Writer: Liz Palmer
3 min read August 2022 — Among continued discourse on how the real estate market is adapting to market headwinds, professionals in Raleigh affirm that a key pillar of overcoming this next chapter is in managing client expectations and needs. Keeping clients in the know about how market conditions are affecting different checkpoints within the real estate space, from design to construction to brokerage, has proven to be both a challenge and an opportunity, according to market leaders in discussions with Invest:.
As president of KW Commercial and ThisPropertyAvailable.com, Diego Munoz has been honed in on client expectations as it relates to communication and education. “It’s about having projects well defined so that clients know where the risks are, they know where the benefits are, they know what the timelines are going to be and they know what the team requirements are going to be around them,” he told Invest:. “We are very transparent. We want to be as close as we can get to what the market is showing. That’s a challenge in the current market given its changing dynamics, particularly with the cost and delivery of raw materials as well as demands in labor and inflation in general. Land prices have seen an incredible spike in our area and municipal planning time frames have elongated significantly. We’re doing our due diligence to avoid landing in difficult situations. A lot of that is just working with the right people who understand what they’re doing in their respective fields.”
West & Woodall Real Estate has facets in both residential and commercial brokerage and its priorities are focused on mitigating friction associated with inflation and interest rates. “In order to combat that, we have to help our clients understand that market confidence will be critical over the next year. That is where real estate ownership has a distinct advantage as a stable investment, while stocks and interest rates fluctuate,” said company Owner Bert Woodall. “Since the mortgage rate increases in 2Q22, buyer and seller confidence has been shaken, but it will still be there because of the attractiveness of our area. As is the case with most places now, though, our market is seeing a reset with more accurate values.”
Continued market volatility has produced significant challenges with pricing and materials but the best thing to do is to keep relationships and communication strong, according to Monteith Construction Director of Operations Drew Hardin. “Through the pre-construction phase of the project, it’s critical to start identifying materials that may have increased volatility and lead time constraints. We’re working closely with architects and vendors to start releasing these materials as early as possible,” he said. “It has been incredible to see our project teams deliver projects and build relationships through difficult times by coming up with creative solutions to new challenges on projects.”
Even with constant communication, project deliveries are still impacted. “To deliver projects in the same timelines, we have seen an emphasis on the importance of early release of key components of the project being heavily integrated through the design process to ensure availability of products specified and remain nimble enough to adapt to changing market conditions,” Hardin said.
President and Managing Partner of Cline Design Associates Michael Mesnard told Invest: the name of the game in today’s design landscape is understanding your partners. “We understand how they work, what their goals are, and we work with them from the very beginning,” he said. “There’s a balance of understanding the design and the conceptual and contextual nature of their projects. Our clients allow us to explore and push the envelope of design as a result, not only to give them a competitive edge but because they trust that we understand what their goals are and the financial aspects of it.”
