Up until about 2006 we had a very coherent statement of those things we hold most dear:  our Core Values.  Great care was taken in the creation of the list.  We didn’t want what usually passes for this kind of statement - a bland list of noble words that don’t really describe the company.  We wanted this list to be real.  And it was.  But then there was a changing of the guard in 2006 and the old set was scrapped and replace by somebody else’s idea of who they wanted to be . . . and the original list was abandoned.

I’ve been thinking about that original list lately and I’d like to revive it.  It truly describes who we are (not who we want to be, but who we really are right now).

1.  Integrity

• We tell the truth.
• We believe so deeply in our product that we don’t have to stoop to techniques and manipulation to be successful:  all we have to do is tell people what we have.
• We provide a valuable service for a reasonable fee.
• We make an honest living.  We don’t  ‘make a killing’ on every closing. We are paid fairly by the people we serve.
• We believe in our program.
• We realize we are different.  We have a unique offering for the consumer that is fundamentally better than what traditional brokers offer.
• Our system works.  Period.
• Our words, our actions and our beliefs are in sync.  We don’t say one thing but do something else.

2.  Information without obligation

• We don’t hoard or hide information.
• We answer questions honestly without technique or manipulation.
• Our selling style is to educate; we empower our customers with information.

3. Consumer choices

• One size does not fit all.
• We allow the consumer to choose the services he or she would like to employ and then we charge them based on how the home actually sells.
• Our focus is always on how we can better serve the consumer.

4. Seller participation

• We believe in our customers’ ability to handle some aspects of the sale.
• We partner with our sellers to market their property.  We HELP YOU sell your property.
• We coach our sellers through the process.

5. Seller savings

• Because we always have our customers’ best interest at heart, the more we can save them, the better.
• We deliver high value service for a set fee considerably lower than the commissions charged by other offices.

6. Buyer/Seller contact

• Because we believe in our service, we don’t have to justify our existence by getting between the parties.
• We believe that most people are honest and principled.
• Our job is to coach, educate and facilitate a successful transaction.

7. Unique management model

• We believe that we can offer a high value service to consumers and make a healthy profit at the same time.
• We organize our offices to serve the consumer, not the agent.
• We believe it is our business; we hire people to help us do more of it and do it better.

8. Powerful marketing system

• We are a marketing company.  We study our marketplace and our marketing to make sure we are maximizing results.
• We have a marketing plan and we stick to it.
• We measure results.
• We actively market real estate

And here it is once again without the extra verbiage:

• Integrity
• Information without Obligation
• Consumer Choices
• Seller Participation
• Seller Savings
• Buyer/Seller Contact
• Unique Management Model
• Powerful Marketing System

This set of 8 Core Values is more than mere words on a page.  It is a living breathing entity, one we use every day to remind us who we are and to help in decision making.  Any time you are considering a change to your program or a new piece of marketing or a new way of doing anything, take out the list and weigh what you’re considering against it.  If it does not align with your 8 Core Values, then it’s probably something you shouldn’t do.  We are a principal centered organization and these are the principals on which we base our business.  Be proud of them. Display them.  Share them with your staff and give them a little time every day.

Core Values is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

We have been talking about planning lately.  Specifically: planning for business growth in 2012.  I am urging you to keep it short and sweet, define your goals with a razor focus, write them down in bullets, not paragraphs.  I’m also urging you to create action plans for a shorter period:  say,  90 days.   Create your annual bullseye but plan your activity only for the next 3 months.  The short term action plan keeps you focused on the NOW and more open to opportunity as it appears.  It also enables you to take new information into account when you create your next set of action plans in 90 days.

The bulleted list of goals and action plans ought to fit on one page and ought to be in front of you every day.  Treat them like affirmations:  those simple one sentence phrases that, when carefully constructed and consistently considered are proven to create positive personal change.  Attacking 2012 with this kind of laser focus will keep you moving forward and doing what we all want to do:  MORE.

I have a slip of paper I keep tucked away in my keep-sake file.  It is about 4 inches wide and 10 inches tall.  It’s just a scrap, really.  But in 1987 I wrote half a dozen bullets on it.  They were things I wanted to achieve, big things.  I put the paper away and didn’t see it again for a couple of years . . . and you know what?   I had achieved every single thing I’d written.  Getting clear on your bullets, then committing them to writing is powerful.

