Sally Hersey was elected last year as the president of the 6,000-member Rhode Island Association of Realtors for 2024. She is a Realtor at the Cranston-based Williams & Stuart Real Estate, and she previously served on the board of directors of the National Association of Realtors. Hersey was also the 2018 president for the Greater Providence Board of Realtors, as well as its Realtor of the Year in 2021 and the Lead Award recipient in 2019.
A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Hersey studied business and launched her real estate career in 2006. A North Smithfield resident, she also completed Bryant University’s Certificate In Leadership Excellence for Realtors.
PBN: What tips do you have for consumers looking to buy or sell a home right now, in terms of the biggest pitfalls and liability issues they need to be aware of?
HERSEY: Buying or selling a home is the largest financial transaction most people will ever make, and the process is complicated. A missed deadline or noncompliance with a law or regulation can cost thousands. It’s so important to have the right representation. Ideally, buyers and sellers should have an experienced professional who helps to protect them and looks out for their specific interests.
PBN: In this modern, technology-abundant world, with its do-it-yourself YouTube videos and self-serve websites, why should homebuyers and sellers opt to use a licensed Realtor instead of cutting out the middleman? Why shouldn't people do it themselves?
HERSEY: The Multiple Listing Service has been unbelievably helpful for consumers in creating an online, one-stop shop for information about properties for sale, which provides for a streamlined marketing and search process. However, there’s no online service that offers guidance on how to write an offer that gets accepted and helps the buyer or seller understand the complicated process of getting to the closing table. Contracts and deposits, inspections, title reports, disclosures, escrow, laws, negotiations – these things require the guidance of an expert. That’s why 9 out of 10 people who work with a Realtor would recommend them to someone else.
PBN: What are some of the biggest issues for Realtors right now on a local and national level, and how do you plan to advocate for them on these issues?
HERSEY: There’s a misconception that compensation is set when, in fact, it is and always has been negotiable. Sellers should discuss payment arrangements with a representative from their listing firm, including whether they want to have the buyer’s fee for professional services included in their cost, pay the buyer’s representative directly, or not at all.
Buyers should understand that if the seller is not amenable to including compensation for the buyer’s representative, they may have to pay that themselves or go without that protection. Unfortunately, many buyers can’t afford to pay a representative out of pocket and most conventional financing doesn’t allow them to finance compensation to a buyer representative. Sellers should realize that this can limit the qualified buyer pool that would be able to purchase their home.
The Rhode Island Association of Realtors provides tips and guidance for making sure both parties understand how real estate professionals are compensated so they can make informed decisions.
PBN: How can you help make the mission of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors more alive and present in the minds of the Realtors of Rhode Island? What are your plans for communicating with them?
HERSEY: I am and always have been a proponent of personal outreach. Myself along with my leadership team, board of directors and staff liaisons are working hard to ensure our members are aware of our current mission and vision along with any issues, and have all the tools they need to be successful. We will be communicating through various platforms so the message will reach as many of our membership as possible.
PBN: What's your forecast for the Rhode Island real estate market for 2024?
HERSEY: We think that the housing market will get a little reprieve in 2024. Inventory will remain tight, so we’re not expecting to see any significant price drops, if any at all. Economists are predicting mortgage rates will likely come down further and have gone from a high at 8% to under 7% in recent weeks. That will help with the affordability issues that so many are struggling with now.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockObama.