I was flying back to Hilton Head from New York City last Tuesday.

I noticed an article in The New York Times about Airlines rethinking First Class. 

The article went on to say that there had been a 20% drop in the number of First Class and Business Class passengers. 

It also said that most airlines were thinking about either reducing or doing away with first class.  It said that people in today’s economy were not willing to pay extra for the service. 

Wow, that really struck me.  It works the same way with the real estate market; if people are not willing to fly first class, they are probably not as willing to own a 2nd home in a resort area like Hilton Head Island.

One of the airline executives said that it would be years before they got back to the first class levels of a few years ago – IF EVER.  This is a very sobering thought for people in the real estate market.

Any time we are in a 2nd home market we depend on the people at the top end of the economic ladder to purchase homes on Hilton Head Island.  If they are not buying real estate, it has a negative effect on values.

It is a very interesting time to be in the real estate business because we are dealing with questions and inventory levels we have never seen before. 

For the person who has survived this recession, there are some unbelievable deals.

Jane and I were in the mountains recently and we drove by a building supply office and it said “recession hours – 7:30 – noon”.  We thought that was unusual. 

I think the lumber company was saying that they did not have enough business to stay open all day. 

The lumber business is a lot different than the real estate business; our recession hours are longer.  I am working more than I have in my 28 years of selling real estate on Hilton Head Island.  These are my “recession hours”.  We are working harder to try and make deals. 

I am sure that there are some Realtors who have “recession hours” where they are working less because they have the attitude – why work – nothing is selling.  You can be assured that this is not what is happening in our office.

I was at a reception for new members at the South Carolina Yacht Club last night and one of the members said something that really made a lot of sense. They said, “the good thing about Hilton Head is that we all live here because we choose to live here.”

The more I thought about that, the more it is correct! Most people live in their hometowns because A.) that is where they were born or B.) that is where their job is. They may not like it, but they are there because they have to be.

I don’t know anybody that lives in Hilton Head because they “have to.” Most people who live here were not born here. Also, there are not many jobs here, so people usually don’t move here for a job.

The great thing about Hilton Head is people live here because they want to and because they enjoy the lifestyle. They love the beach. They love the weather. They love the amenities. They love the low crime rates. They love the natural beauty.

 Last week, we had a call from a doctor who is moving to Hilton Head. He could practice medicine anywhere in the country. However, he wants to move to Hilton Head because of the lifestyle and the beauty of the island. The more I think about this, the luckier I feel that I have the opportunity to work and make a living in a place that everyone else wishes they could live!

Ever since I was a college student I have been going to sporting events and buying tickets off the street at good prices.  For years I carried the seating chart of the Atlanta Braves baseball field because I found that the scalpers always try to tell you the seats are behind the 3rd base dugout when they are actually in the upper deck.

This weekend I saw a couple baseball games and a football game with my son.  Little did I know that scalpers are almost out of business now because of the Internet.  Being a Realtor on Hilton Head Island, I am very aware of why the Internet is such a valuable advertising tool.  Very few people look in the daily newspapers and Island Real Estate Magazines any more – they all look online.

When my son and I were talking about going to the Jets – Patriots game, I told him that I was sure we could buy some tickets at the game.  He said that we could probably find tickets online and get better seats. 

Chip looked on Stubhub and on Craigslist.

We found a guy who had two tickets; called him and met him in the parking lot and bought the tickets from him.

The next day we went to the Braves – Mets game and found some great tickets on Stubhub at a greatly reduced price – directly behind the dugout.  They are probably the best tickets I have ever had for a baseball game in my life. 

I started thinking how the Internet has changed every thing that we do and it was very obvious to me that it has a drastic effect on how baseball and football tickets sell.  If it has affected this, it has definitely affected how real estate is sold.

We are seeing less and less dependence on print media; i.e. – real estate magazines and newspapers, and more dependence on the Internet.  I don’t think that is going to change in the short run.

Because of this, we are spending more and more time and money advertising on the Internet – we are doing everything we can to make sure that our sellers are not at a disadvantage when it comes to advertising real estate on Hilton Head Island.

Saturday night I went to New York to visit my son and we went to the Mets -Nationals game.  I flew into Laguardia which is only a couple miles from the new CitiField. 

There were tickets for sale everywhere.  He told me we needed to wait until the game started because we could get a better price on tickets.

We waited until the game started and bought very good field level tickets for a greatly reduced price. 

I got to thinking about how the Mets – Nationals game equates to a slow real estate market.

In this situation, you had two of the worst teams in the National League at the end of their season – neither team is going anywhere.  The game was going to have no effect on the playoffs.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and there was 1,000 things people in New York City wanted to do – and believe it or not, most of them did not want to go to a baseball game.

The reason we got such good tickets at such a good price was because of supply and demand.  There were a lot more tickets available than people going to the game.  This reminds me a lot of the Hilton Head Island real estate market.  The reason prices are down is because there are a lot more sellers than buyers.  Most people understand that when it concerns sporting events, but they don’t see that this is the way it works with real estate as well.

Nobody is going to pay face value for tickets in this scenario.  The only way you can sell a ticket is to let someone have it at a REAL DEAL.  This is true in real estate.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog – it is about tickets to the Jets – Patriots game.

I hear this phrase so much! 

I have tried to explain to people that it just does not work this way. 

In a slow market, buyers are looking for the best buy out there.  They read the same newspapers that we as sellers read.  They know that there is a lot of inventory, prices have dropped and there is usually someone who is very interested in getting their property sold and will be aggressive in pricing their property.

A prospect will also look at all of the other comparable properties and will make an offer on the one property that they feel is the best VALUE.  They only make an offer if they feel that the property is a great value.

If you have not gotten an offer on your property, it usually means that the house is overpriced.  People are still buying homes – we don’t have them standing in line, but we do have some who are buying homes.

I was talking to a Realtor friend of mine in Las Vegas the other day – I learn so much from him. 

When he lists a home, he views himself as a Rottweiler who is protecting his client’s equity in the house.  He is doing everything he can for his sellers. 

When you choose a listing agent for your property, a lot of times people choose someone that they know socially – even though they might be a part time Realtor. 

You hire a Realtor to do something you cannot do something yourself – which is get top dollar for your property.  

In reality, your home is usually one of the largest financial investments and most people want someone who is an expert in their field.  That is why you want a Rottweiler instead of a poodle guarding one of your biggest investments.

I have eight tickets for the Stardust Orchestra presented by the Hilton Head Noon Lions Club on Thursday September 24, 2009 at 7:30pm at the Visual Performing Arts Center at Hilton Head High School.  These are free and I would love to give them to the first four couples who email me.  If you would like a pair of tickets, please let email me at James@JamesWedgeworth.com.

I recently had a rather small transaction; but when the deal closed, my clients said they wanted to thank me for making their deal as important as my last meal. 

I started thinking about that and realized that this is one of the challenges that all Realtors have.  We get so busy with so many transactions going on at once that we might give the impression that their deal is not important.  Real Estate is one of the biggest decisions people make and they want to know that their Realtor is concerned about every little detail.

One of the reasons we have a separate listing coordinator and closing coordinator on our team is to make sure that no stone is left unturned in getting your property sold and making sure we get it closed quickly and with no problems. 

This is very challenging task, but we take it seriously.  Click here to meet my real estate team.