Work From Home Couple

I was interviewing a commercial real estate broker yesterday for a story looking back at 2008. The story dealt specifically with the commercial real estate market, and how it was surviving, or, in some cases, not surviving, a rough year.

The broker said something interesting: His company had completed more real estate transactions through October of this year than they did during the same period last year. Unfortunately, the revenue produced by this year’s deals was 25 percent lower than the revenue the company’s deals generated through October of 2007.

His company, then, was doing more work, but not getting as much money out of that work.

I know how he feels. Of course, my work is insignificant compared to that of a huge commercial real estate brokerage. But I am in the same situation. I’ve taken on more assignments through mid-November of this year than I did during the same period in 2007. Yet, the income these stories has generated is lower. It’s kind of depressing.

Sometimes I sulk about this. Especially after the mailman stops by and he doesn’t have any checks for me. But my wife reminds me that we’re lucky: We have income coming in. We have jobs. We’re not worried — too much — about missing any mortgage payments. There are a lot of other people out there who can’t say the same.

Still … I sure wish those paychecks would start coming in. And I wish they were just a bit bigger.

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