I Don’t Always Agree With Dave Ramsey. But on This Housing Market, He’s Right.

I don’t always agree with Dave Ramsey. Over the years, he has made plenty of comments about money, debt and real estate that I would approach differently. But on this particular issue, he is right: waiting around trying to perfectly time the housing market can be one of the biggest mistakes a buyer makes. In fact, I would go even further. Some of the best opportunities to buy real estate happen when the market feels uncomfortable, homes are sitting longer, sellers are more motivated, and other buyers are too nervous to make a move.

That is exactly what makes this market interesting. Realtor.com reported that housing inventory and the amount of time homes spend on the market have been increasing consistently, while median list prices have also shown signs of softening. At the same time, mortgage rates have kept many buyers on the sidelines. That combination creates something buyers have not had much of in recent years: negotiating power. When a property has been sitting for 30, 60 or even 90 days, a seller may be much more willing to discuss price, closing-cost assistance, repairs, credits or other concessions. Compare that with the frenzy we saw when buyers were waiving inspections and bidding tens of thousands of dollars over asking price just to get a contract accepted.

The irony is that many buyers are waiting for mortgage rates to fall before they enter the market. But they are not the only ones waiting. If rates drop significantly, thousands of sidelined buyers could come rushing back at the same time. Then what happens? Competition increases. Multiple offers return. Sellers regain leverage. And the house you might have negotiated on today could suddenly cost more tomorrow. You can potentially refinance a mortgage later if rates decline. You cannot refinance the purchase price you agreed to pay because six other buyers were fighting you for the property. Sometimes the better deal is buying when the crowd is afraid, not when everyone suddenly feels confident.

Ramsey’s message is also important for sellers because this is certainly not a market where owners should simply give up and wait. Sellers can still win, but they have to understand the market they are actually in. Homes need to be priced correctly from the beginning. Buyers now have choices, and an overpriced property can sit while properly priced homes continue to sell. Realtor.com noted that more sellers appear to be pricing realistically rather than starting too high and repeatedly cutting their asking price. That is smart. The goal is not to “test the market.” The goal is to create urgency.A well-priced, properly prepared and aggressively marketed property can still attract serious buyers.

There is another valuable point Ramsey makes: buyers should stop waiting for perfect circumstances and start creating a financial plan. That means building the down payment, preparing for closing costs, maintaining emergency reserves and understanding exactly what monthly payment fits comfortably within the household budget. The article uses the example of a $40,000 down payment, which becomes a much more manageable goal when broken into monthly savings over a defined period. Ramsey also warns buyers against raiding existing retirement accounts to purchase a home. The bigger lesson is simple: instead of spending the next two years predicting interest rates, use that time to become financially ready to act.

This is where I completely agree with Ramsey: the crowd is usually most excited about buying when the negotiating opportunity is disappearing. Buyers wanted desperately to purchase homes when there were bidding wars, almost no inventory and sellers controlled every conversation. Now we have more inventory, longer days on market, motivated sellers and fewer competing buyers, and suddenly people are afraid to buy. That makes no sense. Sellers should understand that buyers are still out there, but they have to price and market their homes strategically. Buyers should recognize that today’s slower market may provide opportunities that disappear when rates eventually improve. Real estate rewards people who are prepared to move when opportunity appears, and sometimes the best opportunity arrives precisely when everyone else is still sitting on the sidelines.

While some people are still sitting around debating whether real estate is “dead,” one of the greatest investment machines ever created is quietly doing the exact opposite. Berkshire Hathaway is putting serious money into housing. The company Warren Buffett built has increased its investment in Lennar, added to its exposure to D.R. Horton, agreed to acquire Taylor Morrison, and already owns Clayton Homes. Think about that for a second. While social media experts are predicting the collapse of housing, the organization built by the Oracle of Omaha is positioning itself to own more of the companies that actually build America’s homes. I know whose judgment I would rather trust.

And Berkshire is not making a small bet. Its Lennar position grew by roughly 30%, to about $1.157 billion, after Berkshire had already invested heavily in Lennar and D.R. Horton. Then came the blockbuster: an agreement to acquire Taylor Morrison for approximately $8.5 billion. Add Clayton Homes, which Berkshire purchased more than two decades ago, and there is a pretty obvious pattern here. Berkshire is not running away from housing because mortgage rates are high or transactions have slowed. It is buying deeper into the industry while everybody else is nervous. That is exactly when great investors traditionally make their biggest moves.

