Douglas A. McIntyre of the Wall Street 24/7 wrote an article that was published on the start page for Yahoo this morning. The above headline caught my eye...so I quickly scanned down to see who those industries were and was surprised to see my own profession. Seeing, construction, cars, newspapers and airlines was not a huge revelation...but Realtors was. Take a look at the paragraph below from this article:
9. Realtors. The National Association of Realtors reports that there were 1,370,758 Realtors in October 2006 -- the peak of the market. By the end of 2007, the figure was below 1.2 million. The number is below 1.1 million today and has continued on a downward trend. Home prices have dropped so far and so few homes are sold, that the ability to make money in the business disappears by the day.
Okay...I get it...there are less realtors than there were in 2006. It does make sense based on what he said. However, I don't agree with him that our industry may never recover. Personally, I think that not only are we recovering...but we are getting better. The number of Realtors does not determine the success or longevity of our industry. Tough economic times weeds out the ones that are in it for the quick buck and leaves the cream of the crop...the ones that should be in the industry.
I will be the first to admit that I am struggling to make the money I used to back when I first started in 1994 and the years that followed. But, I can confidently say, there's no other business I'd rather be in. The good agents will shift with the times and use it to become better at what they do. They will think outside the box. They will work harder and smarter.
Douglas, I appreciate your take based on statistics...but I choose to believe the best is yet to come.
To read the entire article go to the following link:
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