Field Guide to Surviving & Thriving in a Slowing Market
(Updated September 2007)
Every market has its ups and downs, and real estate is certainly no exception. When a hot housing market begins to cool down, REALTORS®, sellers and buyers all need to readjust their strategies and expectations. This Field Guide offers tips and ideas to help you and your clients survive and thrive in a cooling market. (D. Shumaker, Information Specialist)
Contents:
Adjusting Your Strategies in a Changing Market | Working with Clients in a Slower Market | Tips for Buyers & Sellers | Books, eBooks & Other Resources
Twelve Step Plan to Make You Feel Better About This Market, (Realty Times, Sept. 2007). Practical advice from a 33-year industry veteran.
Surviving the Slump, (Realty Times, July 2007). Instead of competing by offering lower commissions, find something else to compete on - quality service, experience, and know-how.
Turn Any Market into a Go, (REALTOR® Magazine, Feb. 2007). How to recognize that any market has opportunities for the creative and resourceful. Listen to the sidebar audio podcast interview with the author for more insights into today's market.
10 survival skills for a cooling market: Sharpen your skills, reconnect with the consumer, and 'kick it up a notch.', (REALTOR® Magazine, Aug. 2006).
Is there an upside to a downturn? Of course there is. A slowing market gives you the chance to show off your selling skills, (REALTOR® Magazine, July 2006).
Adjusting to a buyer's market from a seller's market, (Realty Times, Apr. 5, 2006). You have the listings, you need the buyers. Tips for marketing to buyers rather than sellers.
Opportunity or heartbreak? What an industry slowdown means to you, (Chicago REALTOR®, Jan. 2006).
Awareness: the challenge of changing real estate markets, (Realty Times, July 2, 2004).
Stepping up in a down market: When the going gets tough, the best excel, (REALTOR® Magazine, Mar. 2002). 
Staying afloat in tough times: Meet four practitioners who've developed successful strategies for dealing with a down market, (REALTOR® Magazine, Mar. 2002).
Working with Clients in a Slower Market
Smart Price Advice, (Florida REALTOR®, May 2007). Helping sellers price their homes has never been more challenging.
Keeping the Deal Together Most Important Task, (Realty Times, Nov. 10, 2006). Just because they've signed the contract doesn't mean the deal is done.
Getting the listings sold, (Realty Times, May 31, 2006).
Great expectations: What happens when a seller sets his hopes too high?, (Texas REALTOR®, Jan./Feb. 2006).
60 days to hot sales in a down market: Follow these tips to sell your listings quickly, even in slower markets, (REALTOR® Magazine, Jan. 2006).
What to do when the price isn't nice, (Texas REALTOR®, Nov. 2004).
Be honest with unrealistic sellers: Even in a hot market, a home won't sell unless it's properly staged, (REALTOR® Magazine, July 2004).
How to get buyers to buy older homes in a down market, (Realty Times, June 11, 2004).
Tough love: Learn these tested words to talk to sellers about price reductions, needed fix-ups, and other things they don't want to hear, (REALTOR® Magazine, June 2004).
Twenty-four ways to ask for a price reduction, (Texas REALTOR®, Jan./Feb. 2004).
Top Tips: Selling Your Home, (CNNMoney.com, July 2007). 
CNN's Gerri Willis offers tips on how to make your home more attractive to potential buyers.
10 Steps To Sell More Quickly In Stalled Markets, (Realty Times, July 2007).
Effective Incentives to Woo Buyers and Sell Your Home, (RealEstateJournal.com, July 2007). Ditch the vacation to Tahiti and the flat-screen tv for ideas that really work.
The Buyer's Advantage, (Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Mar 2007). Q No matter where you're buying or selling this year, if you educate yourself about conditions in your market, keep your price expectations realistic and include a safety net of contingencies, you can get the deal done.
How to get more for the money in a cooling housing market, (RealEstateJournal.com, Sept. 20, 2006).
Choosing a listing agent in a buyer's market, (Realty Times, Sept. 18, 2006).
Seven money-stretching tips for sellers in a cooling market, (RealEstateJournal.com, June 2006).
Pricing as much art as science, (Realty Times, Mar. 17, 2006).
Hot or not: Winning strategies for buyers in sizzling markets and sellers in slowing ones, (Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Apr. 2003). Q
eBooks & Other Resources
eBooks.realtor.org
The following ebooks and digital audiobooks are available to NAR members:
Cash in on the Coming Real Estate Crash: How to Protect Yourself From Losses Now, and Turn a Profit After the Bubble Bursts (Adobe eReader)
Real Estate Millions in Any Market (Adobe eReader)
Timing the Real Estate Market (Adobe eReader)
Books, Videos, Research Reports & More
The resources below are available for loan through Information Central. Up to three books, tapes, CDs and/or DVDs can be borrowed for 30 days from the Library for a nominal fee of $10. Call Information Central at 800.874.6500 for assistance.
1001 tips for buying and selling a home, (Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western, 2005). HD 1341 N17
Real Estate Millions in Any Market: the Lowdown on No-down Investing, (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2004). HG 4521 Ei5
Down Markets: First Aid Kit, (Boulder, CO: Howard Brinston, 1995). CT582
How to Sell Your Home in a Down Market, (New York: Warner Books, 1991). HD 1341 Ir9hs
Homeseller Strategies in a Soft Market, (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1991). HD 1341 Sm6h
Field Guides & More
These Field Guides and other resources in the Virtual Library may also be of interest:
Field Guide to Preparing & Staging a Home for Sale
Field Guide to Marketing Tips for REALTORS®
Field Guide to Farming & Prospecting
Career Advice for REALTORS®
>> Have an idea for a new Field Guide? Click here to send us your suggestions!
The inclusion of links on this Field Guide does not imply endorsement by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR makes no representations about whether the content of any external sites which may be linked to this Field Guide complies with state or federal laws or regulations or with applicable NAR policies. These links are provided for your convenience only and you rely on them at your own risk.
