Subtle Change

I don’t know about you but after such a sensational weekend it was surprisingly easy to forget the fact that the world is in the grip of a pandemic. The sun was out, we could get out and about and it all felt kind of normal. But is it?

It felt normal on the weekend but is it really?

No. As much as I’d like to say ‘yes’ I really don’t think it’s the case. It might feel a little bit the same, but it really is quite different.  But that’s okay because I think we’re learning to deal with different rather than automatically be frightened by it.

The thing is there has never been an iron-clad guarantee that the economy would be strong, that incomes would automatically increase and value hold. It was easy to simply assume that would be the case, so the events of 2020 have come as a bit of a shocking reminder that we do actually live in a world of significant uncertainty. 

And I certainly agree that realization has been a bit scary.  We structured our residential property business with a view to being able to offer quality service and deliver the best possible results for our clients and our team irrespective of the state of the market. Hot or not we positioned ourselves to be sustainable and successful.

But even with that long-term vision and acknowledgement of potential market vulnerability I can honestly say that nothing could have prepared us for what the last eight months have delivered for our business, our team and certainly our clients.

And yet here we are.  Still going strong.  And as we experienced on the weekend even after the darkest of days, the sun will come up again.

But I do think we are starting to see evidence of a subtle change in behaviour.  Clients that are responding to their changing circumstances with altered priorities and are making decisions with what I think is a more realistic and sustainable view of long-term objectives. 

The assumption that we’re automatically entitled to record breaking growth is diluting to a more reasonable realization that property is a secure investment that can deliver solid returns.  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Actually, it is pretty damn good. It’s a subtle change but an important one.

Those are the very serious, honest interactions our team are having right now with vendors and potential buyers and as a result, they are securing deals that deliver satisfaction of both.