Teresa,

 Hang in there.  I know it is scary!  Just hang in there.  I have been working on something on the side to help supplement.  I have some ideas if you need them!  Just let me know.

 God Bless, Barb

Old Realtors never die, they just become trainers, drive-by appraisers or Wal-Mart greeters.

Teresa,

The real estate market is getting a major overhaul in many areas, including the mortgage segment. Once the extra inventory is sold and the home loan industry cleans its books, we return to normal. Have faith.

Teresa, I know a veteran broker who is in the same situation... BUT... he doesn't do any geographic farming and he has no internet presence.  The sad truth of the referral only model is that referrals decline over time.  You've got to keep working your sphere of influence and adding to your prospect pool by expanding that sphere, farming, or marketing.

Ponder this... the number one agent in my area did about 100 transactions in 2006 and about 140 in 2007.  He increased transactions by 40% in a market with 30% fewer transactions.  How?  He kept on marketing himself while others scaled back their efforts in anticipation of fewer transactions.  Whatever your budget, you need to generate leads.

Maybe you are already working hard to generate leads, but I know a lot of agents who are starving because they got used to waiting for the phone to ring when the market was booming.  I'm just trying to provide a better solution than joining my MLM as part of my downline. ;)

Frank Jewett

Teresa,

Listen to Esko.  If a real estate professional in Las Vegas can be positive, then anyone can.  Seriously though, just keep being yourself.  The wealth of knowledge you've acquired over the years will prove it's worth in gold, just keep moving forward.

Good luck to you!

Esko, the key to fixing the market is a price correction.  Two things have prevented that from happening.  First, agents are overbidding for listings.  I'd like to blame the newcomers, but I've had experienced brokers admit that they took a listing $100,000 over what they thought it should be.  We've met the enemy and it is us.  Second, organized real estate has lied about market valuation.  When NAR testifies to congress, they admit they expect prices to go down, but they continually tell consumers that prices are firming up.  That strategy deludes sellers into staying with unrealistic prices.

The problem isn't attitude and it certainly isn't the media.  There is an old saying in real estate that price is the problem that fixes most other problems.  Unfortunately the industry has been trying to ignore that truth.

Frank Jewett

Teresa, I noticed today in my systems at work that you have free showcase listings through your office, but are not using them.  For more information on how you can use a tool that you already have, please read my blog on Enhancing your Realtor.com Listings.