In the words of Petah Griffin

I am having a bit of a "what really grinds my gears" moment....... (many apologies)

Apparently those born after 1976, aka. Gen Y, makes up nearly 70 million people in the U.S. That is bigger than the Baby Boomer generation. These Gen Y'ers use the internet like you wouldn't believe. They are also graduating college and becoming working contributers to the economy. Subsequently, they are also buying real estate.

Now, Gen Y folk use the internet to do everything. As far as my profession is concerned, they scour the internet to find homes first - before they contact me. I'm told that they spend roughly 2 weeks looking for homes on the internet for they make a move to contact anyone.

Given all that, I am supposed to position myself to capture their attention to have them call me.
It costs a ton of money to build a website, to pay for advertising, to update the site. Not to mention the time that you have to spend to keep up the pace. I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

I get inundated with e-brochures and e-newsletters touting the top 10 best ways to boost your internet presence........... YIKES! You read and study with the intent to be in the right place at the right time, but there always seems to be something else that you need to do to be better - blah, blah, blech.

Too often I miss the essential ingredient of what I do - Getting in front of people. It is hard to remember, but it's crucial.

Yahoo Affect

You hear sometimes that real estate is "local", that each market has it own rules, in essence. I think that is true. However, many people read the latest real estate news article and think that it pertains to them.
I'm calling it the Yahoo affect.
It's when a potential customer reads an article online about the national real estate market, rate increases, fed comments, and a housing bubble and assume that it pertains to their area. This is not necessarily the case.

You rarely, if ever, come across an article talking about local market conditions. Not all markets had a meteoric rise in home prices. Many were steady and honest (for lack of a better way to put it) - like Ithaca.

The market I am in, Ithaca NY, is thriving. We have had steady growth and development, not the overheated market like say, Boston.

Its too bad. But this is the way the market works - i guess.