In 1974, Morris Albert recorded this Grammy award winning song. At that time, it was considered one of the most strongly emotive and moving melodies. As time has gone by, when viewed in hindsight, the same lyrics that won a Grammy have often been lampooned as the sappiest song ever written.

Whether you like the song or not, feelings can be very dangerous for your business. In today’s market, there are lot of emotions; fear, anxiety, frustration and regret. Maybe you don’t know where your next commission check is coming from. Maybe you’re consumed with fear about where the economy and this market are going. Maybe you’re dealing with frustrated sellers who constantly focus on how much their home used to be worth as opposed to what’s it’s worth today. Perhaps you even have a ready, willing and able buyer who’s just afraid to pull the trigger because they don’t want to pay too much for a house.

The answer for a professional is to manage their emotions by keeping perspective. You need to know the historical trends of this business, how good of an investment real estate is (check out www.housingmarketfacts.com), and keep track of your own daily activities so you know you’re doing your best each day.

Feelings are great things. They let you know you’re alive. Personally they deliver the highs and the lows of the human experience. When it comes to your business, feelings don’t help at all. Manage your emotions, manage your business and manage your success.

How many calls, notes, Pop-Bys and business to business meetings are you having?

It's a good life!

Brian

When Samuel Clemens uttered these immortal words under his pseudonym Mark Twain, it encapsulated what economists had been trying to say for years…that the fundamental law of economics is supply and demand. Outside of volcanic activity on the Hawaiian Islands, no new land is being created. Therefore, supply is limited.  

The world population grows by approximately 90 million people a year increasing demand year over year. Human beings have three basic needs for survival; food, shelter and clothing. And I don’t see that changing any time soon. On occasion, the market goes through cycles of having too much resale inventory and too much new product followed by a housing shortage and price increases.  

And even in the midst of surpluses like today, there is certain built in demand. For example, there’s a tremendous shortage of apartment buildings in many cities. Many markets are experiencing a surge in rental prices of single family homes. This creates pressure for the first time buyer to own and investor clients to buy. 

So buy land; preferably with a house or apartment building on it. They’ve stopped making it! 

It’s a good life, 

Brian

In business there is so much that is out of our control. Unemployment rates, interest rates, and housing prices. Don’t ever get caught waiting for those factors to influence your personal income. There’s only one market you can master and that’s the six inch market - otherwise known as the space between your two ears.

There are many new agents currently doing well because they don’t know how the market is supposed to be. There are many veterans waiting for the market to turn to “normalcy”.

This is normal.

In each of the last five decades, there has been price growth and retraction; high and low unemployment; wars and peacetime. People are still going to buy and sell homes. In 2008, somewhere between 4.5 and 5 million homes will be purchased on the resale market. How many are you going to sell?

It’s a good life!

Brian

Have you ever noticed when the Fed cuts rates and there’s such a big deal about it in the media that many times it doesn’t show up in a reduced mortgage rate? The only problem with this is that the typical consumer thinks that the Fed rate and the mortgage rate are the same.

It’s a good thing to always be prepared to let your clients know that the Fed rate is the rate at which banks borrow money; not the rate at which they loan money.

Right now, what the market needs is not another rate cut but a loosening of the mortgage restrictions so that more folks can qualify for a home. But don’t worry…every time the market goes through a correction and banks get scared tightening up their lending criteria they eventually loosen up the purse strings again. It’s a gradual process and not one you’ll particularly notice but trust me, banks need to lend money to make money. So folks with decent credit and a good job who may not have large down payments will be able to get back in the game very soon. The recent legislation to expand the conforming loan amounts will certainly help entry level buyers in the more expensive states.

Once first time buyers can buy, move-up clients can sell and the high end will loosen up as well. This is all a very predictable cycle that’s been happening for over fifty years. Stay the course, build your business…there are plenty of opportunities out there.

It’s a good life!

Brian

I’ve always had fun with technology over the years; I appreciate its possibilities, and am excited to be moving into cyberspace with this new blog. This space will be a great opportunity for me to connect with you on a more frequent basis and to share some of my thoughts on business and the market. It’ll be a new dimension to our relationship.

If you’ve ever been to one of our nationwide events, you know how strongly I believe in cultivating relationships as the way to build a rock solid business. Relationships are the cornerstone to working by referral and the surest path to a long-lasting and fulfilling career.

This blog will be somewhat conversational and written in more of a stream of consciousness. If you’re interested in receiving it automatically, click on the RSS Feed button at bottom right and you’ll receive the blog automatically as we update it.

So I’m glad to finally join the blogosphere and keep in touch on a regular basis.

It’s a good life!

Brian