SADD days...

Man, anyone else feel like it's time to hibernate? Why oh why do we live here??

It must be the summers....oh wait.......

Floating through a slower market

As a new agent, when I tell people what I've decided to do, I usually get, "ooh, this is not the best time to be getting into real estate, is it?" Very encouraging :) But it's a fair question, what with all the lovely media attention certain aspects of the market have been getting. Notice I say "certain aspects".
Real estate does not disappear, neither does success in this field. If you enter anything with the mindset that you will do well because it is so easy and requires little to no work, then yes, you won't last through a slower market. That's all that we are experiencing now. A big dip after a very big peak.

If you are willing to put in the effort, self- discipline, and professionalism to be able to build and sustain quality contacts and relationships, you can survive any set of market conditions.

That's why I am quite excited to be starting now: I know I will learn the very fundamentals of real estate, with no short cuts. And that sounds good to me. I don't really do things half way, anyway.
I look forward to building my knowledge and experience, so that my contacts will only benefit more and more from my patience, diligence and sense of accountability.

If you'd like to read more about how there was a huge real estate bubble inflated (now burst), here's the link to an article:
click here to read it

Town and Country

I often think about where my grandparents live in the north of England; in Yorkshire, to be more precise. Many years ago now, I used to spend my summers there, and let me tell you that those mental pictures of butterups, flowing streams and friendly sheep actually come to life in the little town of Hepworth. That area will forever stand for idyllic pastoral bliss for me.....and I'm a city girl.
Well, I am now. It's a funny thing, living in the suburbs and then coming into the city. They are like parallel universes, and although there are plenty of people who navigate between them on a daily basis, I find them very distinct, really. In the suburbs, you use your car a lot more I think, at least I did. This is simply because everything is more spaced out, and although you could be adventurous and bike somewhere, chances are the bike path doesn't go straight to the grocery store you're trekking to, and then what would you do with the bags anyway?? So you take your truck (let's be honest here) and go about once a week to load up with food for a fortnight. Here in the city (Minneapolis), I have picked up the habit of going to the grocery store almost daily, very often on foot, and yes, I carry my bag home. Now, lest you take me for a pretentious preachy tree-hugger (I do like some of them though, they're so cuddly), let me point out that I too, own a big car, and I used it to grocery shop and I still do....especially now that it's actually starting to feel like autumn around here.

It's just such a strange feeling to recognise that where you live affects your habits so much. I haven't changed all that much since I moved from Minnetonka to Uptown, at least not that fundamentally anyway. But I have very different habits and routines....oh, and people with lots of earring and tattoos don't scare me anymore (yes!).

So I guess what's happening is that I am realising why real estate is such a big deal. I look forward to learning more about it. I'll let you know.