Beginning of a new year - Blurry last 6 months

Hello out there in cyber land! I posted my first, last and only posting on here over 5 months ago. I was ranting about changing brokers. I must say that time flies when you are having fun and especially when you have an infant. That little 9 month old can make you lose track of the days really quickly.

Touching on the real estate world...it doesn't seem like anything good has been happening with the market, with the robotsigner scandal, the record number of foreclosures, the record number of derogatory loans and the great majority of homes that are under water. We have a long haul to travel before we are out of this one. When I started working in the real estate world (full time that is) in 2008, I felt that we could be out of the bottom by the end of 2008. It seems that every time we were in a position to start a rebuilding process, another pillar was knocked out from under the market. The real estate market has so much "shadow inventory" (the homes that are seriously derogatory on their loans, but the banks don't want to foreclose or have them hidden waiting for inventory to drop) is so bid, we could have years and years worth of inventory to look at if the banks did take them and try to sell them. A further drop of 10-15% wouldn't surprise me...although after the last 3 years, nothing with this market would surprise me.

Case in point...I have been very quiet with my business because of having the baby and in the process sold more and made more than ever. It did help on the money side that the broker didn't take the average 50-60% of my commissions! But without advertising/marketing, I was more successful...go figure.

The buyers are out there, but they are very, very afraid of getting bit. Realtors have received a really bad name for themselves because of the profits that were made during the boom. None of the realtors I knew before I joined in 2008 ever told me or showed any hint of a crash coming. Either they didn't know because of stupidity or niaviety, or they were hiding the knowledge because they didn't want to ruin their cash cow. Both of those reasons are crap! If you didn't know, you weren't a professional! If you hide it, you are a crook!

I would rather deal with a realtor who joined the business after the crash like I did. I had always been around the real estate world (family with architects and structural engineers and designers), but once I left the automotive sales world, I really wanted to do something that I could help people. Since I knew sales and real estate, I jumped in...little did I know that I would be trusted even less than a car salesmen because of what all those before me had done to this market!

Oh, well! I'm here and working. I'm finally able to make a living at it...anyone who says a realtor gets paid too much, try living on your savings for 10 months, while you work and prospect and search...then get a couple deals to refill them in hopes that you won't go another 10 months searching!!! My savings are full and I have clients, so I'm very thankful.

This year should be an interesting one and since my crystal ball broke, I have no idea which way the next detour will take us. So buckle up and enjoy the ride with me.

I will try to give updates and have some fun on here. I don't want to just spit out data about the market. I want to have this be a laugh riot!!! If only I was funny!

Good night Southern California and pleasant dreams.
Your friend,
Cole

Changing Brokers

It can be a trying time when you change. There are many unknowns. I have recently switched from working with FirstTeam Real Estate to working with Evergreen Realty. There are benefits to both, but the negatives and costs of one far out weighed the benefits. We are in a truly different real estate market. One that takes a great deal of time and money to succeed within.

The idea of a broker expecting you to need them is something that I feel is obsolete. Real estate customers, whether they are buyers or sellers, don't hire the broker. They hire the agent! But the broker expects to make almost as much or even more than the agent!?!

This market is unique and will be around for a while. If you would have asked me 2 years ago when I thought we would get out of this real estate funk, I would have and could have told you that it would be within 6 to 12 months. Now I see even more negatives coming. Sorry to all you believers, who thought that the big government of Obama would fix the economy, but we are heading in the wrong direction. Jobs are going away and not coming back, homes are going into default and not returning to current and home values...they are dropping and dropping and dropping!!!

I have been tracking and watching and working this real estate market. We are in for a battle. This isn't a "recession"...it's a "depression"!!! We all need to work together and save. We need to look for how we can help each other, not how we can steal from each other. I'm guilty of protecting my own...I have a 4 month old daughter! But I need to start remembering my motto..."There is no limit to how much we can accomplish, so long as we don't care who gets the credit!"

Many of the brokers don't believe that agents can survive without their tools that they "give" the agents in return for the "small" percentage the broker takes. I looked around and found that those brokers are the majority. Evergreen is within the small minority, who feels that agents are important. If you are a successful, struggling, beginning or just chugging along experienced agent, a broker like Evergreen is where you belong. Don't let the big brokers sell you short. There is always someone who will help you for a "fee", but the truly rare individual is there to help you because doing so makes a better world.

This hopeless optimist is signing off for the evening. This feels like a good first post for this blog. I can't promise that I will post here everyday, but I will discuss how I feel about the world and real estate when I have the need to release some of the pressure that always builds up in this market.

Please let me know if you have any questions or issues. I would love to discuss them.

Thanks,
Cole