Piano movers, inspectors and more feel the pain of housing market slowdown
Piano movers, inspectors and more feel the pain of housing market slowdown
More people in the United States are staying put. Existing home sales were down by 23% in the first half of this year from the same period in 2022, according to the most recent data from the National Association of Realtors.
And when people stay put, that affects a lot of housing-adjacent businesses, including inspectors, painters and movers.
Ted Jarboe has been moving pianos on the East Coast since the late ’70s. He’s never learned to play though. “Absolutely not, I don’t have any time,” he said.
Jarboe’s company is based in central Maryland, and the last few years have been super busy. “The pandemic caused people to stay at home, do renovations, get rid of pianos, move them out — and that was a big factor,” he said.
Others took up the ivories and moved them in. Now, with lockdowns over and fewer people selling their homes, Jarboe said his revenue is down about 15% from last year.
Meanwhile, companies that are even more reliant on home sales for income, like mortgage brokers, are really feeling whiplash, according to Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.
“They had scaled up to meet the demand during the frenzy, and now they’ve had to pull back on staff,” she said.
Other businesses are pouring more funds into advertising to try to reach the people who are moving.
Timothy Netzley runs a home inspection company in western Montana, which has doubled its marketing budget from last year. He’s also started offering new services, like testing for evidence of the drug methamphetamine.
“If you smoke it, then the building materials will absorb that and hold on to it, and it will affect the occupants,” he said.
Netzley added that it’s a good idea for everyone to get their home inspected every year or two, whether they’re selling or not, to remind them of what they should be doing.
“For example, you’re supposed to drain your water heater every year,” he said. But nobody really remembers to do that. He said that means water heaters last half as long as they might.
Plus, Netzley added, a track record of maintenance looks good to buyers when people do eventually decide to sell.
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