This is also the time of year that we tend to make ‘resolutions.’  These are promises we make to ourselves to be better or happier or healthier or wealthier.   I don’t really see the need for a separation; I mean:  why can’t a good resolution or two be part of your annual business plan/quarterly action plan?  The last thing any of us wants to do is to stop becoming, whether as human beings or as businesses.

Dr. Maya Bailey, a business coach, has an article on Inman News today about resolutions that’s pretty good.  She lays out 5 steps.  Step 1 is to define what you want and be very specific:  what does success mean to you?  It’s different for different people.  Step 2 is to recognize your blocks and obstacles.  Interesting:  here are some of the most common limiting beliefs she finds in her clients:

• ‘I don’t have what it takes to succeed in today’s market’
• ‘I’m not assertive enough to market myself’
• ‘I’m not educated enough to be successful’
• ‘Who am I to have abundance and prosperity?’

My own Rx for that kind of thinking is Toastmasters.  Even if you never plan to speak in public, I know of no better way to build a little brass and to understand how much you have to offer.  It’s also a great way to network and expand your CI list.  Hmmm . . . Maybe Toastmasters ought to be on your resolution/business plan bulleted list?

Step 3 is to zero in on the areas you need to develop, which has a lot to do with being honest about your limitations and weak areas.  For example, consider that first limiting belief:  ’I don’t have what it takes to be successful in today’s market.’  I can’t tell you how many REALTORS I know who feel this way, largely about technology.  They are wonderful salespeople who see the business becoming ever more tech oriented and they feel lost.  Frankly, I don’t get it.  Why would you pine away about your lack of tech understanding when you could hire someone for $15 an hour to handle it for you?  And if that’s too much to pay, why not go to your local college and find an intern, possibly for free?  Oops . . . could this be yet another item on your plan for the year?

4  is to have a timeline and a plan.  We all need to be held accountable and most of us would like to believe we do a good job of that on our own.  That’s where self-imposed deadlines and timelines come in.  Unfortunately many of us discover that we don’t do a good job of holding our own feet to the fire.  This is not awful; it’s not even a failing; it’s just an indication that a good mentor, accountability buddy or coach is needed.  Could that be another resolution/business plan item for 2012?

Step 5 is to visualize the end result.  I’ve urged you to set big, annual, numeric production goals.  But what will your life look like when you achieve them? That’s what you want to visualize.  See yourself behaving as you will behave when you have achieved all the additional production you’ve planned . . . and then start acting as if you’ve already achieved it.

And above all:  find a way to be happy.  It’s a decision, you know.  None of this stuff works at all if you’re not operating from a place of general happiness.  Happiness precedes success.  In fact I’d assert that happiness is a pre-requisite for success.  Plain and simple:  Money loves Happy. Success seeks out happy people.  Get happy and watch all of your plans, your resolutions, your affirmations come to pass.

Resolution Solution is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

I’ve said it before:  the biggest challenge we have as Help-U-Sell brokers is staying connected.  We’re spread out all over the country and have only occasional opportunities to get together face-to-face.  Plus, we work in a hostile environment – one where most of the real estate ‘professionals‘ around us wish we’d just dry up and blow away.  That can grind on you after a while.  It’s important to tune in every now and then just to keep your head screwed on right!

There are several ways to stay plugged into Help-U-Sell.  The company Facebook and Twitter pages are good.  So is our company newsletter, Help-U-Sell Connect, and this silly little blog (do you realize we’re approaching 300 posts here?).  But nothing is better than our weekly webinars/teleconferences.  Tech Tuesday – which will convene in just a few hours – is action packed with good information about how to build and manage your web presence and your technology in general.  And Wonderful Wednesdays are . . . well . . . .

LISTEN:  in the last six to eight months, the Wednesday Broker Roudtable Calls have been electric.  Every week, great new information has been disseminated and the group has grown increasingly comfortable with sharing what they’re doing, what’s  working and what’s not.  It’s one hour a week to be reminded how powerful it is to be Help-U-Sell (remember:  if you are a broke or agent in a Help-U-Sell office, you are Help-U-Sell).

