Tailgate Conversations: The Housing Market Has Changed. Have Our Expectations?

https://youtu.be/Omkd558YVWQ?si=bdQCJSx-_QgOQ6XH

Buying a home isn’t just about interest rates anymore.

In this Tailgate Conversation, Realtor Kim and I sat down for an unscripted discussion about what we’re actually seeing in today’s Richmond housing market—and why buyers and sellers sometimes seem to be looking at the same market very differently.

We talk about why some homes sell almost immediately while others sit, today’s buyer expectations, the “golden handcuffs” of low mortgage rates, whether sellers should update before listing, AI and online home valuations, affordability, starter homes, and how expectations around homeownership have changed.

But the conversation eventually became about something bigger than real estate:

Have we become so accustomed to getting exactly what we want that we’ve forgotten the value of taking the first step and building from there?

That’s where I think the conversation gets interesting.

A Few Things We Discuss

• Why properly priced homes can still move quickly

• Why today’s buyers may expect more for their money

• The difference between maintaining and updating a home

• Why a starter home doesn’t have to be a forever home

• Building equity and using it toward the next opportunity

• Why AI and automated valuations still need human judgment

• The importance of getting financially prepared before finding the house

Have a question or a topic you’d like Kim and me to tackle during our next Tailgate Conversation? Let me know.