Category Archives: education

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Networking the global sandbox

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We all know, because of the global connectivity, our smaller local sandbox we normally play in has grown to a much bigger global sandbox.

Even so we are all from different Countries, Cities, State and possible speak different languages what we all have in common is the global network we all in some form or fashion belong to. Now reaching and speaking with someone at the other side of the globe has become as easy as using our global connectivity.

No matter how large the sandbox is we play in we will encounter the same type of players locally or globally.

The shy not very outspoken kids who are happy to play in their little corner or the butterfly who jumps from flower to flower and you have a hard time catching unless you sit still hand let the butterfly come your way.  You will find the teacher/educator in the group but there also will be the bullies.

The size of the sandbox has changed we network in but the sandbox rules for networking have not. No matter what type of player you are within the box.

Great networking guidelines to use are outlined in the books Bob Burg has written. Go-Giver is still my personal bible. We all need to realize that is truly not about ourselves, it is about the other individual and The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success from The Go-Giver are a great guide to keep us on the path of success.

When the other individual (maybe you) puts rules and stipulations on giving or receiving it quickly becomes a one way street and you might find quickly that you are globally connected but you don’t accomplish anything.

 

“We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead.”

–William Arthur Ward

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Just be yourself

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cat and dogMy new favorite thing to do right now is to listed to audio books and the current one I have devoured is the one by Barbara Concran called “Use What You’ve Got” .

No matter how many memorized sales presentations a business professional resides when meeting with potential clients, and sounds like a robot when residing the presentation will never attract clients. No one likes to work with a dull robot especially when buying or selling a home.

Sure a business professional should be prepared when meeting with current or potential clients but never lose your personal you when residing back the memorized information. No best prepared sales presentation will close a deal when you don’t build a personal and honest relationship with that client and you are not honestly conveying your honest interest to them.

The more you can connect with a client on a personal level the easier it will be to find the right home for them or the more willing that client will be to refer someone to you. I always keep in mind: “You never know who they know I need or should to know” and “Never judge a book by its cover”.

With any presentation you give or any meeting you attend, just be yourself. Don’t try to imitate or copy the person next to you. They might try to copy you!

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work

50 / 50 is a losing proposition

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Hands touching a globeAfter again reading through the Bob Burg book “The Go-Giver” the “50 / 50 is a losing proposition” line stood out to me for some reason. I realized that a lot of business is conducted under the “you scratch my back and I scratch yours” and all of us constantly “owe” others for the rest of our lives.

Even some networking groups have used the “you scratch my back and I scratch yours” to build their own networking business with this motto and due to the high paying membership it has been good for them but not given the same in return to the members.

To be successful you don’t have to belong to a membership driven networking organization but it does not hurt to network. A Go-Giver is authentic, honest, will never judge a book by its cover, loves people, likes to share resources and information, and receptive to receiving.

When you give you automatically you will receive, it is a natural flow of things. The difference with a go-giver is that it comes more naturally. Go-Giving is for some things they have done since they are small and for others (for most of us) it is learned. You can learn to be a Go-Giver as long as you are open to receive.

During networking meetings you can easily recite your 60 second “elevator” speech to anyone who is willing to listen to you, but what item of value are you bringing to the networking table and willing to give to your “networking partner”?

buying, Communication, education, Short sale, Team work, tips

Mortgage fraud affects all of us

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piggy bankJust opening the email this morning and again I read about another Real Estate “ring” that was broken up. This time this ring was apparently helping individuals who would not qualify for mortgage relief by showing them on how to falsify their income, employment, and assets to qualify for mortgage relief.

The heat is being turned on any type of mortgage fraught by calling the lender to task. Lenders themselves now have created and fine tuning on proactively detecting, spotting and preventing fraught.

Bad news for the fraudsters!

Also not to hot news for any borrower who is looking to borrow money at this time. Now every loan, proof of income and employment is being scrutinized, checked, double checked and triple checked. The mortgage approval process has moved from taking in some cases from 4 to 8 weeks and in some cases to 12 weeks especially when the loan is an insured loan.

In short!

When you are looking to buy a home anytime soon make sure you first get a mortgage approval not a pre-qualification before looking at homes. This will make the home buying process a lot less stressful and you will make the process a lot more enjoy full.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Define your target market to reach your goal.

