Dear Clients, Associates & Friends,
Welcome to our De Freitas & Ryan Monthly E-News Update.
As I sit down to write this monthly E-Newsletter, I just looked at my calendar and realised that this time next month it will be the 27th December and that means Christmas for 2008 will have already come and gone.
This year has been a most interesting one and to be honest the most enjoyable I’ve experienced in business. What happens in this business is that you have your head down and your tail up, you go like hell and you get to miss out on a lot of what is going on around you. This can result in you doing the same things year in year out and of course, ending up with the same results.
I was most fortunate to have read a book by Sir Richard Branson while holidaying last Christmas and this book had a major impact on the way I looked at issues related to my business and personal life throughout 2008. What it also did was make me lift my head up and take the time to see what opportunities and challenges are around us and oh boy, what a year to do it.
We’ve seen some amazing changes in the stock market and this has allowed us all to make sure we really stop and think before we pick up the phone and buy a few shares. At the same time, it has taught us to have a look and analyse what is going on in the world and again I’ve found it all quite fascinating.
The property market has also altered quite remarkably and again I’ve been able to have a wider look at not only the Perth or Australian market but even that of overseas countries. Again it has been fascinating and teaches you to be extremely careful when you realise that when things are outside your control, you can’t get too complacent.
With the background of all this stock market and property crisis, we at De Freitas & Ryan have remained excited about our business and we’ve been able to ’put up the periscope’ and monitor what’s going on around us but remain focused on our core business.
As well as this, we’ve been able to recognize what opportunities are out there and position our business so we can chase those opportunities with great enthusiasm.
This has been a year of growth for us in a shrinking Real Estate market and in a sense, sadly we have benefited by some our competitor’s decisions to reduce service and cut back on staff. We are now beginning to also benefit from investors moving funds away from the share market and placing their cash into property.
When we look at the crystal ball and try and see what is ahead for us in 2009, I can’t stop thinking about our Prime Minister’s statement on the news the other night when he said, ’Things are tough at the moment but it is going to be a lot tougher next year.’ A big smile came over my face and I remarked to my wife, ’Looks like we are going to be kicking into the wind.’ Then I said, ’That’s good.’ Melita looked at me bemused and I explained to her that when I was a young fellow playing football and we were kicking into a strong wind, we did quite well as we would grit our teeth, go really hard at the ball and the goals would come.
Roll on 2009 and I would like to thank all those people who have sent their best wishes to our team with regards to our move into the new office and we’ll continue to repay you with the best service possible in Real Estate.
As I alerted earlier, Christmas is now upon us and all of us at De Freitas & Ryan would like to wish you and your family all the best for Christmas and the New Year.
The Team at De Freitas & Ryan
P.S. My wife is buying me a book for Christmas — I’ll keep you posted but I bet it will be another Richard Branson.
