Today I spent a lot of time finishing up loose ends due to my procrastination in preparing for my kids going back to school tomorrow. I was buying clothes, socks, shoes and a ton of school supplies. Why can’t my kids use some of the old stuff from last year?
Anyway, after waiting for just over an hour this morning at the doctor’s office so my daughter can get a physical and be cleared for the upcoming soccer season, I headed out to do the last minute shopping and then attend their school orientations. What a mad house of adults scurrying around like ants from classroom to classroom. Pretty hilarious. I think the adults were more stressed out than the kids.
As the event ended and I headed back to the parking lot, I counted ELEVEN cars that had either sold signs in the back window area over the seats, a Realtor license plate cover, or some lettering signage on the side of the windows or rear windows indicating they were Realtors. Then I counted six other cars: mortgage brokers. Then I counted me,in escrow. I wonder how many other people are in the business that didn’t advertise on their cars.
Then I started thinking. Maybe websites like Trulia.com or Zillow.com should not only post houses and sale history, but they should post all the Real Estate agents and allied real estate professionals on a map too. It would be amazing to see how many dots would show up. Just in my own neck of the woods, we have six immediate neighbors homes for sale, one is a Realtor, one is in construction, my next door neighbor (not for sale)is a builder who was impacted negatively due to the recently ended labor strike for Cement Drivers. We have another active builder just up the street and another homeowner nearby within a 5 minute walk who is a loan officer. Wow.
I guess the economic engine in housing is really quite real. A lot of people are directly impacted by housing. One of the title reps we work with on a regular basis and who stops by our office asked my wife how business was last week. We had a decent August, but it was the reps tone that was a little startling. She said title orders for her dropped off like a rock. This is a rep who has a lot more clients than we do. A lot more.
If any of you are refinancing or thinking of purchasing or selling, please keep us in mind for your escrow needs. We are highly mobile and assist clients all over the Puget Sound area.
S-Crow
Interesting that your neighbors who are seling all work in RE businesses.
Maybe they know something that Lawrence Yun and the local media don’t?!
Last one out’s a rotten egg!!?
I noticed last spring when my 6yo was playing T-ball, that 2/3 of the sponsors of the billboards in the outfield were in the REIC.
I was wondering just how much of Kitsap County will get crunched when this all goes kablooie.
Navy, retail, and the REIC… If Norm’s Dick ever steps in front of a bus, it could be lights-out for Kitsap.
The thing is, it really doesn’t matter if your job is directly related to real estate or not. The impact will be widespread. Construction tanks, so retail tanks, so everyone puts their heads down. This Christmas is shaping up to be one of the worst on record.
Yup.
My job will almost certainly get flushed when the consumer finds his nuts in a vise. Just how many toothless morons will pass on flying up and down the East Coast, and how many business men will not be able to fly LGA-ORD?
My hope is that we get some mauling in the airline industry. It’s like hiking with a group of friends and you encounter a bear. You don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than at least one of your buddies (Northwest, Delta, and United).
The airline industry needs to lose a few names, in order for the remainder to command a profitable ticket price.
Either way, it won’t be pleasant for anyone, except bankruptcy lawyers.