Wow! A brand-new year. What will 2009 bring all of us who are interested in the real estate market? While I hate to think about how fast time goes by & would never wish to skip a day, week, month, or year, I have to say that maybe now that we're beyond 2008, we can look forward to fewer "doom-&-gloom" reports from the media about the housing market. One thing separating Omaha from a lot of the rest of the country is that our residential market is in pretty good shape. It's true that home sellers have to accept that present conditions favor buyers moreso than in past years, homes will still sell to qualified buyers out there.
As a REALTOR, I've had to reset my interactions with prospective home sellers so that they understand, going into a listing, that market conditions have changed & they must look at their own home they're putting on the market as any prospective buyer would. That means everything from price to condition to how long they should be prepared to stick with the listing. Not so long ago, many of us REALTORS became accustomed to taking home listings & "just knowing" that they'd sell in 45-60 days & that buyers & sellers would haggle out the terms to everyone's satisfaction.
Well, that's not the case now. Sellers absolutely must understand that they are putting their homes on the market because they really want to get them sold & move on with their lives. To do this, thy must get their homes in the best possible condition, because buyers looking for their next homes right now have the attitude that not only can they dictate the price & the terms, if the homes they're looking at have any objectionable aspect to them, they'll just walk out the door & go on to all the others. Something else I'm emphasizing more & more to sellers is that all of us involved with this process must look upon it with a team approach. This includes folks on both sides of the transaction.
In summary, my services as a REALTOR are even more important in the market we are experiencing, & I want to work with people who have their eyes wide open to current realities & want to continue to live their lives without fearing the next negative headline or news story about "how bad things are in the real estate market."
Hey! What would it be like if the news media started with the positive instead of the negative? Will we ever experience this?
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