I've been succumbing to the lure of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. I was mesmerized by the ugliness of the political campaigns (not the process, mind you, just the campaigns themselves). All the political and economic chaos are enough to make one understand the mindset of a bridge jumper. A little game I've been playing has produced predicted results: Eighty percent (80%) of news stories in the morning paper are negative in nature... The Economy (real estate down, job losses, low retail numbers, GM/Ford/Chrysler woes, inflation, recession, bank failures, fat cat bail outs, plunging dollar, food prices, national debt, Social Security, etc.), war, murder, rape, a host of felonious behaviors, unethical politicians, child abuse, genocide, wild fires, hurricanes, collapsing school buildings in Haiti, terrorist attacks in Mumbai (for you old folks - that used to be Bombay), and on and on. It seems the only good news lately is that Georgia Tech beat Georgia this Saturday.
Back in 1956, Earl Nightingale turned a simple "pep talk" to his employees into a "Gold Record" sensation. His recorded talk was titled, "The Strangest Secret," and in a nutshell the "Secret" was that: WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT! So I'm thinkin'... "What am I thinkin'?" For that matter, what are we all thinking? You know the current answer is not good... and if we don't change it, that "Goin' to Hell in a Handbasket" scenario could get pretty real.
Nightingale wasn't the first to glom onto that concept. As far back as the tenth century, B.C., Solomon wrote in Proverbs, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Various versions on the theme were developed by Aristotle, Plato, Augustine, and a host of other philosophers. Fast forward a dozen centuries and we've got Henry Ford's famous, "Whether you think you can... or you can't, you are most likely right." And, who could forget: "So often time it happens, we all live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key." ~The Eagles, "Already Gone"... Good stuff! To loosely paraphrase the masterpiece book, "As a Man Thinketh," by James Allen: How and what we think not only decides our very character, but is comprehensive in every facet of our lives. A man is literally the sum of all his thoughts. Our choices are the fruits of our thinking. The vision that we glorify in our minds... this we will build our lives by... this we will become.
So, where am I going with this? I'm a Real Estate Sales Agent. I've been a Broker for 22 years and on the planet for 63. I get how businesses and the economy function (MBA from Georgia Tech, thank you very much). I'm not ignorant of the fact that the market is not sizzling, but I know for sure that property is selling every day in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach and all over Flagler County. And guess who's selling a lot of it? RE/MAX is! The media would have you believe that NOTHING is moving. That is just plain WRONG! Nearly 150 properties have SOLD in the Flagler MLS in the past 30 days. And RE/MAX agents account for over 1,300 sales sides sold in our local MLS system. The lion's share of these have been sold by my company - RE/MAX Oceanside. The simple truth is that RE/MAX agents are older, more experienced, hold more professional designations and broker licenses, are more tech savvy and more productive than most of our peers. That's not just us that says that... These are facts known to the NAR (National Association of Realtors).
Want to know why this is? Because RE/MAX agents don't spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror. We look at things TODAY and realize: "It is what it is." If it's challenging news, we say, "So what? Now what?" Changing to accept new realities is our way of doing business. ""In September 1932, against the backdrop of a great and deepening Depression, presidential candidate and New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Americans "must recognize the new terms of the old social contract." Today, amidst the currents of global economic transformation (and a slumping US housing market), our challenges are no less substantial."" (TIME, 7/28/08)
Despite these challenges in the current market, we at RE/MAX Oceanside have made a conscious decision - a choice - to be a source of light, as others choose to stumble around in the darkness. In 1986, my first Broker gave me some powerful insight: "No matter how sophisticated the consumer may be, they are looking for a strong, experienced, successful agent to lead them through this complicated real estate process... regardless of good markets, or bad." In a football game, the outcome most often follows "momentum shifts." If there is a fumble or an interception or a sack in the Red Zone... you want to be the team which prevails. If you are going to be a buyer or seller in the 2008-2009 real estate game, we can bring you the momentum shift you need to prevail.
Well, did you read the paper today? So, what are you thinking?
