Jack Schiavo NMLS ID: 358782

06/12/2026

Here is the good news agents should be sharing with their clients right now: buyers have not disappeared. They have just become more selective and there is a meaningful difference between those two things.

Purchase mortgage applications are still running higher than last year. That tells us people are actively trying to buy homes even with all the noise around affordability and rates. The demand is there. What has changed is the behavior. Buyers are not chasing every listing that comes to market. But they are absolutely still moving when the home, the price, and the monthly payment all make sense together.

So if a seller is feeling like the market is frozen, the more accurate and more useful message is this: the market is not dead. It is selective. Serious buyers are out there every day. They are just more intentional about what they will commit to and less willing to rationalize a purchase that does not pencil out.

What that means in practice is that pricing, presentation, and strategy matter more than ever right now. A well-priced home that shows well and is marketed strategically is still finding buyers. An overpriced home that is waiting for the market to come to it is accumulating days and losing leverage with every week that passes.

Reach out if you want to talk through how to position your clients for success in this environment.

05/28/2026

The buyers who said they were waiting until rates drop may not be waiting much longer, and the data is making that very clear right now.

Pending home sales just posted their third straight month of gains. Signed contracts are up over 3 percent from last year and purchase applications are running 8 percent ahead of where they were a year ago. This is not just one busy weekend or one packed open house. It is a real and measurable shift in buyer activity that is building momentum across the market.

The wait-and-see crowd is starting to turn into the active buyer crowd and that matters for everyone. Sellers who wait too long could end up listing when more inventory hits the market and more competition arrives. Buyers who wait for perfect conditions may find themselves competing with a larger group of people who had exactly the same plan.

The people who do well in this market are almost always the ones who pay attention early, get prepared, and make smart moves before everyone else figures out what is happening. If you have someone sitting on the sidelines right now, this may be exactly the right time to start the conversation.

Reach out and let's talk through what this market shift means for your specific situation.

05/21/2026

Big news. Kevin Warsh was just confirmed as the new Federal Reserve chair and everyone is asking the same question: what does this mean for mortgage rates?

Here is the truth most people miss. The Fed actually controls short-term lending rates between banks. Mortgage rates are driven by the long-term bond market, inflation expectations, and investor sentiment. Those are completely different levers and a new Fed chair does not flip a switch that instantly moves your mortgage rate in either direction.

Rate decisions still go through a 12-member committee regardless of who is in the chair. And with inflation currently sitting at 3.8 percent, the Fed will likely stay patient through Warsh's first few meetings rather than making dramatic moves in either direction. The good news is that industry leaders are pointing to one word to describe the outlook under new leadership: stability. And stability is exactly what buyers need to confidently plan their next move.

If you want to know where mortgage rates are actually headed, stop watching Fed headlines and start watching the bond market. That is where the real story lives.
Follow me for more on what is actually moving the market right now.

05/15/2026

I want to share something a little different this week. Less market data, more business strategy, and this one is worth paying attention to.

NAR surveyed nearly 50,000 agents and found that while 68 percent have used AI in some form, only 17 percent say it has made a significant positive impact on their business. That gap says everything. The agents who are actually winning with AI right now are not using it for complicated things. They are using it for the time-consuming tasks that eat their day alive. 68 percent are writing listing descriptions with it, 59 percent are creating social media content, and 53 percent are drafting emails and newsletters. That is an hour or more back in your day every single day.

But here is where it gets genuinely exciting. PwC just released their Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2026 report and they are calling the next phase agentic AI, tools that plan and act with minimal prompting and run continuous processes around the clock without you being in the room. This second wave is just beginning to hit residential real estate, and the agents who figure it out now will have a real and lasting competitive edge over those who wait.

The agents winning with AI are not the most tech-savvy people in the room. They are the ones who treat it like a capable junior assistant and put it to work consistently. Follow me for more ways to grow your real estate business.

05/08/2026

Realtors, have you ever felt like the market is shifting faster than you can keep up? You are not alone and the solution should not take hours of your week to find.

Every week there is new data, new headlines, and new buyer behavior to make sense of. Most agents spend hours scrolling through news sites and listening to podcasts trying to figure out what is actually happening. The problem is that most of it is noise, scattered, outdated, or written for economists instead of working agents like you.

