On Santa Fe...and beyond

Today, I received an email from yet another Realtor who told me 2008 was horrible. I wrote back to encourage them to act out-of-the-box as the landscape of real estate had changed along with the downturn in the economy and the housing market. Then I began to wonder about how we can help each other adapt to the changes in our industry? I remembered how excited I felt on Inauguration Day when everything seemed to stop and people were microblogging on Twitter and Facebook nearly nonstop about their emotions, dreams and hopes.

Now it is the middle of April and perhaps it is time to remember the energy and hopes of only a few months past. You might be wondering right now what does this all have to do with real estate. Well, like everything else, the buying and selling of real estate has an emotional component. Our emotions and attitude do make a difference in our business as much as they can in our home.

I remember on Inauguration Day hearing from clients, friends via text, phone and email about what was happening in their communities and how people were beginning to see hope instead of fear. On that afternoon, I had clients come in to list their home and buyers come in the next day to write an offer just because of the optimism and positive feelings coming from nearly everywhere. People were not afraid.

Now, it is nearly the end of the President's first hundred days. There has certainly been an intense effort made by the President in making a difference in people's lives and our economy. My concern is that many of us have stopped focusing on making a difference in our communities with the same energy, vision and spirit as the President.

As Realtors, we are in the trenches in this new real estate landscape. Many of us have been impacted in the same way as our customers, clients, neighbors and friends. Life and making a living has not been easy for many Realtors in nearly every community. Yet, we continue to work to help people buy and sell their homes. By doing so we carry a message every time someone asks us about real estate. We can be a more authentic resource than the national media for people who are on the fence, fearful or confused. How we see and talk about real estate can make a difference in not only how we feel but how others do. 

I believe challenging times can create new shifts in our view, spirit and vision. The problems we all face will only be solved if we keep working to make a difference. We elected a new President, but he can not be expected to fix everything everywhere. We need to change too by learning new tools, unlearning bad habits, re-learning how to connect with others in our industry and community to build new bridges and solutions. I think we can and encourage you to take the lead everyday by making a difference. Afterall, we are in the driver's seat in real estate. The recovery is up to us.