Perception

My granddaughter, Zoe, turned 7 a couple of days ago. Zoe is very small for her age, she tips the scales at a whopping 31 pounds! and is still having to suffer the indignity of riding in a car seat. She also only has 4 toes on each foot. That's no problem, she was walking at 9 months and my daughter has always treated it like it's normal, putting her in sandals and taking her for pedicures -- that's a whole other blog, but Zoe thinks she should get a discount since she only has 8 toes -- great attitude!

Zoe loves to wear those ridiculous plastic high heels for kids. She's quite a sight prancing around in the kitchen helping her mom fix dinner. Anyway, the other day she told her mom, "These are 4-toed high heels. Rachel (her cousin) has 5 toes and she just can't get her foot in these! Isn't it great they make things like this for people with only 4 toes?"

My daughter and I had a nice chuckle about it. And then I got to thinking, Zoe is just looking at her glass as half full. She isn't feeling sorry for herself, or hiding away that which makes her unique. She is simply making the best of it.

Isn't that what we grownups should be doing? I recently read a blog full of "It's a terrible market." "The housing crisis isn't going to go away" "There are no qualified buyers." "Seller's are unreasonable." (Let's face it, even in a great market most seller's are a little unreasonable!)

If that's your perception -- then yeah, I guess everything is exactly as you see it. But my perception is a lot different.

• I think it's a challenging market, and I eat challenges like they were candy.
• The housing market WILL get better, it's already showing signs of improvement in many markets.
• It may be harder to get qualified, but there are banks making loans and there are qualified buyers. I'm working with a few of them right now.
• Seller's need to be educated. And they need to listen to the expert's. And if they won't, then we, as professionals, need to be willing to walk away and focus our energies on working with serious sellers.

I have been taking this time to get back to basics. Doing those things I did when I first started out way back in the 80's. And I have found that I am enjoying my re-education! The world of real estate is so much fun, and the tools we have today are simply amazing! This slightly slower time has given me a great opportunity to hone my skills and learn all about social media.

It's all about perception, folks. The sun will rise and set. Families, be they 5 strong or just 1, will need to buy and sell homes. And I'm here to help them navigate the waters.

My perception -- it's always a GREAT time for real estate!