Congratulations to Helen Oliveri who was recently featured in This Chicago Agent Magazine Article on how she is excelling in a tough market. Helen was one of only 6 people featured as a real estate expert amongst her peers. What a nice tribute!
You can pose the question of “have we recovered?” to 100 Realtors and receive 100 different answers. The fact of the matter is that no one knows for sure if we are on the path to recovery, but many insist the market is showing positive signs. To get to the bottom of this issue, we spoke with a number of industry experts on the state of the real estate market, and also checked in with a few Realtors and other industry professionals who have found the path to success despite the direction of the economy. The market may be up or down at any given moment, but you are the one in control of your real estate career.
SUCCESS IS A MINDSET
By Helen Oliveri – Agent
In a shifting market, the key to our success has been tenacity and a strong focus on return on investment (ROI). Understanding the activities that generate the most return has been instrumental to our explosive growth. As well, assessing the market and where the source of our business comes from has been influential to sustained growth.
Every year, I have grown our business substantially and I firmly believe that the market will not dictate my level of success. I demand this mindset of anyone affiliated with me, and, in fact, this is a consistent mindset throughout my entire team. We are high-minded overachievers and winners who believe we are the solution to achieving our clients’ real estate goals. Testament to this philosophy is that I have sold over 104 properties so far in 2010, and we are on path to break records this year.
Our systems and tools to market our homes have proven to out-compete the market. Everything we do is completely different from the norm and this is what makes us unique and successful. We market extensively and creatively invest in our homes. Our marketing drives competition and competition creates urgency. Urgency drives sales and sales drive service. Stellar service drives referrals, referrals create raving fans and so on. Then the cycle repeats itself.
We provide the personal touch regardless of the fact that we are a volume-based business. We are focused on understanding the market, adjusting to it and educating our clients through it to achieve their goals. Our expertise in this market is critical and essential to sellers and buyers. Additionally, how we convey our expertise is equally critical.
As we know, real estate is localized, and depending on which area we are examining, the overall trend is that we are still in a declining market. It may be several years before we see an upswing in the market and trends indicate that we have a surplus of inventory and until this depletes, we will continue to be in a buyers’ market. Recovery seems to be further out than originally anticipated. Subsequently, telling people the truth is simply a must. At the end of the day, it is up to us to overcome the challenges of the market, to educate ourselves and our clients and to be honest, integrity-based professionals. This is the highest ROI a consummate professional can make. Invest in your business and in helping people and success will follow. To expect otherwise is just unacceptable.
My words of wisdom are to make the most of the market, invest in what works, be ethical and true, and the rest will fall into place. Success is a mindset, so never settle for less than being the best and success will follow.
Helen Oliveri is the founder of The Helen Oliveri team with Keller Williams, specializing in all of Northern Cook & Lake County real estate. For more information, visit helenoliveri.com, or contact her at 847.967.0022 or by e-mail at helen@helenoliveri.com.
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