Have you Made a Reality Check Lately!

In January I returned from the Inman Connect Conference and the ReBarCamp in New York City and had the opportunity to talk to people from all over the country about the real estate industry.

As is the case in a lot of conferences, there was substantial social interaction as well as business networking, but since its January and we’re all creatures of habit – the first question on everyone’s lips was “How did you do last year?”. My answer was always the same, “We’re doing better, but its still not where I want it to be”.

I had to leave the Inman Conference and return to Philadelphia because I had a meeting today with our company’s Sales Managers. In preparation I did a little research so we could talk about how to improve our company’s productivity for the coming year. And I received quite a shock. I found out that I had unwittingly told a little white lie – and because being truthful is really important to me  I want to take the opportunity to apologize right here and right now to my team at CENTURY 21 Adantage Gold.

When I checked the Century 21 corporate web site to see how our company had performed in the comparison to other Century 21 firms in the country, I found that what I thought was actually wrong – we were doing pretty well in a challenging market.;

1. We were in the Top 5 companies in Pennsylvania based upon the amount of Gross Commission earned,
2. We were in the Top 3 companies in Pennsylvania based upon the number of properties we sold.
3. We were in the Top 100 Century 21 companies in the entire country based upon the amount of Gross Commission earned, and
4. We were in the top 67 Century 21 companies in the entire country based upon the amount of properties sold (out of a system with thousands of companies across the United States)

I wasn’t really displeased with the reality, I am just upset that I spoke without having the facts at my disposal. I am really big about writing what you know, not what you think when it comes to blogging , and the same rule should apply to all of our communication. When we speak from impressions rather than facts, we create false impressions – not the least of which take root in our own thoughts impacting our actions and decisions.

As we approach the end of the Tax Credit (About 34 days are left for people to buy), I wonder what we will learn on May 1, 2010. Will we learn that the tax credit was supporting our current activity? Will we learn that the market has recovered enough for the spring to have a reasonable aactivity level of its own? Will we learn that there are enough investors buying homes again that the REO inventory will diminish? What is reality telling you in your market?