because our society can’t […]

Hey! Read this Death by price cuts: don’t let this happen to your home Greetings, Let’s talk strategy. Every week I see listings get slaughtered by bad pricing. 🚩 They launch too high, “just to see what happens” – or to test the market. (bahaha, 1987 phrase). 🚩 Sit with no traction. 🚩 Start chopping – $25K, $50K, $75K. 🚩 Then… silence. Eventually they’re chasing the bid side down […]

Hey! Read this This market is punishing mistakes, Here’s how to avoid them This market is punishing mistakes. Let’s talk about a few myths that are still floating around: “We’re just looking.” “We’re not really on a timeline.” “We don’t need an agent yet.” “We’ll probably find something at an open house.” I hear this every week. And I get it; people want to keep their options open […]

Hey! Read this Sounds fake, but it’s not: buy a rehab, and delay your mortgage for a year This sounds fake. “Buy a house and skip the mortgage for a year while you fix it up.” I rolled my eyes too. But this one’s legit (with caveats). FHA just expanded its 203(k) rehab loan; the loan that lets you roll renovation costs into your mortgage. What’s new? If the home is unlivable during […]

Hey! Read this One of the biggest trade-up mistakes? Thinking its easy I asked Perplexity.AI the other day: “What’s the most common real estate question among people trading up to a larger home?” It spit out kind of what I expected. “Should I sell before I buy?” It’s a fair question. It’s also the reason most people end up stuck, stressed, or riding two mortgages at once. […]

Hey! Read this “I Was Just About to Call You”… and Other Lender Fairy Tales Let’s talk about something I’ve seen occasionally: loans blowing up – not because the buyer did anything wrong, but because a lender sugarcoated reality until it was too late. Here are some of the greatest hits I’ve heard loan officers say: “No, you shouldn’t have to worry about that.” Translation: Yes, you absolutely do. But […]

Hey! Read this Selling Smart: How to Maximize What You Keep Thinking about if you’ve given up any retirement equity in the recent volatility? Considering if you should be having conversations about monetizing that equity? Yes – inventory is up. Yes – buyers are more discerning. But the best-prepared sellers are still commanding strong prices – and often driving bidding activity – because they understand how […]

Hey! Read this What my most proactive clients are doing right now A lot of smart clients have been asking me legit questions lately, so I figured I’d get ahead of it and share what I’m seeing in the market this week. ——————————————————————————————– Buyers are asking me: “Can we use this volatility to our advantage?” Absolutely-and that’s where experience matters. This market gives us real leverage: not […]

Hey! Read this “We’re Just Looking…” (Until You’re Not) Over the past two months, I’ve talked to dozens of open house visitors who all say some version of: 🗣 “We’re just starting a search, we don’t need to move.” 🗣 “We’re always looking-just in case we see what we want.” (Which begs the question-what do you actually want?) And you know what? That’s totally […]

Hey! Read this Lax Bros, Sub to, and Creative Finance There’s an entire generation of investors right now learning real estate from YouTube clips, Pace Morby soundbites, and “creative finance” bros selling leverage like they invented it. They didn’t. And somewhere along the way, a dangerous idea took hold: “If the seller gets the property back, there’s no risk.” Absolute nonsense. I had one recently […]

Hey! Read this Concessions How We Protect Your Net When Buyers Start Pushing Most sellers don’t hear the phrase seller concession until it shows up in an offer or after inspection, when the deal feels shaky and emotions are already high. We don’t think that does sellers any favors. So we explain this upfront, before you are ever in […]

Hey! Read this Real just bought RE/MAX. Does brand even matter anymore? You may have seen the headline: Real, a fast growing tech brokerage, just agreed to buy RE/MAX in a deal worth around $880M. One of the most recognizable names in real estate is now getting folded into a Miami based tech platform that runs on AI and a cloud model. On one level, I’m with […]

Hey! Read this Do you want the truth or do you want lies? Talk about a fail. I met these sellers after their first listing sat for 162 days with reductions from $1.915 to $1.790m and failed. They then re listed at 1.725M. At my meeting in between those events, I told them the truth: the price was too high and the home would probably clear between 1.575m-1.625m. […]

Hey! Read this 80% of sellers have regrets. That’s not a stat, that’s a setup failure. 80% of sellers walk away from closing with at least one “we should’ve…” sitting in their gut. Not a small one either, real money, real decisions, real regret. That’s not bad luck. That’s a broken setup. A survey of roughly 800 homeowners (Ok, yea I get it, it’s a tiny sample size) who sold since […]

Hey! Read this Here’s how we actually manage the move Last time, I talked about the soundtrack most people our age are living with: How do we move? How can we sell before we know where we’re going? What if we never find anything we like? This email is the second half: how people actually solve that problem without living in boxes or making a […]

Hey! Read this How do we move if we don’t know where we’re going?” You’re not the only one thinking this If you’re somewhere around my age, I bet you’ve had this thought: How the hell do we actually move? What are the logistics? How many days between closings? Are we running from one closing to another? Do we have to move the same day? I got agita. How can we sell before we know where […]

Hey! Read this How the fuck can i move when i don’t know where we’re going If you’re somewhere around my age, I’d bet you’ve had some version of this thought: “How will we actually move? What are the logistics? How many days between closings? Are we running from one closing to another? Do we have to move the same day? I got agita. How can we sell before we know […]

Hey! Read this 1998 called, it needs those kick ass negotiation tactics back “My neighbor got X last year.” Actually, it was 2022, when buyers were waiving inspections, writing escalation clauses just to be in the game, and borrowing cheap money. In 2022, buyers were fighting over scraps; today they are payment‑driven, picky, and have far more options in front of them. The only prices that matter for […]

Hey! Read this Boulder offered $200K to buy a home. Nobody took it. The questions I’m getting these days; about rates, the Fed, geopolitics… it’s honestly all the noise. Meanwhile, Boulder quietly ran a real world experiment: They offered buyers up to $200,000 in down payment assistance. 0% interest. After nearly three years? Not one person used it. “Free” money, with a catch: The program is called the […]