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Doom and Gloom or Huge Success

..............................................................HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!...................................................................

If you can't here the screams for help, perhaps it's because of all the complaining you've been doing. The Real Estate Market that we are experiencing is a natural part of Business.

It is NOT NATURAL for Real Estate prices to escalate yearly in double digits.
It is also NOT NATURAL for Seller's and Agent's to price properties at $25,000 TO $50,000 above market.

If this is the kind of market you have been experiencing or even worse if this is the only kind of market you know, I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!

For you do not have a clue what the Real Estate Market is Like. So what is the Job of a Real Estate Agent then?

It is a Business that requires the Agent to have and use :

Education
Negotiation skills
Psychological skills
Social skills
Marketing skills
Tenacity
Perseverance
Dedication
And the list goes on and on

It is almost easier to define what Real Estate IS NOT!

Contrary to the last few years popular belief, it is not:

The easiest job in the world
Where the biggest decision you will make all day is where to have Coffee at
A job that you can do part time because everything sells, RIGHT?

***********

Update : It is not our Job to :

Tell Seller's what they must sell there home for
Tell Buyer's what they must pay for a home

It is our Job to bring Motivated Buyer's and Seller's together where market conditions will determine the value of the asset.

***********

If you are not the busiest you have ever been right now, it is because you do not know what it takes to be a Great Agent! For a Great Agent is Busy marketing, Prospecting, Showing and writing Contracts!

Contrary to popular belief, being busy is not all about showing properties to the 40 or so people who drove by your new listing. That kind of thinking was developed in the recent hay days of the market. It is also the kind of thinking and mind set that will have you out of business before you even know it. I would venture to guess that there are allot of you this very moment who are out of the business, YOU JUST DON"T KNOW IT.

Some years ago a Real Estate Agent friend of mine was working in a small community that had lost most of it's Jobs. People were terrified and I thought it must be a terrible market to be in.

NO JOBS = NO MONEY= NO SALES

Without a job and money how would any one buy a Home I wondered. My friend pointed out : That my Friend is Defeatist Thinking! This is a time for opportunity he said. This Market will not stay like this forever. Those Agent's that are sitting on their posterior proclaiming DOOM and GLOOM are my biggest asset he went on to say.

What are you talking about I wondered. His philosophy of Selling Real Estate was Simple. The first thing you need to do is to Identify how many transactions per year you want to do. If you live in an area that does that many then just make sure YOU DO THEM. Thats right if you want to do 100 transactions a year and the history of your area is only 50 in a year then you are in the wrong area.

The Rest of it is WORK. The basic skills of the Real Estate Agent. It is not about dressing up in the fanciest clothes or driving the Biggest Car. It is the fundamentals of Real Estate Sales.

Do you WANT TO BE NUMBER ONE ? Do you WANT TO BE A SUCCESS ?

Then go to work. If you do not have the Skills then develop them. Or better yet just sit back and let the rest of us fly on by.

Are you looking to purchase some of the greatest real estate in the WORLD? Do you want to be notified of new properties coming on the Market in and instant. Stay ahead of the Competition. Get the Best Buys.

Investor's_Web_Site_for_Portland_Ore._Real_Estate Investor's are not the only one who can benefit from technology. Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You search here for you downtown Portland Oregon Home. This Fabulous web site will search for your next home 24/7 and alert you within minutes! www.househuntportland.com

For more Portland Oregon and Downtown information please come to www.portlandrealproperty.com

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Posted by Downtown Portland Real Estate Broker~Herb Hamilton,CDPE on 11/03/2007 09:07 PM

Comments (40)

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Originally posted at: Herb's Portland Oregon Real Estate Blog your RE/MAX Agent: Doom and Gloom or Huge Success

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40 Comments on Doom and Gloom or Huge Success

NOV

2007

Herb,

Great post. How true. We had a team of 10 agents and when the market turned and the free leads went away so did they. They were used to everything being handed to them and easy to turn. It's work and work pays off. What would you suggest are the 3 most important things an agent should do in a down market.

Mike Lewis

I have taken listings that are overpriced. It is usually from a referral where I tell the truth babout the listing price. Its a tough call to turn down a past client or refferal. I hope the price will be reduced as needed. Many time they end up being amd at you because they cannot get their price and amny times they listen rather quickly. Its a tough call.

Thank you! I did a post on this last week..not as much detail as you gave, but worth looking at! let me know what you think?

HERB- Sorry..did not know I should not refer to the link..I know when I reference an article..I am suppose to reference the link. Did not realize I was doing something wrong by referencing it here. My apologies! Still a newbie here..Thanks!

