50 Properties Into 2026: 9 Things I Know About Today’s Real Estate Market.

This week, I will close my 50th property in 2026.

Only read this if you have any interest in local Real Estate thoughts and opinions...

First, let's start with who is giving the opinion and where the opinions are coming from. Some of you know me well and some of you have not met me ever and that's okay, welcome, I'm glad you're here.

So far (by the end of this week) I will have sold my 50th property in the 2026 Calendar Year, at a sales volume of over $25,000,000. Blah blah blah, no one knows what that means. I get it. But for perspective out of 150,000+ agents in the state of Texas that puts me in the top 200 in the entire state. Cool...Good job Eric. I know, I know\...eye roll emoji...I have a point to this...

The reason this matters is to simply say I am DEEPLY into this thing. I fully understand what is happening and what is NOT happening in the Real Estate market. I cannot tell you how many opinions I hear on a daily basis about real estate from people who are not really in it. Whether that be people at the coffee shop, church, sellers, buyers, heck even other agents who do the occasional deal or two a year. I used to be this guy myself...

Before I was an agent, I was a real estate "expert". Do you know how much time I spent on Zillow, Crexi, Loopnet etc? Well, it was a lot. However, it wasn't until I got into real estate that I realized it's so much deeper than zillow and my opinion while laying in bed at 10:30 looking at stuff. There is so much that goes into the market, lending, buyers, sellers, locations, etc etc.

So I wanted to take just a minute to thoughtfully write out my real thoughts based on real experience. (With no AI general idea non-sense). Shall we?

1. Pricing is absolutely the most important thing when selling a home.

I can not express how important pricing it right at the beginning is. Your first impression on the market is EVERYTHING. People will either think. "Whoa that's way too much," or "It only cost X and we need to figure out how to get it." Those are your options right now.

2. Buyers absolutely, do not care whatsoever, at all how much you "need to get for your house."

Stop saying this, remove it from all of your vocabulary. Absolutely no one cares and that should never, ever, ever determine your price. It's the worlds worst strategy although likely, right now, it's the number one strategy. Buyers care what something is worth and that's it.

3. Marketing outside of the "listing" absolutely matters.

I have sold SO many properties, simply from people seeing those properties on my social media. If you look at a listing on zillow, it MAY have 800 views. I will have 800 views within 15 minutes of posting on social media. The more people that see a property, the more likely you are to sell that property. Thats marketing 101.

4. Switching Real Estate Agents will have less of an impact than getting your property to the right price will.

This is a tough one. When we face stress, we all do the same thing. We look for someone or something to blame. Honestly, the easiest person to blame is the person responsible for selling your property. I have had a person or two switch from me to another agent this year. Okay, if I'm honest it stings a little. I have had A LOT of people switch from their agent to me this year. If I am honest, I know that stings for the other agent. So I try to communicate almost every time that "if your house has not sold yet and you have had no showings, it's not the agent, it's the price." I have also communicated that if there have been a ton of showings, it's not the agent, it's the house and/or the price but it can ALWAYS come down to price. Now, are there some agents, like myself who have a different technique than most and get more eyeballs on the house? Of course...and sometimes, it truly is a difference in who the agent is, but there is a big misconception that switching agents will solve a home pricing issue.

5. You do actually have to sell your house.

If I had a dollar for the amount of times that people have said "I don't have to have to sell my house" or "I'm not just going to give it away", I would be a billionaire. I can count on one hand how many people actually, truly did not have to sell their house. The amount of pride that can come out of us when selling a house is extremely high. Trust me, I get it. but the more honest you are with your agent, the better they can serve you. If you say you don't have to sell and then turn around and drop the price by hundreds of thousands because you actually MUST sell, you likely let your pride take real dollars out of your pocket because the whole strategy was built on "I don't have to sell."

6. The market is not as slow as you think.

Homes are actually selling. In fact, I am having the best year of my career. But this point caveats on the above points that the only thing that is selling is appropriately priced properties.

7. Uncertainty is the biggest enemy to the real estate market.

I firmly believe this. When interest rates are high, that causes affordability to be a concern. When there is war, that causes people to have concern. When gas is high, that causes people to have concern. When data centers are being threatened to be built, that causes concern and the list goes on. This concern makes people EXTREMELY cautious. It doesn't mean people aren't buying, it just means they are taking way more care and caution in the decisions they are making. I had an agent tell me they showed someone 40 homes the other weekend, they landed on a house to buy and then said they were just going to wait and see if they could get their house under contract before making a decision. It's all based on uncertainty.

8. The real winners in this market are the people who realize there is a deal to be made on the buy side of a property, so they can actually be more realistic on the sell side.

I know someone who literally lost $200,000 when selling their home. $200,000, that is ridiculous. However, they MADE $400,000 when buying the home they bought after selling the $200,000 loss home. So on closing day they had a net positive of $200,000. If I told you that you have to give me $200 and at the same time with no strings attached I will give you $400, you would take that deal ASAP. Unfortunately, most people do not think that way because they get so emotionally attached to what they currently have or live in that they lose sight of the big win right in front of them.

9. Kindness gets you a long way in your real estate journey.

This comes down to how you as a buyer or seller act AND how the agent you chose to hire acts. I have seen some of the best deals happen for people that are just genuinely kind and understanding and I have seen deals completely fall apart by people who need to be in control and in charge. The days of the old school "bull agent" mentality where agents try and come into a deal and tell people how this and that are going to go are over. Well, at least those days are over for most people. Negotiations can be done in many ways but a hostage negotiator doesn't show up and start barking orders. They show up and try to find understanding with the person they are negotiating with. That's what moves the ball down the field.

If you're still here, thanks for hanging. I love what I get to do and I am proud of what I am able to offer to clients in both real world experience and in the unique offerings we have as a company.