There is no inventory shortage.

[Andrew Bang]

I have been hearing this too much. There are no homes for sale, inventory is at an all time low. But speaking with title companies they are closing just as many homes as any other year, if not more. Sellers are still selling, and buyers are still buying. Is the difference that more homes never make it to the MLS, and in turn less are being represented by Realtors.

So is this statement true? There is no housing inventory shortage, just a shortage of listings on the MLS.

A property owner has more avenues to sell their house outside of the MLS and dealing with Realtors than ever before, and some of those avenues can get them full market value without having to pay a Realtors commission and have much easier processes.

But I'm still trying to work out the buyers side. Seller's are selling off market, but how are the buyers finding these deals. Is it word of month? Are wholesale homes being bought for owner occupy? Are realtors still involved but selling before it hits the market? Are buyers buying directly from IBUYERS (Open door, offerpad, zillow) before they put them on the MLS?

Conclusion of my thoughts, There is no inventory shortage, a change in the market for selling/buying homes has already happened. The need for the MLS and realtors has decreased and will continue to decrease. We will never see an increase in MLS inventory, this is the new norm and I need to make the changes to take advantage of this knowledge. What would those changes be?

[Rob Jafek]

There are lots of places people are still finding inventory.  Wholesalers certainly come to mind.  And it's a good time to brush up on how foreclosures come to market, as there is some coming via that channel - it's NOT going to be some crazy huge flood like in 08, but there will be some and it is a very different process so will require a bit of homework.