We are all looking for ways to increase our incomes, diversify our businesses, expand our operations, and add value-added services to retain existing clients, just so we can survive during this current real estate cycle that we find ourselves in. 

Real estate agents and brokers who can reinvent, redesign, and regroup their real estate businesses will be successful in surviving this current real estate cycle.  Those who can not do so may not survive to see the full recovery that already appears to be in progress. 

Who Moved My Cheese?

This discussion reminds me of a great little book that I read years ago written by Dr. Spencer Johnson, M.D., entitled Who Moved My Cheese. 

This great little book is a very quick and easy read.  And, it makes a very important and critical point regarding survival.  It demonstrates in a very clever way that you must be ready to move, to adapt, to change in order to survive. 

Who Moved My Cheese will not provide any solutions to your specific business issues or needs, but it does delivery a very powerful message about being ready for change, being agile, being flexible, and actually moving (read "do something") to find your next piece of cheese ("opportunity") when your cheese is unexpectedly moved.  Your survival in this current real estate market cycle depends on your ability to change by reinventing, redesigning and regrouping. 

I would highly recommend reading it if you have not already done so.  In fact, you might even consider buying and giving it out to your entire real estate team to help them understand what you are trying to accomplish. 

Blue Ocean Strategy

Being ready for change and willing to adapt is one thing, but knowing what to do is an entirely different matter altogether.  It reminds me of a quote by Albert Einstein.  He defines "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." How many times do we keep doing the same thing the way we have always done it and we keep hoping for a different outcome? 

Blue Ocean Strategy is about reinventing, redesigning and regrouping in such a way that you make your competition obsolete.  In other words, the competition does not matter.  They can't touch you. 

Real estate professionals need to look for ways to build, expand and diversify their real estate businesses in such a way that you offer or provide products or services that your competition does not.  Look for ways to think and work outside of the box. 

The Exeter Group of Companies

It was no different at The Exeter Group of Companies.  We were already looking for ways to diversify our real estate services operations when the economy took the inevitable plunge.  The Exeter Group of Companies specializes in tax-deferred and tax exclusion transaction strategies. 

Now, since the capital and credit markets froze during the early stages of the recession, and banks, real estate lenders, and mortgage brokers were no longer lending on real estate investments, 1031 Exchange transaction volume plunged by 70% to 90% in most geographic areas, including and especially in the California real estate market. 

So, how do you stay within your tax-deferred and tax exclusion specialty and still provide a service needed in the current real estate market cycle? You identify and implement a Blue Ocean Strategy for your operation. 

We realized that taxpayers were still selling assets (real estate, personal property, and businesses), and that taxpayers still had taxable capital gain issues to worry about.  But, the 1031 Exchange was not necessarily a viable option because they could not obtain the necessary financing in order to acquire replacement property.  However, taxpayers do not want to get hit with all of the taxes in the year of sale. 

An Alternate Strategy: The Deferred Sales Trust

An alternative to the 1031 Exchange was needed to help taxpayers that did not want to or could not use the 1031 Exchange.  It had to allow them to sell highly appreciated assets - whether it be real estate, personal property or businesses - and defer the payment of their taxable gain over a period of time selected by them. 

So, we joined forces with the Estate Planning Team to offer the Deferred Sales Trust.  Taxpayers can sell highly appreciated assets through the Deferred Sales Trust and defer the payment of their capital gain taxes over a period of time of their choice pursuant to Section 453 of the Internal Revenue Code - just like an installment sale contract. 

Taxpayers can choose the 1031 Exchange when they can and do want to reinvest in replacement property and they can choose the Deferred Sales Trust when they can't or don't want to reinvest in replacement property but do want to at least defer the payment of their taxes.

Realtors Can Offer The Deferred Sales Trust As Their Blue Ocean Strategy

You can choose to offer the Deferred Sales Trust as your Blue Ocean Strategy, too.  This will set you apart from your competition.  You will bring more value to the table for your clients.  Click here to learn more about expanding your real estate business with the Deferred Sales Trust while increasing your income at the same time.