By Kitty B. Stockton, ABR, CRS

Editor's Note: I received this poem back in June from Kitty, a member living in Chapel Hill. I hoped to put it in the magazine, but we too have been belt tightening. Pages have never been lower. Kitty, even though gas prices have come down, your poem is more timely than ever. I feel your pain!

Momma's got the blues in Real Estate
In the year 2008,
It ain't like the old days--it's inconceivable
The only way to describe it is unbelievable.

So much time is being spent
My kids are wondering where Mommy went.
All her efforts to sell a house
Leave little time for them or the spouse.

So many listings which don't seem to sell,
So many features and not one to tell.
Brochure boxes which keep eating the flyer,
Sometimes it feels the situation is dire.

Open houses where I'm home alone,
Just me, REALTOR mag and my cell phone.
Sellers with unrealistic expectations,
Giving my poor heart palpitations.

I try to tell them about the pink and blue tile.
They won't believe me--I have to smile.
Six cats I say, makes buyers allergic;
They don't get it--making me liturgic.

Dear God, could you please bring me a buyer with money:
My two little cubs need some honey.
Preferably one willing, ready and able
To meet me at the closing table.

Oh they can't sell their house, you say.
They'll buy later, but not today
Please could you help us find a rental?
Sure, I say, slowing going mental.

Finally a buyer--but she has an alpaca.
(That's about as popular as smoking tobacco.)
Didn't sit well with the covenants,
Much less the local government.

No deal to day, but I'll keep trying.
It's all I can do to keep from crying.
Keep the faith; a better day is coming.
Better be soon or I might start rumming.

No you won't--you're a pro
Who understands how the cycles go.
Remember back in '82,
19% made us even more blue.

Short sales, credit crunch, mold and mildew,
Disclosure issues you mustn't eschew.
Subprime, foreclosures and gas oh so steep,
Altogether the climate could just make you weep.

NAR says the bottom is near
So we should go forward without any fear.
I'll do it I will-- I can take this and more.
That's what I do. I'm a REALTOR.


Respectfully and with tongue in cheek,
Kitty B. Stockton, ABR, CRS

Posted on October 25 at 01:00 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

By John N. Frank

Many years ago, when I was dealing with a profound personal tragedy, someone recommended I read a book that started out with a Buddhist guiding principle, “life is suffering.” The book wasn’t trying to be maudlin or to get me more depressed. Rather, the author was making the point that difficult things happen in life. That’s a given; what’s up to us is how we deal with and go on from them to have happy and fulfilling lives.

I’ve been hearing just that message again recently as I interview real estate professionals for a story I’m working on for the June issue of REALTOR® magazine. The article will talk with five

Continue reading "Lessons from My Generational Kin" »

Posted on March 26 at 10:56 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (1)

By Wendy Cole

As a major subprime lender, behemoth California-based Countrywide Home Loans quickly devolved from one of America’s most successful mortgage companies to perhaps its most tarnished. But the company sure isn’t hiding in the corner waiting for its reputation to repair itself.

While Bank of America’s bailout will certainly help the lender write its next chapter, Countrywide is taking steps at a local level to help real estate practitioners and their clients navigate today’s challenging markets. Nearly 100 Chicago area real estate pros gathered Wednesday at the tony East Bank Club at a panel organized by Countrywide where the topic was: Protect Your House: Resetting Expectations for Sellers in your Marketplace.

It makes sense in a way. Why shouldn’t a company at the heart of the lending crisis

Continue reading "Countrywide Tries to Boost Housing Confidence" »

Posted on February 14 at 09:35 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

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

Continue reading "Surviving the Slowdown" »

Posted on January 25 at 08:20 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (3)