They average one a day. I'm talking about the email messages from self-styled SEO experts who tell me they have analyzed my website and they would like to help me improve it so it will score higher on Google and Yahoo. I know there are some excellent Internet consultants who do a superb job and I don't want to malign them in the process. However if you are going to tell me my website sucks and you are the solution, tell me which one of my sites you have analyzed (if any).

I have a dozen or more websites, some of which are low priority that I make no attempt to optimize for rankings. I have other sites that already rank in the top ten on most key search phrases relevant to my market. The issue I want to address is not the sloppy marketing techniques of wannabee Internet consultants. I want to address the issue of what the average real estate professional should expect from their website

The question may sound simple but the answer is far from simple and the answer may be the most important consideration you will make.

If you simply assume that every prospective buyer is ready to buy a home because they say they are, you run the risk of seeing some of your buyers lose their home to foreclosure.

If you are a prospective home buyer, you should take this question very seriously and make sure you are moving forward with your eyes open and your rational thinking in full gear.

Home ownership can be the pinnacle of stability and self-reliance but the thrill of home ownership can become the agony of foreclosure if the decision is made lightly or ill-advisedly. Personal circumstances can change quickly due to loss of job, medical bills, divorce or other unplanned or unanticipated circumstances.

Anyone considering the purchase of a home, especially first-time buyers, should consider at least the following four dimensions of readiness.

Personal Readiness: The decision to buy a home involves a consideration of the difference between living in an apartment or condo is from living in a single family residence in a subdivision. Are ready to spend weekends or evenings on maintenance or mowing the lawn? Are you settled enough in your job or career that you are not going to be tempted to make spur of the moment decisions to move to another city or state?

Life Style Readiness:Home ownership involves a lot more personal responsibility than apartment living. It may be that your life style has already changed and no longer fits apartment living. That's a positive reason for considering home ownership. If you are single living alone it may not be a problem to be gone from your apartment for a week or two at a time. Very little can go wrong while you are away. However if you are single living alone in a single family residence and you are gone for a week or two at a time you have to think about security, lawn maintenance, etc. The point is that you should consider whether your preferred life style is more suited to renting or buying and factor that into your decision.

Emotional Readiness: Buying a home ranks up there with marriage, the birth of a child, loss of job, and divorce as one of the most stressful experiences anyone will face. Some people handle stress better than others but when it comes to high stress situations, even individuals who normally take change in stride may find it difficult to stay on an even keel. We know that the more change we are facing at any given time, the greater the level of stress we feel. If there are a number of significant changes going on in your life, you might consider working through the other stressors before you take on the search for a home.

Financial Readiness:It happens several times a week. A prospective buyer will call to ask about a home they have seen on the Internet or one they have driven by. I am happy to answer their question about price, number of bedrooms, etc. but I always pose a question of my own. How much can you afford to spend on a house? Are you pre-qualified by a lender? Nine times out of ten they are not prepared to answer either question. Too often they have no money saved for a down payment and have no idea how much the monthly mortgage payment will be for a house in the price range they are considering.

It's really not rocket science to figure out if a buyer is ready financially to buy a home. How much money do you have for a down payment and closing costs? Whatever that number is, divide it by 0.20 and use the answer as the upper limit for the selling price of homes to consider. But don't stop there. The follow-up question is equally critical. How much are you spending each month at present for housing costs including rent, utilities and insurance? Is it ever difficult to come up with the rent on time? If your rent went up by $100 or $200 a month would that be a problem for you? What you are looking for is how much you can spend each month based on your current income for a mortgage payment, taxes, insurance and utilities. Now you will be able to back into an answer to the question, What price home can I afford?

As your Buyer's Agent I will insist that you answer these questions honestly. Don't try to con yourself or pretend that somehow you can pay significantly more for monthly payments plus utilities than you are spending now. You are the one who will pay the price if you take on more house than you can pay for. Don't do it.

John E Cleek, Ph.D., REALTOR®

GRI, e-PRO, ABR, SFR, CSP
Crown Realty of Kansas

The Real Estate Professional
Education and Marketing Consultant
Workshops, Seminars, In-House Training
Author of the comprehensive new consumer guide to home buying
Seven Steps to Home Ownership

www.home-buying-made-easy.com

Louisburg, Kansas. A Place Where People Live By Choice. 

