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Slow Time? What Slow Time?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Green Light Real Estate

Stick Season In Montpelier and Barre

I will admit, the phones aren't ringing as steadily, and I'm getting fewer email inquiries about our listings as I did throughout the spring, summer, and early fall...but it's not dead.  Not by a long shot. 

Two weeks ago I had three offers come in (2 are accepted, one is a short sale, so you never know when that'll land).  Last week I added another offer and a new listing.  Today I'm headed out to see about a listing, and then this morning I had an email inquiry wanting to know about selling her house. 

I'm not going to count any chickens before they've hatched, but this is certainly a busier November than I thought I'd have.  Back in January when I started (I can't believe this is my first year...I should've been doing this for a long time!), people assured me that it was the worst possible time to start a career selling real estate.  My (perhaps naive) response then was that if I could make a go at it and stay in business when the market's down, when unemployment's up, and when people think it's a bad time to start a career selling real estate, then I'd have a grand old time when things turned around.

I think I was right.  When I hear veteran agents talking about how this was the strangest, least profitable year in which they had to do more work to close fewer deals than in recent memory, I smile to myself.  You mean it gets better than this?

Perhaps I better bookmark this posting, and read it again in January to cheer myself up.  Then again, I spent all summer telling my wife that she'll get enough of having dinner with me come November.  Well, here it is the week before Thanksgiving..

Mark Montross
Catamount Realty Group - Burlington, VT
Listing and Buyer Specialist

Hello Ray, Congratulations on your success! You have had a great first year in the business. I have been in the business since November and everyone told me the same things that they told you - about how bad the market and economy are, how now is not the time to start your own business, etc. I am working with a broker with 19 years of experience and its just the two of us and it has been a very good first 3.5 months. We are both learning in a 'slow' market so I can only imagine how nice it will be when things 'pick up'. Best Wishes for a successful 2010.

Feb 08, 2010 11:28 AM