The 30-year mortgage averaged 7.28% this week. A year ago it was 6.34%.

Refinance applications are running 62% below last year, and purchase applications are down 11%, per recent Mortgage Bankers Association data. If you're a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, or a contractor who depends on either, you're feeling it.

It's tempting to spend a slow stretch chasing every deal in sight. I'd put some of that energy somewhere else.

When business is busy, nobody has time to fix how it runs. The lead sitting in someone's inbox still gets handled, because there's enough volume to cover for it. The checklist only one person knows by heart works until that person is out. Busy months hide the gaps.

Slow months expose those gaps, and you finally have the free hours to fix them.

Rework how a new lead gets logged and followed up. Write down the process that lives in one person's head. Replace the spreadsheet that's holding three other tools together. Each fix takes cost out of every deal you handle now. When volume comes back, those same fixes apply to every additional deal, so your margins widen while your workload stays manageable.

What's the one process you keep saying you'll fix when things slow down?