Sissy Lappin is the broker-owner of Lappin Properties and co-founder of ListingDoor.com working in Houston.

Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we spoke with Sissy Lappin, the broker-owner of Lappin Properties and co-founder of ListingDoor.com, who shared what agents need to know for 2015. 

There’s been some speculation about what will happen to Houston real estate with $50-$60 oil. I have been in the business for 28 years, and have lived through two bubbles and two recessions. With age comes wisdom…and calmness. I’m here to tell you that all is well; that what goes up must come down and vice versa.

So what do agents need to know to prepare for 2015? This:

8. The November/December numbers are going to be down. This doesn’t mean that housing is poised for a crash. It means that 60 percent of the buyers in Houston are transferees and they don’t move at this time of year. They come in the spring to buy so their kids can finish out the school year.

7. No, it will not be like 2014. Selling a home will go back to becoming a process versus a one-day-open-house-and-it’s-sold scenario. In other words, homes will no longer sell the first hour they’re on the market. We’re going from speed dating back to traditional courtship.

6. Fewer sales means more agents will leave the business. You will see more of them retiring and younger agents feeling like they need more stability in a job and paycheck.

5. We will have steady appreciation and fewer bidding wars. Buyers will have time to make smart decisions versus impulsive ones. With this comes a new, slower pace for the real estate market…a normal pace.

4. Another byproduct of a normal pace means we will see our 70- to 80-hour work weeks turn into 40- or 50-hours. We’ll be able to catch our breath, enjoy more vacation time.

3. We have continued in-migration. People are moving into Texas, not leaving. Seven of the fifteen fastest growing cities in the U.S. are located here.

2. We’re No. 1 in job creation. Texas leads the nation in the creation of jobs: 40 percent since 2009. (If it slows down, we’ll still be happy. It would give us time to fix our roads.)

1. Minimal building. When oil prices go down, lenders get a little uneasy. Spec building comes to almost a complete halt. But on the bright side, this stabilizes the supply and demand side of housing. Apartment building slows down. Yippee!

With over 25 years of experience, Sissy Lappin is one of the most experienced residential brokers in the business. She has successfully marketed over $500 million in real estate.