A Look Back and Ahead AS I take the helm as your new president, I can’t help but think about the many ways the real estate profession has changed since I started out as a REALTOR® in 1987. Interest rates are much lower, of course, but one of the major changes I see is how we communicate with our clients and with each other. Back in those days, cell phones were very uncommon. We didn’t email or text. To talk to someone you actually had to pick up a land line and call them, or walk down the hall to their office. Also, everyone was in the office together. It was the hub and it facilitated idea-sharing. We needed each other more, and because of that, we were closer, more in sync in many ways. Technology has done wonders for the real estate industry. It’s helped to facilitate transactions in numerous ways, but it’s also taken us away from human interaction, and can create unnecessary drama. Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why, pointed out that when you get to an elite status on an airline or at a hotel, one of the benefits you earn is getting a real, live person you can call. Since when did that become a luxury? I have 100 agents, and the deals that fall apart are the transactions where people have the least amount of contact with the other side. Agents line up outside my office to tell me their work troubles—I call it the parade of tears—and the first thing I ask is “Did you call them? Did you go to their office?” In one situation, an agent took my advice and showed up at the opposing agent’s office with two cups of coffee. They sat down together and it turns out they liked each other and were able to turn the deal around and make it work! There are no guarantees this type of ploy will succeed every time, but it’s worth a try. People do business with people that they like and trust. It’s hard to gain that sort of trust with a person you’ve only met via email or phone. Re-learning these people skills, and encouraging their use in our younger generation, is something that will help the industry recover. I think 2013 is going to be a brighter year. People are more enthusiastic and energetic. House prices are on the rise. We hit bottom and are slowly on the way back up. I’m a bit concerned that people think we’re out of the woods entirely, that we’re going to have a boom, but people who think that or get too comfortable are bound to be blindsided. We can’t take anything for granted. The crash forced us to streamline what we do and move forward. We need to keep doing that. Work is back in style, and those who work hard, will do well.