A new agent who's living in a turbulent market doesn't want to sell to friends or family unless they "have to" buy or sell. He wants to know where to get leads online instead.

Hello Blanche, I came across one the columns that you wrote about the real estate industry on the Internet. It was about Realestate.com I found it rather informative and would like to say thanks. I am originally from Chicago, but I am currently living on the west coast in Las Vegas. I am a newly licensed real estate agent that does not want to hound my immediate friends and family into purchasing or selling their home in our current market unless they have to. I was wondering if you might be able to recommend a few companies In the Las Vegas area that offers true lead support for a reduced commission. Any information would be helpful. Congratulations on all your achievements.

Sincerely, New Agent

Realty Times responds:

If I'm reading you right, you're uncomfortable asking your friends and family for business because you feel the current market is unsafe. However, you want to do some business, so that same risky market is okay as long as strangers are buying. In other words you have a conscience about people you know, but not for people you don't know, is that correct?

Surely, that's not what you really meant to say, so let's look at what you wrote in a different light.

Let's start with your use of the word "hound." Apparently you've been told by your broker or someone that you should be contacting your friends and family for leads. You see calling them as "hounding" them, using the current bad market as your excuse. You don't want to feel responsible for getting your friends and family into a bad deal.

It could be that the real issue isn't the current market, but the fact that you don't want to call people you know. It's not fun to ask for business, but that's part of the job if you're going to bring in business to your broker. Cold-calling is a staple of business. You should be doing several hours a day of cold-calling and putting together a database of contacts and leads.

Why in the world would you want to ignore or eliminate leads you can get for free? Why are you willing to reduce your commission to do business with strangers?

What that tells me is that you'll do anything to avoid calling people.

So, let me ask you. Would you be any more willing to make those calls if you were certain your family and friends would be better off? If the answer is no, then it's the calls holding you back, not the market.

There's opportunity in every market, even a receding market like Las Vegas. Maybe you just don't know how to capture those opportunities and reward your friends and family with them.

The Wizard of Oz says what you need is Confidence. What builds confidence? Knowledge, experience and the belief that you are doing the right thing. Your job as a Realtor is simple -- it's to find opportunity and sell it. If anyone asks you what you do for a living, that's how you should respond. "I find opportunities in housing and sell them."

Where's the opportunity in the Las Vegas market? Renters and scavenger buyers. Your job is to put people in homes, whether that's renting them a house or helping them buy one. Right now, buyers are in short supply, which is why you should be working on developing them any way you can.

When there's blood in the water, that's when the sharks start sniffing around. You could help investors or second-home buyers find good deals. If prices are coming down, the pool of first-time buyers will get larger.

How about offering first-time homebuyer seminars to bring these people to your door? Show them how to get their credit in order, choose a lender, and learn how to buy a home.

Your market is a great opportunity for anyone to trade up. Nothing's going to appreciate for a while, so your buyers may think it's a zero sum gain and therefore not worth the trouble or expense. Your job is to educate them. When the market turns around, which properties appreciate first and for the most money? The more desirable properties.

While you have to face the realities of your marketplace, you also have to recognize the opportunities. Now is the time to get your family and friends into homes they couldn't buy two years ago with more square footage and in better neighborhoods. Show them how they can rent the homes they're vacating, and still buy a new home.

Yes, I know. The credit market has tightened up, but as surely as I'm typing this, I can assure you that it will loosen up again, and that credit has always been available for anyone with good credit.

So stop concentrating on the obstacles. Think instead of how to get through them. That's what's going to make you successful as a Realtor, no matter what kind of market you're in.