Marki Lemons-Ryhal is a top real estate broker, educator, and speaker. As an agent in Chicago, she became an expert in foreclosures and short sales. Today, she focuses on teaching other real estate professionals how to improve their business with social media marketing and AI tools like ChatGPT.

We recently sat down with Lemons-Ryhal to get her take on the U.S. housing market and what first-time investors should focus on.

As for a potential housing recession, Lemons-Ryhal doesn’t see one in the near future.

Forecasts on U.S. Foreclosures and a Potential Recession

U.S. foreclosure activity dropped to an all-time low in 2021. This has many wondering whether foreclosures will continue to increase in 2023. 

Lemons-Ryhal pointed out that we aren’t seeing a current uptick in foreclosures in every market. However, we should be seeing an increase, especially in the fourth quarter of this year. Why? Because many struggling homeowners received forbearances on their mortgages during the COVID-19 pandemic but haven’t returned to repayment status. This means there’s a backlog of foreclosures waiting to happen.

“Most of us actually thought that we were going to see them in 2022,” Lemons-Ryhal said. “So, it’s kind of like we’re waiting on them to come. There are a lot of indicators that show that we should have them, but they have not hit the market.”

As for a potential housing recession, Lemons-Ryhal doesn’t see one in the near future. She cites the fact that many markets are still seeing multiple bid offers and even price increases as an indication that buyer demand is up. Plus, if interest rates cool down, as many expect they will, “we’re going to see a lot of buyers come back into the market.”

You should direct your social media followers to your website, where you can collect their contact information. That way, your relationships with them aren’t dependent on a platform.

Why Every Real Estate Investor Should Leverage AI and Social Media

Lemons-Ryhal thinks leveraging AI is a natural move for investors. “Investors have always been focused on numbers in business,” she said. “And so, if they want to increase their return on investment and their return on time invested, AI will allow them to be more efficient over time thereby earning more money.”

How exactly does AI do this? By helping investors run custom reports, generate spreadsheet formulas, and reach out to business partners faster. Some AI tools, for example, let you customize a single message to many different homeowners based on their personalities. According to Ryhal, this could potentially increase your productivity by 13%, “which is a large margin for an investor,” she said.

When asked for her biggest tip on implementing an AI strategy as an investor, Ryhal-Lemons said, “I just want them to go back and look at any redundant tasks that they don’t like.” From there, investors can identify ways AI can help. For example, ChatGPT can help create HTML code for PowerPoint presentations or VBA code for spreadsheets. The goal is to accelerate “all forms of communication.”

As for social media, Ryhal-Lemons credits it with allowing her to build a global presence. But she also warned that it’s not enough to just post updates about your life. “You have to be a content creator,” she said. “There are so many agents who don’t have any true content that benefits people long term.” Additionally, you should direct your social media followers to your website, where you can collect their contact information. That way, your relationships with them aren’t dependent on a platform, and “you can follow up with them in your desired communication style moving forward.”

“My goal is to get people to six figures in twelve months, leveraging social media and technology,” Lemons-Ryhal said.

How to Get Started as a First-Time Real Estate Investor

According to Lemons-Ryhal, first-time investors should look for communities with the fastest rate of sale, at the highest price point, and with the fewest barriers to entry. To do this, they need to have access to local multiple listing services (MLSs) and study different markets. Then, “they can see a return on their time and their money faster.”

Lemons-Ryhal also suggested leaning into current consumer needs. For example, housing affordability is down right now, which means investing in tiny homes and other accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or finding ways to repurpose commercial property into residential units could be good areas to focus your investments.

The point is that first-time investors should seek out not only profitable markets but also markets where they can differentiate themselves and supply a real need. 

“If we’re not leveraging ChatGPT for those purposes, we’re missing out on a business game changer,” she said.

Lemons-Ryhal’s Mentoring Success, Retirement Plans, and Final Advice

Lemons-Ryhal has about 315 agents under her brokerage and four offices in Chicago. 

When asked about her top mentoring success story, she told us about her agent Nicole Wheatly, with whom she started working in 2018. “Our first year selling real estate, she closed $142,000 in gross closed income working part-time,” Lemons-Ryhal said. By the end of her second year, Wheatly was making over $200,000 in gross closed income. Now Ryhal-Lemons is helping her implement systems to free up more of her time. 

“My goal is to get people to six figures in twelve months, leveraging social media and technology,” Lemons-Ryhal said.

We also asked Lemons-Ryahl whether she ever sees herself retiring. “I’m going to be financially eligible to retire on July 31st, 2033,” she said. “I’m not sure if I am going to physically retire, but I will have enough money to retire and maintain my lifestyle because I am planning with the end in mind, and I want the opportunity to retire if I desire. I really want to be able to see if I love real estate that much.”

Finally, Lemons-Ryhal left us with some parting advice regarding recent social media trends: “I’m seeing today everybody’s talking about trying out Threads, but they don’t have a written business plan. They haven’t tried ChatGPT. They don’t know who their target audience is. What I would encourage people to do is to leverage AI in their businesses before they go to try another social platform.”

“If we’re not leveraging ChatGPT for those purposes, we’re missing out on a business game changer,” she said.