We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrew O’Callaghan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrew below.

Andrew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

The biggest trend, and the elephant in the room, is rising interest rates. The recent rate-increases have had a domino effect across the real estate market: decreasing buying power, which reduces demand, which saturates the market, which causes the market to stagnate.

It starts with buying power. The rule of thumb is that a 1% rise in interest rates diminishes your home-buying power by 10%. The interest rate has increased over 3% in the past year, which has decreased the average home buyer’s buying power by around 30%. That’s a huge jump, and has knocked many buyers out of the market; especially first-time home buyers. That means that buying demand goes down as people can no longer afford the inflated home prices we’ve seen over the past year, and so Atlanta’s housing supply has more than doubled in just a few months. It’s no longer an aggressive seller’s market where sellers are able to dictate just about all the terms and bidding wars were commonplace, because a lot of buyers are now scared (or unable) to make a move in this market. That being said, if you do have the ability, it’s still a good time to purchase a home. There is less competition now, and buyers have a greater ability to negotiate on price and terms. Not to mention, buyers now have the ability to be pickier about the home they are choosing, rather than settling for something less than ideal amidst the last few years’ competition and steep terms. When it comes to interest rates, yes, they will drop in the future, but you may be waiting a while. To offset this, many lenders are now offering programs where if you buy now they will let you refinance for free in the next 3 years. Lastly, as part of the domino effect, many folks guess that real estate prices will drastically fall. However, market fundamentals don’t favor a significant drop in home prices. Instead, you would be better off buying now and positioning yourself for home appreciation. Historically, home prices have always gone up after a recession, and you want to recuse yourself from the buyer frenzy that will follow.
One other trend worth noting is that iBuyers are leaving the market. Zillow has discovered that their Zestimate is not a reliable tool to base real estate investment off of, and OpenDoor is currently sitting on an inventory of thousands of homes that they will be liquidating at large losses. I wouldn’t put iBuyers out for the count, though, because when the market resurges they’ll be back for low-hanging fruit.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I first got into real estate while I was at the University of Alabama. I realized land was a finite resource and would always hold intrinsic value, so I got my degree in real estate finance. My first industry job was working on a real estate team that was selling bank-owned properties after the Great Recession, and from there I jumped around the corporate real estate world buying rental properties for investors, running 3rd party online auctions for banks, and working as an analyst for a commercial land brokerage. A few years ago, I got the entrepreneurial itch and decided it was time for me to go out on my own. With the help of my sister, Abby, I decided to create O’Callaghan Real Estate, which is a brand within Harry Norman Realtors, Atlanta’s oldest real estate brokerage. I want people to know that O’Callaghan Real Estate is a local Atlanta family business. Because we grew up here, my sister, Abby, and I are somewhat rare in Atlanta. In fact, I just had a baby girl in August who is now the sixth-generation Atlantan in our family. Our generational knowledge of the city, especially Buckhead, is what sets us apart; but it’s not the only reason to work with us. We strive to navigate our clients through the process of home-buying and selling, with honesty, integrity, dependability, and expertise. Because no one should bet their livelihood and investments on a Zestimate.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Honestly, my best source of clients is my internal network of friends and family: we’ve been in Atlanta a long time, so word-of-mouth referrals have been crucial for O’Callaghan Real Estate. I know that people want to work with folks they like, know and trust, so I simply try to be that person for my buyers: a helpful resource to people who need real estate advice, regardless of if they are actually buying or selling real estate, or just simply curious about the market and want to get their feet wet. Half the job is providing real estate tips, value analysis, and hooking people up with vendors such as contractors, inspectors, handymen and plumbers. If you are a valuable resource, people will come find you when it’s time to buy or sell their home. I’m not the hard-sell, used car salesman type of guy.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I find keeping in touch with clients to be on the easier side. As I said, a lot of my clients are family and friends, or friends of family and friends. I spend so much time and build such a rapport with my clients that they often become my friends. So, I do the normal things I would do with any of my friends. I call to check in on them. I try to grab lunch or coffee with them. Or, my personal favorite, I see if they’re up for a good ol’ round of golf. I do the normal things anyone would do to let someone know they care. Invite them to do something fun, wish them happy birthday, send flowers when they are feeling down, send cookies on the anniversary of buying their home. In short, just be a friend.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://andrewocallaghanweb.harrynorman.com/
• Instagram: andrewocallaghanrealtor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.a.ocallaghan.1
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/andrew-o-callaghan-59a95794