Yes, Warren Buffett has stepped down as CEO and Greg Abel now runs Berkshire Hathaway. But pretending that suddenly makes Berkshire's investment philosophy irrelevant misses the point. Abel was Buffett's chosen successor, and Berkshire remains built around patience, value and looking beyond the next quarter. Abel has specifically pointed to the long-term strength of the American housing market and its underlying fundamentals. That matters. Berkshire is not trying to win next Tuesday's housing report. It is looking at where America will need homes five, ten and twenty years from now.

Meanwhile, much of the real estate industry is doing the opposite. Agents are shrinking their businesses. Brokerages are cutting marketing. People are waiting for mortgage rates to magically return to 3%. They are acting as if today's market is permanent. It isn't. America still has a housing shortage measured in the millions of homes. People will continue getting married, having children, relocating, retiring, downsizing, investing and buying property. Rates will change. Affordability will improve. Pent-up buyers will eventually move. The only real question is who will still be standing, prepared and positioned when the next cycle accelerates.

That should also be a wake-up call for real estate professionals. This is not the market to retreat from your career. It is the market to double down on it. If Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sees opportunity in the future of housing, why would a Realtor decide now is the time to treat real estate like a side hustle? Difficult markets separate professionals from hobbyists. They create market share opportunities because competitors disappear, stop prospecting and stop investing in themselves. The agents who build relationships, databases and skills today could be the ones who dominate when transaction volume comes roaring back.

The same applies to brokerage owners. Running a small independent brokerage has become more expensive, more complicated and more competitive. Technology, compliance, recruiting, training, marketing, transaction support and agent retention all require scale. There comes a point where protecting the name on the door can actually prevent the business from growing. For brokers who want to remain in leadership without carrying every expense and operational headache alone, merging their brokerage into CANVAS Real Estate may be one of the smartest bets they can make on the next real estate cycle. And for individual agents who feel stuck where they are, bringing their careers to CANVAS means positioning themselves inside a growing organization instead of trying to navigate a changing market alone.

So forget the doom-and-gloom headlines for a minute and watch where the smart money is going. Berkshire Hathaway is not betting that Americans will suddenly stop needing homes. It is betting that today's disruption eventually creates tomorrow's opportunity. That is exactly how I see this market. Housing is not dying. It is resetting, consolidating and preparing for its next chapter. The winners will be the investors, agents and brokers who position themselves before everybody else realizes the recovery has started. If you believe, as I do, that the future of real estate is still enormously valuable, then now may be the time to make your own Buffett-style move: invest in your career, invest in scale, and consider making CANVAS Real Estate the platform you build your next chapter on.

If you want to know where the opportunities are developing in South Florida real estate, take a look at Coral Springs. A recent Coral Springs News report called it Broward County’s most competitive housing market, and the numbers explain why. During the first quarter of 2026, Coral Springs had just 2.6 months of single-family inventory, the tightest supply anywhere in Broward. In March, inventory was down 34% from a year earlier, and homes were going under contract in a median of only 25 days, the fastest pace in the county. 

And this is not just about single-family homes. Coral Springs condo and townhouse sales jumped an incredible 78% year over year in March, while the median price was only $219,000 compared with $269,700 countywide. That combination of affordability, strong demand and limited inventory is exactly what creates opportunity for buyers, sellers and, most importantly, Realtors who understand what is happening in their own backyard. 

Now look at the bigger Broward picture. The latest June numbers show Broward single-family sales increasing 26.0% year over year, from 1,030 transactions to 1,298. That growth rate actually outperformed both Miami-Dade, where single-family sales increased 16.8%, and Palm Beach County, where they increased 24.9%. Broward total residential sales were also up an impressive 21.1%, while condo sales increased 15.5%. 

What I find even more interesting is that this isn't happening only at the lower end of the market. Broward's $1 million-and-up sales increased 35% in June, while single-family median prices increased to $645,000. Earlier this year, the Coral Springs report was already showing Broward million-dollar sales climbing and strong activity in the $500,000-to-$600,000 condo segment. Demand is showing up at multiple price points. (MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld)

At the same time, supply is tightening. Broward's total active residential inventory was down 19.5% year over year in June, and single-family inventory dropped more than 24%. That is a very different story from the narrative that South Florida is somehow drowning in homes for sale. In parts of Broward, and especially markets like Coral Springs, buyers are once again competing for good properties. 

