It’s Tough Out There Real Estate-So What Should I Be Doing?

Kris Berg wrote a piece on her San Diego  Home blog about how strange it felt writing about the “normal” things in real estate when there are so many sad houses and people going into foreclosure.  I’ve been thinking the same thing. Although Seattle and eastside real estate are not as dire as Southern California, there are auction signs and short sales happening here, too. It feels strange to focus on day to day real estate when so much of the world has changed. Is it the right thing to do?  I understood Kris’ dilemma.  It feels downright strange and, sometimes, it feels as if the day to day real estate no longer has much meaning.

So I had to ask myself,  should I stop writing about “regular”real estate, fold up the tent, and just stay home?  This is a tough market.   Every time I turn on the radio, look at the newspaper or check on line, there’s the latest wrinkle in the economic crisis. I’m not minimizing the severity of the times,  it’s not good and I feel for the many people who are truly suffering. Those that have lost jobs or homes are having the toughest time right now.  Everyone is affected by the change and few will get out of this economic mess without some battle scars.  

But is real estate still happening on Seattle’s eastside?  Yes.  Right now our market has some high points and many low points.  There are people needing and wanting to make a move.  Personal needs are the overriding cause, not the economy.    Maybe it’s for a job, a new marriage, a new baby or maybe it’s because of a divorce.  The number of homes for sale is at the highest point since December, 1996 (although not as high as earlier in the 1990’s) and sale prices are down.  Competition is stiff. There are over 15,000 homes and condominiums on the market in Seattle’s King County right now.  Fifteen thousand families/individuals are  trying to make a move. ( I realize some are foreclosures).  Five thousand of these condos and homes are available on the eastside. Over 500 people bought homes and 170 bought condos on the eastside in September. 

So I’ll talk about the economy, because it’s the bottom line,  but I’ll also write about day to day real estate, the things that happen to me and my clients, and the issues that confront buyers and sellers in this challenging market.Because the market is so tough, I need to focus even more on these basics.   It’s important to write about what buyers and sellers need to do to make a sale happen in today’s world.  It’s not business as usual, but there’s business happening and people need guidance.  The buyers and sellers out there need day to day support, top notch internet marketing, and information even more now than when a seller could expect an offer before the sign was posted in the front yard.

So I could fold up my tent or I be active in real estate and  write about current real estate issues on my blogs.  I can continue to work, advise my clients, and help people make a move.  There are people still   needing to move on Seattle’s Eastside.