February 1, 2010
RE: Monthly Letter & Gold Report
Dear Clients:
“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things that I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
~ Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer
With the New Year now upon us, it is with relief that I look back upon 2009, glad that the year is behind us. It was a year full of personal and professional challenges for many, and I am happy to welcome in the New Year and a new decade.
I am pleased to be announcing the 2010 edition of the CDC Commercial — Gold Report (www.cdccommercial.com/GoldReport2010)
I hope you enjoy and learn from this report. This is the 14th edition I have written, and as in past reports, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it.
I did have to laugh when I recently read that the well-respected Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economist summed it up by saying, “2010 is a giant question mark. There is no consensus (among economists) of what is going to happen.”
There are so many things that are beyond our control: the economy, interest rates, unemployment, health care costs, global warming, etc. Foreclosures are mounting along with tenant defaults, not to mention the challenge of getting adequate financing. Each of these factors seems overwhelming and provides ample excuses as to why we’re not doing well. As a matter of fact, the sheer gloom and doom in the marketplace is reason enough to sit back and wait for things to get better. Well, I for one am not willing to wait around. I am not going to wait around for the government or the industry to create a stimulus plan for 2010. Instead, I am preparing to focus on the things I can change and stop focusing on things I can’t change. Personally, I have decided to make 2010 my best year ever!
With that said, let me share some positive news from the “front line.” Although we are far from booming, we had more inbound calls in December than any of the previous 5 years. We closed a deal on January 2nd (earliest deal ever). We have closed more deals in January than any month in the past 12. Now for the sobering news; the deals are harder, smaller, shorter terms, and for less rent — but we’re doing deals. We are leasing and sales warriors!
I hope that you enjoy this year’s Gold Report and that it is insightful for your action plan for the year ahead. Otherwise, I hope the advice to staying young and happy below is an answer to your prayers.
Regards,
Don
Don S. Zech
CDC Commercial, Inc.
Real Estate Services
How to Stay Young and Happy!
Throw out all the nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight, and height. Let the doctor worry about them — that is why you pay them.
Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. If you really need a grouch, there are probably a few of your relatives to do the job.
Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Just never let your brain idle.
Laugh often, long, and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. Laugh so much that you can be tracked in the store by your distinctive laughter.
The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with you your entire life is yourself.
Surround yourself with what you love, whether it is family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
Cherish your health. If it is good — preserve it. If it is unstable — improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve — get help.
Don’t take guilt trips. Go to the mall, the next county, a foreign country…but not to guilt.
Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
And remember that Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take…but by the moments that take our breath away!