S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

It is probably fair to say that the first human commerce involved two primitive human beings arranging to trade one vital necessity for another (food for clothing, perhaps?). These early humans had no concept about currencies, banks, a federal reserve, or the idea of flat money. Had the original cave man asked his neighbor to accept a piece of paper for that night’s dinner and all the paper said was that the receiving party would receive some value in the future, the neighbor would have probably considered clubbing this charlatan to death.

The Society of Exchange Counselors is primarily an organization that exists to allow our members and guests the opportunity to gather and make “transactions.” We are unlike many organizations that serve primarily as education and networking vehicles. It is certainly true that the society offers tremendous networking opportunities, and that spending several days together five or six times a year working deals leads to the creation of a great network of brokers from across the country and Canada.

These are interesting times, indeed. We, as a country, arguably have suffered the worst recession since the great depression of 1929. Times are tough, as many of the banks and financial institutions in our country have been bailed out, and to top it all off, the United States came dangerously close to a default on our sovereign debt.

The Society of Exchange Counselors is celebrating 50 years of existence, and that is an incredible milestone. What enables an organization to continue to not only exist, but to thrive for 50 years? I believe that it is a result of having a clearly defined vision of who and what you are and maintaining your core values. This leads to the question: what are The Society of Exchange Counselors core values and vision?

While watching the election returns last week, I was reminded of a quote of Ronald Reagan’s: “When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.” This election was indeed a statement by the people. Through the 20+ national elections I have witnessed, there has never been such a swing of passions from one election to the next - 2008 vs. 2010. Change just for change’s sake is not always what we are looking for.

Traditional thinking is about “what is” — Creative thinking is about “what can be.” The news headline recently said “Double Dip Recession Possible.” The media enjoys seeing the “glass half empty” and it’s not the first time we’ve heard “the sky is falling.” In fact, it has happened numerous times in the past.

“These are the times that try men’s souls” as Thomas Paine so aptly put it in the winter of 1776 — although, he could have been referring to our current economic crisis. As the recession lingers on around us, we become caught in the quagmire ourselves and it seems, at times, like we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The year was 1961 — John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. A country called the Soviet Union rivaled the United States for world supremacy and space exploration, putting the first human in space in April. In May the U.S. answers with Alan Shepard’s flight and the President vows to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, the Beatles perform for the first time at the Cavern Club, Roger Maris hits 61 home runs for the Yankees and the Vietnam War officially begins in December with the arrival of helicopters and 400 U.S. troops in Saigon.

Opportunity is only possible when we identify something within a property, problem, or situation that others cannot see. How do we do that? There are many ways to solve a problem and locate the opportunity without knowing how to do it ourselves. We do that by collaborating with others.

What will our economy look like in one to three years? Will our large national banks all be government-owned or will Wall Street figure out a way to sell stock to the public, which will bail out our government and return the banks to private ownership? Will the unemployment rate be 5% or 50%? Will our loans be forgiven? Perhaps the government will take over the non-performing loan portfolios and become the landlord of the millions who cannot afford housing. Will GM be 100% employee, union or government-owned? Or will all the plants be taken over by foreign manufacturers? I find it remarkable that between the date I began writing this article and today, this question has already been answered! I don’t believe that anybody knows where our businesses, or the economy for that matter, will be six months or thirty-six months from now. Frankly, I find it bothersome to speculate.