Happy New Year!

January is a great month in this business. Broker/owners are reviewing their company numbers for last year, business planning with agents, recruiting new agents, and planning improvements for the New Year. Agents should be planning their year to increase their skills and their business. New buyers and sellers are getting spooled up after months of school, football, and holidays.

Look at the amount of change in our business over the last 10 years. 2007 was the top of the market and we were blowing and going. Then the Mortgage Meltdown, sales slowed, agents took “real jobs”, real estate and mortgage companies cut back or closed completely, foreclosures increased, short sales increased, etc. How has your personal life changed over the last 10 years? Huge changes too, I’ll bet.

And for 2015? Foreclosures and short sales down, folks now leaving “real jobs“ to get into real estate, multiple offer situations, and overall a renewed enthusiasm. Locally, the municipal schools were formed, Memphis got a new mayor, and The Pyramid became a Bass Pro Shop! On the personal side, 2015 brought Susie’s daughter, Kendall, her husband, Mark, and grandson, Coleman from Nashville back to Memphis, her son Bailey is moving up in the restaurant biz, my daughter Bailee landed a big job in Atlanta, and my son Tyler and Kendall got their real estate licenses.

I have made enough new year’s resolutions through the years to know that for 2016 I won’t eat right and exercise, I won’t clean up my office, and I won’t get caught up on my to do list. So maybe the baby steps approach this year. I ate right this morning. I will exercise today. I’ll work a little on cleaning up the office. And this blog post has been on my to do list. All in all, a better effort than yesterday.

Instead of focusing so much on the finite calendar year, I think I’ll try to take a moment each day to improve somewhere even if just a small step. And instead of setting goals with only year end in mind, I’ll try to consider what the next 10 years might bring. Maybe that will make 2016 a good year.

Finally, Susie and I said we wanted to do something different for Super Bowl Sunday so we will be staying in a hotel room with screened porch overlooking the retail floor at Bass Pro! Come watch the sunset with us.

Have a good day, year, and decade!