Tomorrow’s call will be a little special in that we have a guest; two of them, actually.  Patricia Boyd, who everyone fell in love with at the Success Summit, will be there talking all things finance, and she’s bringing Chris Jackson of TurnScor.  TurnScor markets credit repair/improvement software to brokers who then can give it (for free) to as many people as they’d like.  It’s a wonderful thing to add to your value package.  I mean:  what buyer wouldn’t benefit from a 5% increase in their FICO score?  Even the one with great credit might qualify for a better loan thanks to the free program their Help-U-Sell broker gave them!

Best of all, TurnScor is running a special for the month of December: a 25% discount.  AND Patricia is offering her two part Certified Real Finance Advocate training program free to everyone who takes advantage of TurnScor’s offer.  It’s a ridiculously good deal.  And it’s all about increasing your knowledge and the value you bring to a transaction.  We have 11 days left in December.  I think I’d set a goal to complete Patricia’s training and get certified by the end of the year and then give the TurnScor software to everyone on my CI list as a kind of Holiday gift.  You know:  start the new year with a better credit score, courtesy of  Help-U-Sell.

You can learn more about TurnScor and the promotion on Patricia’s website:  www.cRFApro.com.

Also on tomorrow’s call, we’ll update the results of the Winter Warm Up contest.  Brokers are competing for points awarded for new listings, as well as  closed buyer and seller sides.  As of the end of November, Deb Schmidt from Minnesota is in the lead, followed closely by Richard Cricchio (Hawaii) and John Powell (Arizona).  But the field is very tight and anyone could hop into the lead before the contest ends in February.

It will be our last Wednesday call of the year, so we’ll take a minute to look back at 2010 and forward to 2011.  So think of it as your company Holiday Party; ok, that’s stretching it a little bit.  Think of it as your weekly sales meeting and TUNE IN!  If you haven’t signed up yet, do so now by clicking HERE.

Why YOU Should Be On Tomorrow’s Broker Roundtable Call is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

WHY I THINK THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

1.  We’ve really built nothing new (or nothing much) for five years.  Inventories of new houses are way down and little is planned for the near future.

2.  Millions who navigated a short sale and went into rental housing will be re-entering the market.

3.  Many millions of  ’fence-sitters’ will flood the market when a tipping point of confidence and activity occurs.

4.  Lenders are becoming increasingly rational, more predictable, more systematic.  They are slowly becoming workable again.

5.  Prices have stabilized in most markets and actually risen in some.  Cue the trumpets!  Buyers tend not to buy when prices are falling.  They tend to return to the market when prices begin to rise.

6.  Investor activity in the lower price ranges is fairly frantic, and has been for some time.  Multiple offers and bidding wars are common.  Investor’s always signal the bottom of the trough.  They come out first – consumers follow.

I think 2012 is going to be a whole lot better than 2011, and I believe 2013 could be a break-out year.

Six Reasons Why A Housing Shortage Could Be In Our Future or . . . is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

At Help-U-Sell, we love Patricia Boyd.  Her consumer advocate approach to real estate finance is a perfect match for our own consumer oriented program and she’s already brought great value to our new relationship.  Patricia is the founder of Real Finance Solutions and has spent almost 30 years working with Realtors to increase their understanding of mortgage financing so that they can help consumers make good decisions.  Recently, the National Association of Realtors brought her ‘Certified Real Finance Advocate’ training program into Realtor University.

The training program consists of two video lessons delivered online and upon successful completion of an exam, results in a certification of the participant a cRFA.  What’s important though is the quality of information that is delivered in the program and the ongoing support and education cRFA designees receive.  They have their own website that keeps them updated about new programs and changes, regular coaching sessions and networking opportunities.

In this business, we are all about VALUE.  Value is what bring to real estate transactions.  It is our commodity.  The only reason any consumer would ever choose to do business with you (over someone else) is that they perceive the value you bring to their situation.  Knowledge of finance and the ability to use it to make transactions happen is an essential part of our value package.

Help-U-Sell folks:  you know what I’m talking about.  You’ve heard Jack Bailey work with buyers to create a Real Estate Plan and you have swelled with pride and admiration at how he brings his vast knowledge to the task of solving real problems. With the cRFA program, you can begin to develop that same kind of expertise, that same depth of value.

Patricia recently teamed up with TurnScor, a credit repair company that approaches the process a little differently.  They provide software to participating real estate brokers who then offer it to consumers for free.  Consumers work through the software on their own, repairing or improving their own credit scores.  This is a superior solution for real estate professionals because they’re saving their customers the often substantial fees most credit repair companies charge and they are not handing their customers off to an outsider who may or may not support the original relationship.