A small town that honors its heritage and welcomes its future … A community that is senior citizen friendly and a perfect place to raise a family … A community where people work together to solve problems and respond to opportunities …

Fourteen years ago our family was looking for a place to live. We visited every community within driving distance of my work as a professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Finally we discovered Louisburg. We knew immediately that we had found a home. You don't have to spend much time in Louisburg before you realize that this is a very special community.

What makes it so special? It is the people – their friendly and welcoming spirit. Visit Louisburg and you'll agree that Louisburg, Kansas is a great place to live, work, shop, and play. We have excellent schools, highly qualified and caring teachers in every classroom; compassionate churches who respond to the needs of residents and visitors alike; active civic organizations; a very active senior citizens center; effective local government; a strong and vibrant business community; and an abundance of leisure and recreational opportunities for people of all ages.

We are proud of our history yet we embrace the future. We accept the desirability of growth yet we insist that growth be controlled so that it not destroy the sense of community that brings us together.

When I retired from teaching and administration at the University, I was already known as one of Louisburg's most enthusiastic promoters. A real estate license made it possible to continue selling Louisburg and earn an income in the process. Hard to beat a deal like that.

We are a small county immediately south of Johnson County, the largest county in Kansas. I lived in Johnson County for more than 20 years and maintain extensive ties to Johnson County. Of course I assist buyers and sellers there as well as in Miami County but anyone who is ready to live in a smaller community should consider Louisburg. It is definitely, "a place where people live by choice."

There is an old saying that, You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It is equally difficult to turn a home buying mistake into a stable and secure mortgage, particularly when you encounter the perfect storm of a bad economy and record low home prices.

Dealing with the existing mountain of at-risk mortgages is one thing (the subject of another blog post), this blog deals with stemming the tide of new mortgages that could end up facing the same fate. I offer the following Ten Commandments for Home Buyers as my contribution to reducing the risk that today's home buyer will find themselves at risk of losing their home three to five years outl

I. DO: Choose a Buyer's Agent you trust and feel comfortable with and let them guide you through the process.

The general public is inadequately informed about the specialized roles of real estate agents. In every transaction there should be two agents, one representing the seller and the other representing the buyer. Contrary to popular misconception, a Buyer's Agent does not involve an added expense for the Buyer. Most listing agreements call for the Seller to pay a commission to both agents at closing.

II. DON'T Start looking at homes before you know what you can afford.

If you start looking at homes before you know what you can afford, you risk setting your expectation level so high that none of the homes in your affordable range will be acceptable. Never let a buyer's agent convince you to buy more than you can afford! When the mortgage payments start, you'll be on your own. Your Buyer's Agent will help you find a loan officer who will work with you to determine what price home you can afford and provide you with a pre-qualification or pre-approval letter before you start looking at homes. Keep in mind however that just because they will loan you the money doesn't mean you can afford to spend that much on a home. The question is: Can you handle the month to month cost of the home you are considering?

III. DON'T Call the Sign Agent for information about a home.

Although over 90% of home buyers today go online to look for homes, most still want to drive around and see what homes are on the market. When you see a sign in the yard of a home that looks interesting the logical thing to do is to write down the name and phone number of the agent whose name is on the sign. You should know however that the agent whose name is on the sign is the exclusive representative of the Seller and by law in many states cannot act as the representative of both Buyer and Seller. Your Buyer's Agent will have access to all pertinent information about all listings in the area. If there is a need to contact the listing agent, your buyer's agent will do this for you. In addition to the name and phone number of the sign agent, be sure to write down the physical address of the home. That's all your buyer's agent will need to obtain complete details about the listing for you.

IV. DON'T Visit Open Houses without your Buyer's Agent.

If you visit an Open House without your agent, be sure to give the host your Agent's business card. Otherwise they will be calling you back seeking to become your agent. This can create conflict between your buyer's agent and the listing agent who is hoping you don't have an agent and will consider letting him/her represent you in your home search.

V. If you have an existing home to sell, DO place it on the market before you make an offer on another home.

There is no worse feeling than to lose the perfect home because your present home didn't sell in time (unless it is making payments on two homes at the same time.) Consider asking your Buyer's Agent to list your present home. This keeps both parts of the buying and selling process coordinated. It also puts your Buyer's Agent in a stronger position in negotiating with the Seller's Agent for a home.

VI. DO Be clear on what you need in a home versus what you want in a home.

If you can afford to include some of the items from your WANT list, that's great, but not if it means you are so over-extended financially that you can't enjoy the home you purchase. By all means don't sacrifice QUALITY for FRILLS. Granite counter tops or a hot tub may be nice to have but they are not as important as a solid foundation or a dry basement in terms of long range value. If you doubt the wisdom of this advice, have a chat with some of the homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

VII. DON'T Hesitate to make an offer when you find the home that meets your needs; but DON'T act so quickly that you fail to engage in due diligence.

