Our Local Market....is it any good?

Yes, we continue to be the anomaly in the world of real estate. At the National Association of Realtors meetings in Washington, DC last week we heard the wows of the rest of the country and how houses aren’t selling – prices are reducing daily – foreclosures paint their real estate landscape and they don’t see any end in sight. Nationally, there is a 9 month supply of houses for sale – as you see below, we have a 1.6 month supply of houses. Foreclosures are a part of our business but vacancies rates only represent 25% of our market, down from 33% last year showing we are selling our foreclosures. Our area does have a huge supply of short sale
properties on the market which may turn into foreclosures, but as the government and banks work together to systematize and shorten the process to approve short sales – this may not
occur. In many areas, our prices are stabilizing as a result of high demand and low supply, but we are encountering a significant issue with appraisals. There are new rules and regulations that are changing our appraisal landscape that places appraisers on a pedestal with no contact until after the appraisal has been completed. This lack of contact with appraisers has resulted in low appraisals causing significant issues in our market. It has always been my assertion that the
market price is what the buyer is willing to pay and the seller is willing to sell any product for in any market.

As we analyze our business, we see that first time buyers are representing 60% of our market; investors representing 30% which leaves just 10% for move up buyers and relocation buyers. Couple this with higher rates on jumbo loans results in making our upper price ranges more susceptible to longer marketing times and perhaps, further reductions in prices as there is a smaller pool of buyers. We continue to believe that, although there will be challenges, we are in the best real estate market in the country and will continue to be for many more years.

Pursue your Passion

What is your passion? In order to find success, you must develop a passion and have the desire to obtain in any way possible. You have heard the clichés before: Pursuit of excellence, pursuit of perfection, pursuit of happiness, pursue your dreams, pursuit of complete customer satisfaction and many more. To find success, you must be relentless in this endeavor.

To pursue success in real estate you must want to be the best in the field. As we know, there are many agents in the business but there are a few that stand out in the crowd. To be the one that stands out in the crowd you must think outside the box, develop new skills, perfect the ones you have, develop a niche, learn how to deal with various types of personalities and continuously educate yourself on the business. By pursuing these areas of your business, success will follow. Let’s break down the word pursuit and follow the theme for your success

P – Persistence. You must have the desire to never give up. To be the best, you must be persistent. Be persistent in prospecting, marketing, personal development, and other areas to lead yourself to success.

U – Understanding. You be understanding of other people and what their objectives are in each situation. By understanding what they want and by helping them achieve it, you will achieve more as a result. Remember, killing them with kindness usually wins!

R – Resilience. You must be able to take no as an answer. It has been said over and over sales is a numbers game and if you can’t take no or have thin skin – get out of the business.

S – Schedule. You need to have a schedule in which to follow that will lead you to success. Your schedule should include prospecting, follow up, networking and education. When you know what you are going to and when you have to do it by – your deadline – you have a greater likelihood for success.

U – Unwavering. You must have the unwavering commitment to be the best to end up as one of the best. You must also understand it is a continuous process.

I – Involvement. You have to get involved in working with your past clients, networking groups, social events, your children or grand children’s events, coaching, community events, charities and so many others if you want to have success. Success doesn’t come to you, you have to go out and get it so get involved today!

T – Training. You gotta learn if you want to earn. The more you know, the more you grow.
It isn’t difficult if you know what you want. Determine what your passion is in life, develop it, and pursue it for your success. Get it? Got it? Good!