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The Year 2009 :

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Home Resource Realty -HRR MD, DC and VA

The year 2009 will be a year to remmeber for life. A year of uncertainty in many ways. A year of Financial turbulence. A year that saw the real estate industry and the mortgage professionals shrink to the lowest level ever. What do we finally made of the year 2009? By the way it was also an excellent year for few. Why so.

A year of uncertainty: We witness the financial world changed rules and regulations daily, weekly and monthly. They were not sure who did it. Who realy cause the housing mess? Should we blame the Realtors? Or Should the blame be laid squarely on the Mortgage professionals or both team? So the laws and regulations were directed to the Mortgage professionals and some of the laws affected the Realtors. The final result is a great credit crunch. What the Realtors have to do will be the subject of another blog. For now only the best wil survive the market.

The financial turbulence continues to block the progress of Real Estate Sales. The federal government and the States and Counties tried to be creative with so many incentives for the first time home buyers, but the Financial arm of the Federal Government continue to raise the bar on credit score. This counter productive strategy created fewer eligible buyers in the market. You need over 620 credit score to be sure to buy a home. You cannot be on the border line anymore. Thus our customer base began to shrink.

When the customer base started shrinking, the Realtors started looking for alternative ways to survive the market. Most of them quit real estate altogether and seek full time jobs. The loan originators also found a better solution to the uncertainty in the market by seeking gainful employment. This continuous action created a market for fewer agents on both sides. Today, there are far much less Realtors and loan officers in the market to serve the people. This resulted in the  efficient market with the real professionals. The customer today is very intelligent and has all the facts already. You have to be very smart to serve them.

The year was not totally blick. The year produced wonderful sales and good results to those who worked honestly and abide by the rules and regulations. These people did very well in sales and continue to do well. What accounted for the success of thse few? The most important requirements in business resulted in their success: Their knowledge, ability to adapt to changes, and good service.  No matter how much technology you have, it cannot replace good service to your customers. Today while a lot of Realtors and Mortgage originators work for other companies, fewer are happy that they remain in the business.

The year 2009 is a year to remember, a year that the financial world tumbled and scare the average home owner. The scary situation is not over yet. However, there are answers and help out there. Let us all try to modify these houses and keep the home owners in their homes. If we keep the home owners who can pay their mortgage in their homes, we will stabilize the market and keep the price of the houses from falling. United we win. We shall surely remeber 2009.

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Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

I agree. We should try to keep homeowners in their homes by educating them about programs available and the resources. available.

Dec 07, 2009 09:02 PM