If you spend enough time at the beginning to clearly define your needs, determine what you can afford, and arrange for financing, you can act quickly before someone else buys the house you want. Visit the house several times, drive through the neighborhood at different times of the day, take different routes to get there, locate key services such as supermarkets and schools to make sure you are comfortable with the neighborhood. Meet some of the neighbors before making your final decision. It is people that make life enjoyable and you should make sure you are comfortable with the people around you.

VIII. NEVER negotiate out of fear, but never fear to negotiate.

A corollary is: Never fall in love with a house you don't own. If you do, it is virtually impossible to negotiate a favorable deal because you can't imagine losing the house you feel you must have. It is through the process of offer and counter-offer that a mutully acceptable deal is achieved. If you do your homework and frame your offer realistically based on the market, you will be negotiating from strength.

IX. NEVER talk directly to the seller's agent or the seller about your plans, interests, financial ability, motivation, urgency, etc.

You'll find self-styled experts who will tell you that negotiating for a home is too important to leave to an agent who may be more concerned about earning a commission than securing the best deal for you. If you have an agent you don't trust to make a good deal for you, you have the wrong buyer's agent. Your Buyer's Agent is a professional, trained to negotiate the best deal for you. Don't complicate the process by accidentally revealing information that makes your Agent's task more difficult. What the other party doesn't know, can't hurt you.

X. DO employ licensed professionals for all inspections.

Inspections serve three very important functions: They identify problems that must be corrected before you close on a house. They identify other problems that you will want to correct either before you move in, or shortly thereafter. And, they may provide your Agent with items to be used in negotiating a better deal for you. If you are buying a used car you are going to want to test drive it, and perhaps take it to a mechanic you trust to determine if it is a good buy. Home inspection is an important part of your due diligence. After you close escrow and take title to the home, it is too late to discover problems that could have easily been discovered by employing a qualified inspector.

If you have selected the right agent and followed your agent's advice, you should now be able to start packing and prepare for moving into your new home. And even more importantly, you can look forward to enjoying your new home with a reduced risk that you might lose it should another Perfect Storm be encountered in the future.

John Cleek, Author, Seven Steps to Home Ownership

http://www.home-buying-made-easy.com

I have spent the past five years working in the traditional mode of focusing on listing homes and representing buyers and sellers in response to email, phone call, Internet, walk-in, and referral leads as well as to leads resulting from my own prospecting, SOI contacts, etc. I have naturally brought my own style and my own twist to this but there is nothing particularly unique about how I have been operating. I don't have a system to peddle.

Along the way I have explored many of the coaching and business building programs offered, each of which claimed to be the best yet, produce results others only dream of, etc. Each citing the success of their clients as reasons why it would work for me or you or anyone else willing to pay thousands of dollars for the books, tapes, hour-per-week telephone calls, etc. Real Estate is not a lot different from other areas in that the one who usually makes the most money from these systems is the one promoting the system.

I spent thousands on subscriptions to REALTOR.com, top producer, eNeighborhood, and others. I have looked at hundreds of agent websites, some custom designed, some template drive, many with a very attractive look and feel, and others that wouldn't win any awards for aesthics. I've tried to analyze these sites, not just by look and feel but from the standpoint of what they offer the consumer and why a buyer or seller would want to bookmark them and return later, why a buyer or seller would decide to use the sponsor of the site to help them find a home or sell a home, and in terms of how they went about lead capture. I have invested in Pay-per-Click with some success and I have optimized my own sites with considerable success.

Reflecting on all of this input or environmental scan, one of the inescapable conclusions I drew from my research (some of it very expensive research) was that very few agents do a very good job of communicating their core business. Boil it down and most agents are saying:

You want to list a house? We can do that!

You want to buy a house? We can sell you one!

Want to know know about current mortgage rates? We can provide the info!

Want to know about tax credits? We can help you!

Want to find a foreclosure to buy? We can help you!

While this may sound like everyone is a full-service agency and can offer a wide range of services, the image created may be, I am a jack of all trades, and a master of none!

One of the principles of successful business is: FOCUS!

Most successful businesses know precisely what their core business is and they focus on it like a laser beam. Everything they do is targeted on their core business.

