January 31st was D-Day for Realtors in Arkansas. “Dues Day”. If you were going to continue to be a Realtor in 2008, you had to pay up by January 31st. It is always interesting to see who stays and who goes. Who finds other passions and who looses their fire for Real Estate. Well, this year, for the first time after 4 years of growth, the number of Realtors in NWA dropped by 3% from 2498 to 2426! This is just the beginning.
So, is this good or is this bad?
In my opinion, it is good. Not just because I can get a slightly larger piece of the “market share pie” (which is a plus), but really because it is a good natural thinning of the business. At the peak of the housing market, if you had a cell phone and a pick-up truck you could be a builder or contractor. If you had a nice pen and a few connections, you could just as easily be a Realtor. The “hot market Realtors” never had to “work” a listing or “SELL” a propety. Instead, they did paper work. “Oh, you would like to purchase this home? Ok. Lets do some paper work.” “Oh, you would like to sell a home? Ok. Let me stick a sign in the yard and we will do some paper work.” They didn’t prospect. They didn’t read the professional journals to stay on top of things. They didn’t invest each experience into the next to get BETTER. They didn’t read sales books or Realtor training books because they didn’t NEED to. They never developed professionally. Some of them were in the market 5 or 10 years, but they really only had 1 year of experience, repeated 5 or 10 times.
The “hot market Realtors” didn’t have to MARKET a property. They didn’t have to think of a way to network and sell. They didn’t prospect. They didn’t have to put together a campaign to sell their subdivision. An “If you build it, they will buy it” attitude was in full force. So much so that a number of builders & their wives began to get their real estate licenses so that they could build and sell more with out hiring a professional agent and they tried to save 3% off their over appraised homes. Now, those homes are sitting. I know it is no guarantee that the effect would have been different if they would have hired a great agent, but I wonder. But the builders didn’t have much of a choice. There was such an influx of “hot market Realtors” that they could duplicate the service they were getting by being their own part time Realtor. Stick a sign in the yard and do the paper work. Who needs a pro?
Now, times have changed. There are fewer “pick-up truck contractors” and there are fewer “hot market Realtors.” I have a feeling that the number of Realtors & builders will continue to decrease this year.
It is a natural thinning. Survival of the fittest. Survival of the PROFESSIONALS. It is good for our industry. Enjoy top notch service from Real Estate Pros who can survive & even THRIVE in a “down market”!
P.S. I’m still here! Call me!