As a broker I think I’d make TurnScor a part of every initial buyer consultation.  Credit score will absolutely impact the quality of financing the buyer will be able to achieve, and even the buyer with a 700 FICO could benefit from raising it to, say, 740.   I think I’d also use it with sellers who will likely be buying something else.

Here’s a novel idea:  why not give TurnScor to everyone on your CI list for the Holidays?  It will certainly be perceived as valuable.

NOW, HERE’S THE COOL PART:

TurnScor usually costs $199 a month (with no contract) and a $99 setup fee.  For the month of December ONLY, new signups are at $149 a month and the $99 fee is waived.  PLUS!! Patricia will throw in her full two course cRFA certification program – which usually sells for $199 – FOR FREE.   If that’s not a bargain, I don’t know what is.  Here’s a link to Patricia’s flyer with all the details (be sure to go to the TurnScor link and watch the Demo):  Real Finance Solutions System

Here is a short video with Patricia talking about the power of the cRFA program:

Get Certified! is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

It’s holiday season and everyone is full of cheer, good will and, well . . . eggnog.

We’re buying each other gifts.  Retailers are rejoicing with their own version of the spirit of the season:  the door-buster sale.  Not that it’s all been candy canes and sugar plum fairies;  we’ve already had a crazed pepper spray shopping incident and a couple of tramplings at Walmart . . . and I don’t know when I’ve seen more offensive, even hostile driving.  But all-in-all, it’s a wonderful season.

So . . . while you’re picking out just the right tie or bathrobe for someone special, I have a challenge for you:

I double-dog-dare you to also do something ridiculously nice for a stranger and do it anonymously.  Want to kick the holiday spirit up a notch?  Try dropping a little unexpected niceness on a total stranger’s head!  They will be on cloud nine and so will you!

I’ve ‘paid it forward’ like this a few times but my most memorable experience was when I was the recipient of a stranger’s random act of kindness.  I was driving North from San Diego into Orange County for a business meeting.  I was running a little late so opted to take the toll road that runs through the hills above Laguna Beach and Newport Coast.  At the time it cost about $2.50, but when I pulled up to the toll booth, the attendant explained that the person who passed through before me had paid my toll . . . just for the heck of it.  Now, you think maybe I had an awesome day?  You bet I did!  And I bet he or she did, too!

This is coming up tonight because a friend passed on a list of kindness ideas to me. I have no idea who wrote this wonderful list so I can’t give credit;  but I wanted to pass it on to you to stir your thinking.  Which of these would you do?  Or do you have a different plan?  Either way, I’d love to hear from you.  I keep wondering how many more smiles I’d see if  I secretly did something nice for somebody every day  . . . and maybe the idea spread!

• Send someone a hand-written note of thanks
• Buy a lottery ticket for a stranger
• Feed someone else’s parking meter
• Put some coins in the vending machine with a note to let the next purchaser know
• Give a compliment about your server to his/her manager
• Send someone a small gift anonymously
• Pay for the drinks on the next table at a cafe
• Give up your seat for someone, not just an elderly person
• Have a ‘normal’ conversation with a homeless person
• Leave a treat for your mailman in the box
• Send a thank you note to someone who helped you in the past
• Smile a lot
• Leave a generous tip
• Adopt a soldier
• Be a designated driver
• Pay the toll for the driver behind you

Pay It Forward is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Happy Thanksgiving! is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

If you believe the media’s packaging of economic news you’d expect America to be on its last legs, soon to be a second class province of China.

That’s the news biz for ya.

They’ve discovered that we love to be scared nearly to death (that’s why we go to see horror films), so anything they can slant in the direction of gloom and doom, they will.  It’s just packaging;  and come on –  we’re all in sales: we know you can package or spin almost anything any way you want.  The info-tainment people (what we used to call “the news”) want as many viewers and readers as possible and they believe spinning the economy into the dirt will do that for them.

Walter Cronkite would not be pleased.

I don’t buy the vision that it can only get worse from here.  I believe positive change is already occurring and will only accelerate in the months ahead. Instead of devastation in the housing market, I’m looking for (gulp!  dare I say it?) a housing shortage!

