This is the voice of experience speaking...    Maybe that's why so many real estate agents ask me about survivng today's market.  Yes, we've had plenty of ups and downs in the real estate market since I started four decades ago.  I survived them all, with varying degrees of success and profitability, and I plan to survive this one, too. 

Real estate today feels a lot like the 1970's market when we had 17-18% interest rates - buyers had a tough time getting loans and, therefore, home owners couldn't sell very easily.  The truth is that the same Core Values apply today that got many of us through that market and the bubble of recent years:  Integrity, Service, and Excellence. 

Let's break these down and talk about how we might apply them daily in our business:

INTEGRITY -

• Honest communication with our clients and consumers as to the state of the market, the likely selling price of their home, their qualifications for buying a home. 
  
  They deserve to know the truth even if we lose a listing because the seller doesn't want to try in this market or a buyer wants to wait for "the bottom" of the market.  If we're honest, those clients WILL come back to us when they're ready - assuming, of course, we keep in touch with them in the meantime.
  
  
• Accurate presentation of our listings to consumers - i.e., no exaggeration or implying a property is something other than what it is.  Yes, present the benefits of our listings, take photos from the most flattering angles, but don't do NOT overstate them and don't even think about hiding material defects.
  
  Pricing a property at or near market value is important, too.  Buyers will avoid agents with over-priced listings, and sellers will have unrealistic expectations of selling.  Sometimes this is hard, and sometimes it costs us a listing, but it's the price of having integrity.
  
  
• Accurate representation of our clients' qualifications - i.e., no exaggeration of our clients' qualifications to purchase a property.   
  
  This could mean encouraging some prospective buyers to rent, rather than buy, because not everyone has the job and income security to take on the long-term responsibility of home ownership.  It means carefully selecting properties to show buyers, based only on their wants, needs and qualifications.  And it surely means NOT misleading sellers/listing agents about buyers' ability or commitment to purchase their property.
  

SERVICE -

• Clients first - Serving your clients comes first, and a commission check will follow.  The more people you serve successfully, the more money you will earn.  If you put that commission ahead of your client, you will lose in the long run.  I promise!
  
  In other words, choose the best property for your buyer-clients, not the one with the highest commission rate.  (Yes, I know that God and Family come first - this refers to the choice of clients vs. commission check.)
  
  
• Identify the services you will perform for your client - Make it part of your listing or buyer-agent contract.  Don't be ambiguous about what you will do to earn your fee - spell it out in writing so there are no questions. 
  
  In these tough times, maybe you need to tweak your list - for example, cut back on out-of-pocket expenses for marketing... let your buyer-client do the driving... schedule appointments before or after lunch so you won't feel you have to buy for everyone.
  
  
• Do it!  If you tell a buyer you're going to send them new listings daily, do it!  If you tell a seller you'll advertise their property in the Homes Magazine, do it!  You get the gist of this, right?  In a way, I guess this goes back to the "integrity" mentioned earlier.

Should I mention the word "timely" in this context?  Return calls promptly; respond to consumer inquiries promptly; perform promised tasks on schedule, as promised.  Present offers quickly and promptly communicate to the other party in negotiations.  Let's hope "timely" doesn't need further explanation becuse that's how you "do it."

EXCELLENCE -

• Quality - If you have to cut back, cut quantity - NOT quality.  Make and mail 100 quality fliers promoting your listing instead of 150, if that's what it takes to manage your expenses.  In fact, maybe you want to take "mailings" off your list of services and instead flood every free website you can find on the Internet with a Postlets or v-flyer promotion of your listings.  But do NOT use black and white photocopies of fliers to promote your listings.
  
  
• Go the extra mile- Don't just email listings to prospective buyers or feedback to sellers; do use email stationery.  Don't hand your clients a wad of listings held together with a paper clip; do organize them neatly in a folder or notebook.  Don't put your listing in the MLS and forget it; do submit it to Craig's List and other Internet sites - and update them as often as necessary. 
  
  
• Enhance your own professionalism - Continuing ed, superior website, updated mailing list - they're ALWAYS important.  But a down market is the perfect time to invest a lot of time in these, time you don't have in a busy market.  
  
  Harness your frustration about the market and channel your energy into re-organizing your filing system, calling your old clients and contacts, taking lots of photos of your community during the beautiful Spring blooming season - you can use them all year long.  This is a great time to work on being "all you can be."

If you took the time to read these, instead of just skimming the bold headings, you saw a few suggestions of things you can do to tweak your business practices for surviving this market:  let the buyers drive to view houses, shedule appointments after lunch, make fewer fliers, use free marketing on the Internet.  You may also decide to work from home instead of renting that private office or work on a commission split instead of your broker's 100% plan; at home, you may discontinue your cable TV upgrade, eat out less often, or get your hair done every 6 weeks instead of every 4 weeks. 

This is really another topic that deserves its own blog, because it's tough (if not impossible) to survive a poor market for anyone in commission sales without alternate income (such as a spouse) or without planning ahead to preserve resources for the down days of real estate.  Maybe another day.

In the meantime, your core values will help guide your business through this market.   When downs in real estate pass, the pent-up demand released during the ups of the market will reward you ten-fold. 

Will you be ready?

Find a Home online and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Crofton and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX.