Surviving the Slowdown
BY STACEY MONCRIEFF
Many REALTOR® Magazine Readers are telling us they’ve never experienced a more challenging time to be in residential real estate. One reader wrote to say she opened the newly redesigned magazine and asked herself, “Is this all you’ve got?” She urged us to dig deeper to find strategies to help her and her fellow practitioners weather the slow market.
So I did just that, finding an article I wrote back in 1990 when my last name was still Waldron. The country was in a recession, and NAR membership had dropped below 700,000. California was seeing significant home price declines, the “Massachusetts Miracle” was derailing, and the Gulf States were still recovering from the 1980s oil bust.
Much of the advice that brokers and salespeople offered at that time is still germane today, so I’ve posted the text of the article, “Turn Up the Heat on a Cold Market” here.
One point you may find refreshing: In 5,000+ words, there's nary a mention of the Internet!
Of course, we're also working on more modern-day guidance for you — but still with a focus on the fundamentals.
Just after the NAR Conference in Las Vegas in November, long-time practitioner John Mayfield, CRB, posted this entry at the Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers blog: "If there was
one echo I heard throughout the NAR conference this past week . . . it was a need for real estate agents to return to the basics!"
That's exactly the thinking behind the new Work Smart Series. We started the series with a budgeting article in January. In March, we'll cover prospecting. Later in the year, we'll look at listing and pricing, follow-up and referrals, and attracting and working with first-time buyers.
Share Your Survival Strategies. I'd love to hear from some long-time practitioners. Tell us how you survived previous market downturns and/or what you’re doing to keep business going this time around. You can post comments right here or send an e-mail to me at
Surviving the Slowdown. Your survival strategies will be a great help to fellow practitioners who are experiencing a down cycle for the first time in their real estate career.
Subscribe to this blog's Web feed
Comments
Specializing in short sales is one way to go.
Posted by: Donald Plunkett | February 6, 2008 01:31 PM
Thank you for this great article. I have forwarded to my broker and operations mgr. in the event they have not read it. I lived in Louisiana during those mid-80's Bust time. Lost one house to foreclosure and held onto a rental house for another 10 years until the value finally exceeded the payoff amount. Thank goodness rental covered most of mortgage payment and our tenant was someone who had been foreclosed on and declared bankruptcy and had to rent. Thank God for him too. Here's hoping this situation does not get as serious as that oil bust did-it was most painful to one's personal economy, let alone a region, state or area of our country.
This article should help many find nuggets of wisdom and useful options.
Judy Aselton
C21 Prof. Realty Grp
Blue Ridge, Ga.
judy@judyaselton.com
Posted by: Judy Aselton | February 10, 2008 06:45 PM
Hammm… Nice article… Interesting.
Posted by: Houilal | July 29, 2008 10:40 AM