The three opportunities in today’s market are first-time buyers, move-up clients and investors:
My hope for people in the real estate community is not only will they help their clients skillfully through the transaction process, but they ultimately get to participate in real estate as an investor themselves. Become your own best client…and your fortune is assured.
It’s a good life!
Brian
Currently rated 5.0
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!
Currently rated 4.5
With two adults and six active kids, you can imagine how much laundry there is to wash at our house. Sometimes we miss a couple of days, the baskets in the kids’ rooms overflow and when all piled together, the mountain of clothes looks like an overwhelming task with no end in sight. We have a choice at that time; clean clothes or go shopping for more.
As grown adults when we get behind on our lead-generation activities such as writing personal notes, making calls or doing Pop-Bys to our favorite clients, it’s just like a pile of dirty laundry. The thought of catching up seems overwhelming, the notes begin to pile up, and rather than sitting down and dutifully going through these one at time we let our minds drift: “Let’s run out to the Realtor® store and buy a talking house sign”, “Let’s go buy some internet leads”, “Let me do anything other than chip away at that big pile of unfinished tasks which will ultimately allow me to get my financial house in order.”
Very few people allow their dirty clothes to pile up for weeks on end, but in my experience, many small business owners will allow their lead-generation activities to pile up. Allowing your laundry to pile up is not the most hygienic thing to do… and if you put it off long enough, you’ll have nothing to wear. Putting off lead-generation activities isn’t too healthy for your business either and eventually will leave your financial cupboard bare!
It ain’t sexy but it’s simple enough: take care of your business before your financial challenges become your personal dirty laundry.
Currently rated 4.9
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,
The American breakfast provides a great analogy for commitment. Just like bacon and eggs on your plate, the chicken is involved but the hog is committed!
I’ve met a lot of people involved in their businesses but not committed to them. They put in 70 hours a week but they’ve never really made the commitment to their career.
Now I'm not saying you need to know what you want to do for the next 25 years, but I am saying that you need to be fully present in what you’re doing today. Who knows where life will take you…you may well be doing this for a very long time, perhaps in a different capacity or by working fewer hours, but when you’re not committed to your business as a career, you know it and so do your clients.
So what’s it going to be? Eggs or bacon?
Currently rated 4.1
That was what my old high school coach used to shout to me on the field. That was his clarion call to increase the level of physical play on the field. It seemed to work as he led us to a National Championship. One thing I know is that principles don’t go out of style. And if you want to win a championship in your business, it’s time to step up your physical interaction with your clients.
In the colder climates, people have been cocooned in their homes with fewer people interactions than normal. Now that springtime is here, get out amongst your people. See them at work, at home, at events, or at business networking meetings. Attend seminars, classes or take in a show or ballgame together.
Visibility is key; especially with all the negativity in the media about the marketplace. Knowing that you’re active and out and about deepens your hold on being their trusted advisor. When the going gets tough, the tough get out and visit people.
So, get in your car and Pop-By! Visit, or break bread with your favorite people. And for goodness sake, let ‘em know you’re there…for them!
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?
Currently rated 4.6
A pretty normal week this week for the Buffinis: four kids in basketball, one riding competitive dressage and the twins in ballet. Eight practice sessions, two piano recitals, one three-day horseshow and a partridge in a pear tree! On the side, I get to create curriculum, present events, and run a 250 employee company. There are definitely days I go to work for the rest.
The truth of the matter is that you’re hectic too. We’re all so busy being busy sometimes that we can forget there’s more to life than just doing. There’s being.
The great King Solomon once said that life is just a puff of smoke…so on a regular basis in the Buffini family we call a timeout. For us, that means Hawaii. This is a place where the whole family knows how to chill out and just hang with each other. No agenda, no lists, no worries. It may not be Hawaii for you and yours, but whatever total relaxation looks like, call timeout and get there.
Tonight, I’m at Chuck-E-Cheese’s for the birthday party of one of my kid’s friends. I know I can survive this because tomorrow it’s aloooooohaaa!!
Currently rated 4.4
Recent data distributed by Realtytrac, a company that compiles data on home foreclosures, showed that foreclosures are not a national crisis, but more of a regional problem.
There are pockets, places such as Stockton, CA and Las Vegas, NV where the foreclosure rate is in excess of 4%, however, the national average is 1.033%. Considering the fact that 30% of all homes are actually free and clear of any mortgage, the true foreclosure rate is actually seven tenths of 1% of all homes.
Although the media loves bad news, organizations such as MSN, Time Magazine and others are now starting to report factual data such as this to give the market some perspective. They whip everybody up into a frenzy and are then able to present a counter balance story. Either way, know your facts, know your numbers and give your clients perspective.
Great sources for data on the web are NAR, AARP and MSN Money. In print, check out Realtytrac, Swanepoel Trends Report, and Money Magazine. I’ll also be doing my best to distribute solid data so that you can keep perspective and help your clients do the same. Keep your head down working hard.
Currently rated 4.3
I think it was Mark Twain who said, “On St. Patrick’s day there are only two types of people in the world; those who are Irish and those who want to be.” I always liked that guy!
One of the things St. Patrick is known for is driving the snakes out of Ireland. If St. Pat were alive today, however, he would say that this market adjustment has driven the snakes out of the real estate market. There were a small number of sub-prime lenders who made promises to their clients that couldn’t be kept and speculators who wanted to buy and flip real estate to double their money overnight.
Real estate is the single greatest investment in history. It meets financial and investment needs while providing emotional comfort and physical security. For those of us who love this business, believe in the value of real estate and get a thrill from helping someone who never thought they could afford to buy a home, this market is like St. Patrick’s Day every day.
Dia dhuit agus choladh saibh! (God be with you and sleep well!)