Perspective

I am not making this up. There are currently less than 11,000 single family residences for sale in the Phoenix metro area. There are also about 30,000 real estate agents. Economists and real estate analytical gurus consider a "balanced" market to be about 43,000 real estate units for sale at one time. As you can see, there is a lot of competition for homes.

So, when Jane lamented today that she has been unable to sell anything lately, I pointed this out. She has sold three this year. And frankly, in this market, that's huge. Most agents I know haven't even done that well.

I don't know if that made her feel better, but it is the truth. She has nothing to be ashamed of. She doesn't have the same kind of referral base Mrs. Hufflepuff or I do from being in the business for some many years (and even with my referral base, I closed five so far). She has gotten her clients the hard way--open houses and marketing herself. I told her I am proud of her efforts. Most agents haven't even managed to find one client, much less three  this past year. In fact, I know more agents right now who are driving for Lyft and Uber while the market is tight than selling homes.

It isn't Jane's lack of hustle that has gotten her three clients. I dare say, it is her hustle that has gotten her three clients. She's doing fine.