This is why Realtors have to stop looking at South Florida as one market. Miami is not Broward. Broward is not Palm Beach. And Coral Springs is not Fort Lauderdale. Opportunities move from neighborhood to neighborhood and price point to price point. The agent who understands those differences can have a completely different year than the agent sitting at home waiting for somebody to call.

For Realtors looking for business, Broward is giving us plenty to work with right now. More sales mean more buyers who need representation, more homeowners who need to understand what their property is worth, more opportunities for listings and more conversations that can turn into transactions. If Coral Springs inventory is shrinking and properties are moving faster, that is not just a statistic. That is a reason to pick up the phone, call your database and start talking about what is happening.

I have always believed that successful Realtors position themselves where the opportunity is going, not where it has already been. Right now, Broward County deserves your attention, and Coral Springs may be one of the clearest examples of why. At CANVAS Real Estate, our job is to make sure our agents understand these changes early, know how to communicate them and turn that knowledge into business. Markets change, opportunities move, and the Realtors who are prepared to move with them are the ones who are going to win.

If you listen to some of the headlines, you would think the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules are going to kill the condo market. The actual sales numbers are telling us something very different. In June 2026, existing condo sales increased 11.96% in Miami-Dade, 15.53% in Broward and 18.64% in Palm Beach County compared with a year ago. Miami-Dade condo sales have now increased year over year in eight of the last 10 months. That doesn't look like the end of the condo market to me. It looks like a market adjusting and beginning to move forward again.

The latest Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac changes are certainly going to require us to understand condo financing better. Beginning August 3, the streamlined or “limited review” process was eliminated for most established condominium projects, meaning lenders will take a deeper look at the association's finances, insurance, reserves and physical condition. The current reserve allocation standard is generally 10%, and beginning January 4, 2027, Fannie Mae is increasing that benchmark to 15%, although associations can also qualify through an acceptable reserve study and appropriate funding.

I don't see that as the death of condos. I see it as something that can ultimately make the condo market stronger.Buyers deserve to know that the building they are purchasing into has money available for roofs, elevators, concrete restoration and other major repairs. A condo with properly funded reserves and fewer surprises should eventually become easier to understand, easier to finance and more attractive to buyers. We are moving toward a market where the financial health of the building becomes almost as important as the condition of the unit.

And over the long term, I believe this can actually help affordability. One of the biggest problems with an underfunded association isn't simply the monthly maintenance payment. It is the surprise $20,000, $40,000 or $70,000 assessment that an owner never planned for. Associations with declining reserves have been found to be more than 20% more likely to levy special assessments than associations with stable or growing reserves. Building those expenses into responsible reserve planning creates greater transparency and potentially far more predictable ownership costs.

There is also something being missed in much of the conversation: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not the entire mortgage market. If a condo building cannot satisfy agency project requirements, that does not automatically mean the buyer has to pay cash. Non-QM and portfolio lenders are actively financing non-warrantable condominiums. Angel Oak, Deephaven and A&D Mortgage are examples of lenders offering programs for these properties, and current A&D program materials advertise financing of up to 85% LTV on certain non-warrantable condo transactions, subject of course to borrower and project qualifications.

That is why Realtors need to be very careful about telling a buyer, “You can't finance this condo.” The better answer may be, “You can't finance this condo with this particular conventional loan.” Those are two completely different statements. Non-QM programs can include bank-statement financing, DSCR programs for investors and financing specifically designed for non-warrantable condos. The rate, down payment and underwriting may be different, but there are financing alternatives that can keep a transaction alive when an agency loan doesn't work.

South Florida condos remain one of the most important paths to homeownership in a market where single-family homes have become increasingly expensive. We should not be afraid of stronger buildings, better reserves and greater financial transparency. We should embrace them. There will be some disruption while associations, lenders, Realtors and buyers learn the new rules, but I believe what comes out on the other side will be a healthier condo market, more confident buyers and buildings that are better prepared for the future. The condo market isn't disappearing. It is growing up.