Following that principle, I have spent the past year preparing for the launching in 2010 of a new FOCUS to my business. Yes, I am still a REALTOR; I am still in the Real Estate Business; I will still help you market your home if you like and I will do a very good job for you if I am your marketing agent.

But my primary business as of January 2010 is, I am John Cleek, The Buyer's Agent!

Here's what that means for me:
1. I introduced a new website (not just a tweaking of one of my existing sites) 3 days ago at www.home-buying-made-easy.com check it out. I am still adding to it and will be for some time to come but the basic layout, the landing page, won't change a lot from the way it is now. Check out Cleek's 10 Dos and Don'ts for Home Buyers.

2. I have completed my new consumer guide to buying a home, Seven Steps to Home Ownership, Home Buying Made Easy. The book will be available via Amazon in April, before too long a Kindle version will be ready, and an e-book edition is available now. Immediate download is available through the website listed above. This book was written for Buyers first, not as an alternative to using a buyer's agent but as a companion to using an agent. I plan to give a copy of the book to every buyer who seeks my services.

3. I will introduce the Buyer's Newsletter in March which will be a monthly free online source of current news about anything and everything of interest to home buyers. Sign-up will be on the above website.

4. I am developing a Registry for interested Buyer's Agents from anywhere in the country who are interested in receiving referrals from buyers in their area. This will not be a registry where all you have to do is pass the breath/mirror test and have a current real estate license. I will have a checklist of qualifications as a screening tool to make sure that those who sign the registry are in fact committed and qualified to provide robust service to buyers. (The book includes, on page 29 in the online version,  a Buyer's Agent Job Description which is much more demanding than just possession a license to practice real estate.)

5. Links to online resources including an IDX search, interactive calculators such as the Ginnie Mae, How Much Can I Afford to Spend, and Kiplinger's How much will my house payment be?

6. An FAQ for Home Buyers which will include answers to all of the questions submitted by Buyers. Consumers who purchase the book will use a dedicated e-mail address to ask questions and obtain answers free but they will be asked to show evidence they first checked the FAQ so as not to ask a question already answered.

I am interested in hearing how you see the FOCUS of your business in the year ahead. I am also open to collaborate with anyone who shares my focus on buyer agency.

Well, he was correct, even though the cause and effect might have been jumbled a bit. And what does that have to do with real estate or anything else in today's world? My son's words uttered over 40 years ago came to mind as I thought about how jumbled and entangled our real estate market is today. We talk about a market economy but the distortions in the marketplace have become more and more pronounced over the last decade or more. And there is plenty of blame to go around. So, this essay is not about whose fault it is, but more about what went wrong and where do we go from here.

When owning a home became more important than being able to afford it -- and I'm not just talking about individuals or families with low income. I'm talking about the effort on the part of the Yuppies -- remember them? -- to demonstrate how upwardly mobile they were by buying a home well beyond their means believing it would impress their friends and give them the appearance of greater success than they had yet achieved. I am talking about anyone who purchased a home without thinking about what if my income goes down, or I or a family member becomes seriously ill, or the economy goes south. I am talking about those who bought homes with interest only loans, or ARM's that would be well beyond their ability to pay in 5 years. Need I go on? You get the picture.

When it's real, real dark you can't see the moon. How about when new foreclosures are being filed at the rate of 100,000 per month, it's hard to see a future when the laws of supply and demand drive a stable market. When Short Sales are flooding the market as homeowners who are in financial distress find that the equity they expected to have in their home has been washed away or blown away by the bursting of the bubble that drove home prices way beyond reality over the past few years.

The housing market has had its ups and downs over the years and the sages of the business tell us confidently that this is the third or fourth downturn in the market during their career and they weathered all of them. I am the eternal optimist and I believe we will weather this one as well. But I am also enough of a realist to know that until the glut of properties on the market at non-market- driven prices is dealt with, a stable market will be hard to achieve.

The old adage, 'the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get', seems relevant. As more agents begin to focus on short sales and foreclosures, the supply of short sale and foreclosure property seems to increase so that the net effect is that we have more distressed properties on the market today than we did yesterday. It seems obvious to me that it is imperative that we focus on the source of the problem rather than the results alone. We must reduce the supply of new foreclosures and short sale listings if we are to ever catch up and get back to some approximation of equilibrium in the marketplace.

