HAPPY VETERANS DAY! Don’t forget to thank those who served…
IMMINENT- (def) implies more than speculation but less than certainty. An event is imminent if a reasonable person using common sense, training or experience concludes an event will occur unless there is opposing intervention.
The last 24 months has been a very expensive coaching seminar for most REALTORS. Most people I speak with feel as though they are on the 10 yard line with 90 yards to go. But I am here to say we are at 10 and goal. We have faced many challenges over the past 2-3 years in our industry…credit, short sales, foreclosures, falling prices, declining consumer confidence, and declining REALTOR moral. But I know we are on the road to normalcy.
Now don’t misunderstand me…2003-2006 was not
“normal”…. it was a “blip”. All indicators show we are nearing the normal trend lines in most categories. Home prices, although lower, are stabilizing…we are currently bouncing along at the year 2000 sales levels while there are 30 million more potential buyers in the U.S. than there were in 2000. NAR’s Chief Economist states “we need to let natural market forces work to help us obtain the new normal”.
I have been in this business for 22 years, and in the year 2000 I made good profits and thought I was doing well. The “boom” just made us think it would always keep going up. Well, reality has now set in and we have to realize the boom for what is was…A BLIP!
Real Estate is still tied to 19% of GDP in the U.S. …Corporate profits are high and they are sitting on tons of cash…there is an 11 months supply of homes nationally with 3.5 million active listings…interest rates are at rock bottom, and lending requirements are starting to relax in some areas. There is possibly a pent up demand for homes that could become a wave once forces align. Home price to buyer income ratios have dropped, meaning consumers are buying homes they can afford help and the median home price in almost all areas has moved back towards the normal line.
So is success imminent? All indicators say in 12-18 months we should be back to “normal”. What can you do to prepare? Have a good business plan in place…determine what you need to make for the next 12-18 months to survive…set a budget which will allow you to reduce your debt…invest 10% of your earnings back in your business…and prospect EVERY DAY for new business. Secondly, write yourself a check for what you want your income to be in the new normal and stick it in your wallet… every time you see it … let it motivate you to make a few calls or write a few hand written notes.
I can’t tell you what “normal” will be in your market any more than I have a magic 8 ball to tell me ours…but I do know things will get better… and normalcy and success is imminent!
Eddie Brown ©2010
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