Man, I Wish You Had Been There

Convention in San Diego was an absolute BLAST! Sorry if you missed it, because you missed some valuable information, inspirational and motivational speakers and most of all the new buying and listing presentations and REX 2.0! Man, I wish you had been there.

First, valuable information: So many breakout sessions with different speakers provided a wealth of knowledge and perspective about the real estate industry. I'll just give you a snippet of statistics and real estate trends from Anne Randolph, publisher of LORE Magazine and Partner for Murray Consulting. Despite the negativity the media is pushing on its viewers about how awful the mortgage crisis is, if you tell the real story, people just might buy. The media is fueling negativity...and we as real estate agents and experts are letting their hoopla win! Did you know that less than 6% of all mortgages in the US are behind in their mortgages or at risk of foreclosure (1)? According to the Mortgage Bankers Association there are currently about 72 million mortgages active in the US, 3 million mortgages are behind an additional 1 million were at risk of foreclosure...you do the math. Although subprime mortgage delinquencies have risen to just above 10%, it is still below the delinquencies in 2002 (2). Our "mortgage mess" partly stems from the fact that (3) roughly one half percent of homeowners should not have purchased a home in the "hot" market. To say that everyone should be a homeowner would be a fallacy. (4)Despite the property value loss in areas with overbuilding, speculation and excessive price increases (ummm, the Gulf Coast), homeowners who purchased their house 2 years ago still have an average 5% equity in their home. Yes, the market will probably continue to decline for the next year or two until it corrects itself because people will return to renting for various reasons (medical, job loss, can't afford a mortgage, etc.). There were people who purchased homes who should have never done so to start with. Lenders loosened their guidelines and loaned money to borrowers that would never qualify under normal market conditions. Anne Randolph said it perfect, "Anytime you go through a party like that, you have to clean up." But guess what...there are opportunities even in an overbuilt and overpriced market! REAL Trends PULSE report shows buyers and sellers softening their stance and 68% of reporting brokerages are seeing conditions improving. If you are an investor, this is perfect buying opportunity. If you are a hurting builder or developer in a vacation market, find the foreign investors...they're out there. Use our International network of Realty Executives offices. They're everywhere (Canada, Israel, Greece...etc.). I could go on and on, but man, I wish you had been there.

Second, motivational speakers: We had the pleasure of listening to James Arthur Ray and Jerry Rossi. Very soon the convention seminars will be uploaded on KnowledgePoint. I STRONGLY suggest you watch them. Their energy & attitude is so contagious, you can't help but be excited about what they have to say. Man, I wish you had been there.

Third, new tools and strategies: Easily customizable, brand new buying and listing presentations were presented. And they sure do look sharp. Not to mention the amazing new REX 2.o. This program puts the original REX to shame. You will be amazed at marketing capabilities that REX 2.0 has. Not kidding. Not trying to hype it up out of proportion. Seriously. Man, I wish you had been there.

HOWEVER...Haha! We will be holding our MidSouth Regional Meeting and Awards Dinner May 1st and 2nd in Gulf Shores to further explore some of the great strategies & new tools that are available to you. Our keynote speaker will be your regional developer and Region V Regional Vice President for NAR, Randy McKinney. Ask your broker/owner for registration details. Over 95% of our region's regional meeting attendees are in the top 5% of our region. Coincidence? Man, you better be there.

(1) MBA March 7, 2008
(2) MBA National Delinquency Survey
(3) Anne Randolph, REAL Trends, March 18, 2008
(4) Zillow.com US Home Value Report-Q4 2007

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