I believe EVERY REALTOR® who intends to stay in this business owes it to themselves and to their colleagues to become an expert on Loan Modification. Not as a source of income but as a value added service to our communities and to our profession. Let the word go out in every community that we as REALTORS® are willing to pay it forward by providing any homeowner in trouble with their mortgage sound advice and guidance about how they can stay in their home. That may only consist of giving them a link to the Making Home Affordable website . Hopefully it will be more robust than a simple referral. Of course we should not go beyond our knowledge and expertise or provide legal or tax advice. But we can help them to believe that help is available. Tell them they can call 888-995-HOPE and ask for help. Tell them they don't need to pay big retainers to someone to do it for them.

When it's real, real dark you can't see the moon. But if we do our part to clear the clouds of confusion that exist we may collectively begin to reduce the supply of foreclosures and short sale listings and thus make room for the market to achieve some degree of stability.

A couple of years ago I was approached by a homeowner who had a problem with a small house on which she owed over $100,000 (1st and 2nd) and realistically the market value of the home was under $40,000. At that time I had never listed a short sale but thought I knew what it was and assumed I could figure it out along the way. 

For starters, I listed the property at $75,000 (my first mistake) and predictably had only a few lookers and no one close to making an offer. We even tried advertising an auction and no buyers showed up for the sale. I kept trying to contact the 1st lender (buyer had already decided she would borrow money from her parents and pay  the 2nd mortgage so I was focusing on the 1st. I could go on with a blow by blow of how I kept making mistakes due to my complete lack of experience and expertise. The seller was great -- she knew I was working hard (but unfortunately not working very smart). When the listing expired I advised her to notify the lender that she could not make her payments and would not make any defense of a foreclosure proceeding.

In the two intervening years, I have made it a point to attend every seminar and workshop, search the Internet for everything I could find relating to short sales and turn my weakness into a strength. I partipate in the RealTown Short Sales Strategies Group which includes some of the most experienced and capable agents in the country who are always available to lend support, encouragement, and information when anyone in the group needs help. Whether this makes me an expert I leave to others. All I know is that I now approach a Short Sale listing with confidence that I at least know how to do it right. I don't promise the seller success because that depends on two elements out of control -- the lender and a buyer.

Generally the training programs that exist and the available literature focuses primarily on the listing agent and the process one should follow in listing a short sale property. By now there is a general consensus that the process is driven by the lender(s) and we have simply accepted that each lender will have their own set of procedures, timelines, communication style, etc. Even though there are common elements in all -- hardship letter, financial worksheet, etc. -- each lender has a different requirement about when to send these documents and how much time they allow themselves before responding.

But there is another critically important issue that if not handled properly may diminish the chances of successful conclusion of the short sale. As a Buyer's Agent, I will discourage my buyers from considering your short sales if your answer to the question: What is the proper course of action for the seller's agent when an offer is received? is unsatisfactory!

The correct answer is simply, You handle an offer on a short sale listing the same way you handle an offer on any other sale, EXCEPT that if the Seller accepts the offer, you then forward the offer to the lender(s) following the stated procedures of the lender. That means you review the offer with the seller; you make sure they understand what happens if they do, or do not, sign it; and if they sign it (which they should since the only impact on the seller will be the possible request by the lender for the seller to sign a promissory note for the difference between the offer and the mortgage) you forward it to the lender for approval. If the seller signs the offer you MUST change the MLS status of the property from ACTIVE to CONTINGENT or SHOW FOR BACKUPS or whatever local MLS guidelines permit. Failure to change the status is grossly unfair to buyers and buying agents who have a right to know whether their offer will be considered immediately or will simply be placed in a file to be considered only if other offers are denied approval by the lender.

I owe it to my buyer clients to perform due diligence on any property they are considering. Before they submit an offer I want them to know what similar properties in the area have sold for recently, what changes may be expected in the neighborhood in the future, etc. I also want them to know if there are any other offers pending on the property. I should be able to rely on the MLS status for this information. If I learn after submitting an offer on your short sale property that you already have 3 other offers awaiting approval by the lender, I will courteously inform you that a) your seller cannot legally enter into a sales contract with 3 buyers simultaneously; or b) only one offer should be submitted to a lender at a time and only if the seller has signed and accepted the offer; c) I am immediately withdrawing our offer which was submitted under false assumptions about the property; and d) unless I have assurance that the status of your short sale listings will be changed in the future to reflect offers received, I will not submit any offers in the future for your listings.

If you are the Listing Agent for a short sale property, you are short changing your clients when you fail to handle their listing properly. You not only short change the seller for a single property; you short change all future sellers who may entrust you with the listing of their short sale property.

