Increased Market Activity Means Pulling Out Old Scripts

"Well, Mr. Buyer, I can understand your desire to take some time and think about whether to purchase this home. A purchase of this size is an important decision and deserves all the consideration you can give.

"But you know, my one fear is while you're deciding what to do about this house, someone who looked at this very home yesterday or the day before that now is coming to a decision of their own. And if they decide to make this home, the home you want for your family, into their home then you're not going to get a chance to make that offer and make that dream a reality.

"If you want to take that chance after looking carefully and weighing the pros and cons as we have, I surely can understand. But if you're not willing to take such a chance, just autograph the paperwork for me right here and we'll work to make this house yours."

Sound familiar to anyone out there? It's been a few years since I first saw Tom Hopins speak in person and it's been a few years since I last read the books of his that I'd purchased. Yet that script still rings clearly in my head to this day, even if I haven't had to use it in a very long time.

I'm not sure what's happening in your real estate market but here's what we're looking at in Phoenix:

The Cromford Index, supplied by the Cromford Report, provides a measure of market activity for the Phoenix market. 100 is considered a balanced market, anything under is a buyer's market and anything above is a seller's market.

Not what you probably expected, now, is it? Yet that's the reality ... very thin inventory, very active sales pace. The only thing missing is the change in price though, like snow chains digging into the Dalton Highway, some forward movement seems all but inevitable given the conditions.

Because of that, I'm finding myself digging deeper into my real estate training than I've had to go in the last several years of a heavy buyer's market. It's not easy, mostly because the vast majority of buyer's still think this is the same market we've had for the last several years. It's not even close. We've jumped back to our past - not in terms of hysteria, but at least in terms of balance and leverage.

And so I'm now thinking about how to Act Like a Lamb and Sell Like a Lion for the first time in five years.

It's easy in this severely technological real estate world to assume the old ways are part of the past. And, for the record, there ain't no way you'll ever see me door knocking - and not just because it's 106 degrees and humid (for us) outside.

But other aspects of the training provided by Tom Hopkins, David Knox and Brian Buffini truly are timeless.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to read more that Jonathan and Tobey have to say about Phoenix real estate and the industry in general? Check out his outside All Phoenix Real Estate.com blog or his Facebook Fan Page!