Daily Archives: January 12, 2008

Real Estate Exodus? Not So Fast.

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The news you will hear pretty soon, if we can trust the news media to over-hype anything is that real estate agents are fleeing the soft market. Yes, true but there is more to it.

Not so fast! Yes, we will probably see a big drop in fees and dues for 2008, even though there will be an influx from people who took their exams last year. And yes, many offices have closed and will continue to close. Also yes, many agents have left and will continue to do so. But I assume many like me are taking a sabbatical of a few months to a year.

It makes perfect business sense to slow down your activity in a sector of an industry that is stalling. Many agents have started other part-time jobs in order to weather out the bad storm (Disclaimer: my Coaching practice will continue regardless of what the real estate market does. I love Coaching and hope to Coach Realtors). Until lenders feel the market is stable enough to start new loans again, this market will continue to slow down despite everyone’s best will. When loans are hard to find, regardless of sellers’ enthusiastic prices and buyers’ reluctances, nothing will happen.

I know I will also wait. After all, everyone else seems to. My last potential buyer, and like many, many of them was only interested in looking around. Despite his enthusiasm and solemn promise to buy, he apparently never had the intention as I found out talking to other Realtors who knew him. Dealing with a few buyers like that is normal in real estate but when it becomes the norm, that’s when you lift your foot off the accelerator.

I will assess the situation in May/June. I think by then we will see a little more clearly. Who knows what can happen. With the upcoming election, I am sure a few politicians and parties will pull all kinds of tricks out their sleeves. Until then, when lenders start lending, buyers can afford and sellers align their prices to this market, it is better to wait and watch.

Oh and the reason for this? I read Calculated Risk’s Tanta’s post this morning.

In the meantime, the serious Realtors will understand the importance of investing in their future and setting stronger foundations. I still know this is a good time to think things through and adapt to this new market. There are some simple thins to do from adopting some technology to changing your mind frame. And as always, I hope to Coach Realtors as this is one industry I am very familiar with.

My New Mentor Coach

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One of the fun things you get to do when you Coach is to work with many other Coaches.

I am proud to have chosen Winston Connor of Coaching Dynamics as my Mentor Coach. Winston was there in our intensive class in Denver and was a pillar of strength and gentle compassion when we hit our walls.

I will come back to work with Donna Schilder who has been my first Coach. Thanks to Donna’s hard work and patience I became a coach. Through her enthusiasm, I understood the passion coaches have. Donna is an amazing Coach.

Working with Winston is also an amazing experience. Winston is in charge of many projects and certifications. Winston has been a coach for a long time. Everyone has a different system and it was interesting to see how Winston engaged me. I learned so much on my first session that I applied it directly to my next session with great results. I was impressed how he handled my fast flow and gently brought me back on track when I digressed. With great professionalism, he asked me if this was important or what we had started with. It was well done.

Coaching is such a delicate balance between listening, defining and engaging. There are times when you need to listen and others when you need to check and see if we are still on track.

I am happy working with different people. It teaches me a lot about different systems. It’s very enriching.