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| Photo by Derek Gavey via Flickr |
We're just a few hours from the first month of 2012 being over, yet many of our real estate brothers and sisters haven't even started their year. Oh sure, they may have turned their calendar and they have done the ceremonial business plan but they really haven't begun because they are still waiting for business to come to them.
Many of the active agents I know have some sort of business - at least one new listing or one new buyer.
Do you?
"The thing that has not been begun cannot be finished"
~ Robert Henri
If you don't have any business yet, ask yourself this: "Why not? What am I waiting for?"
It's been a few years since I have heard agents kick off their January so excited by the business at hand in the first few weeks of the year. I know listings are up in our local market and buyers have been pushed to jump in to the action with a combination of low interest rates, pent up demand and warmer than usual weather in the Central, Midwest and Northeast portions of the United States. I expect pending deals in January to outdistance 2011 and that's good news for a market that is in desperate need of a recovery.
How is your local market doing? Do you know the inventory that is available right now and how it compares to last year? How about the list price to sales price ratio? The average days on market? The average sales price?
If you are knowledgeable enough, you will quickly become the "market expert" your client demands. Shouldn't you know the numbers of your market better than your local grocery store bag boy knows which aisles to find Tabasco sauce and condensed milk? Show you're a true professional and dig deep to understand your market inside and out.
"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinsihed?
Yes; work never begun."
~ Christina Rossetti
The old cliche is true - "He who lists, lasts." Get out there this week and start making phone calls to past clients and members of your sphere of influence. Contact local FSBO's and any listings that might have expired heading into the holidays. Their 30+ days of misery are over and it's time to get them on to their next phase of life. Build your inventory and get ready for the flood of buyers that will be coming soon.
I've never met a top agent who had a great year in real estate that didn't include a busy first quarter. There are about 60 days left until April 1st. Maybe the work you do these next two months will be what you look back on in December and say, "that's when I really got started."
Start today. If you don't, you'll quickly look up and realize it's the last week of 2012.
Focus on how you can build relationships, solve problems and have fun.
Don't wait. Start right now.
