We all know as the year ends, we take stock on how our 2008 plans/goals materialized or didn't. We begin thinking of what the stumbling blocks were. We like to blame our broker managers, or office but some of us look inward for the lack of success. Did we not stick to the plan in terms of prospecting, did we let our lack of business drag us down? Was the plan flawed right from the start?. Maybe the plan was good but it simply was not effectively implemented.

Whatever 2008 looks like for you, if you're planning on staying in the business, you're about to re-energize your future. It usually starts with taking a hard look at the 2008 plan. Maybe the plan was unrealistic, maybe it wasn't consistently executed, or maybe the tools were not there to assist you.

Often a change in location - a change from one office to another will energize your efforts. If you do decide to take that route, don't expect that the impressive toolset presented at your interview with the new office will do the trick for your 2009. So many of us jump from office to office hoping the next will be THE place where our business will take off, but not changing the way we work or holding ourselves accountable.

I say - look inward. In order to achieve success, good tools and good support is critical. You should make sure you align yourself with a company that has a technology vision, provides planning support and consistent coaching. But if YOU don't take responsibility for where you are now and where you want to go, it really doesn't matter what toolsets a brokerage provides for you. Use this end of year time to assess your efforts in 2008. Be realistic, set achievable and trackable goals. Look at that plan and measure yourself DAILY - I guarantee you'll be proud of your efforts this time next year! And you WILL achieve success!

Great News!

Ok - so it's not so small and not so far away from a big city. Medway, in fact, is a bedroom community, where the exit roads are filled from 6-9 in the a.m. and from 3-7pm as workers manage their way to and from work.

There is a country feel to this town. It was in fact, a farming area not too many years ago and still a few farms thrive in the area. But a tractor pull in Medway seems to be a bit of a strange aberration I've seen the signs before announcing the event. I've often passed by this farm while rushing to a soccer game. Once in a while I'd catch the cows crossing the street from field to barn (with the help of the farmer directing them).

The cows are since gone but the tractor pull - it lives on. On a beautful autumn day I decided to visit the event. After all it's been 20 years that I've lived here and I've never actually carved out a time to see what a tractor pull is all about. I have to say it was interesting. Where do all these tractors come from?

It's a competitive event, it seems ~ but in slow motion. It's one way to spend a Sunday - A beautiful Sunday! Don't knock it until you try it!

Take a closer look by clicking here!

 If you're considering Medway for a new home town to live, call me, your Medway Realtor!

I know = It's not the end of the third quarter so why am I talking about 3rd quarter statistics? - Because just around this time I'm itching to see how our real estate sales compare to last year.  I know - All real estate is local so I'm not about to make generalized predictions on what I'm seeing, but just as I can't wait to look to see how we compare to last year (the end of quarter is less than 10 days away and I'm factoring in any homes under agreement), I also have to look first at my home town.  

Medway, Ma is a good town to watch when it comes to real estate.  We're somewhat typical of most towns in the MetroWest area of Boston.  Some larger towns in this area are struggling with foreclosures affecting the town as a whole and drastically affecting some neighborhoods.  Medway has not gone unscathed when it comes to what short sales and bank owned properties can do to market values.  Not too very long ago it was unheard of to see a home priced under $300k in this town.  In 2008, there were 43 SINGLE FAMILY homes LISTED under $300k.  That's quite a change from 2005!  In fact, four of those homes were listed UNDER $200k.  

So what do the statistics show?  Well, I was happy to see that in this 3rd quarter, we managed to sell the same number of homes in 2008 that we sold in 2007 - approximately 37 homes.  Yes the median and average price has dropped - In this quarter though in 2008, our highest sale price in Medway was $760k whereas in 2007 a $1.1 million home sold, so average and median is skewed by that one sale.  (Incidentally there were no Million dollar homes sold in Medway this year - The highest price sold was $929,900)

So what do the statistics say ? Well - not to keep you in suspense any longer - our median and average home price has dropped, no surprise.  The data shows average sale price dropped from 398,861 in 2007 to 362,112 in 2008 if the numbers meant anything - We know prices have fallen the past year.   Have we seen another 10% drop?  We may have.  But the good news is that the number of homes sold has stayed the same.  People are still getting on with their lives.  If it makes sense to move, they're moving.  People still see the value in living in Medway - the same number of people have chosen to make Medway their home this quarter this year as they did last year... Flat - but flat is good. 

When it comes to residential real estate, why does the market matter?  We are all immersed in what the real estate market is doing.  There is never - NEVER - a 30 min news segment that we don't see something about the doom and gloom of the market.  It's truly a wonder that the market and the spin that the media puts on it - hasn't stagnated all of us into immobility- when it comes to real estate.  

What we have to remember is a home is a life choice - Life goes on - and there's a good chance that choice you make to move in or move up is one that you'll be enjoying for a long time to come.  Recently a buyer I'm working with put an offer on a home in Medway in a very nice neighborhood - Not a big neighborhood but well over a dozen beautiful homes.   When doing a market analysis for her on the value of the home, I was astonished to see only one home had sold in that neighborhood since 1993!!! That means 11 families or so who bought into that neighborhood when it was built in 1993 are still living there.   If these decisions we make for this life change span years (in my case 20 years), why would what the market is doing really factor into such an important decision for your life. 

It's a great time to buy - Rates are low and there are lots of deals out there.  It's a great time to move up.  Benefit from the declining market by taking a smaller loss on your house but benefiting from getting a better price on the home you're moving up to.   If your home was worth $300k a while ago and you can sell it at $270k now (a 10% loss)  - And you move to a home that was priced a while back at $600k - and you can pick it up for 10% less - your savings on that house is $60k or a net benefit to you of $30k just for buying in this market -  CALL ME if you'd like to look!