But Buyer's Agents are not without blame. Showing and preparing offers for short sale properties is different than showing and making  an offer on other properties. Before showing a short sale property you should attempt to learn which lender is involved; whether there is a 2nd mortgage; has a BPO or appraisal been completed, and are there any pending offers on the property. I don't hesitate to send an email to the listing agent stating that I have a buyer who may decide to submit an offer for this property but I need some information before I can proceed. I am not asking the seller's agent to violate any confidential information. I simply want to know what I could learn by going to the courthouse or what should already be a matter of record on the MLS.

As a Buyer's Agent I may short change my buyers in another way with regard to short sales. I spend time informing them in considerable detail exactly what a short sale is, the procedure involved, the time it may take, and help them to understand how this impacts them. I make sure that the offer we submit includes an exit strategy at reasonable points along the way. For example, we always include a provision that the buyer may withdraw the offer if the lender has not accepted the offer by a specified date.

Finally, if you are the Seller's agent in a short sale, you will short change your clients if you are unclear regarding the commissions offered. Whether requested by the lender or not, you should always submit a preliminary HUD 1 with your offer. In that settlement statement you should show the commission for both agents. Frequently the lender may attempt to reduce the commission. And too often the Seller's agent, makes no attempt to defend the commission in the contract. You should know when you submit an offer to a lender whether the loan is a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan (or an FHA loan). When the lender suggests that approval will not be forthcoming until the commission is reduced, the proper response is: NO. Ask them have they cleared their request with Freddie or Fannie or FHA. Some will not know of the rules laid down by these agencies; or they will claim this is not a Freddie or Fannie loan (call them on this), or they will back off and not raise the issue again. If you negotiate down my buyer's agent commission (even if you have warned me in advance that any reduction will be shared by both agents) I may have little recourse on this sale, but don't expect any future offers from my buyers on your listings.

 I doubt I am the only REALTOR®  who creates their own narrative every time they show a home, especially a foreclosure or short sale property. As I approach the house I observe the attention to detail reflected in the maintenance or lack of maintenance visible from a distance. As I fumble with the lockbox I notice the little things, the polished doorknob or the broken screen on the front of the house.

Opening the door I am immediately hit with an assault on my olfactory sense and find the musty smell of mold a tell-tale sign that the former owners reached a point of desperation before moving out and either deliberately or inadvertently allowed the commodes to overflow or the shower to overspray onto the bathroom floor and soak through the floor and into the drywall ceiling below.

As I lead the wary buyers down the stairs to the partially finished basement I am overwhelmed by the stack of building materials waiting for the owners to finish what they have started and I realize that they had good intentions. They had dreams of a home for their family when they realized that the sky really was falling and they would be forced to retreat to a small decrepit rental unit or single-wide perhaps never to dare dreaming again.

As I share the excitement of the young first-time buyers who tell me how they are going to finish the basement, mitigate the mold, trim the lawn and create their own American Dream, I can't help shedding a tear for the family that a year or so earlier had similar dreams.

Our business is not about numbers and square feet and interest rates and short sales. It is about people, about families, about dreams and shattered dreams. Unless you are willing to let the narratives of the families you serve connect with your emotional inner being, you will miss the greatest reward of being a REALTOR®.  If we are afraid of being hurt when we share the broken dreams of one family, we will not have the joy of sharing the budding dreams of another.

It has been more than half a century since I was an undergraduate in Opal Cole's Speech Class in which she required everyone in her class to prepare and present a speech on the same topic: Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude! I don't remember what I said but I will never forget the topic. There is no doubt in my mind that our attitudes are a major determinant of our success.

Of course skill and knowledge are essential if we are to perform well but competence alone is insufficient as a springboard for successful sustained performance. And the more challenging the business environment becomes, the greater the importance of attitude becomes. Listening to some agents talk, you would think that there is no alternative but for all of us to throw in the towel and close up shop. 

Why would anyone want to do business with a REALTOR® who exudes pessimism and defeatism?  How's the Real Estate Business? Terrible! Sound familiar? If that is our attitude we have already lost the battle. Are some niches and markets for real estate in shambles. Of course they are. But that does not mean that all niches and markets are in shambles.

With record low interest rates and real estate prices the lowest in recent memory, this may be the best opportunity first-time home buyers will  every see. Add to the mix, an $8,000 tax credit and what is a surprise to me is that there is not a stampede among eligible buyers to take advantage of these highly favorable conditions. How's the real estate market? It has never been better! There are some incredible opportunities in the market! Those are the messages we should be sending in these troubled times.

Yes, our attitude may well determine our altitude!