For six years, we’ve barely added any new housing units at all.   Each year we’ve created less than 50% of the new homes and condos we have historically needed just to keep up with the demand of new buyers coming into the market and obsolete units being demolished.  Today, while we have substantial inventory of resale homes (including REOs) , we also have a home building industry at a near total stall.  Nobody’s building anything.  When the tipping point of low interest rates and rising consumer confidence is reached (and it will be reached), I expect buyers to flood into the market, quickly deplete the resale inventory that is there and clamor for more.  Honestly:  we could suddenly be in a sellers’ market!

Let’s define a couple of time issues.  First off, when.  I don’t know?  Late 2012?  mid-2013?  Nobody knows when homebuyer collective consciousness will give the signal and the multitude of people with jobs and credit will emerge.  The other time issue is the word, “suddenly.”  How “suddenly” will we roll from an inventory glut to a sellers’ market?  Relatively quickly compared to the six years it took to get us to this point.  A year, maybe.

I posted a NAR Research piece from Lawrence Yun documenting recent declines in inventory on Facebook earlier today and chimed in with my housing shortage prediction.  Steve Vincent from Help-U-Sell Triad in North Carolina responded with a street wise perspective:

James Dingman:  At Summit, I talked about the potential for a pending housing shortage. For six years we’ve created very little new housing and when the tipping point is reached and buyers flood back into the market, a shortage could develop quickly. Mr. Yun adds fuel to that fire.

 

Tom Burdine:   That is probably true, but it sounds amazingly impossible right now!

 

Steve Vincent:   I’m concerned that at the first hint of good or improving news there will be a rush of new listings from people who have postponed marketing their home. No one talks about that potential ‘shadow inventory.’

 

James Dingman:   Don’t you think we’d have to see a 10% or more increase in values before fence-sitting sellers came back? My guess is most are waiting because they don’t think they can get enough for their properties. What they’re waiting for is for values to return, but that’s going to take YEARS.

 

Steve Vincent:  Certainly truth in that, but my day-to-day experience makes me think there are plenty of sellers just avoiding the long, slow market for reasons other than current value. Many just don’t want the hassle in what they perceive to be a losing situation. In our market the “move-up buyer” has largely disappeared. Combination of reasons: job insecurity, waiting for the market to bottom before purchasing, avoiding marketing their current home. I think there are lots of these would be sellers who are just waiting for good news – a better mood. My guess is the election could turn the tide for these folks.

 

James Dingman:  Ah – so the real world (that’s you) sees a lot of sellers in ‘Hibernation’ during this economic winter. When the thaw begins, and when they rush in, we’re going to sputter and lurch like a cold Model T. Ok, I get that. Sometimes, up here where the rubber meets the clouds, we can miss the nuances.

Steve Vincent:   I think hibernation is the exact right term. When these folks return to the market it will have a supressing result. Hopefully, their numbers are less than I fear.

Anticipating What’s Next is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

I am looking around the NAR Exhibit hall.  There are a dozen real estate companies with booths (maybe more).  I’m seeing them:  Keller-Williams, Re/Max, Exit, Prudential, the Realogy Brands (Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, Better Homes and Gardens, Southebys), and more . . . and suddenly all of the color strips out of the picture.  I’m seeing them in black and white.  No; greyscale.  They all kind of smoosh together into a large amorphous glob of grey sludge.  I can’t tell them apart, can’t distinguish one from the other.

I start listening, and I’m hearing the same buzz-words from every corner:  great training! family atmosphere! recruiting tools! referrals! brand recognition!  I can’t tell who’s saying what because they are all saying the same thing.  And when I listen carefully, they’re not saying much of anything at all!

Really:  there is not one iota of differentiation among the big brands in real estate today.  That entire universe has become generic.  None are talking about selling real estate, all are talking about recruiting; none are talking about the consumer, all are talking about how many agents they have.  It’s as if the most recognized brands in the business are in flight from the consumer!  They are tossing them aside, telling their agents, ‘Here, you deal with these people; we’re in the franchising business.’

And then I turn around and see a gem.  It’s a ruby, an emerald, a diamond all beautifully wrapped in platinum . . . Help-U-Sell.  It looks different, it sounds different, it says different things, and it sticks out like a Gulliver among the Lilliputians.

Yes, we are different.  We talk constantly about the consumer, what he or she wants, what would delight them, how we can better reach and care for them.  Our bullseye is crystal clear:  sell more real estate.  Sure, we’d like to have more outlets, more agents, but that’s the means, not the end.  That’s how we sell more real estate.

