Real Estate Training with Kevin M Leonard Kevin M. Leonard

Dream…Innovate…Grow - these are a few of the key beliefs and attributes on which

our company has been built.

Last year 3 outstanding high school seniors won our scholarships, will it be someone you know

this year?

We are looking for three (3) students who clearly embrace these ideals both personally

and academically and who intend to become a full-time student at a college, university,

or trade school for the fall of next year.

Each recipient will receive thousands of dollars towards their tuition for their entire four years of

higher education.

If you know of a senior that you feel would be an admirable recipient of one of the

Dream…Innovate… Grow Scholarships, please contact me directly.

There has been much talk around the possibility that Americans are feeling less enamored with the benefits of living in a large city and now may be longing for the open spaces that suburban and rural areas provide.

In a recent Realtor Magazine article, they discussed this issue and addressed comments made by Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR):

“While migration trends were toward urban centers before the pandemic, real estate thought leaders have predicted a suburban resurgence as home buyers seek more space for social distancing. Now the data is supporting that theory. Coronavirus and work-from-home flexibility is sparking the trend reversal, Yun said. More first-time home buyers and minorities have also been looking to the suburbs for affordability, he added.”

NAR surveyed agents across the country asking them to best describe the locations where their clients are looking for homes, here are the results of the survey:


47% suburban
39% rural area
25% small town
14% urban area
13% resort community

According to real estate agents, there’s a strong preference for less populated locations such as suburban and rural areas.

Real Estate Brokers and Owners Agree

Zelman & Associates surveys brokers and owners of real estate firms for their monthly Real Estate Brokers Report. The last report revealed that 68% see either a ‘moderate’ or ‘significant’ shift to more suburban locations.

As shelter-in-place orders were implemented earlier this year, many questioned what the shutdown would mean to the real estate market. Specifically, there was concern about home values. After years of rising home prices, would 2020 be the year this appreciation trend would come to a screeching halt? Even worse, would home values begin to depreciate?

Original forecasts modeled this uncertainty, and they ranged anywhere from home values gaining 3% (Zelman & Associates) to home values depreciating by more than 6% (CoreLogic).

However, as the year unfolded, it became clear that there would be little negative impact on the housing market. As Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American, recently revealed: “The only major industry to display immunity to the economic impacts of the coronavirus is the housing market.”

Have prices continued to appreciate so far this year?

Last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its latest Home Price Index. The report showed home prices actually rose 6.5% from the same time last year. FHFA also noted that price appreciation accelerated to record levels over the summer months:

“Between May & July 2020, national prices increased by over 2%, which represents the largest two-month price increase observed since the start of the index in 1991.”

What are the experts forecasting for home prices going forward?

The averaged price projections on home prices for the next year from Zelman, Zillow, Fannie Mae, NAR, HPES, MBA & CoreLogic are 3.9%. Since the market has changed dramatically over the last few months these are projections published Sept 1st 2020.

The first thing to remember when trying to attract the consumer is to get your ego out of the way, it’s not all about you. It’s all about the consumer. What does the consumer want? Market data, market updates, finance updates, what’s going on in their neighborhood, and of course periodic reporting of your results. It’s ok to sprinkle in your new listings, sales and testimonials as long as you are providing them value in most of the communication they are receiving.

2019 Northeast Ohio Market Snapshot:



The average price per sq foot peaked in July 2019 at $107 PSF for an average sales price of $190,000

Our lowest supply of housing was 2.3 months in April 2019 with an absorption rate of 46%

The average days on market in 2019 was 58.5 days

You can see that the June and July had both the highest average list price and sales price, both #’s continued on a downward trend for the remainder of the year with the exception of December the average sales price perked back up.

In 2019 there were a total of 57,625 sales in Yes MLS

There are 2 communications you want to convey to your database around your business activity.
1. Your new listings, sales, and closings.
2. The experiences people have doing business with you. Social Proof.