You don't mention where you are at but I felt the same way around the end of 2007 when our market was absolutely stagnant. Unfortunately, things stayed that way for almost a year.

In Destin, these were my observations then:
1. Inventory was growing exponentially
2. Seller's thought 10% off the peak was "motivated"
3. Vacation homes and investment properties couldn't cash flow taxes and insurance. Forget about any help with the mortgage.
4. The gap between sellers and buyers expectations was huge and almost impossible to close.

Things have turned around now and the four things I mentioned above have all had very favorable changes. Buyer's are coming around and sellers are getting realistic.

If your market resembles ours from a few years back, I would recommend:
1. Use everything you know to convince your seller's to lower their price. Being marginally lower than competing listings isn't good enough. You need to look at the current market and get them to come down another 10%. It's painful but essential. If you haven't already been agressive with price reductions, call every seller you have and go to work.
2. Focus on buyers. I'd trade 20 mickey mouse listings for one good buyer right now. Listings are easy to get in a down market. Quality listings aren't.
3. Volume - Its a numbers game. Generate more leads, show more property, write more offers and get fewer accepted. In 2004, out of every 10 people that got in my truck, I wrote 8 or 9 offers...7 or 8 would get accepted. Today, out of every 10 people that I show, 4 or 5 write offers and only 1 or 2 get accepted. Keep in mind I have to generate 3 times as many leads now and make that many more phone calls just to get the 10 people to start with. Real Estate is hard work now. It was too easy back then. We are trending toward somewhere in the middle and I can't wait to get there.
4. Find out where the motivated sellers are. Half my sales during the downturn were developer liquidations. The developers were working with their banks and always had the best prices.
5. Check your MLS to see which areas the sales are occuring in. If no one is selling then you are probably in big trouble. However, there may some parts of your town that are doing better than others. If you have a website, use ppc to target those areas more agressively.

Work smarter, harder, and longer than you thought you could.

Good Luck!

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Tim Shepard

Destin Florida Real Estate | Destin Florida Homes For Sale | Destin Florida Condos For Sale