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Afraid of Change,Why? Day 24 of 90 in a Realtors® life.

hinckley rd milton ma 02186-fall

Afraid of Change,Why? Day 24 of 90 in a Realtors® life. Change is inevitable, change is imminent, change is constant and yet often are we afraid of change.  The discount brokerages like Zillow and Redfin are coming for your jobs is one fear.  The lack of inventory, another fear gripping the country and it’s home buyers and sellers. Changes in compensation, changes in technology, changes in the practice of professional real estate are discussions I hear on a daily basis.  I wonder why?  I wonder why we are afraid when this is all part of the process.

I have embraced the no fear mantra. Really, what is the worst that can happen?  If I am not getting what I want, if I am feeling fearful, angry, frustrated and stuck then change is necessary.  Drop the fear and pick up the desire.  This 90 day process was started because I wanted change. I wanted to share in that change with others.  I want to empower those who fear, as I did, that fear of change is to be challenged.  Put fear in perspective.  Focus on what you want and I am sure fear is not part of that equation.

I am not saying never be afraid, I am saying when you are afraid think deeply about what you are afraid of and then think more directly about what you want.  Focus on what you want and in time it will manifest itself.  (Yes, I am talking about Laws of Attraction here.)  I can’t say I have always gotten what I want, but I can say when I focus on what i want it more often than not presents itself to me.  This blog title has changed.  I am focused through my pain or fear points in my day. I am not Afraid of Change,Why? Day 24 of 90 in a Realtors® life.

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Day 23 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

Milton, MA 02186

Day 23 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018. On line leads, are they worth anything?  No matter what you do in real estate you will find people are successful with it and not successful with it.  The whole buying of leads from consumer sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, etc is something I will never do.  And yet, I know and respect some people who have built their personal success around this approach.  There are some immutable laws around the buying and selling of homes that do not change from one year to another and on the other hand everything changes weekly.  This may be why there are so many coaches, agencies, opinions about how to be successful.

negotiating with liars

The truth to all this YOU must find what works for YOU.  It is not about your coach, your agency, your lead generation program it is about all that.  Real estate, since the beginning of time, has always been one of the best ways to save and build wealth.  We measure our worth by our holdings and real estate is often the largest holding.  Food, Shelter and Clothing are required for life. Shelter (real estate whether owned or rented) is number two on the requirements for life.  Understanding the value of home, the construction of homes, the wiring and plumbing of homes, the zoning, the laws surrounding home ownership are massively intertwined in this process.

No Bullshit real estate

Yesterday I got in my email, sent to my phone, two breathless on line leads from Realtor.com (no I do not pay for these, I have learned how to keep these consumer companies from selling my leads to others).  Both, in their own words, told me how much they wanted more information about one of my new listings.  I responded immediately–less than 15 seconds.  We are near 24 hours later with not a word back. This has been my experience with on line leads.  It is easy to click a button and ask for more information, in my experience, it is rare to get a response.  I speak for myself and my own experiences, what have you experienced? Day 23 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

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Day 22 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

More Americans Say Now is a Good Time to Sell

Day 22 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018 and let’s not discuss “best” practices.  Best is such a loaded term that demands definition.  Being number one, the best, is a designation thrown around a lot without much qualitative support.  It is a marketing term and I want this blog to be about how to be the best you can be, I can be. We all face the same professional trials each and every day. The good ones get their work done because they have defined that work and the habit is to get it done.  I don’t want to talk about the best, I want to discuss the other end, the minimum standards.

How Long Do Most Families Stay in Their Home

When not having a great day, your best day what is the response?  Do you throw your arms up and say, I quit, I am having an off day?  Do you shut down and major in minor activities?  Really what do you do.  While driving to my next open house yesterday I was thinking the bottom line should be minimum standards.  What are my minimum standards for the day, what is the least that can be expected on the daily work days?  If I can set my bottom run, I think I have a more solid footing to jump for the top rung.  Sometimes I can jump to the next rung that gets me closer to the top, the best.

84% of Americans Believe Buying a Home is a Good Financial Decision

So this week I dedicate my time to focusing on minimum standards and building the base.  Mediocrity, which is what minimum standards indicates to me, is not the goal.  The goal is always the best.  Minimum standards is just the stop gap from accepting less than minimum on the days you know you are not at your maximum and probably won’t be anywhere near your best. Day 22 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

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Day 20 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

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Day 20 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018 real estate best practices include mind set and action on those thoughts.  One of those 4 listings I have taken this month I knew was going to go quickly. I knew I would have multiple offers and I was anticipating some grumpy buyers and agents.  I chose to put the property on the market and not have an open house the first week. The was, in part, due to the fact I had a wonderful tenant in the property who has been wonderful in that roll for the last 5 years. I wanted to give him the time to absorb the change in his life. Staying aware of other’s feelings is part of what makes anyone a better agent. It is not just process, it is that process with human feelings and emotions involved.

