I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and he was talking about the changes in the real estate market and how it has affected real estate agents over the last two years.  He then gave me the above quote.  I laughed at first, but once I got off the phone with him I started thinking about how true what he said was. 

From 1995 to 2005 you did not have to be a very qualified or thorough real estate agent to make a lot of money – you just needed to be in the real estate business.  People were lined up outside our doors wanting to buy real estate. 

I have often heard that you develop bad habits in a good market and good habits in a bad market.  Most real estate agents that have joined the business in the last ten years have never had to work in a bad market – they have simply been “shooting fish in a barrel”. 

Now that they have to actually go out and find fish, it is much harder because we are no longer confined to the space of the barrel – we are in a large body of water called inventory with fewer buyers.

The number of real estate companies on Hilton Head closing and the number of real estate agents leaving the business is increasing every day.  Why?  Simply because they have not gained the skills necessary to survive in a slow market.

In a market like this, it is important that you select an agent who understands how to find buyers and how to price property properly.  There is a market out there – we just need to be conscious of it.  We need to look at each listing and figure out why it is not selling. 

On the other hand, we have to be more aggressive in our promoting and prospecting.  The name of the game now is having a buyer.

It is my commitment to all my clients that I will try to always remember that this is a tough business and I have to take it seriously and work diligently in my search for the right property for the right buyer.