Real Estate Consultants Hub

What are your thoughts on the current challenges of the Real Estate Business in your Area?

A big challnge I see is managing all aspects of the real estate business while maintaining some focus towards new business.  The way we market has changed and I think the business takes more of our time, if done properly, than it used to.  We used to just spend money on advertising, now we have to spend more time!

Today's real estate agent has to keep pace with the technology available to them to help them market themselves and their listings.  Today's agent needs to keep educating themselves and apply it to their business.

The challenges we face as agents are foremost lending problems, which is due to the constantly changing requirements from the underwriters. But I believe the biggest block is customer confidence in our economy. We have a ton of stumbling blocks in our way but to survive I am challenged to keep changing the ways I go to market.

I like getting to know my clients, and I want them to know me.  Accordingly, I want the lender, the attorney, the client and the Realtor to all be "on the same page."  I wish that there was more connectivity among us.  We've become dependent upon emails and text messages.  I long for more "face to face."  Perhaps we could solve the world's problems while we're at it!

I find the most difficult issue I have in this real estate market is keeping up with technology !!!!! I wish I enjoyed the work that it takes and had more confidence so I would do it. I understand the concept and the reason for it but also have a concern that we will loose touch with what is most important in my mind. The personal contact that creates the trust that creates the relationships . Will people need us if we let the internet take over ? I hope not  ! I love my job because I love the relationships I have built and the friendships I have made !!

I, too, feel that one of the greatest challenges today is to properly work through any current contracts, while helping current clients look or sell, while prospecting for new clients! Technology certainly has created many tools to help us do this...BUT...we still have to make the tools work for us! I do find it difficult to juggle these three components of my business equally and all at once. I feel, though, that with the tools we have been given here at EXIT, it is simple an issue of willpower and training of our minds & schedules to find a balance. I am working on it!

The challenge I am having is keeping up with all the maintenance involved with blogging, website development, marketing, pursuing listings, and working with new potential clients while providing my actual clients the level of service I want to deliver. It is hard to determine if this is why I am seeing the highs and lows that I have been experiencing. I have pushed through busy times by working late nights yet the slow times still happen. Is it the way it goes or can it be corrected?

One of the biggest challenges facing agents today is finding truly qualified buyers. One often does not know until the last few days if the mortgage company is indeed going to fund a loan. This can be very frustrating for everyone.

Additionally it is often difficult to educate the seller to place a "realistic" sales figure on their property and equally as difficult to get the buyer to place a realistic offer for the property. Far too many think they are going to get a lot for very little.

Many legislative hurtles are ahead of us. It is very important that we let our associations as well as our congressmen know that Congress must not further damage the housing industry by playing too loosely with mortgage interest deductions, taxation of property and weakening the American Dream of individual home ownership.