If It Was Easy, Any Schmuck Could Do It

President John F. Kennedy said “we do these things not because they're easy, but because they're hard.” He was referring to the effort it would take to put a man on the moon in ten years. But like many quotations, they can be applied to many other contexts. Most people want easy or certainly quicker solutions to their problems, but when it comes to the economy and the housing sector in particular, that's just too much to expect. The business of America is business, as President Herbert Hoover used to say, and let's just say he was somewhat less revered than JFK. The point is, as dramatic as consequences of economic cycles may be, capitalism perseveres. And those of us in transactional businesses, which after all are what all markets are made up of, have no choice but to transact. In the Florida real estate and mortgage milieu in which we operate, there are two kinds of players—the engaged or the despondent. Attitude is the single most distinguishing factor in my field. And I see soup to nuts. It's true that attrition has thinned the ranks of both mortgage brokers and realtors. However, among those who've had the staying power to survive the downturn and the credit crunch, there remains a paralyzing negativity in some circles. This not only feeds on itself but can all too easily infect others. These perpetrators should not be in sales, they were just lucky to be around when the market was frothy and have no stomach for the current state of affairs. Then there are the other more experienced folks who have actually lived through any number of downturns—just none as severe as the last several years. One of these (I'll call them dinosaurs) told me they are “waiting for the market to turn.” Really? Talk about living on your laurels. Unless you can afford not to get out of bed in the morning, and there are a few, most people just don't have the option of sitting on the sidelines. Most people in our industry, and come to think of it, in most market occupations, find themselves in that vast middle ground. These are the worker bees that plug along, most managing to make a living without being prolific. Look around you — mediocrity is a way of life and the majority of us accept it as an inevitability. No matter how bad forecasts are, there are always top producers. They are, as Seth Godin, says, “shipping.” The old adage says 80% of business is conducted by the top 20%. That has narrowed in our market to a 90/10 ratio. They have figured out that there is still business out there and how to capture it efficiently. There's still plenty of chicanery to go around (Florida still leads the nation in mortgage fraud) but those still standing have, by necessity, adapted by working harder and smarter despite more stringent regulation and underwriting. All of the broad aspects of the economy that determine our market environment are external. We can't control the number of buyers, sellers or foreclosures in our area. We certainly can't control the banks' behavior or the unemployment rate. And greed and stupidity will always be a part of the fabric of both Wall Street and consumers. But as long as you can choose, you might as well choose to be engaged. Much of the meltdown can be attributed to one simple truth—too many consumers took out too many bad loans. There's enough blame to spread around to the well-known list of suspects: the government, banks, brokers, Wall Street securitization, ratings agencies and borrowers themselves. But with enough fiduciary advice, much of the piling on could have been avoided. Choose to care enough to encourage clients to get second opinions. It will always be an uphill battle to protect consumers. We can hope Elizabeth Warren and Sheila Bair will retain some of their influence despite the changeover in Congress. That statement just sounds odd to me—consumer protections have to be protected? And by who and why would they be threatened? They say all real estate is local. I say it's all internal. Success comes from within. We're growing our business and so are the productive referral partners we work with despite the carnage around us. Our attitude is, after the last four years, it's only going to get better--and we'll be ready.