Welcome, and good morning to Mike Ferry TV. It is the week of Monday, January 11th, it is almost hard to believe that last year is finally done. Finished, ended. Good night, Louise. And guess what? This year is going to bring same as last year. We probably are going to have pretty much a duplicate. I guess the only difference between 2021 and 2020 is the fact that we are going to have finally adapted to some of the things that we have to live with today. And that’s the name of the game. One of the questions I’m asked almost every day and has been since really probably mid November of last year is what’s going to happen in 2021. I produced a little video called The Fireside Chat at the request of my company, and we did it at my house here in Las Vegas. And all I did was give you some of the thoughts that I think are going to take place. It’s probably worth your listening to that, even though a little portion of today will be from that particular video that I did. So here’s my predictions for 2021 for all of you that are going to remain participating and active in the Real Estate business throughout this year. Because if you do participate, remain active, you’re going to succeed.

There’s no question about it. So here’s my ten big predictions. Number 1: Home prices will continue to rise. It’s simply the law of supply and demand. You know, the the demand is up here. The supply is down here. Any time you have that type of situation, basic economics say prices will increase. Number 2 is that inventory challenges will continue, period. I mean, the biggest challenge we have with inventory and nobody wants to hear this, we don’t have enough great agents like you working every day trying to get listings. I’ve always said whenever there’s an inventory shortage, yes, it’s an economic situation, which we know is the case. It’s a pricing situation which, you know, is the case. But if agents don’t work to get listings every day, the supply is always going to diminish. So we’re going to continue having a short supply. Number three, technology will continue to be a big factor. We don’t want you to become a technology expert, but you’ve got to be aware that technology is going to keep advancing for all of us. Number four: The reason the inventory will remain low is because the cost to move up for most sellers who become buyers is too high. Prices have gotten so high in most parts of North America, it’s very difficult for a seller, even with good equity, to be able to finance and buy a new home at the price they would like to buy that.

And that is because their income personally has not kept up with the inflation of prices. Number five, almost everything that you list for sale this year is going to sell. Two words, whether it be 2008, 2018 or 2021, price and motivation. That is the two words. That is the difference between getting your listing sold and them not selling. So therefore, pre-qualifying a seller is more important than ever. Having good, solid comps, if they’re available is important to present and then knowing that that motivation determines the price. Number six on my list: Interest rates will continue to be low. No, there didn’t seem to be any reason. I’ve talked to a lot of lenders over the last 90 days. Can’t seem to find any reason why the interest rates are going to go up substantially or even minutely. If anything, they may still continue to decline. Number seven, and this is a tough one, we’re going to see more turnover among non-producing agents. I told some brokers a couple of weeks ago, instead of a door that opens up, whether it be outward or inbound into a Real Estate office, put in a revolving door like they have in a store that’s for retail or a shopping mall.

And they all said, well, why? I said, because the revolving door for agents is going to become stronger and stronger. The business is becoming more difficult for the unskilled. And I know that you’re not one of the unskilled agents. You’re a skilled agent. OK, if you’re participating in Mike Ferry TV, if you don’t have a thorough understanding on how to sell and list Real Estate, you’re certainly learning how. But the turnover among agents is going to increase at a much faster pace. The number of transactions, Number eight, done nation-wide think we’ll see a major increase or decrease in transactions. The only question is how many do you want to have for yourself and do you have a plan to make that happen? A business plan to make that happen. Number nine: The number of teams in the industry will increase. It’s been growing leaps and bounds, as you know, for the last four or five years. A lot of agents are wondering, should I have a team? Should I not have a team? Send me an email. If you have a question about teams that I’ll try to respond right away for you on that one.

And number 10: The gaps between the producers and non-producers is going to get wider than it’s ever been before. OK. 60S, 70s, 80s, even into the late 90s, we could pretty much look at Real Estate and say we have 15 to 20 percent top producers, we have 15 to 20 percent brand new licensees, and those that are not making it a big group in the middle called middle income producers, good, solid real estate sales people doing 4, 6, 10, 12 transactions a year. Here’s the problem we have in 2020, 2021; the middle group is disappearing or shrinking. So today we have 15, 20 percent superstars who have expanded their business dramatically and then we have the rest. We just don’t want you to be part of the rest. OK, because if you really look at what’s going on in the industry, the gap between those that know how and those that do and those that don’t know how and don’t do is widening by the day. The name of the game is still one hundred percent work to get listings, number two, Work your database. Number three, commit to a minimum of two hours of solid prospecting, Just Listed, Just Sold per day. And for goodness sakes, learn your scripts, learn your Listing Presentation. Learn the answers to the objections and get out and go to work. Talk to you next Monday. Thanks for today.