Tuesday, January 2, 2024
I’ve been thinking about 2024.
Happy New Year.
Did 2023 feel like a whirlwind to you?
A review of our publications’ top stories for last year (see links to some of the stories below) revealed it was a difficult year in which to find footing. Not to mention how difficult it was to find revenue. But collectively, we’re still here.
It feels like our sector of the market has become an even greater target for thieves. Together we feel deeply unsettled around that fact, and there is a tightness in our chest about who and what might be breached next. But we’re still here.
SCOTUS is hearing some cases in 2024 that could significantly impact how our industry is regulated. Our RESPA News Editor Elizabeth Childers, Esq. and I will be in DC on Jan. 17 to bring you coverage of oral arguments for two of these key cases. We expect rulings this summer and will make sure you have the information and education you need, in order to ace your application of any resulting changes. Regulations come, and regulations go; we’re still here.
2024 is an election year, and it will be turbulent. Each summer of a presidential election year, we tend to see gas prices jump up wildly for no logical reason. Given the talk in some circles already claiming that Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucus results should be considered unreliable, be prepared for at least one slice of the electorate to believe they’ve been deeply disenfranchised at key points in the process. It was a rough one in 2020 and it will be again, but we’re still here.
Many folks in our sector lost jobs in 2023 as shops went from staff begging for a day off, (just one day!) to the business equivalent of searching the sofa cushions for loose change. Many of us are still here, even if your “here” is someplace new.
And since we’re still here, won’t it be a relief when rates come down and deals find their way once again to our doors? Since we’re still here, I’m looking forward to a return to “normal” – heck, I even look forward to finding out what the new normal is! And I look forward to bringing it all to you, so you can tool your business in a way that celebrates and validates … We’re. Still. Here!
Not every moment of 2024 will be happy; there will always be things to get through. But I wish you not only a Happy New Year, but also a positive, productive, rewarding, engaging, profitable, challenging, robust, and satisfying year. One you can be proud of.
At the end of it, we’ll circle back and cheer… we’re still here!
Until next time,
Mary Schuster
Chief Knowledge Officer
October Research, LLC