Homeowners, You Have Senior Day

 

It is interesting to see some attention coming to cities which have a high number of seniors as homeowners that are not parts of 55+ communities. There has been speculation, such as the below linked article, that as they pass we will see an impact on home prices. There is a lot to be said for states like Florida and Hawaii having nearly 20% of homes owned by people aged 75 and higher.

Many of the opinions in the article deal with how this could play out a few years from now. There is nothing about the opportunities this “eventual” situation presents right now. I see plenty of opportunities to prepare seniors for succession. 

The fact is that many seniors are not able to spend on upgrading their homes. In some cases, they cannot afford maintenance or replacements and let the quality of their home decline. A few years from now, we could wind up with thousands of homes in poor condition which sit in neighborhoods not in need of redevelopment.

There are many viable solutions for seniors to be better prepared for what the future holds. It is safe to say that the majority have no idea about the options they could be putting in place sooner rather than later. Whether involving family members now, doing a sale and leaseback with an investor, or sharing equity in return for work, those who know to present solutions instead of offers will be the ones to gain.

It’s another great opportunity to be “first in” on more real estate deals!

https://www.newsweek.com/why-housing-market-will-flip-in-4-years-11472316

 

Turning "No" Into "Yes"

 

We all want 100% of our proposals and ideas to be successful. Obviously, not all of them, especially in real estate, are. What about the ones which are not?

Over the years, I have seen what I consider to be too many real estate brokers decide to move on when they get a “no”. There are way too many times when that answer can be changed to a “Yes!”, even if not coming from the same person or company.

There is a lot to be said for determining why the idea or proposal was rejected, and for analyzing the consequences. I have a personal example of this which happened during the late 1980s which continues to impact my professional life to this day.

I was involved with a company offering kiosk technology to real estate firms years before the internet came along. After having several meetings with large residential brokerages, they all said that what was being offered was “not cost effective”. There was nothing we could do to change that. 

However, upon analyzing the situation, I realized that there was high interest in using technology to market property listings. At the time, I had access to different technology which was very much cost effective. After going back to those same companies with a drastically lower price concept, it took off. That event more than 35 years ago started me on the career path I continue to enjoy today.

As my clients and students are well aware, if I took the typical approach of “That didn’t work. What’s next?”, none of this would have ever happened. Asking “What can I do to turn the ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ changed my life.

Having already done the research and the work is what allowed me to do all of this. I continue to help clients analyze what went wrong as much as what went right. Doing so is all a part of being “First In” on the next opportunity.