Within the past 24 hours, I came across two very interesting bits of information.  The first was an informal survey conducted by Ramit Sethi, a recent graduate of Stanford University and co-founder of a Silicon Valley Start-Up.  He was asking people what they were doing to respond to the looming "threat" of an economic recession.  It was fascinating window of insight to the various coping mechanisms for belt tightening when times get tough. Here's the Slideshare show. Update: Unfortunately, the link is not working properly for the embeded show, so here are links to watch it on a different site:

My Real Estate Blog:

Slide Share Site: 

Later, I was reading the book Microtrends, by Mark Penn which dishes up wonderful nuggets of insight about our society and how little things are making a huge impact in all of our lives.  This statement struck me:

"In 1992 when Bill Clinton won the presidency based on worries about the economy, the statistics that came out after the election showed that the period leading up to November had actually been a period of record growth.  Attitudes had been most negative at a time the economy was actually turning around."

Remember those words from James Carville:  ITS THE ECONOMY STUPID...well, it turns out that it's a little more than that. This is more like it actually is: IT'S YOUR ATTITUDE!  And...I refuse to call you Stupid.  I think that when people actually LOOK at the FACTS, they arrive at the right conclusions.  What's unfortunate is that most of us depend on others to look at the facts and interpret them to us. 

If you're in real estate, depending on other people to sift through and interpret information for you will consistently place you behind the curve. It is only when you are armed with the facts about your local market and know what is really happening, you can refute the misguided notions which trap people in a haze of negative assumptions and biased thinking.  Just like the scenario that preceded the 1992 elections, the turn-around in the real estate industry will NOT be readily reported on the nightly news.  It will only be observed by careful, intelligent analysis of real estate sales in local communities.

Tracking your statistics has never been more important.  Where do people find out about your services?  How many parties come to your Open Houses?  How often are homes being shown?  How often are they pre-viewed on line at different sites? It will be about touching base with your mortgage reps to see if their application rates are up or down and keeping in touch with your appraisers to ask if they are appraising more or less bank foreclosed properties. 

The most potent defense our industry can offer against a barrage of negative economic news is to call it like it is.  If your area is not doing well...don't sugar coat things and hide your head in the sand.  Learn to take aim and shoot to hit the target dead center with the facts!

Tell people what they will need to do to sell their homes or frankly let them know that they should wait. Give them the raw numbers so they can see for themselves.  The point is...become the Local Expert.  Every area will be affected differently.  Specialization is your most valued asset.

Counsel buyers intelligently about the fact that home owners will not be rolling out the red welcoming mat to give away their homes...even if the new owner is the bank.  These are simply naked realities of life.  They're the facts. 

If you choose to engage this challenge by hiding, distorting, manipulating or faking it...you won't last.  It's about the FACTS...They make true professionals, armed and dangerous to the changing whims of tide & circumstance.

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