South Florida continues to be one of the most dynamic places in the country to live, work and invest. Population growth, job creation, international migration and lifestyle demand continue bringing new residents into Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. For investors, that creates one very important reality: more people means more demand for housing, and multifamily real estate is positioned directly in the middle of that growth.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro added approximately 123,000 residents between 2023 and 2024, bringing the population to roughly 6.46 million. Miami-Dade alone was estimated at more than 2.8 million residents in 2025, up 3.7% from its 2020 population base. Every new resident needs a place to live, and a large percentage of that growing population will choose to rent.

That is what makes the multifamily opportunity so interesting to me. South Florida is attracting young professionals, families, entrepreneurs, international residents and people relocating from other states. At the same time, higher home prices and financing costs are encouraging many people to rent longer before purchasing. That combination creates a large and constantly renewing pool of renters.

And the numbers show that demand remains strong. In March 2026, the Miami metro had a 6.6% multifamily vacancy rate, the lowest among the largest metro areas in the South, while asking rents were still growing year over year. Rents increased in 56% of South Florida submarkets. Even after years of development, South Florida continues absorbing apartments.

But multifamily is not just about collecting rent. It can become a tremendous wealth-building vehicle when you buy the right property at the right numbers. Multiple tenants are helping pay down the mortgage, building equity and producing income every month. Improve the property, operate it better and increase the net operating income, and you can potentially create additional value instead of simply waiting for appreciation.

That is one of the biggest advantages multifamily has over owning one rental house. If your single-family tenant leaves, your property becomes 100% vacant. If you own ten units and one becomes vacant, you still have nine producing income. You have multiple income streams working from one investment.

Now add time. Tenants help reduce your debt. Rents can increase. The property can appreciate. Improvements can increase income and potentially increase the value of the entire building. Real estate ownership may also provide depreciation and other tax advantages depending on an investor's situation. Put those pieces together over 10, 15 or 20 years and you begin to understand how multifamily has helped create generational wealth.

Of course, the opportunity is not simply buying any apartment building you can find. South Florida has significant new multifamily construction underway, which means location, purchase price, financing, insurance, taxes, existing rents and future development all have to be studied carefully. The opportunity is in buying intelligently, not simply buying.

I keep coming back to the same fundamentals: South Florida is growing, people continue moving here and housing demand is not going away. For investors ready to think beyond one property and one tenant at a time, multifamily can offer income, equity growth, scalability and long-term appreciation all working together. In a market attracting this many new residents, I believe owning the housing they need can be one of the most powerful long-term wealth-building strategies available to South Florida investors.

The 2026 World Cup did more than bring soccer fans to Miami. It brought another massive wave of international attention to a city that was already one of the most recognized real estate markets in the world.

Miami hosted seven World Cup matches, and during the tournament we saw exactly what you would expect: hotels filled up, short-term rental demand jumped, restaurants were busy and visitors poured into South Florida from around the world.

But for me, the bigger story is not what happened during those few weeks. The bigger story is what happens after all those visitors go home.

Think about how many people came to Miami for a soccer game and discovered Brickell, Downtown, Miami Beach, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables for the first time. They came for the World Cup, but they also experienced the restaurants, the beaches, the lifestyle, the weather and everything else that continues attracting people to South Florida.

Brickell and Downtown were obvious winners because visitors want convenience. They want restaurants downstairs, entertainment nearby, easy transportation and access to everything Miami has to offer. Those are exactly the same things renters and buyers look for when they decide where they want to live.

Miami Beach is a completely different story, but just as powerful. There are very few places in the United States with that kind of international name recognition. A major event like the World Cup simply puts that brand in front of millions more people.

Then you have areas like Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. Maybe they don't get the same headlines, but they offer something many renters and buyers are looking for: neighborhoods, restaurants, walkability and quality of life while still being close to the center of Miami.

This is why I always say you cannot invest in real estate based on one event. The World Cup comes and goes. What matters is whether people still want to be there when the event is over. Miami has tourism, international business, population growth, limited desirable land and a lifestyle people continue paying a premium to experience.

The World Cup didn't create Miami's real estate story. It simply introduced Miami to another few hundred thousand potential future renters, buyers and investors. And that is the opportunity I would be watching now: not what happened during the tournament, but which neighborhoods continue benefiting from all the new people who discovered Miami because of it.