by Wes

I am standing in the pouring rain wearing my favourite Merry People gumboots, holding an umbrella over the photographer while he tries to photograph the front of the house.

A little side note. I now own these boots in three colours because, well, Sydney is wet.

There is something beautifully ridiculous about the whole scene.

Yesterday we cancelled the shoot because the weather forecast promised rain all day. Naturally, by the exact time the photographer was supposed to arrive, the clouds disappeared, the sun came out and the light was absolutely perfect.

So we rescheduled.

For this morning.

The forecast confidently assured us it would be sunny.

Now I am standing in a puddle looking like an overenthusiastic production assistant while the photographer tries to keep thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment dry.

Weather forecasts are funny things. They are based on mountains of data, clever models and educated guesses. Most of the time they are pretty good. Sometimes they are spectacularly wrong.

Sound familiar?

Lately, every second conversation ends up being about the property market.

“Should I wait?”

“Do you think prices will drop?”

“What do you think interest rates will do?”

“Maybe I’ll sell next year.”

Everyone wants certainty.

The problem is that the property market behaves a lot like the weather. There are countless influences. Interest rates, politics, consumer confidence, employment, global events and a hundred other variables that none of us can control. Even the economists can’t agree on what comes next.

If they can’t predict six months from now, I certainly won’t pretend I can.

What we can do is prepare.

Just like today’s photoshoot.

We didn’t pack up and go home because it rained. We adapted. We’ll get the interior shots done today and, if we need to, come back for the exterior when the weather plays along. We work with the conditions we’ve been dealt instead of waiting for perfection.

Real estate is exactly the same.

We can prepare your home. We can choose the right strategy. We can price it well, market it properly and negotiate hard.

What we can’t do is promise perfect market conditions.

If we all waited for perfect weather, we’d never take any photos.

If we all waited for the perfect market, very few people would ever move.

Sometimes the best decision is simply making the most of today’s forecast and trusting that you can adapt if tomorrow looks different.