There have been a lot of articles written over the past six months about a “down” market. The stock market, the housing market, the money market, etc. I suppose that’s one way to look at it. It is a difficult time to be in the real estate racket, no doubt about it. However, there is a silver lining behind every dark cloud, and the current market is no exception. In these dark times, many brokers are questioning the sanity of remaining in the real estate business. The truth is, we who are serious about gaining market share in today’s market are sharpening our skills, and utilizing this brief break in the action to get back to the basics and build our businesses to the highest level. If you are a broker and want to learn how to take back your share of the market, call me for a confidential consultation. Our volume is down but our share of the pie is getting larger, and it ain’t no accident.

I was reviewing some data today, and I realized  that in one of my neighborhoods, Dawson Ranch, there is a noticeable lull in sales. Here’s what it looks like:

Year        2Q SOLDS        YTD SOLDS
2008        3                      13

2007        13                    20

2006        11                    17

Is that a cause for concern? You bet! But there are things we can do about it. In the past, we have had the luxury of blindly adding 5%-10% of previous sale prices and in a couple of months, a home would sale. Today’s market requires a more intelligent approach. I use the “Minus 3″ approach. We have a year’s worth of inventory, yet some houses sold last month, and more will sell this month. The buyers are making the market today, and they shop by price first. It stands to reason, then, if you want your home to be the one that sells this month instead of waiting your turn, you can “jump to the head of the line” by analyzing your market value and subtract 3% from that figure. Voila! You are instantly at the head of the line.

You say you don’t want to leave money on the table? Let me ask you this, does it matter to you whether you give that 3% to the buyer or the bank? Take a $300,000 house with an 80% mortgage, for instance. If you put it on the market today at 3% under today’s value, it will cost you $9,000 to sell your home. If you put your home on the market at 100% of today’s value, you’re likely to have to wait your turn, which is currently about 13 months away. In 13 months, that $240,000 mortgage is going to require you to pay 13 mortgage payments of  $1438, which will add up to $18,694 in payments, $3,200 of which is principal and the rest is interest. Congratulations, you sold your home for full price and it only cost you $15,000 and a year of your life to save that $9,000 we talked about last year!

Now, I’m not the kind of broker that will beat up a seller week after week to reduce the price on their home. I’ll be in this business 10 years from now, and I can wait for your home to sell at the price you want. The question is, CAN YOU?