97 Year Old Real Estate Agent has 4 lessons for todays "tough" market!

I take absolutely no credit for this post but the headline caught my eye and I couldn't resist sharing.  John Roach of Switchyard Media interviewed 97 year old George W. Johnson to get his perspective on today's market. 

Mr. Johnson works in the Seattle market and still goes to the office six days a week.  He has seen his fair share of "booms and busts" since he first hung his single 74 years ago.

His 4 lessons for today's market?

"Beware one-company towns: Cities dependent on a single company or industry are more vulnerable to jarring downturns if the economy goes south. The Rust Belt's old factory towns have made that abundantly clear.

"Don't get greedy. Johnson blames "plain old greed" for the latest real-estate downturn — people got caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment and banks egged them on with cheap loans.

"Timing is everything. "In this market, any young person that hasn't bought a house ought to buy one," Johnson says. "A buyers market doesn't come along that often … you just can hardly help but make money on whatever you buy today at the prices they are."

"If you don't have to sell, hang on. Unfortunately, Johnson expects sellers to continue to suffer, at least for now. Buyers, on the other hand, "know it's a buyers market – they are going to come in with offers below what we've appraised it at just because they know a lot of people have to sell," he says."

It was what Mr. Johnson said at the very end though that I thought was the best lesson of all:

"We've done a good job," he says of his business. "We've been careful and honest and thorough and it's been good service, and I think that will always produce, no matter what business you're in."

Rock on Mr. Johnson, rock on . . .

 

Michael Bergin

Your Realtor in Alexandria and Northern Virginia - ABR - SRES - Military Relocation