No Fish in the Pond By Jim Palmer Jr.

I recently spent a week on a horse pack trip to fish the gorgeous high mountain streams and lakes of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.  The first night was spent on the shores of an obscure lake I had never been to, which features cold clear water and looked like a prime fishery.  I had often wondered about trying my skills at this little lake, which is used by the farming community far below for a reservoir they draw on for irrigation.  I soon realized there were no fish in this lake.  Late summer draw downs of these waters make it shallow and cold winters would freeze out any fish in those conditions.  I could have tried every lure or fly in my fishing creel with no success, simply because there were no fish in the pond.

Some sellers and their listing brokers in the current real estate market are beginning to panic because buyers seem so scarce.  Reluctant rural brokers are reviving the practice of inviting the public to open houses, even on land listings. Even the most experienced brokers are starting to doubt their ability to perform the simple task of attracting buyers to look at listed properties and wonder if the list price is too high.  Weary sellers are losing patience and are abandoning trusted brokers, even though the broker’s efforts for marketing have been stellar and creative. They are doing that just because they hope a change might be helpful.

Listing brokers, like good fisherman, try new lures and baits and alter their presentation just to entice that one bite that might be the buyer for their listing, but to no avail.  Even the fattest, juiciest worm is not attracting the attention of any fish (buyers).  One broker, frustrated to desperation, urged their client to reduce the price of a high-end listing by $100k. Fast forward to two weeks later and still no calls and no showings. 

“Move on to other ponds”, frustrated sellers may say, meaning; “Advertise my listings to buyers in California or other parts of the world”.  The truth is that most listing brokers leverage the internet to do just that on a daily and constant basis.  Any buyer, anywhere in the world can see those listings from their couch while scrolling for listings.

Despite the current dearth we are experiencing, I predict that reticent buyers will soon be relieved of their political angst and be attracted back to the pool by lower interest rates.  Soon this down cycle will be replaced by another upward trend.