The time has finally come for me to hang up the keys. It has been 36 years since I was licensed in 1990, working full time in this awesome industry for several companies ever since. I was an agent for Parkway Realty, Gundaker and Coldwell Banker from 1990 to 1997, then assistant and branch manager for Coldwell Banker thru 2002, then back to agent with Coldwell Banker Gundaker (we merged in 2001) til opening my own firm as broker/ owner of Hoeferkamp Real Estate in 2018. I have enjoyed all 36 years, especially the last 8 as my own boss. I sold 521 homes, and oversaw another 1800 as manager/ owner.

There are so many people to thank along the way, from my many clients and referral sources who made it all possible; to other agents who taught me, shared ideas, sold my listings, and became friends; to branch managers, presidents and owners who provided structure and guidance; to industry professionals in the lending, title, insurance, inspection, professional associations and contracting businesses who provided the necessary village.

My business has been strong, and there is no specific reason of why now, it is just time to have more fun hiking out west before I get much older. My wife retired this year from teaching (still scrapbooking with Creative Memories) and we just moved to a low maintenance villa in Chesterfield. I had several offers to buy my business, but I turned them down as I felt my clients would not want to be turned over to someone else without approving, and one agent may not be a good fit for all my clients. I have transferred 9 current clients so far, 3 of which have already closed on their new home. Since I am able to choose different agents to match the area and client style, all 3 have been thrilled with their new agent!

Thank you for all of the support and friendship you have given me over the years. Besides taking some time off the last 2 months, I have been busy setting up clients with other agents, and will continue doing so as needed as I wind down my business and wrap up various matters. Don't hesitate to ask me for an agent referral. I will keep the lines of communication open, and also keep my client files as required for reference if needed.

In my last message, I mentioned 2 examples of investor sales, and how the firmness of offers matters as much as price nowadays. Last December I had a buyer up against 3 other offers, 2 of them higher in price. Because my client had all cash with the documentation, no appraisal and limited his inspections to structural and termite, he won the bid. The other sale involved my as-is seller, who attracted 4 offers this past February. They took an investor's offer that was not the highest but had cash with documentation and completely waived all inspections. They wanted to sell to "a nice family", which is a common seller desire, but when other offers have low down payments, appraisal clauses, and inspections that can cost them time and risk someone bailing out (even on an as-is sale, inspections are common with right to terminate), investor bids win out over higher bids quite often.

I have to add that before going on the open market, my client contacted 2 investors that do lots of advertising. They tossed out very attractive offers verbally and pushed the client to sign a purchase contract. I told him to make sure they see the home first to flush out the Right to Cancel Clause, which gets used to lower the price. Once I met them at the home, the prices dropped substantially, $55,000 and $65,000 lower than what I sold the home for later on the open market to an investor as-is, cash, with no inspections. Please do not get duped by an advertising investor. I have worked some good investors that offer reasonable prices like the ones I work with, and the one that eventually bought it, but the majority I have worked with do not, especially the advertising ones. Some are over $100,000 less than you can get with an agent. The key is to have a good agent representing you.

What can be done to beat investors? Talk to your agent at length on this, and be prepared. Have some extra cash for a potential low appraisal, and agree to waive the first 10k or 20k if not entirely. Waive your financing protection clause if you are certain to get the loan (you still have the right to get financing, and will still need to produce a pre-approval letter). And decide how you can limit your inspections without harming yourself, such as only asking for certain systems like roof, structure and environmental. Or waiving any issues below $2000. Or limiting your request to only credits vs actual repairs. All these things firm up your offer and make you more competitive. The good news, as you saw in the above supply ratios, that it is not a seller's market right now in most parts of St Louis, so you should have less competition this fall and much better odds of getting the home you want!

As we head into fall the current housing inventory ROSE 69% from March in the 6 submarkets I track. Here is an update on local, existing home sales activity as of October 7th:

• Manchester had 19 homes available and 12 under contract
• Ballwin had 47 homes available and 51 under contract
• Kirkwood had 49 homes available and 46 under contract
• St Peters had 61 homes available and 62 under contract
• Arnold had 16 homes available and 11 under contract
• Florissant had 180 homes available and 110 under contract

The ratios range from .61 to 1.1 pending sales for every 1 available, averaging .78 pending to every 1 available. My last comparison of these areas in March averaged 1.3 to 1 (and 2.8 to 1 in June 2022) with the available home supply UP a whopping 69% from March! That shows demand has been cut in half since the spring and the homes on the market nearly doubling. I attribute this to rising interest rates (now over 7%), prices overall rising, and fall doldrums, plus some midterm election hesitance tossed in. We are in a solidly balanced market this fall from a slight seller's market in March. Ballwin, Kirkwood and St Peters are borderline balanced to slight seller's, whereas Manchester, Arnold and Florissant are balanced leaning toward buyer's market. What a difference 6 months makes, as back then Manchester and Arnold were the strongest markets, now they are among the weakest. Buyers, now is your time to buy!

Enjoy your fall and best wishes to everyone! I anticipate sending another couple of messages before completely retiring, so expect to hear from me again soon.