The “Cost of Waiting” Workshop: Moving Fence-Sitters
The $54,800 Mistake: Why Waiting for “Perfect” Rates is Costing Your Clients a Fortune
We’ve all heard it. The “Fence-Sitter” mantra of 2025: “I’m just going to wait until rates hit 3% again.”
As a Real Estate professional, you know the frustration. You have motivated buyers who love a home, but they are anchored to a historical anomaly—the 2021 rate market. They think they are being financially savvy by waiting.
The reality? They are making the most expensive financial decision of their lives.
The Math of Hesitation
In our upcoming workshop, we are going to dive deep into the “Nervous System” of a mortgage file to show you exactly why waiting is a losing game. Let’s look at the $400,000 example:
If a buyer waits 12 months for a 1% rate drop, they might save $144 a month on their payment. Sounds good, right?
Wrong.
While they waited for that $144 “win,” the market didn’t stop. At a conservative 5% appreciation, that $400,000 house now costs $420,000. They just incurred a $20,000 permanent debt increase to chase a temporary interest saving.
When you add in the $6,000 of missed principal paydown and the rent “burned” during those 12 months, the Total Wealth Gap is $54,800.
Don’t Let Your Clients Join the “Feeding Frenzy”
There is another cost to waiting: Competition.
When rates eventually do drop by 1%, it’s estimated that 5 million more buyers will flood the market. Waiting for lower rates means moving your client from a market where they have negotiation power into a “feeding frenzy” where they lose inspections, appraisals, and seller concessions.
Join the Workshop: Moving the Fence-Sitters
I’m hosting a specialized Lunch & Learn Workshop designed to give you the exact tools, scripts, and interactive calculators you need to show your clients the math.
We’re going to cover:
- The Appreciation Paradox: How to prove that price is permanent but rates are temporary. (complete with a app for that!)
- The 2-1 Buy-down: Using seller concessions to give buyers the “low rate feel” today.
- Other Programs to help: The Bridge Loan & Low Down Payment
- Buy/Sell/Consolidate strategy
- Strategic Scripting: How to move a buyer from “Maybe” to “Mission Success.”
SIGN UP TODAY!
LIVE EVENT
Date: Tuesday, January 13th, 2026
Time: 12:00 – 1:00
Location: Oshtemo Community Center – 6407 Parkview Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49009 <——–
Limited Seating. RSVP required. Lunch will be provided.
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Kalamazoo vs Portage
LIVING IN KALAMAZOO VS. PORTAGE, MI: WHICH CITY FITS YOUR LIFESTYLE?
Are you planning a move to Southwest Michigan and trying to decide between buying in Kalamazoo or Portage?
Yesterday, a move-up family walked into my office after spending the weekend touring homes in both cities. They loved the energy of Kalamazoo’s downtown, but they also loved the quiet neighborhoods and sprawling trail systems in Portage.
They asked me, “Jeremy, the two cities touch borders—does it really make that big of a difference for our monthly mortgage payment and daily life?”