There is great power in differentiation.  When you are different, it’s easier for the consumer to see you.  When you are different there is a natural curiosity that causes people to ask, ‘What do you do?’

When they started, Re/Max had great differentiation.  They were doing what nobody else was doing, and they took the industry by storm.  Then they became like everyone else – or everyone else became more like them – their picture turned to greyscale, and they went into decline.  The same story could be told (with different colors) about Century 21, Coldwell, Keller . . . eventually they all become part of the soup and the magic is gone.

Not so with Help-U-Sell.  We’ve stuck out like a wonderfully sore thumb since 1976.  We have a brilliant Red force-field around us that effectively repells shades of grey.  The industry has the same reaction to us today they did 35 years ago:  they scratch their heads and say, ‘Huh? Are you guys still HERE?’

Yes, we are still here.  You can’t kill us.  That’s because we’ve paired this wonderful differentiation with a super-human power:  passion.  Passion is our Kryptonite.

Help-U-Sell is not just a Brand; it’s a belief system.  We honestly believe that we have a better deal, one that works better, that’s better for consumers, for Brokers and for agents.  We are as much about changing the way real estate is sold as we are about simply selling real estate.  And our people go to the wall for their faith in Help-U-Sell every day of their lives.

Overheard at NAR yesterday, from a former Help-U-Sell Franchisee: ‘The happiest days of my real estate career were the ones I spent as a Help-U-Sell Broker.’

Becoming part of Help-U-Sell is like meeting the love of your life, your soulmate.  Even if things go south and you end up apart, you remember that time as the best.

Steve Jobs once said:

When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself.

You could substitute the word ‘Help-U-Sell’ for ‘Apple’ in that phrase . . . it’s the same here.  Our people are in love with Help-U-Sell.  They love feeling good about what they do for consumers.  They love being different, being better.  They love saving people money.  They love being in control of their destiny. . .

And I love them.

Differentiation and Passion is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Fiserv, the company that operates and distributes results from the Case-Schiller Index is out with some welcome predictions.  The Index tracks trends in the sale of existing single family homes and uses historical data and a variety of other factors to predict everything from prices to volume.  The good news is:

They expect nationwide prices to stabilize in 2012 and rise 2.7% by the first quarter of 2013. Gains are expected in 365 out of 384 metro markets by 2013.

Now there’s a breath of fresh air.

Four markets they expect to see the greatest increase in value over that period are:

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL: Prices to rise 18.3% by the 1st Q of 2013.

Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.: Prices to rise 10.2%.

Tucson, Ariz.: Prices to rise 10.2%.

Memphis, Tenn.: Prices to rise 10%.

I can’t help but focus in on Tucson, which is arguably the ‘epicenter’ of the housing crisis (the argument would probably come from Phoenix, Las Vegas and Southwest Florida).  Our Help-U-Sell Brokers in the Tucson area have done a very good job of weathering the storm.  Jimmie and Beverly Sonnier have continued to list, sell and maintain a good level of production and a wonderfully Cajun positive attitude.  John and Maria Powells’ business, which they opened in the middle of this mess (2008), has absolutely exploded.  Every time I talk to them they are trying to find another assistant or another buyer agent.  So I’m very proud of our folks in Tucson and am excited to see good opportunity there. (And, oh, by the way:  our other ‘epicenter’ brokers in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Southwest Florida have also done a stellar job.  I am a little in awe of what they’ve accomplished).

That’s the thing about this tough real estate market:  it’s full of opportunity.  I understand you can buy a duplex in Tucson for less than $100,000.  Think about that!  Getting financing might be a challenge – that’s why so many investor sales are all cash today – but if you did secure a mortgage you’d have a positive cash flow right from day one PLUS the good possibility of an excellent increase in value.

Fortunately, it seems the public has started to recognize the opportunity.  With interest rates ratcheting down once again, to levels below 4%, there seems to be an uptick in activity in many markets.  A lot of ‘on-the-fence’ buyers have hopped off and are ready to make a move.  So, you survivors out there:  take a breath, give yourself a hug, a little pat on the back, get that smile adjusted and get busy.  And I’d say, focus on Listings.  They will attract that good emerging opportunity and those good emerging opportunists to you!

A Little Good News is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog