Michael Russo is a managing broker at RI Real Estate Services, where he has been working for the past 13 years. Russo, a native Rhode Islander, has negotiated the sale of more than 1,000 homes, totaling over $300 million in sales, in recent years. Russo has spent over 20 years in sales and marketing, including work as an auctioneer who traveled around the country auctioning off real estate.
PBN: How were you able to get your start in the real estate business and what has this career journey been like for you?
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RUSSO: I started my career in real estate over 20 years ago in the appraisal sector of the industry. This was during the last real estate boom of 2005-2007. During this time, I freelanced for a California auction company valuing vacant land across New England as they held land auctions nationwide. I ended up growing with the auction company and when the market crashed in 2008 they hired me to run their nationwide New Home/Builder Auction Division. From 2008-2011, I spent about 300 nights a year traveling around the country marketing and auctioning off a surplus of brand new homes and condos that builders were left with due the abrupt crash of the 2008 market. It was an amazing and educational experience to work with real estate agents in different markets across the country. When the market began to rebound in 2011 I returned home to Rhode Island full-time and engaged in traditional sales, as I learned I enjoyed sales better than appraisals. From 2011 to today, I have expanded my business to include the marketing and the sale of all types of real estate, including residential, commercial and business only sales.
PBN: What are some of the biggest challenges for you and fellow realtors right now, as you try to help your clients buy and sell homes?
RUSSO: Current challenges for buyers in our local real estate market is the lower than historic inventory levels, which continue to keep prices on the high end, the higher than relatively recent interest rates which reduces a buyer’s purchase power, the sharp increase in homeowners insurance costs and the fact that many buyers are now having to pay for real estate representation. Sellers in our local market continue to see good sale prices and relatively quick sales. However, we are starting to see a shift in the market that many other locations in the country are already experiencing, such as homes sitting on the market longer, having to prep houses more intensely for sale and a very accurate pricing strategy. Many sellers are not getting what their neighbors sold for a couple years ago, and they need to understand why to have an efficient and maximum sale.
PBN: What would be your best tips to prospective home sellers in the Rhode Island area, especially during these current market conditions?
RUSSO: My suggestions for local home sellers is to price on the lower end of the spectrum, prepare your house as best as possible, and hire an experienced agent [interview at least three]. Be prepared to pay a buyer’s agent and do not focus on what you could have sold your house for in the last couple years versus today. Be happy you’re still getting a great sale price, as many locations throughout the country prices are in decline.
PBN: If you were able to go back in time, what advice would you give yourself as you were just entering the real estate industry?
RUSSO: If I could go back in time I would have entered the commercial and business real estate markets sooner. I really enjoy selling different types of properties and the commercial market gives me unique properties and different approaches of sale. It spices up my inventory a bit.
PBN: How have national politics and local politics impacted the real estate industry in R.I. and your business?
RUSSO: Thankfully, I haven’t noticed politics play a role in my personal business locally in R.I. and haven’t heard any colleagues mention that it has affected their business either. I know politics have affected other industries, but the post-Covid market, shortage of inventory and change in interest rates affect our local real estate market more than politics.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributor. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @Marc_La_Rock.