Wow, Herb! You're an instant star.

Great words of wisdom here and you've voiced precisely how I feel about the current real estate market. I've been doing this successfully for many years (sounds like you have, too) and I treat it like the business it is.

Herb,

Well put. If you don't turn in a solid effort day in and day out, the results are going to be poor. Same goes for AR. By just joining the network and then sitting back won't cut it. You need to blog and comment and so on to make an impact and improve your marketing power.

I definitely agree that it's not easy to be an agent. It seems like it would be until you actually try it.

NOV

2007

Herb,

Great post! The media does not help as the doom and gloom is prevalent everywhere we look. This is a great time to skyrocket our business as we develop a plan to get to where we want to be.

Dave

Herb, this is excellent. Sincere thanks to you for writing it. I am taking it to heart. I found the post because I'm subscribed but was very happy to see you earned a gold star for it. Congratulations!

I think we real estate agents are being offered a tremendous opportunity to prove to the public that we do, indeed, have value. But... here's the thing. We need to stop complaining and do that activity for which we were licensed to do... SELL HOUSES. If we all commit to selling houses instead of prospecting prospecting prospecting, we can turn this mess around.

Go out and preview 10 houses today. Of those ten, how many are being professionally, competently marketed? Very few, I suspect.

This market will not reward mediocrity. Only the excellent listing agents will survive.

A little feature rant, Herb and you are right. We have to learn to WORK in any and all markets. We can't change the market but we can WORK in it. How did the TV show go, haven't seen you in awhile.

Herb, you are right on the mark it is all about W-O-R-K. Great post!

Mike L : That is an easy answer.

Prospect
Prospect
Prospect

Here is a thought. What if you looked in your Daytimer/appointment Book after talking with a potential client to set an appointment and found that the first availlable time was in 12 months.

Eric : What made them a past client or a referral? I suspect that it was not being soft on priceing. If you are soft this time they will have no respect for you. You will lose them and any future business they would have sent your way.

Esko : Effort = Results. The more effort the more results. More effort and results = better skills. Better skills= more success. It's the downhill snowball effect.

Maggie : Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it. I am subscribed to you as well and allways enjoy your posts. Nice photo change.

Jennifer A. : Prospecting is the Key. Prospecting for motivated Buyers and Sellers as well as previewing other agents listings for your soon to be bulging list of motivated Buyers. By performing ( Listing and Selling) you will be known for your success's. The business will then start to seek you out.

I can not agree more with most of your comments. In fact, read my most recent blogs...one of which is Real estate --- Accentuate the Postive ... Gloom and doom gets you no where and pricing your listings to sell --- enables them TO sell. And, my oppps. Thanks for pointing out not to use links on comments. I see it done all the time but will be sure not to add one to your blog again....thanks and happy selling.

Missy : I have been extremely busy this Summer and Fall. On the three days of the shoot I was booked so solid I was unable to attend. I did sell 4 homes though. I was so busy I did not even realize I missed it till 4 days after the fact. My Owners though told me that it all went well. The only thing that I would have been able to get is a few photo ops of the camera crews etc. I may write about it sometime soon. They were very cooperative and may give me something to work with if I ask them.

Sherri , Lanette, Christy, Dave D.,David Matney : Thank you all for reading and sharing your thoughts. Be Busy. Be Positive. Show your communities that as Agents we are out there working not just sitting around and talking about the good old days.

Great post, yeas it can be frustrating, but in my opinion it is a good thing. What the media hasn't really mentioned (in my area at least) is that the past two years have been record breaking! This year is really not that bad, but it looks bad with all the media. In addition, it is getting rid of a lot of the agents out there that got into the business for quick money! It is a hard job at times and takes a lot of skill and know how, now it's time to weed those out. Also, the "first time" home flippers are going away which is great in this area.

Todd : It is not interesting news to write about long term success. The turn around of the real estate market nation wide will only be rewarded with a short lived footnote or two.

side note : marketing resale homes in an area of new construction as you do is always hard. Price is often the only factor that will cause buyers to buy a resale over new. At least untill the subdivision is sold out and the first wave of resales happens. Perhaps rather than dropping the price by $60,000 you put a new car in the garage as an incentive?

Pamela : Thanks for reading have a successful day.

You are Right ON with this post. This market is nothing new to experienced agents. The market has been just like it is now - many many times before. It's the way you deal with it, work with it and or react to it that determines how you well you will do. Complaining does NOT help it.

Fantastic post!!! Thank you for putting it down so clearly. My associate and I always comment on how our job is not selling property it is managing expectations and emotions.

