Hi All! (to all of our Gibson agents)
First I want to thank you for my birthday cake and all of your birthday wishes. What a great way to start the year!
Secondly, I wanted to recap our discussion at last week’s meeting. Currently we have a tight credit environment exasperated by a lack of confidence about the future and our leadership. Certainly there is no better example of how people are feeling than the fact that the US Government is refinancing it's debt by paying ZERO percent interest for three month treasury bills and a paltry 2.37% for 10 year notes. What rational person would put their money someplace for 10 years at that rate if they were not totally without confidence in the future? The point is that there is a tremendous amount of cash on the sidelines waiting for a positive direction to develop.
Here are some signs that you can watch for that indicate we are turning around:
-An improvement in the consumer confidence index. Right now it is at around a 50 year low. It should not take much to start to improve the index and out of all of the "signs" this one might be the most important. The new stimulus package may be the first boost, then the inauguration.
-A steady and consistent stock market. It does not have to rise a lot, just be consistent. Watch to see if it can stay above the 8800 level for an extended period of time.
-An increase in mergers and acquisitions; increased offers of new credit cards to you in the mail; improvement in the jumbo loan market; any signs of a loosening in the tight credit environment we are in now
-A decrease month over month in foreclosures especially within LA
County (the LA Business Journal is a great source for county stats)
-An increase in resale residential unit sales month over month then year over year
-A decrease in inventory; sales outpacing new listings coming on
-A decline in price reductions
-Happy real estate agents
Focus will be everything for you this year. Set your goals and create your vision for where you want to be a year from now; five years from now. Don't settle for less than you want, but be prepared to get there step by step. Be ready/show up everyday for any opportunities that come your way. You will have some difficult days, but the goal is to have many more good days than difficult. Be good to yourself, no negative self talk. Take good care of yourself physically so that you can stay up to the challenge and take advantage of opportunities that will come your way. Put fun into your life where ever possible, set aside some time to refresh and renew. Realize that you can control your destiny by how you approach your day.
Pat and I are focused on you and your success. We know that with the right people we can win any game, overcome any challenge. We have the right people! We are very excited about 2009. There will be challenges and difficulties, but we can each individually overcome them together.
Happy New Year!
Scott
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