School, September & Struggling Sellers

All the ssss's

Author

Robyn Miller
September 05, 2025

Well hello RMP Clients & Friends!

I swear I really want to hit your inboxes at least twice a month, but this summer I was on the struggle bus, on that front. I don’t want to send you just anything, I want it to be full of actual value & information you’ll find useful!

Here’s what to expect for this newsletter, or just skip to the end for the fun stuff:

  • Picture of my beautiful boys on their first day back to school

  • Crazy “crash” stat about the housing market & my take on what sellers need to be doing NOW

  • Client Questionnaire link for starting your RE journey (also linked here)

  • Newest Listing up on Five Mile! She’s a beaut

I do hope everyone had a fabulous summer~ filled with late sunset nights, maybe some lake time and hopefully lots of amazing moments with family and friends. Our summer was an all-time great one and truth be told, I wasn’t super stoked for my boys to head back to school, but the routine of fall always does allow for more structure in our lives, albeit chaos with all the sports practices, games, meets, dinners that are either at 4:45p or 7:30p as well as early to bed so we can be early risers without too much complaint!

Ben, Noah (with Coco) & AJ on their first day! Only two school drop-offs this year!!

Onto some business stuff ~ I heard a stat earlier today that said real estate sales have crashed- but not in the way most people necessarily want. 20 years ago, in 2005, when we had 50 million less people in American, & the number of homes sold was 7.2 million units!
In 2024 we sold 4 million units. The prices have not come down (and honestly, they won’t until/unless we have a massive shift in supply vs demand - either way more builds, or way more sellers coming out to sell PLUS way more buyers buying)
You know, more supply = lower prices, more demand = higher prices.
PRICE is one of the keys to this puzzle, but INVENTORY is another and AFFORDABILITY is the third (and I would wager most important one).
Which leads me to say this- there is more supply on the market now than I’ve seen in nearly 9 years, but prices are still staying steady - which doesn’t make sense!
However, there is one caveat that I think is making this happen. The GREAT homes, which are presented beautifully, and priced aggressively, are selling super quickly and some still with multiple offers. The “average” house, well…. it’s sitting and sitting (inventory is over 3+ months right now in Spokane, WA)
Sellers are becoming increasingly impatient and irritated- who can blame them? This is why during every single listing consultation I go on I talk to my sellers UPFRONT about presenting their home in the best way possible, while also pricing aggressively, yet within reason. We as realtors use comps to try and price homes because that’s what the appraiser will have to use in order to find value for the loan, but more important than ever {right now} is paying attention to your neighborhood’s listings and what is currently active and/or pending.
Now some hard truth- It matters not that your neighbor down the street sold for X dollars, when it hit the market two + months ago. What matters most is that your other neighbor down the street just listed for $10k less than your home and buyers are heading that way.
Buyers are feeling squeezed in all the ways- their rates are still over 6% AND the home prices are not going down. In fact, my guess is that *if* rates hit even 5.99%, that will spur an enormous amount of buyers who are currently fence-sitting, which in turn, will make the house prices go up even higher!

So BUYERS!! If you have been waiting and watching, hoping and praying to get in the game. Now is your time to shine. Sellers who want to sell are giving concessions, buying down rates and dropping prices (if they didn’t strategically price initially). Get yourself preapproved and chat with a LOCAL lender today! Even if you don’t think you’re buying until next year- preparing early is always the best idea. SELLERS- this goes for you as well!

If you or someone you know is ready to start talking Real Estate - I would urge you (or them) to fill out my CLIENT QUESTIONNAIRE. This is a great way to start the planning process early so you can put your best foot forward when it’s your time ;)

Last, but certainly not least! New Listing ALERT!!!
I just put this absolutely immaculate home on the market Thursday and we’re having an open house this Saturday, September 6th from 10a-1p ~ We are listed at $469,900
If you have anyone in your life who is ready to buy a Five Mile Dream Home, send them my way 😉 Or drop by and see me tomorrow ~

Until next time my friends,

~Robyn
Call/Text/DM anytime 509.294.2709

p.s. I’ve been thinking about doing a fun fall event for my families who would like a mini photo session with our personal family photographer. It would be a simple 3-4 shot package that I would provide, and you could definitely add on to it via Hillary. I need to know how many people would actually want to do it & if you have any specific dates that would work best ~ the timeframe would be a weekend, likely a Sunday, late September to mid-October. Simply reply back with a YES! if you’re in and what dates (if any) work best for your family.