No More Cheese! It’s Time for the Real Estate Industry to Grow Up
Spencer Johnson’s wonderful little book entitled “Who Moved My Cheese” should be required reading for EVERYONE in the Real Estate Business. This includes, but is not limited to: real estate agents, the brokers, the sellers, the buyers, the lenders, the title companies, the appraisers…………………..well, you get the picture. Johnson’s fable is a cautionary tale of what happens when we become complacent; when we quit paying attention to what’s going on around us. Most importantly, it warns us against self deception. Our industry has been plagued with a lack of candor and honesty for some time now. I my town, Kenmore, WA there has been a huge inventory of homes for sale and it’s only now, after many months, that sellers have begun to lower asking prices. This should have happened sooner.
As I write this, the real estate industry is being transformed. You can hear the cries and complaints of the agents and lenders leaving the business; you can see long-held beliefs regarding commissions and agency relationships disintegrating. The pieces are being examined carefully. Owners no longer have the luxury of spending unearned equity to sell their homes like chips at the card table. On the other hand, buyers are being forced to prove their financial worthiness to purchase a home. Aubrey Cohen’ssobering article in the Seattle-PI illustrates the current state of affairs. Ironically, the changes are forcing us to be more honest with our clients and ourselves. Time for us to grow up.
