Terry Driscoll Realtor Mid-Coast Maine Residential Real Estate

To Serve More of Southern Maine: Allen & Selig Realty of North Yarmouth opens New Office in Bath, Maine, Located at 15 Vine Street - - - If you find yourself in the neighborhood, please stop in!

I've had several interesting careers so far in my adult life; I came to the real estate profession from the world of education - I was an educational technician (translation: teacher helper) in a kindergarten classroom - - and don't think lessons learned there (mostly from 5-year olds) don't come in handy every single day! Talk about a "business" with challenges!

A guidance counselor I used to work with sent me this video link; it's pretty much made the rounds of the educator community - - if you haven't already seen this, take 6 minutes at the end of your day and watch - - fascinating - - these stats speak to education, real estate and every other biz on the planet. Rapid change, fierce competition and constant challenge - - It's not enough to just keep up any more, we all need to be STAND OUTS!

View Video: Did You Know? - - Shift Happens!

Wherever I go, inevitably, someone who knows I sell real estate will ask "So, how's business these days?" Well, unless they've been living under a rock (and I personally know only 1 or 2 people who have been), they know that global financial markets are strangled, house values are down, unemployment is up, credit markets have tightened and short sales and foreclosures are on the rise. Honestly, I've not seen anything like this in my lifetime.

Are these well-meaning inquiries from people who care about me and my business? Or, are they just asking to see me squirm, expecting to hear gloom in my voice as I tell them how tough it's gotten to make a living? Perhaps their stock portfolios have imploded and they want someone to bemoan the state of the world with them?

I do not spread the gloom. Why not? Because there is no gloom to spread!

Here's an example of how this conversation typically goes:

Just last week, my dentist was drilling me about how the real estate business was treating me these days. I responded, "Business is good; I've been so busy; I'm having a really good year." Now, I do lead a rich fantasy life, but I really wasn't making this up and none of my transactions have been short sales or foreclosures. He cocked his head like a spaniel and gave me a look that said "You're pulling my leg, right?" He proceeded to inform me that the state of the economy is in the dumpster and surely I must be feeling this in my business.

I am so not the Pollyanna (does that date me?) real estate agent, but I responded that people need or want to buy and sell homes for so many reasons that have nothing to do with market timing that there is still enough going on in my world to keep me working full-time. People may need to relocate for a new job, they may want to down-size or up-size, they may get married, they may get a divorce, they may need assisted living, they may need to lower overhead expenses, etc., etc., etc. The reality is that they cannot wait for the politicians and the regulators to achieve a satisfactory level of economic stability. My dentist, head still cocked, was seeing a new reality and admitted that he could understand how I might be doing just fine, thank you very much!

We frequently talk about this in my office. It may not, however, occur to Mr. and Ms. Potential Home Seller or Mr. and Ms. Potential Home Buyer to think in these terms. With every broadcast of the nightly news, more and more people become paralyzed and feel they cannot move forward even if they want or need to. That is not my message, and because I can help people sort through these things, I am able to say . . .

Life goes on, and so does my business!