Local market suffers slowdown as potential buyers remain wary
This is just an example of the headlines that have been running in our local newspapers. Even worse, are pictures like this that are appearing in the paper, on TV, and on the web.
OUCH!!
10 years ago, I was running a Ford dealership and we encountered one of the worst corporate PR nightmares ever. THE FORD EXPLORER FIRESTONE TIRE EPISODE. Everyday we would wake up to headlines that basically said "DO NOT BUY A FORD" until they get this thing worked out. Not only did this hurt the Explorer sells but it hurt the other Ford models and the other lines we carried.
A lesson I learned from this media nightmare is that the true PUBLIC RELATIONS campaign starts with me. I definitely can't control what Katie Couric is going to say on the TV but I can control what I say and the confidence I exhibit. Yes, I felt sorry for myself during this episode (16-20 hour days, on the phone non-stop, TV interviews, radio interviews, losing money...) but the truth is that this doesn't help one bit. As soon as I took the positives out of this and used the parts of our business that were strong, we as a team slowly came back. It takes a lot of work but this is productive work. Pity parties are easy to throw but do no good.
With the headlines we are facing in our industry we need to do our best at sharing the positives of our industry which our clients will see as confidence. Here are a couple of positives that are currently happening in our industry:
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Home values - every major index put out recently by government agencies and private researchers has found home prices stable or appreciating in most areas of the country.
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Federal Housing Finance Agency's index (released a week ago) found home values up by 1% on average from the prior month.
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The National Association of Realtor's sale report for July found median prices up by .7% on average from the prior month.
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The Wells Fargo-National Association of Home Builders "housing opportunity index" is at a near record level.
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30 year mortgage rates are in the mid 4% range which is near a historic low and helps the affordability factor.
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The last week of August, the unemployment benefits dropped by 6%.
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In the second quarter in Whitman County, home resells increased by 20%.
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In the second quarter in Whitman County, building permits increased by 111%. WOW!
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In Whitman County the affordability factor was at a high of 137. This is a key stat and with interest rates factoring into this factor this is a must that we communicate to our peers and associates. Affordability index measures the ability of a typical family to make payments on median price resale home. It assumes 20% downpayment and 30-year amortizing mortgage.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ~Winston Churchill
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