We all know that buying a home can seem like a real risk right now.
The recent situational assessment at Keeping Current Matters is spot-on; with a still-fragile economy and continuing high unemployment rates, just about everyone who's dipping into the housing marketplace is doing so with extreme caution.
When things in the real estate market are running smoothly, referrals practically fall out of the trees, don't they? Clients have smooth, happy transactions. They tell their friends, relatives, and coworkers that you're the best agent who ever walked the planet, and business is great.
We all remember – and avidly hope for the return of – those glorious days.
But we're in the here and now, and when the pervasive sentiment, even among real estate and mortgage professionals, is that home prices will continue to drop (especially with a fresh influx of foreclosures) and that mortgage interest rates aren't likely to jump significantly in the near future, the question remains…
“Why would anyone that doesn’t have to buy now, buy now?”
It's your job to be able to answer that question – not just for yourself, but, more importantly, for your clients. You can't do that if you're buying into the “conventional wisdom,” because that “wisdom” is a real downer right now.
So think it through, and see if you come up with an answer that really resonates with you. Because if it doesn't, you're setting yourself up to remain in a down slump well after the rest of the industry has picked up the pieces and moved onward (and upward!).
The real question is this: What is a home? A home is a place for what Dean Hartman has identified as the “four Ps – pride, peace, preference, and pleasure.” Sure, home ownership is still, and always will be, representative of a really good long-term investment.
A home does remain a good long term investment. But the emotional component is a much bigger issue. It's the part that actually delivers the visible results. Think about it; what's more likely to make you smile – or better yet, actually GLOW? The knowledge that you're sitting in a pretty good long term investment? Or the knowledge that you're going to host your first adult Thanksgiving with all of your friends and family at your own house?
Hands down, we all know that the financial benefits of buying a home are probably significantly overruled by the emotional benefits. You know that you're the consummate real estate professional. The hard part is putting yourself in the shoes of the skittish client, being able to relate to where they're coming from, and then successfully brokering the biggest deal of their lives. The only way to do that is to fully believe your own answer to the only real question: “If I didn't have to buy a house right now, why would I?”
Leave me a comment below and tell me…What do you think? And don't forget to visit my Facebook page - I'd love to see you there!
Talk to you soon.
Coach Patti
About Coach Patti Kouri:
Coach Patti, the owner of Accelerated Performance Coaching Inc., and The Real Estate Game®, strives to maintain an atmosphere of community, connection, and harmony by becoming your resource base to enhance and enrich your personal and business life. Coach Patti was voted one of the ‘Top 50 Most Influential Women In Real Estate Leadership in 2008’ by the 2008 edition of the Swanepoel Trends Report. Visit her on the web at: www.CoachPatti.com www.TheRealEstateGame.com
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