Survival tips for a down real estate market

(This is Part 2 of a two-part series. See Part 1: Preparing for a real estate downturn.) Will the bubble burst in your market? Will it merely slow down and remain stable? Will appreciation disappear? Will the seller's market rage on? Regardless of what happens, being prepared for market changes is to key to surviving no matter what the market does. Last week's column discussed how to prepare your clients for a market downturn. An even more important issue is how you can prepare your business for this change. The most critical thing to track is the market statistics. You must pay attention to what is happening in each price range. If there are serious surpluses of inventory in the higher price ranges, they may be the precursor to of surpluses in other market segments as well. 1. Master market statistics Why are market statistics important? First, when you observe an increase in market time, you must immediately start taking listings as close to market value as possible. You must b...