Real Estate 2009 VS. 2008
The end of each year in my life is normally a time to ponder the events of the year in a retrospect. The end of one year and the begining of a new year is a great time to learn from recent events, and make new resolves for the coming year. This concept of retrospection is really not new at all. "Auld lang syne" by Robert Burns in the 1788's means "times gone by," or "old long since."
What brought me to this post was that I recently attended an real estate luncheon event recently and had a chance to meet a lot of local Atlanta area real estate agents I'd not seen in a while. There were not as many recognizable faces as in years past, but I did sit and speak with a few agents, and brokers that are well known in my marketplace. It was interesting to listen to them talk. Everyone in our business feels that things could be a lot better, and we tend to be hard on ourselves that we could have accomplished more...that's just the way it is. First of all these are all hard working, very experienced agents, and much higher producers than myself. In spite of hard times, they are surviving, but struggling. Most were saying this years market was much worse than last years. In one sense, it made me feel good, because we were able to have a decent year despite the times around us.
I know things are bad, lots of real estate offices have closed, and many agents had left the business in the last year or so...but personally I thought there was a good improvement this year over last. 2008 was the year of high anxiety and a drop of 50% in our gross income. So a lot of how we worked and approached 2009 was based on our past experience in other bad real estate markets. At years end in retrospect it proved to be a great strategy for survival as compared to the way many of my friends and associates approached this year. I do not think any of the agents we spoke to had a business plan, or strategy to survive and prosper. That isn't a smart idea. In real estate we have to separate ourselves from the competition and forge our own paths, and that requires a plan. It isn't just luck! Personally, I feel that differentiation from the competition is a major component in survival! Here are a few items in the way we do business that we attribute that made a difference in 2009 for us.
First of all our niche is different. We are Internet based and have a very low overhead since I design my own websites. It allows us to cut expenses tremendously. We have no mailings, postage, mass marketing, printed media other than a few greeting cards. The next item...we made a conscious decision not to work any distressed sales. We referred out foreclosures, and short sales for a referral fee. This has allowed us to keep personal stress levels down. Lastly, we are extremely selective in listings and business. What is the point to list a home or work a marginal buyer that you cannot sell, lose or get paid for? Whenever possible, we also found it better to refer these out also if there seems like there is a chance to sell them. One agent mentioned that 15 deals for one buyer had exploded and has still not closed. That is a definition of insanity in my books.
TWO QUESTIONS:
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So personally and business-wise how did 2009 compare to 2008?
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What will you do to improve the way you do business next year?
"Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?"
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