Today was such a busy day for me. Since the kids have gone back to school, I have been going crazy with phone calls with some different buyers I have been working with that they are finally ready to come "off the fence". But strangely I talked to my Broker today and she seemed to be ready to burst into tears. She said, "Michelle, I have tried to stay so positive this last year about the market, but I'm afraid of what's gonna happen this year." I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head...What?! Your my broker, your suppose to be the positive one out of this office no matter what the newspapers say or what the 2008 Luxury Market Report tells us.
In her voice it sounds like she is ready to give up. I hope not. I came to Sumner County from Brentwood in Williamson County this summer. Brentwood is one the wealthiest counties in all of Tennessee. So I have dealt with many affluent buyers and sellers. One thing my past clients have always wanted is expertise. Moving to Sumner County, I have seen such a WIDE open door to a need in the luxury market and have really focused that as my niche out here. (It always has been!) I believe I have come up with a marketing plan that I don't think any homeowner has seen in Sumner County.
From the 2008 Luxury Year End Report, I know now what I knew in my heart, we need to be listing agents that know our expertise or get out! We need to know what our clients want and what our buyers are looking for. We need to spend our time wisely looking for buyers FOR our sellers. Not hoping they will come through the MLS. Spend the money and MARKET or don't take the luxury listing.
I can go on about Lakefront and Historic Homes in Sumner County. But I'll leave that for a later post. Homeowners it's time to step up and make sure your agent is doing what you feel they need to do and keep "surprising" you with something you never thought of. I'm sure (I hope) that there are agents that are doing a great job with luxury homes, but I don't like the look on my Brokers face. And maybe your Broker has the same face. We need to work hard, harder than we ever have before! Because if we have another 1% problem in 2009, than we don't have a market to niche.
Contact me to today if you are wanting to sell or buy your Luxury Home with a Specialist. I specialize in Luxury, Lakefront and Historic Homes.
Until next time.
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In her voice it sounds like she is ready to give up. I hope not. I came to Sumner County from Brentwood in Williamson County this summer. Brentwood is one the wealthiest counties in all of Tennessee. So I have dealt with many affluent buyers and sellers. One thing my past clients have always wanted is expertise. Moving to Sumner County, I have seen such a WIDE open door to a need in the luxury market and have really focused that as my niche out here.
Hi Michelle,
I wish you all the best in 2009. Please pay attention to your broker's concerns. It's possible that you've selected a niche that is too narrow in this challenging market.
Respectfully,
Bruce
As a broker myself who has realistic concerns about 2009 I know how your broker must be feeling. It's tough and the overhead is tremendous and sometimes it seems totally overwhelming. Yes I do try to keep on a positive face with my agents at all times, but sometimes I too digress and let them see the fear of the deep worry that I am treading around with on my mind.
I right now am very encouraged because I have two cash deals that I have worked out in the past 9 days that are both scheduled to close before the end of the month. I also am showing property again tomorrow to buyers that I know are qualified. They were under contract last year and the seller pulled the house off the market because of title problems. Again I am encouraged and hope to have another contract before the weekend is out. A couple of my agents are also currently working with buyers who are close to making their initial offers. So maybe she just needed to vent a little and maybe she she needs for you to be the positive one for a few days until she can be encouraged by your vision of what 2009 will be.
I wish you and your broker the very best of luck in making this a successful year. My only other suggestion is to use www.lakehouse.com for your lake listings if you are not already using it. It's a really affordable way to advertise and it has brought me a lot of success on my lake listings.
Hope it works out, it is pretty tough right now to even get funding.
Bruce - Absolutely! My philosophy is that I would rather work hard for 1 than try to sell 8-10. Its worked for me.
Tammy - I will look into lakehouse.com. Don't worry things are going to start turning!
I've had success in the luxury market, but as Bruce suggested, I realized over a year ago that the niche in my local market is not big enough for me to continue to specialize there only. Here, there is a 10 year inventory of homes priced above $1MM. I am keeping up with the luxury market, where my heart and skills are, while actively seeking competency in other niches for the time being. good luck to you!
Michelle, even brokers experence down days... I guess the important thing is that the "up" ones are more frequent. If the leadership in one's company is down, one needs to look for a different place to work. It was very hard for me, but I did it in October. Boy, I can just say that positive leadership is priceless.
Michelle, I too specialize in upper end waterfront property and although 2008 was the best year I've ever had it dried up for me in the last quarter. First the elections, then the buyouts and then the holidays. Ouch! But I'm trying to stay positive for the new year and we're starting to see more buyer activity. Good luck and if you have anyone coming my way, I'd be glad to send you a check!
Michelle-Waterfront and Luxury are the markets that will weather this economy the best. If prices come down on everything, stocks, gas, real estate, etc- it's all relative(or is that REALative). HA-ha. Keep the faith and sell into your niche. Best wishes.
One of the big problems in this industry is the "look out for number one" attitude that about 80% of agents have. Fewer and fewer even take the time to see how their office as a whole are doing financially. More than 60% of agents being forced to move because of an office closure didn't have a clue it was coming.
Even the most meager of Real Estate offices located in commercial locations (small home offices etc. excluded) have at least a $8,000-$10,000 nut to cover every month. Do the math, everyone knows the split they receive. Brokers are struggling to provide and facilitate the agents business needs. Somebody has to pay the rent and light bill.
If as an agent, you think you have it tough, try looking at the commitment to overhead your broker is providing. Most agents don't have to deal with that aspect of the business. And yes, hopefully they do it with a smile!