Hello. My name is Geoff Silvius. I’m a Realtor with Nino Properties in Houston, TX. I love what I do. And I need you to know something: Realtors aren’t hiding information from you.

So when I see Forbes put out an article with this headline, I get very upset:

The Real Reason House Prices Are Skyrocketing: What The Real Estate Industry Won't Tell You

Even though I hate the thought of this obvious clickbait headline getting another view, you can read the article for yourself here. Because, again, Realtors are not hiding information from you.

The author of this piece, John Wake, went on Twitter to let everyone know his article was the most-read thing he had ever done for Forbes. I guess I can’t say I’m shocked. Playing on people’s preconceived belief that all real estate people are trying to screw them is certainly popular.

The article’s argument is that investors have purchased a huge amount of property which has priced out buyers in the lower price points (particularly first time home buyers). Guess what? LITERALLY NO ONE IS HIDING THIS INFORMATION FROM YOU!!!

That’s why I went on a tweet thread of my own about how preposterous it was to suggest that someone Realtors (or any real estate agent/broker) would somehow benefit from keeping this information from consumers. We want you to know this. We have to let you know this. Even if this information was somehow good news for us (it isn’t, I’ll explain in a second), we have a code of ethics we have to follow.

So why isn’t it good for Realtors that investors are buying all this property?

Reasons Why Realtors Aren't Hiding Information From You

1. The big companies are using the internet to cut agents out of the process. Please explain how that would be good for anyone’s profession?
2. If you are a home owner thinking of selling based on one of those “give us some information and we’ll make an all-cash offer over the phone!” offers, how do you know it’s a competitive offer? From the analysis THEY sent you? Did you “zestimate” it? If you did, chances are the number was significantly off market price. How do I know that? Because Zillow ended their iBuying division, Zillow Offers, in Fall 2021 and then cut 25% of their workforce.
3. When fewer potential buyers are in the market, there are fewer clients for us to work with. Again, Realtors hiding information from you is good for us, why??
4. When a handful of investors are setting prices (especially with an overbid), it throws off the overall market.

We have nothing to gain by keeping this information private. Which is why I don’t. As I wrote in my tweet thread, I share this information on Tuned-In Realtor every week! Please be weary of headlines like these, everyone. The real estate industry IS telling you this.