June 30, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Meetings.

I am not in love with meetings. But today I spent all day in meetings. Fortunately, the meetings were short. This current real estate market is making us all anxious. Many buyers and sellers who are in their thirties have always lived with affluence, so everything that crosses their path which is not exactly to their liking causes a lot of hostility. It is actually interesting to observe, except for the agent who is required to bring bad news to the seller. The first meeting today was with Wes and Brenda, the big bosses in the Company. The three of us who Manage our office had some suggestions for the job of saving money. Certainly at this time, saving money is a requirement in order to stay in business. Our suggestions were well received. Then our LLC investment group in the office is managed by four agents and me, and we meet for lunch regularly. The LLC Managers are having trouble finding good investments for the group, so some decisions were made for the future of the group. Next came an hours meeting with Betty. Finally, tea time in Bethesda finally arrived, and at last, I get to talk to the agents. In addition, of course, I talked on the phone.

We are very fortunate. Our office is in Bethesda, and we work a lot in DC. Right now, with the cost of gas so high, everyone wants to move into town, so our agents are doing well and our numbers are high. Of course, the volume does not match the last few years, but we are doing very well. Our goal for the year is one Billion Dollars, which will be the sixth year the agents have exceeded the Billion Dollar mark. Today, every transaction is difficult. The Sellers and Buyers are in different books, let alone on the same page. Very often, the sellers want to shoot the messenger, but the agents are very skillful in giving the seller all the facts and figures, and try to keep themselves positive and enthusiastic. Today is the best Real Estate market we have today, and we have learned to deal with it. But it is not easy for the agents, or the bosses. The Managers in the office just keep on cheering.