Business is Good in Real Estate in Michigan

I am getting so tired of the media screaming gloom and doom. I attended a seminar in Saginaw in the mid-eighties? Are you old enough to remember the interest rates back then? I recall 16 or 18% with some as high as 22%. We hit 210 days as the average on market for those houses that sold. The only way to sell was land contract. Very few buyers had the income to afford $600 a month house payments. The speaker said, "Perception is Reality!" If you keep looking at the negative that is what you will get. He passed out these pins. I have started wearing mine again. Business is Good.
Yesterday I heard on the news that housing sales in Michigan were up 3.2% this past month. However, the average sales price was down 1.5%. Today on television I am hearing that housing sales are down across the country. Very possibly if you correlate those two figures there is a net negative, but I am going to look at the positive. Sellers are getting realiztic and aware of the principal of supply and demand. True, there is a lot of inventory out there. They have finally come to understand that if they wish to sell, they must price competitively. On the other hand, they have to live somewhere. Odds are, they will probably be able to pay 1.5% less than last year for their dream home. Business is Good.
From my viewpoint, class attendance in my Michigan real estate classes is down. I hear it is for all the other schools also. A couple of colleges actualy cancelled their real estate classes this semester. The number of real estate agents in Michigan has dropped. I am teaching a class of salesperson candidates next week and I will tell them they are lucky. They have chosen to enter one of the most rewarding careers available at the best possible time. If they get good training from their broker, they will be successful. There is less competition. In a couple of years when things turn back in a positive direction, they will have wonderful success stories to tell. Business is Good.
Having a few classes cancelled has been good for me. It has afforded me time to write the books I meant to write but never had the time. It has given me the opportunity to realize I do not have to work every day. I can plan for retirement. Business is Good.