These are the words that my first broker had for me after I closed my first deal. As luck would have it, I was in for quite the ride for my first deal and at times I thought there was no way I could actually get it closed and even worse, there was no one or nowhere I could turn for all of the answers.

It involved foreign terms to me at the time like elevation certificates, flood plains and settlement statements. Most of us who have done this for a while have had transactions where we just thought the changes would never end, but, when my broker told me “every deal was different,” I thought twice before continuing on in my real estate career.

Surely things wouldn’t always be different and if they were, I would never be able to learn enough about how to be a great real estate agent so I might as well quit now!

If you are a new agent, there is no need to have the fear I had. Instead, think of the fact that every deal is different as a blessing. Every new transaction will open up for you new and creative ways to make transactions work.

Even as real estate agents (not brokers) what we are really doing is “brokering” a transaction between a buyer and a seller.

In today’s market, things can often times become more complicated than in the past because of fickle buyers, short sales, foreclosures and wounded sellers who have seen their retirement accounts slide away right alongside the equity in their homes. These situations can make real estate in today’s environment tricky and deals harder to hold together.

Frequently, less than usual situations risk tearing apart transactions that sometimes seem only to be held together by our will. Continue reading this post

In the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed several public figures just simply lose their cool, then apologize and/or try to justify their outbursts.

Which brings me to working a real estate transaction, which by its very nature is a very complicated and complex process wrought with many potential pitfalls. Add human emotion, and you sometimes have the makings of a tense situation that can get out of hand quickly if not in check.

I’m reminded of a phrase I heard some years back which stuck with me: ”Whomever makes you mad (or you let make your made) -– owns you!”

This doesn’t mean you should let people take advantage of you, or harm you in any way, but what it does mean is that by keeping your cool in trying circumstances when it is just as easy blow your top -– may in fact give you the upper hand, or at the very least, allow you to re-group and handle the situation with positive results.

Obviously some real estate transactions are more challenging than other.  I’ve found that keeping cool under pressure, thinking rationally and coming to reasonable and fair terms with a “win-win” solution for all the parties more often than not results in completed transactions, smooth settlements and happy clients.

The late Jazz great Dinah Washington recorded a song sometime in the early 1960’s “Relax, Max” that’s been popularized recently as the background music for a TV commercial for a hotel chain (you should recognize it after the first few bars of the song).  Dinah also recorded a hit record “What a Difference a Day Makes”.

Perhaps she was trying to tell us to relax or sleep on it. Either way, good advice!

At the end of March, I was fortunate to be asked to be a guest on a national radio show called The Takeaway. There is an accompanying blog post here and you can listen to the 8 minute radio interview from there. As fun as it might be to be a part of a radio show, I wouldn’t have done this if not for the basic premise that differed from much of what we hear from the media.

The premise here was that the market is shifting — for the better. The interview came because of another blog post I wrote that was picked up in the research of a national reporter showing something different than what we hear from most “media” sources. Basically, some professional insight backed up with statistics that shows something different than the gloom and doom we hear which is partially fueling the perception problems many of us are seeing in the market today.

What I’m really trying to say is that we are our local experts and when we take the time to articulate the information and experience that we have, we can make a difference and with the mindset of many buyers today, we need all the help we can give to each other! We are the professionals in our market and we need to actively participate in the dialogue lest we spend our time complaining rather than helping the cause.

There are lots of ways us Realtors can do this;

Continue reading this post

I know that most everyone looks at me as an Internet guy who is good at lead conversion. As much as that is one of my strong points, one of my favorite things I do is teach my agents about Customer Education. Over the past few months I have spent a ton of money to educate myself on new concepts I could bring to the real estate world to help my company increase our business.  

One of our biggest obstacles, and most likely one of yours, is the lack of commitment that many home buyers are making these days. When I started my search a few months ago, I had no idea what I was going to learn.

I learned how to use Customer Education in our business to help drive sales.

Usually, as Realtors, we are quick to blame everyone and everything else about why a customer didn’t end up buying a home from us. I have observed this since I got into the business in 2001.  Since then I have realized that in order to become successful in this business, in fact in any business, is to accept responsibility and learn from our errors. Over the past year our Real Estate Agents have averaged 8 new buyers per month but only sold 1 home per 8 buyers per month.  

After analyzing these numbers, I realized that the reason Buyers were not commiting was because of the lack of information or more importantly their misinformation. After all, we are all products of the media these days and if they say the Real Estate market is bad, that’s a great excuse for Realtors not to become successful.  

If the Realtors don’t believe in the market, how can the buyer believe?

Continue reading this post

What do you want to accomplish with your life? How do you want to be remembered? In the end what will people say about you and more importantly what would you say about the life you lived?

I am a huge proponent of goal setting because I know that if we set goals and then work towards them it is amazing how much easier it is to reach the goals and how much easier decisions become. Every year my wife, Donna, and I write down our goals like how many transactions we want, and what we want our GCI to be, along with personal goals like family time, or exercise goals, etc. These are very effective drivers for us, and we usually achieve most of the goals we set each year and many times exceed them. As we make decisions through the year, we analyze how or if a certain decisions will help us reach our individual goals.

The fact is that most people don’t really set goals.

They make new years resolutions or wish lists, but they don’t really make well thought out goals and then plan their year’s activities to achieve those goals. The ones who do are usually top producers or top achievers in whatever endeavors they undertake.

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A little regarded factoid has seemingly escaped attention as of late. With the current economic woes slapping many Realtors upside the head, numerous compatriots have decided to throw in the towels and get out of the ring. So far, no new news. However, it’s WHO has left the business that should be getting our attention.

And ever more important, who is LEFT in the ring? The Realtors who remain are the good ones.

They’re the ones who have enough skills to keep their businesses alive through these down times. They’re the ones who are succeeding in the face of hardship. They’re the ones who are GOOD! And they know they have to do two-to-three times the volume they did two years ago just to break even.

They are your new, leaner and meaner competition.

If you plan on going head-to-head with these folks and coming out with a paycheck, you’d better learn how to move beyond being simply “good.” I searched the web for a quote that would fit here, hoping that Churchill, Lincoln or even Ziegler could help pull us up by our socks. Unfortunately, none of them had a quote that worked, so I’ll quote myself!

“Times like these DEMAND greatness.”

Ironically, the move from good to great isn’t very far or even very difficult. Many good business writers stress that it’s the little things repeated consistently that ultimately make the difference. It’s true: the little things add up and do so VERY quickly.

So here are three critical “little” things to be doing consistently to help you level the playing field:

Continue reading this post