What is the effect of the Market on a career in real estate

Bull vs. Bear
Buyer vs. Seller
What is the “Market?”

In the thirty years we have been consulting and working in the real estate industry, we have seen the “market” change…a LOT…and a lot of times.

In the late seventies, it was the interest rates. It soared again when rates came down. Then it dumped when speculators left for the dot com extravaganza. In the mid-nineties it soared again when speculators left the dot com in droves. Now it has declined yet again.

So whose market is it now?
What exactly is the “market?”
Should I start a real estate a real estate career now?

Well, it is always a buyers market. Just like with the stock market, it is the buyers who buy and in buying determine the market value of what is for sale. It is really the mood of the buyers that determines what kind of market it is. The terms buyer or seller market refers to who gets the greater advantage, not whose market it is.

When they are eager to buy and will pay almost anything to do so, the prices go up dramatically. Thus we call it a BULL Market. (Like bulls, these buyers are both aggressive and often mindless in their pursuit.)

On the other hand, when buyers are pessimistic about the future, afraid of what it will bring, they are more like bears; they hide out and hibernate, creating the BEAR market.

In a bull market, when buyers are eager to buy, they will do about anything to buy, even deal with marginally prepared agents. In a bull market sloppy practices will suffice to create a bit of income. In a bear market, you need to be talented, prepared and willing to do the hard work. Of course those qualities serve very well in a bull market as well.

Anyone who comes into the industry in a bear market must learn to work productively. Since you must be fully productive, manage your time, your clients and yourself, to the highest levels to succeed in a bear market you will be incredibly prepared to succeed when the bull market gets a turn.

If you are a real estate agent, what is your market? It really doesn’t matter what the broader market is doing. The market for the individual Realtor is not the 1 or 10 million people who live in your city. Your market is the people who know you. Maybe it’s a thousand. Maybe it’s only fifty.

If it is fifty, your immediate concern is getting more people to know you. You need a way to get in front of real buyers and sellers in a big hurry. We train our Journey to Mastery people in a technology called the Quantum Home Tour™ to facilitate meeting lots of buyers and sellers quickly.

If your market is a thousand people, then you have a large circle of influence. You need to maintain some kind of contact with them on a regular basis. You need to determine which are the 200 or so most likely to buy, sell or give you a referral within the next twelve months. Then your marketing efforts can be directed to that group: making regular personal, relationship-building contact with them.