Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Market trends and real estate appraisals for divorce, estate settlement, loans, property tax appeal, pre-listing and more. We cover Sacramento, Placer and Yolo County. We're professional, courteous and timely.

Bringing up the housing market during Thanksgiving dinner

By 23 Comments

I don’t recommend talking about real estate during Thanksgiving dinner, but if you need some flavorful conversation, I’ve got you covered.

A white plate with a wooden table background. The plate says in bold black font, "Real estate conversations at Thanksgiving dinner."

UPCOMING (PUBLIC) SPEAKING GIGS:
12/5/22 SAFE Credit Union market update on Zoom (register here (free))
1/18/23 WCR Market Update in Cameron Park (details TBD)
1/19/23 Big market update at SAR on Zoom (details TBD)
1/23/23 Residential RoundUP on Zoom (register here (free))
5/22/23 Yolo YPN (details TBD)

REAL ESTATE CONVERSATION STARTERS

Some spicy topics for the Thanksgiving table.

– Modern architecture: cool or ugly as sin?
– The Goonies house is for sale.
– Should we call it popcorn or cottage cheese ceiling texture?
– Inflation: How fun has this year been?
– Mortgage rates doubled.
– How long will interior barn doors be in style?
– Airbnb: Love it or hate it?
– Selling Sunset vs what it’s like to actually work in real estate.
– Why is the iBuyer model struggling since the market shifted?
– Elimination of single family zoning.
– Do “Gather” signs increase your home value?
– Declining home prices.
– Should I dance at Chippendales if I can’t make it in real estate?
– Who has incentive to buy, sell, and invest in today’s market?
– Why are sellers overpricing so much today?
– How to cultivate contentment no matter what the market is doing.

IF YOU’RE GOING TO MENTION RATES…

1) OLDER TO YOUNGER

“I bought my first house at 12%, so stop whining about 7%.” This is a great way to connect with the younger generation and bring encouragement about affording a house today (sarcasm).

The most interesting man in the word meme (the Dos Equis guy). It says "I bought my first house with a 12% rate," and then there is a paranethesis at the bottom that says "for $59,000."

2) FLEX YOUR LOW RATE

You’re basically a market genius and real estate prophet who clearly timed things perfectly, so brag about your 2% mortgage rate. Try to flex during dinner with something like: “Pass the cranberry sauce to the bro with a 2.25% rate.” This won’t be awkward at all. Haha.

A meme with Loki from The Avengers. He is giving a thumbs up and smiling. The caption reads, "I have a 2.25% rate. I'm awesome."

3) BUYERS ARE WATCHING RATES & PRICES

Okay, let’s be serious. Prices have been going down in many markets across the country, and while property owners might worry about losing equity, buyers are actually excited for lower prices so they can eventually afford to buy. This reminds us that market trends aren’t the same for everyone. 

The disaster girl meme. A smiling girl in the foreground with a burning house in the background. The text says "home price declines" above the fire and "buyers" by the girl.

Okay, this was just for fun. But to be real, I tend to think about potential things to say at the dinner table in advance so I don’t get sucked into polarizing political arguments where nobody wins. No matter what you talk about, I hope it’s connective and meaningful. And whatever is going on in life right now, may you have a deep sense of contentment and joy.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

THANK YOU

I appreciate all the conversations we’ve had this year. You’ve made me better, and I hope in a small way I’ve done the same for you. And I still haven’t forgotten when I was in the hospital two years ago and you carried me. It was humbling to be on the receiving end of a GoFundMe, but that enabled me to take a few months off to heal. I’ll never forget that.

Question: If you had to pick one of the topics, what would you bring up?

If you liked this post, subscribe by email (or RSS). Thanks for being here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I think you should dance for Chippendales if the opportunity presents itself no matter how the real estate market is going. We all need a side hustle and your adventures with Chippendales would make for much better Thanksgiving conversations.

    Reply

  3. Now I’m ready for Thanksgiving ?. Thanks for everything you do Ryan, much appreciated, hope you have a fantastic holiday!

    Reply

  4. Oh, Ryan, thank you for giving me a good Thanksgiving “helping” of laughter! You have such a clever way of sharing information! Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  5. Victorian or craftsman? Yard or xeriscape? Are there finally some contractors available to fix my fence that was blown half-over two years ago? Why does FEMA still pay to rebuild houses that are destroyed by recurring natural disasters? When are we gonna have those whole-house battery backup systems available for a reasonable price? And speaking of electricity, is PG&E the worst company in the world, or just the worst company in the United States?

    Reply

  7. LOVE all of your comments and also, LOVE the sarcasm!! Right up my alley LOL. Enjoy your Thanksgiving and thanks for the dinner table topics – these will be useful, for sure!!
    ~B.

    Reply

  10. Lots of good topics, Ryan. I think the funniest conversation might be telling the relatives that you’re going to dance at Chippendales if the market doesn’t pick up! Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. Hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving.

    Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Skip to content