Misconceptions about inventory, mortgage rates, and market timing are keeping some buyers and sellers from making decisions, even when local data tells a different story. Clear, fact-based conversations can help customers move past worst-case thinking and toward choices that fit their goals.
Three myths are keeping your customers on the sidelines, and none of them hold up against the data.
Writing in Inman, Jimmy Burgess identifies the assumptions agents are still hearing:
- Inventory is about to flood the market and crash prices.
- Mortgage rates will return to 3%.
- Waiting will automatically produce a better buying opportunity.
None of those scenarios are supported by current conditions. Nationally, inventory remains tight in some markets. Many homeowners are locked into low mortgage rates and won't sell, which continues to constrain supply. Experts do not expect a return to pandemic-era rates. And waiting doesn't create opportunity – it delays equity growth and compounds the cost of inaction.
"Nobody has a crystal ball," said David Childers, president of Keeping Current Matters, "but the professional who says, 'Here's what I see in the market right now,' wins."
That's the framework. Agents who address these myths directly – with local data, specific numbers, and a clear accounting of what waiting costs – move customers out of hesitation and into decisions. Quantify the lost equity. Name the rate expectations experts actually hold. Show what the market looks like now, not what clients hope it will look like later.
The goal isn't a single conversation. It's a system that keeps delivering that clarity until customers are ready to act.
Inman (05/10/26) Burgess, Jimmy
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