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I did get 7 people call in right away looking to see the property.  Arranging with the tenant I was able to get 4 of these Buyers with their Agents in on a Monday evening.  The other 3 people who called never responded to the time that I was able to show the property.  All 4 who saw the property asked all the right questions as if they were about to make an offer. 3 of the 4 went further. One of those 3 who is an old guard (30 year broker/owner) started telling me immediately that the property was overpriced and pointed out minute details to confirm her opinion.  As it turned out the same agent was involved in the sale of another unit in the complex within the last couple of months.  Her sale price was $13,000 below my asking price. She went on and on paying no attention to how her words were affecting her client.  Her Buyer really wanted the property.

215-longmeadow-Kitchen

I got 2 offers, one at full price and one above full price. When I called the old guard she told me her client wanted to make an offer but she won’t let her client pay too much.  This old guard was basing her clients offer on her own inability to sell another property at a higher price.  I could see the disappointment in her Buyer’s face.  When I called and gave her a last chance to get in on the bidding she chastised me for my pricing.  I went UAG last night with the best offer and the highest bidder.  That first time home buyer is thrilled, inventory is low and she knew the market was reacting to that and was willing to spend the money to get what she wanted.  We must pay attention to not only the market, but mostly to our clients and their wants and desired. This was Day 20 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

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Day 19 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

Day 19 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018 real estate best practices for me today started last night at a meeting I went to.  I learned something about EFT and Tapping.   This is a technique created by Gary Craig EFT is an acronym for Emotional Freedom Technique.  It allows the practitioner to jump through issues that stop them with the physical tapping on your accupuncture points and releasing the negative forces.  You don’t need to ask more than a couple of agents if they have stress in their lives around job, family, life to know we can all use some techniques to quiet the silly voices in our heads that are not assisting us with growth, joy and productivity.

Westwood luxury homes for sale
Westwood luxury homes for sale

I do meditate in the morning and this centers me in our universe, it does not help me with the babbling voices in my head that stop me from taking the daily actions that deliver the success desired.  Case in point for me is making the prospecting calls on a daily basis to build my pipeline, any of you have this problem?  I found, through observation of my self, that just as I was about to turn on my dialer and get cranking a voice, my own, would say, “I hate getting these solicitation calls! Why are you calling me!”  At that moment of realization I understood I was my own worst enemy.

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I will use this EFT Tapping technique to turn this around.  I will begin to realize that calling people and assisting them with understanding about how best to sell their home, buy a home is my professional skill and I offer it as a gift to my prospects. The desire is to help the people and the communities I serve. Play along with me and see if any of these ideas work for you.  If you have questions call I would be happy to share what I am learning and growing with, just don’t do it in the morning, I am prospecting.  Make it a great day. Day 19 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

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Day 17 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018

learning to run

Day 17 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018 is a time for some reflection.  Setting out to share the journey of resetting my goals and focus and then sharing daily results here is an effort to pull back the curtain from the not so glamorous life of a working real estate professional.  We get asked what is the one thing you should do as a new real estate professional starting out often as a seasoned professional.  That is not a simple question because there is so much to do.  Surround yourself with positive, active, successful agents is my thought and the opposite is true as well. RUN FOREST RUN from any negative influences which include other agents, family, or friends and most importantly consistently tamp down your own internal negative thoughts with positive affirmations and declarations. Get your mind right is the objective.

learning to fly

Seventeen days into this journey and my results so far are having 2 new listings on the market with 2 more going on in the next week.  The goal of 4 new listings a month is reached with half the month finished. My “before” behavior would be to now focus on those listings and get them UAG as quickly as possible.  This new journey keeps my head focused on the way I get my listings and getting them, not in how I market and close them.  I know how to market and close, what I have been unable to get under control is the daily activities of getting new listings.  Reproducing success with prospecting to listings is the lifeblood of a successful career.

building strength

All this is good and my focus remains on what I can do today to build the successful habits of daily prospecting and turning those prospects into listings.  Once I have the listings I want to turn them into Sales then Testimonials.  I know I build my business in many ways and great testimonials from satisfied buyers and sellers is a key. this is Day 17 of 90 My Best Practices Real Estate 2018