I’ve been thinking about the future of real estate.
Fellow Agent Genius Contributor, Russell Shaw, wrote a thought-provoking blog post a few days ago about the rumored shadow inventory that is (or is not) coming our way. I have to admit that I loved this post ‘cause it got me to thinkin’. It got me to thinkin’ about why so many folks are on the fence about taking a short sale listing. After all, why bother taking a short sale listing that will take months to close when you may get a major REO account later this year?
A few months ago, I got a call from a local Broker who wanted me to come to his office and give his agents a pep talk—wanted me to motivate them to start embracing the short sale transaction. He mentioned to me that he had been waiting a year for some Bank of America REO listings, but they never came. After a year, he decided it was time to make a change to his game plan.
While I adore this particular Broker and was happy to visit his office, I was surprised that he allowed his whole slew of agents to sit on the fence for an entire year. What a waste of time!
What could I do in that year?
I could have easily taken at least 15 or 20 short sale listings. I could’ve closed most of them. I could have helped that many families to avoid foreclosure, and I could’ve made some money doing just that!
What is my point? My point is this: while I would love to postulate about whether there may be a shadow inventory, it is just not productive to do so. All of the time spent speculating about what may or may not be coming could be time spent improving myself, making money, and helping others.
Agents moan and groan about the current market and how they miss the way it used to be . . . about how many listings they had “back in the day” and about how much money they made. When, oh when, will we return to normalcy?
Guess what, folks? This current unique and challenging real estate market (with or without its shadow inventory) is the new normal. Get used to it; enjoy it; embrace it. There has never been a better time than the present to polish your real estate skills and take more listings than ever before. And . . . if I have not gotten you off the fence and you are still going to wait for your big REO account, feel free to send those short sale listings my way!