Herb,

Mike L. here - Prospect - you have my attention - I prospect in many ways - what do you find to be the most effective prospecting methods.

Mike Lewis

I need to do more prospecting/farming. I currently get 99% of my leads from my website. I'm still getting daily leads, but I could handle 5X more. I'm thinking about doing the post card (just listed/just sold) to all of the neighborhoods around me.

Debbie : The Number of new agents exploded all across our country during the last several years of prosperity. Each and every cycle that we go through sees this same thing repeated over and over again. The subsequent flushing out of inexpierenced agents ( those who have never learned the skills required to survive ) is underway. In many ways a prolonged lull in the market will be good for us all. In fact the longer Buyer's hold back from purchasing, the stronger the surge will be from the pent up demand.

This is the best time to prepare. Get your systems in place and get ready.

Ryan : Thanks for reading and sharing.

As I was reading this post I kept thinking that I sure hoped this was a featured post. Awesome perspective and right on target advise!!

Mike L., Phaedra : Prospecting like many other aspects of Real Estate is in a constant state of evolution. My current prospecting methods are vastly different from each other.

For Buyer's I have a web site designed to be used by Buyer's. I Blog and run ads that are designed to send them there.

For Seller's. My business revolves around Fixers Flips and Rehabs. I blog for those prospects as well. And because I am interested in specific properties I tend to contact owners of homes that I have identified of being of interest to me.

Kate : Thank you for the comment. I like your style of writing as well.

Herb - I was just wandering the halls here at active rain and found myself in a maze of different posts. One referenced another that referenced another and so on. Well, lo and behold, here I am. I agree with your entry. I appreciate your expanded explanation of what is occuring. I think one must also be a realist and understand that due to the recent heavy influx of agents, even those that are doing everything they can are potential targets of the downsizing. There are other variables. In market surges and declines in the past, it was not survival of the fittest. Some agents survived because of the extent of their bank account rather than the depth of their capabilities.

Learning the profession will likely improve one's chances of surviving. It should also be noted that one can not assume that everyone left standing is a quality agent.

John : Kind of a direct correlation to Political Candidate's Huh? Part of the responsibility for maintaining Political candidates that best reflect our needs and ideals as well as maintaining a strong force of Realtors who will be available when we need their services rests with the Consumers.

We all know agents who are still in the business years after we thought they would have been gone. But without the educated consumer doing their part via the interview process, there is little chance that those " less qualified individuals" that you allude to exist, will ever get weeded out.

Hi Herb, this is such a great post with wonderful, well-stated points. Thanks!

Herb - Excellent reminders. Markets do adjust but if agents do the things they are suppose to be doing opportunities exist even in a down market.

NOV

2007

Vicki : Thanks for reading and your comment.

Jennifer : The truth about Real Estate is that in any business atmosphere there are Buyer"s and there are Seller's. Our job is to help them accomplish their goals. By doing so, we will eventually get paid. How is the mother daughter team working out?

Good point there are always opportunities some where for those who are willing to look for them.

Herb,

The web has worked very well in many areas for me - the leads come in regularly and I would say we get about 3-4 listings a month and 3-4 buyers a month form the web sites. Past clients and referrals come in as our clients need our services or recommend them to others. I also walk my farm area and have an excellent community presence. I'm spending a lot of time building out my web presence for the next market up turn. My wife and I are also refining our systems and putting a lot of automation in place. I think that I have set up most of my prospecting with the web to work 24/7 and bring the leads to me. This has worked well in the past and still does. If I step it up or want to have the agents on our team spend their time prospecting your recommendations would be appreciated.

Mike Lewis

Teresa : Nice to hear from the St Paul Bag of Chips. Say I have really been busy lately, how has The Real Estate Weenie been doing?

Mike L : Very nice Mike. It appears as if you have got it going on. One thing about prospecting. Every one can and should do something. Even if it is as simple as upgrading a client list that you could then be prospecting to.

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Downtown Portland Real Estate Broker~Herb Hamilton,CDPE

Portland, OR

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RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors

Address: RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors : Herb, 10121 SE Sunnyside Rd. Suite 150, Clackamas, or, 97015

Office Phone: (503) 659-1550

Cell Phone: (503) 515-8889

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Writing about Portland Oregon Real Estate issues and Neighborhoods. Articles include how-tos as well as how-to-nots. Learn all about Fixers and Rehabs. Stop by for insightfull stories of Portland Homes, some funny some sad some informative as we cruise through the Neighborhoods of The Rose City Portland Oregon.


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Doom and Gloom or Huge Success

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