Real Estate Weather
Have you ever been watching your local weatherman or woman on the 5 oclock news, 6 oclock news, 11 oclock news or 24/7 oclock news via the Weather Channel for that matter, because your beloved upcoming weekend plans hang in the balance? I have, quite recently in fact, as I was counting on the Meteorologist to forecast upcoming weather which would confirm and set in stone so to speak, my big, exciting, Hot Air Baloon Riding, Barbeque Eating, Carnaval Gaming, Roller Coaster Riding family fun a reality with all it's resplendant fond memories as the anticipated result. To say that I was counting on the weatherman to come through for me was a massive understatement.
So as you might guess, for all my family plans to go off without a hitch I needed sunny skies, warm tempratures, and if it just so happened that there was a light breeze to cool us all off now and again you wouldn't find me complaining. So if you can imagine I was on the edge of my seat, crossing my fingers that the weatherman would tell me all my hopes and dreams were going to come true of course. And did he? YEEEEEES he sure did, clear skies, high of 85º as soon as I heard this I instantly turned into the 12 year old version of myself extatic at the promise of a fun weekend with the wife and kidos and in all the excitement I failed to hear him say "with only a 10-15% chance of an approaching storm front" actually passing over the city we were planning on visiting.
Cliffhanger? No way, we've all seen, all to often, the predictable outcomes of TV shows or movies where anyone could see what was coming a mile away; so it will come at no surprise to you, when I tell you that the day started out beautiful as promised, but to be short by the end of the day I know we experienced all four seasons, some in multiple doses. What was to be a bliss filled day turned out to resemble the Tale of Goldie Locks, with our five kids and their friends either relentlessly voicing that they thought it was too cold, or too wet, or too hot, anything but just right.
After the day's adventure came to a close and I was driving home, talking with my wife and wet storm drenched kids the thought was voiced about never being able to trust the weatherman... that they always let you down. Let me be the first one to admit that I jumped on that band waggon in a hurry, blaming the outcome of the whole day on the ill-advised recommendation of that so called "weather man".
After all the comotion died down, and everyone in the car started to doze off it gave me time to relfect and I thought about a friend (past client) of mine who was a mediorologist. As the thought of him occured to me, I would have kicked myself if I could have for not watching his weather broadcast, because surely I thought, he would have given me a headsup that the storms likelyhood of hitting the area was more like 100% instead of 10%. But at length I decided that in the morning I would call up "my tried and true" weather man of a friend and pick his brain on "why weathermen or women louse up more times than not in their predictions". So that's what I did, I gave him a call, left a message asking him to get back to me at his earliest convenience and that is what he did. After pleasentries, I vented, he listened, and then he did the unexpected, he invited me to come visit him at his work. He didn't try to talk it out over the phone, he just simply asked me to come up to the station to catch up and get my questions answered in the proccess.
So that I did, I met with him the very next day in fact, and what I learned about the proccess of weather forecasting gave me a respect for ALL weathermen and women that I could have never gained in any other way to my knowledge. I learned of the schooling, years of training, and all the qualifications that enable them to be on point within tollerence when it comes to giving an accurate forecast. I will tell you that I left the meeting with a refreshed attitude, and an apologetic heart for blasting that other weatherman with the east wind in the car the other night.
After the appointment, as I was driving back home I had a lightbulb turn on over my head; "Weathermen in many ways are like Realtors®!" How so you might ask? Great question... Well it doesn't matter if you are a man or woman, if you put in the effort behind the scenes you can be a great one! Weatherwomen forcast the weather, Realtors® are known to forecast the real estate market, suported by factual data. Interestingly both respective professions, weathermen and Realtor® alike, rely on quantifable, statistical, empirical evidences that are present in their respective disciplines to arive at a reasonably supported recommendation for their audiences. Great Weathermen pay attention to their suroundings, and as this comes as a natural response or reflex to the fact that they have dedicated themselves to fully learning this scientific method as their life's field of labor, they can often "feel whats coming". Great Realtors® are also quite intune with their suroundings, and can scense a shift in the market one way or another based on a combination of relovant factors.
While some weather phenomenon are isolated to a certain region, others are effected by national trends. For example whats happening in one state or area of the country can have a type of domino effect on an ajoining state (both in weather and in real estate). As every real estate market region, state, city, and ineed neighborhood is unique, they are unique for different reasons. Just as no two snowflakes are exactly alike, nether are there two cities or sub-markets within the cities that are exactly alike either. It is the comprehension that there are differences, and the understanding of what those differences are, as well as how those differences cause an effect upon their chosen markets of interest that set competent real estate professionals apart. One might reasonably ask: "How do real estate professionals gain such intuition and poise?" Of all the theories that lend a credible support and justificiation to that answer, preeminately in the minds of many, belonging to the National Association of Realtors® could be rightly argued as the fundamental bedrock of all Real Estate Professionalism. After all, every Designation and Certification (credentials in laymans terms) which signifies that a Real Estate Professional is just that... a Professional, comes after becoming first and foremost a REALTOR®! Rigerous training, continuing eductation requirements, a notable track record representing clientele in the varied dementions of the real estate market all become mile-stones for the fully commited; as in commited to their clients... in other words... COMMITED TO YOU!
So if someone were to ask you: "Who do you rely on to tell you what the weather is going to be like this coming weekend?" I'm going to go out on a limb here and take the liberty of answering for you: "My weather man, of course.... duh!" And if you are asking yourself now: "is he going to ask the predicatable question?" My answer would be: "Why yes I am, thank you for asking!" Drum roll please..... ..... ..... If someone, just anyone really, even per say, if I were to ask you: "Who do you rely on to tell you what the real estate weather (aka: market) is looking like, or what it is anticipated to soon be looking like (aka: forcast the market for my upcoming weekend, no wait, I mean life! Because after all you do know that this is likely to be the most expensive investment descision I will ever make in my life...Right? )?" What would your answer be? I can imagine you might likely say something like, oh wait Jordyn I know this one... umm my Realtor®! And my response would be: "Congradulations... you are the next contestant on the Answer is Right!"
Moral of the Story? Trust your Weather Man or Woman, and Trust your Real Estate Broker or Realtor® to guide you in the respective areas of expertise to which they have unequivically committed themselves.
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