My neighbor the realtor dropped a truth bomb about interest rates that actually scared me

I was talking to my neighbor Dave last weekend, he's a realtor in Milton and has been doing it for like 15 years so I figured he'd be all sunshine and rainbows about the market. But he told me he's had three clients in the past month who bought houses back in 2021 and 2022 with variable rates, and now their payments have jumped by like $1,400 a month each. He said two of them are already talking to bankruptcy lawyers because they stretched so thin to get into the market and now they can't even sell without taking a huge loss. It hit me different because I always thought of realtors as cheerleaders for buying, you know? He told me point blank that anyone buying right now with less than a 20% down payment is basically gambling, and that's coming from a guy who makes money off sales. Has anyone else noticed people in your circle quietly struggling with this stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_wells4624d ago

Honestly that's brutal. Ngl it's wild hearing a realtor say that out loud.

wood.zara24d ago

wait @kevin_wells46 three clients going bankrupt?? that's insane

lindahunt24d ago

idk, I gotta push back a little on the "that's insane" part. I mean, three clients going bankrupt at once sounds extreme, but honestly in this market it's not that shocking. People have been stretched thin for a while with rates and prices the way they are. Maybe it's just me but I don't think it's a sign of a total collapse. It's more like the rough patch we've all been seeing play out. Feels like folks are quick to call everything "wild" or "crazy" these days when really it's just a tough cycle.