Holiday Wish List

As we conclude the best year we have had since the crash, I take inventory of the successes and failures we have had over the year. We have enjoyed a prosperous year, good health, extreme success in our community service work and close to a 97% closing rate on our transactions. You might ask, “What else could we possibly wish for?” Here is a short list!

1. Continued health for my family and I. My father is approaching 93, an original signor of the Avondale Charter and continues to go to work in his shop every day. Although his productivity may have slipped a bit, I am still very proud of his work ethic and persistence which were heavily ingrained in me. My wife, who has had some severe health problems in the past, continues to work diligently behind the scenes, somewhat, to add to our customer service and client success. A recent quote from her is, “I’m so busy, I don’t know whether I found a rope or lost a horse.” Bless her for all of her hard work.

2. The continued support of the rest of my team. Rita from Pinnacle Capital and Patty from Driggs Title are always instrumental in closing the transactions that they have directly from me but also never hesitate to offer advice and assistance on those few items that are not their files but help me offer expertise and knowledge to my clients. I have close to 30 years experience in real estate sales and am considered by many to be an expert in real estate, financing and title issues. That being said, with the continuously changing nature of title and finance in todays market, it is also very helpful to be able to draw on the experiences of these two professionals, who also each have more than 20 years experience.

3. A stable and consistent economy and real estate market. We are starting to enjoy some stability and consistency in the real estate market and I hope it continues. In spite of this statement, I recently went on a listing appointment with three model matches for comparable sales, one at $155,000, one at $185,000 and one at $205,000. This is impossible to reconcile and demonstrates the lingering volatility of the market. Market times are growing, multiple offers are gone, and sales price to list price ratios are dropping slightly, but that will just get us back to a normal market.   Despite a rather slow October across the entire Multiple Listing System, we are on pace for our best December since 2002.

 4.   Continued success with our community service work. One of the greatest loves of my life is coaching as a volunteer for the parliamentary procedure (similar to debate) team with Millennium FFA. We enjoyed extraordinary success this year, winning the State Championship for the second year in a row and 4th time since 2008. This gave the team a chance to compete at the National FFA Convention in Louisville Kentucky. Our team consisted of 5 juniors and one senior (an individual can only compete once at nationals) against 42 other state champion teams most of which consisted of recently graduated seniors. They placed SECOND in the nation, second on the test, and were awarded Best Chairman and Best Secretary of the entire contest. Seeing this team progress from very nervous freshman to polished and well spoken young adults in less than two years will probably keep me coaching them as long as I am able. If your child is interested in the agriculture or FFA program, please contact me for details

While our closing rate remains very high, I would also wish for the continued professionalism of my fellow realtors and lenders. There have been more changes in the real estate and lending industries in the past 4 years than occurred in the previous 20 years. It is very difficult to stay up to date and so now more than ever we depend on on our fellow agents and lenders to properly evaluate their clients and do their jobs effectively. While this is not always the case and we have many challenging escrows, for the most part the level of honesty and professionalism in our industry is better than every, primarily because the “bad seeds” have all been weeded out!

 

Thankful and Humble!