Everywhere you look the news is grim.  Today there are record numbers of foreclosures.  Huge inventories of new and existing homes are being reported by nearly every media outlet.  The mortgage industry is in a state of chaos.  Many real estate agents are experiencing their toughest times ever in the business.  It is a very difficult time, and it is hard not to be discouraged.

I realize that this goes against what everyone is saying, but there IS good news!  Lots of good news!  First let me give you some numbers:

According to a report just released by the National Association of REALTORS®, sales of existing homes rose to the highest level in 13 months! Much of the country is actually experiencing year-over-year increases in sales.  In the Western United States, sales of existing homes is 34% higher and prices have dropped 18%.  The Midwest, South, and Northeast are all slowly following suit yet still somewhat down from last year, indicating we are at or near a bottom. (If you’ll recall, the market meltdown began in the west, so it would make sense that the recovery would begin there as well.)

In short, those numbers give us reason to be excited.  More people are buying homes than ever before, and our government has showed its commitment to make those purchases possible.  Add to that the fact that interest rates are near 40-year lows, prices have dropped significantly, and there are many fewer agents in the field today, and you have a recipe for real estate success.  The climate couldn’t be better.

But there seems to be a wider disparity between the haves and have-nots than every before.  Today’s agents are either “killing it” or they’re “getting killed” and there seems to be no middle ground.  Even in my own real estate brokerage, we have those two extremes.  We have relatively new agents doing over a dozen transactions a month while we have seasoned veteran agents struggling like never before.

So what does an agent have to do to be successful in today’s real estate climate?  Today, most agents are spending more and more of their time trying to hustle business.  They’re out beating the streets, meeting people, networking, and pursuing all the classic marketing strategies like farming, circle of influence marketing, open houses, working FSBOs and working expired listings.  If this sounds like you, and you are having less and less success generating business, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.

But, don’t — DO NOT — give up on real estate!  It doesn’t have to be so difficult.  I want you to think outside the box for a minute.  I want you to analyze your current situation.  What is the only thing you have for sale?  Your time.  And if you’re having to spend more and more of it on lower and lower yielding marketing methods, pretty soon there’s no time for actually doing real estate or working with clients.  Much less, any time to relax and enjoy life.

For those of you who follow my training blog, read my syndicated training articles, or watch my online video training, you know what I am about to say:  What you need is a steady, continual, unending supply of new customers coming to you without you having to spend time chasing them. The great news is that for many agents, this is a reality and not a pipe-dream.

Today over 94% of all home buyers and sellers start online.  Yet most agents are still using off-line strategies to attract the customers.  Duh!  No wonder they’re finding it more and more difficult.  Before they ever get a shot at a buyer through their traditional marketing, that buyer has been in a relationship with an on-line agent for over a month.  So let me ask you a question:  If nearly all the customers are shopping online, where do you think you should focus most of your marketing efforts?

Exactly.  But the problem is that most online marketing just doesn’t work.  Right?  Right.  Most websites capture less than 1% of their visitors and getting that traffic costs a lot of money.  According to the NAR, last year the average online customer cost an agent $116.  But using the right technology you can improve your website yield to over 30% and generate more of your own customers than you can imagine for only pennies.

Let me close with a story.  One morning I was out jogging through a very nice neighborhood.  It was still dark outside, and it was very quiet.  All of a sudden the stillness was broken by the sound of a very big dog barking.  We looked up and saw a huge white chow racing toward us, sounding as if he intended to make us his breakfast.  My running partner and I very deliberately continued to run, never breaking our stride, or making eye contact with the dog.

After what seemed like an eternity, the dog quit chasing us and turned around and went back home.  My friend let out a huge sigh of relief and said, “Whew!  You know, there was no way that we could out run that dog.”  I turned and answered, jokingly, that I wasn’t worried about out running the dog, but rather at out running her. We both laughed and she tried to punch me.

Now, think about your real estate practice.  When it feels like times are really tough, remember, you don’t have to be the best agent in town.  You just have to be better than some.  Really, all you need is the tools to create your own unending supply of customers, and the willingness to work that business.  The truth is that this could be your best time in real estate ever!  This market is a huge opportunity.  We have a high demand for housing, a shrinking supply of inventory, and less agents to compete with.  Who could ask for anything more?