Truth is in the Numbers - November Housing Sales in 08087

The Truth is in the Numbers is ever present in the data provided by the Jersey Shore Multiple Listing Service for the month of November Housing Sales in 08087. The shared zip code for Little Egg Harbor and Tuckerton will scare the jeebies out of anyone that can do seventh grade math. Just take a look at the Not so good data from last November in 2009 and compare it to the sales performance of November 2010 below:

It was just two short months ago we (myself included), in the real estate community of sales, were ready to announce that the bottom had been reached and the cost of homes was once again on the way up. And, we can still point to a bright star in night and report some light. However, the reality is - this downward trend is most likely to continue beyond the next year (see the article in the December 5th edition of the Press of Atlantic City).

Not only has the median price of area homes declined by more than 25% in one year the days on market has shot up. The only "good" thing to come out of 18 sales compared to 46 sales the previous year is that the real estate dues to be paid by the over abundance of agents at the end of this year will most likely cause many to leave the business rather than add additional debt to their credit cards.

On a personal note, I have decided to accept a paying position making me a full time agent with a second job. I know, you have given me a mental correction to my announcement making me a "part-time agent" tied to another job. That appears to be the way the Broker looks at it. One would think I have urinated in their coffee cup with the reception I've gotten over this work change. They must think I like juggling two jobs that takes me away from my family. What have I given up in real estate to perform my other job?

I gave up floor time. Most of which, was spent making appointments for agents outside of the company for listings that belong to another agent in the company. The other function of floor time is answering the telephone to tell another agent in the office that a family member of theirs is on the other line who will call back again and again until they get to speak to Mom. In addition to that, I won't be attending the Broker's "professionalism classes" given weekly that do more to instill agent remorse than helping to build on and expand their esprit de corps ( In my humble opinion, of course). The other thing I will have stopped doing as a "part-time agent" is coming to an office to hear the water cooler chatter. Where agents express those things that the Broker never gets to hear (diplomacy and wikileaks is nothing new in the world of real estate).

The only thing I will miss as a result of my second job is the caravan to new listings. Knowing the inventory is so very important in an agent's ability to find the right home at the right price for buyers. And, marketing the listing home at the correct price for home owners to get the monkey off their backs and able to move on in their lives. To me this is the most important aspect of being free during the work day to visit homes that have been placed on the market. I am sure there will be agents that will log on and tell me that that too is a waste of valuable time. So, that may be one of the differences the consumer will find in the different agents available to them.

At any rate, I refuse to listen anymore to those "experts" in the business that want to tell me what I am doing wrong or not doing enough of to make the income I desire or need. If you want the truth, call me. I will give you the real numbers so you can make the proper decision to buy or sell a home. No crystal balls will get the job done. Balls of steel are what is used to move heavy objects smoothly from one place to another. If you are looking for the agent that can do that job, call me.