About Saint Francois County, MO

I believe 2010 will be a "BIG" win for many real estate professionals around the U.S. Why, you might ask? Supply and demand is the basic principal that my theory is based upon. I'm beginning to see (and hear) about more and more agents who are bailing out of the business prior to 2010, opting to not pay association dues. Basically they're giving up! I witnessed this same scenario in our board back the mid-80's, and what happened was a reduction of many real estate agents, and the re-entry of many buyers who realized that the economy was not going to change for a few years, and if they wanted to buy a home now was as good a time as any to begin shopping.

Here's what I think is about to happen in our industry in 2010:

1. Many agents won't continue to wait for the market to fully rebound, and decide to leave our business. Fewer agents, means less competition in most markets.
2. Many buyers have set on the sidelines thinking the economy would rebound after a few months, and now realize it may be a few years before everything fully recovers. Like most of us, putting off purchases we want to make can only be done for so long, so more and more buyers will get back in the game.
3. Many defaulting buyers from a few years ago have learned to repair their credit, save money and have learned to operate responsibly financially. This will open "some" new opportunities for potential buyers in many markets.
4. The economy is slowly in recovery mode (I'm not a fan of many or our government bail-out decisions) and we should see growth in many parts of our country.
5. Seller's are becoming more willing to work with on lower offers, and prices have fallen to more affordable areas in most markets which should produce more sales.

Although I'm not an economist, I did work through the 1980's as a young real estate professional, and we witnessed these same principals during that time. Here's the bottom line. Hang on and don't give up! I think we've almost turned the corner (and in some locations have turned) and business should pick up for most of us in 2010. Although it may not be back to full throttle for another year or two, the reduction of our competition and the other ingredients I mentioned above should make for an exciting 2010.

If anything, I hope this post is a motivator and encourager for you to keep going just a little longer.