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Showing posts from July, 2014

What to Look for in a Neighborhood When Buying a Home

Many people have made the mistake of falling in love with a home without even checking out the neighborhood.  You can never really fully love a house if you don’t like the neighborhood you are in. Buying a home is not the same as buying a television or computer. You cannot return a mortgage once you realize it’s not what you want.    I live in Riverside California which is in Southern California.  My family moved to So. Cal when I was three years old from Memphis Tennessee to San Bernardino. I moved to Riverside with my family 12 years ago so my daughters would be close enough to commute to the University of Riverside, since some of them had expressed interest in attending.   So although I am a Tennessean, I consider myself a Californian.  I love Riverside for two reasons: One, the cost of housing.  I live in a little mansion in Riverside in a great neighborhood that would have cost me millions in Orange County or Los Angeles.  Two, the community.  I live near the University of

The Profession of Real Estate . . . or is the word Profession an Overstatement? Part VI

Are you ready for an upgrade as a broker/owner? Then don't be afraid to fire people or to fire yourself.  It's better to have ten agents who are so busy you have to hire assistants to help them with their business than 200 agents of which 190 are performing below your standards.   It's time to raise the standards in our industry.  Having a NMLS license or BRE real estate agent or broker's license only means you can memorize answers, laws and codes for a test that you will rarely, if ever, need to recall for any transaction.  We all know this to be true.  Raising the bar or upgrading your team is not about the test or meeting educational requirements to get licensed.  It is also not about how many bodies you can recruit to fill the empty desks in your office.  It's about accountability and being willing to fire anyone on the team that is not supporting brand, meeting production and professionalism standard - including yourself.  You must send the right message t

The Profession of Real Estate . . . or is the word Profession an Overstatement? Part V

        ·           How do I look?  It really matters how you look.   Many real estate agents and mortgage consultants, both men and women, dress like they are in high school and look like they do not take the business of real estate or lending seriously.  If you have been out of high school for 10 to 30 years why haven't you grown up?  If you live and work in Hawaii then you might get away with a casual approach to your attire, but in the big city?  Give me a break!  Be a grown up and put on a suit and tie for God Sake!  Ladies, wear a dress or suit.  The purchase of a home is the most important decision that most people will make in their lifetime.  Can you dress up for it?  The transaction represents the acquisition of their greatest asset and liability and will be the catalyst to building wealth over time.  Respect the job and dress professionally every single day.  There are no casual days if you are in the office or working in the field.  Dress up for the client and as y

The Profession of Real Estate . . . or is the word Profession an Overstatement? Part IV

                 ·           Who am I attracting?  If you are attracting clients who are not interested in an advisory/consultancy relationship for the present or future transactions, but instead just want a one-night stand, they will always ask you to take less money.  The result is that you end up building a business model full of transactions and not relationships and that will ultimately fail.  Businesses need returning customers who value the services they provide to succeed.  When you are not building a relationship business fueled by referrals, but instead a transactional business built on walk-ins and advertising, your business may live, but will ultimately die because you are operating on very thin profit margins that are not sustainable for growth or survival.  Who are you attracting?         ·          Who am I professionally? You are devaluing your brand and putting yourself in a category you really don't want to be in because you do not have a Brand Pl

The Profession of Real Estate . . . or is the word Profession an Overstatement? Part III

        ·          Can I sell or do I take orders? Can you sell?  If you yes what are you selling?  Is it your product knowledge?  Your market knowledge, low commission rates or low interest rates?  There will always be competitors with deeper pockets than you have and will take the business even if they lose money.  Their plan is to drive you out of their market.  Ironically, they are usually the ones to leave the market first because red never looks good on a balance sheet or profit and loss statement.  “Can you sell?” is really an unfair question because I can tell you I have never talked anyone into anything in 33 years.  What I do is demonstrate my ability to understand their needs and give them confidence in my ability to meet their needs and ask for the opportunity to serve them. And I close all the time.  It is rare when a client says no to me. If you don't believe me and you are a realtor, send me a client and I will prove it.  Today we don't really sell.  Maybe w