That is exactly why I created The Real Estate Edge, a short curated weekly newsletter built specifically for realtors who want to stay ahead. Every update gives you the week's most important market moves in plain language, actionable business ideas to generate more conversations, and ready to use video scripts and post captions to position yourself as the local expert your clients trust.

It is not another boring newsletter collecting dust in your inbox. It is a quick power up for your business every single week. Top agents are already using these insights to get more engagement, start more client conversations, and walk into listing appointments sharper than ever.

In this market information is not the advantage. Clarity is. Sign up here and get your first edition: https://jackschiavo.com/the-real-estate-edge

05/06/2026

Something just changed in mortgage underwriting that every real estate agent needs to know about and every buyer who has ever been told no needs to hear.

On April 22nd, HUD, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac officially rolled out VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T for mortgage underwriting. This is the biggest credit scoring update in 30 years and the implications for your buyer pool are significant.

Here is what changed. The new models now factor in on-time rent payments and 24 months of credit trends, giving lenders a much fuller and more accurate picture of a buyer's real financial habits rather than just a snapshot of their debt history. The result is that an estimated 5 million buyers who were previously turned down may now qualify for a home loan under the new guidelines.

Think about what that means for your business. Every past client who walked away disappointed. Every person who came close but could not quite get there. Every renter who has been paying on time for years but could not get credit for it in the traditional model. This update changes the conversation for all of them.

Now is the perfect time to reach back out, reconnect, and get those clients paired with a loan officer who understands these new guidelines and knows how to position their file correctly.

Follow me for more updates that help you grow your business in today's market.

04/28/2026

The buyers who feel like they finally have leverage right now are not imagining it. The data is saying the same thing and agents who understand what it means are going to have a significant edge this spring.

Redfin just reported that sellers outnumbered buyers by approximately 43% in March. That is nearly the largest gap they have tracked since 2013. By every measure buyers have more negotiating power right now than they have had in years. And here is the part that makes this moment even more interesting: purchase mortgage applications jumped 10% last week and are running 14% ahead of last year. Real buyers with real financing are showing up and they are ready to move.

So what separates the agents who are going to win this spring from the ones who are going to watch it happen? The top producers are doing two things consistently. They are coaching buyers to negotiate from a position of genuine confidence because the data supports it. And they are coaching sellers to price and present with the discipline of 2019, not the expectations of 2021, because the market will reward that approach and punish the alternative.

The agents who can communicate both sides of this story clearly to their clients are the ones who will close more business this spring than everyone else. Are you having those conversations?

04/20/2026

The biggest story in real estate right now is not rates, inventory, or prices. It is the ceasefire, and here is why it changes everything for buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines.

When the conflict in the Middle East kicked off in late February, oil prices spiked, Treasury yields jumped, and the spring market essentially froze in place. But the two-week US and Iran ceasefire announced earlier this month has already pulled the 10-year Treasury yield back down and stabilized energy markets. That matters for one significant reason: mortgage rates follow the 10-year Treasury. When that yield comes down, your rate comes down with it.

Freddie Mac's chief economist Sam Khater is already calling this a positive development for homebuyers that could spark a stronger spring market than we saw last year. The buyers who went quiet in March are watching this closely, and a more stable backdrop tends to bring fence-sitters right back into showings fast. Add to that the fact that Bright MLS is reporting a historic rise in inventory, which means more choices and more room to negotiate the moment confidence returns.

If you paused your home search this spring, now is the time to take another look. The window is opening back up and buyers who move with the right strategy right now are going to be very well positioned.

04/03/2026

Thinking about buying a home? Your credit doesn’t have to be perfect – but small, steady habits can make a real difference.

On-time payments help establish a reliable track record, while keeping balances low supports healthy credit usage. Holding off on new debt can prevent short-term score dips, and keeping older accounts open helps maintain the length of your credit history – even if those accounts aren’t used often.

It’s also smart to check your credit report periodically. Confirm that your personal information and accounts are accurate, review account statuses and open dates, and watch for duplicates or unfamiliar activity. Looking at all three credit bureaus can help ensure your credit profile reflects your true financial picture.

Thinking about buying a home? Your credit doesn’t have to be perfect – but small, steady habits can make a real difference. On-time payments help establish a reliable track record, while keeping balances low supports healthy credit usage. Holding off on new debt can prevent short-term score dips...

04/02/2026

Have a peaceful Good Friday!