A native of Albania, Albert Hajdaraj came to the U.S. nine years ago as a 21-year-old, first living in New York City, before relocating to Rhode Island and becoming a licensed Realtor, now as a team leader for the HI HOMES Team at HomeSmart Professionals Real Estate based in Warwick.
Hajdaraj established the HI HOMES Team in 2020, and the group is also behind the Living in Rhode Island channel on YouTube, which offers guidance, tips and selling points about relocating to the Ocean State from a real estate professional’s point of view.
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PBN: As an immigrant from Albania who came here nine years ago, how were you able to break into the real estate industry in Rhode Island and what was that like?
HAJDARAJ: It was through sheer will and determination. I had zero connections when I first started, so my mindset was to treat it as a business right away. I focused on providing value to the marketplace and consumer. And by leaning on my sales and prospecting skills, I was able to connect with the right people very quickly and succeed.
PBN: What’s your impression of the current residential real estate market in Rhode Island and how it will change heading into the next year?
HAJDARAJ: The market has been in a tight spot in Rhode Island for a couple of years now. We’ve had record low inventory, a month’s supply, for years. And with super low interest rates and so many buyers jumping in the market to take advantage of it, we saw record increases in average home prices.
Now, with the recent rate increases by the Fed, record low inventory still and record high prices, more than 50% of buyers have been priced out of the market and things have slowed down drastically. I believe that the next 12 months will be very challenging times for the real estate industry. I think most professionals will be tested, and only the ones who focus on skills and have an in-depth understanding of the market will persevere.
On the consumer end of things, it is now more important than ever that you hire a true committed professional to help navigate this extremely complicated market.
PBN: In your recent experience, what are some of the qualities that buyers are most often looking for in a home in Rhode Island as of late, and why?
HAJDARAJ: The main issue with housing in Rhode Island is the lack of inventory. One of the main contributors for this is the lack of new construction homes. We are simply not building enough new homes to sustain the demand, and especially not affordable homes in the $300,000 to $450,000 range.
With that said, buyers are looking for homes in good shape and renovated. Updated kitchens, hardwood floors and updated bathrooms are some of the most popular features that will make a buyer go all in when purchasing a home.
PBN: What’s your advice for successfully navigating a client through the homebuying process when a lack of inventory has been such a difficult issue in the past year?
HAJDARAJ: If you are a Realtor, you have to know your stuff. You have to understand the real estate market, especially the local market. Understand your client’s goals in detail and base their homes search off that. If you are a buyer, partner with an aggressive Realtor who will educate you on the market so that you can feel confident making offers and get the home of your dreams.
PBN: You have said before that you see a lot of out-of-state engagement from clients moving to Rhode Island for school or work. What do you mean by that, where are a lot of people moving, where are they coming from, and what does this mean for the Rhode Island real estate market?
HAJDARAJ: When COVID-19 started, we saw an unusual amount of out-of-state buyers gravitate toward Rhode Island. If you look at Narragansett home prices, they have increased at dramatic rates and it’s mostly because of New Yorkers purchasing summer properties. We also see a good amount of relocations from Boston and the West Coast.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer.