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We all have goals, personal or in business and for us to be able to reach our goals we need to define and narrow down our target market.

At many networking events I am finding that many individuals are falling in to the trap of using the words like “anybody who”, “anybody with”, or “somebody who”…to define their target market. All what they do is give a generality of their target and never give a specific target for the listener to work with.

A specific target market could be a specific person within a company you would like to meet and introduced too or a specific portion of our society like women over 40, new college graduates, recently retired military personal. This will help your listeners to hone in on what you are exactly looking for and it is much easier for them to find just that person.

You also need to educate your audiences on what you exactly you are doing and what to look for when reaching your target market. Give them specific speaking points to help them sell you and your services specifically.

When you are more specific, narrow down your target market and educate your audience you will reach your business or personal goal a lot quicker.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work

Is your goal a goal or just a dream?

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dream“I see you at the top”, is one of my favorite lines from Zig Zigglar and I look at it every time I feel I am stuck or think I don’t get anywhere

Where is the “top”? What defines the “top”? Will it be the vacation of a lifetime, the large house with ocean view or a trip around the world? Only you can define what “I see you at the top”, means to you.

After you defined your personal “top” you need to plan on how to get to your personal ”top”. Without a plan your personal “top” is just a dream and not a goal.

Most of just don’t pack the bags on Friday morning and go on a vacation on Friday afternoon. We need to plan a little before we do that. This goes the same for our business. We have a business goal, write down the goal and separate the goal into smaller action steps we are going to take for us to be able to reach our goal.

Plan the plan, work the plan and reach your personal “top” or goal. When you don’t plan for your goal your goal will be just a dream and not a goal you are going to reach.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning, Team work

Are you staying true to yourself and your goals?

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Something Richard Branson said in one of his postings about the Entrepreneurs’ he admires stood out to me and gave me a quick aha moment ” It’s never a bad idea to have a role model or to seek advice from someone you respect — just don’t let it stop you from being yourself. Originality is key.”

You can always looks for others for Ideas and inspiration.  Don’t let past failures take you off course and make certain you stay true to yourself and your personal vision on where you would like to go.

Don’t try to become someone else.

One example I can think of is a Billiard/Pool Player I know. For many years this good player who could easily be a great player has been trying to copy the playing style of a great Billiard/Pool Player for many years. This pool player practiced for years the style of this other player and he never saw the success and result he was hoping for. Only as he came back to himself and found his true self playing style again he always had and practiced and refined it he started to see the success he had been hoping for.

Who do you admire and look up too?

Watch them, follow them, read what they have to say but don’t try to become them.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Demand of rental units are still at an all-time high

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apartmentI had a blog coming over my desk that reminded me about a phone call I had this week alone with several housing authority agents who are working with section 8 and low income housing clients.

Most of the housing agents are scrambling to find enough affordable housing for families who need them and anytime there is an available unit they have more than enough applicants to fill them within less than a few days. During the conversation I mentioned that investors I was working with are looking to make homes available to the low income sector and asking them what and where their greatest need is. Most of them did not even let me not even finish my question. Each and every one of them told me they can fill housing with 1 bedroom as easily as homes with 4 or more bedrooms within a few days.

The other wall the housing authority runs into is the availability of fund for the families who need them. Many areas now have a lottery for the money the families need and the families need to count on the luck of the draw to receive money to help them. Now with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHA) pledging to decrease the flow of money into multifamily housing by 10 percent this year, it will put a huge damper on the multifamily housing market in a very short period of time.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Things a seller does to turn off buyers

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I hear it over and over again “I have tons of interested people looking at my home” and when you ask if they had an offer the answer is most of the time “no”.

Sure we are currently having a sellers’ market but that does not mean that every house will sell as soon it becomes available. There are many reasons why or why not a home will sell quickly or sit for a while longer and many sellers will find out sooner or later that selling a home is not all fun and game, especially when you have to deal with a buyer.

Price

Every seller would like to get as much out of their home as possible and some will price their home based on feeling and not true value for the area. Experience has thought me when a home is priced to high from the beginning it usually will for less than a similar sized home.

Value

Some sellers have refinanced their home in the past and that is what they are using to set their price they would like to sell the home for. This is not a good idea. Call an appraiser or the Real Estate Broker to get a current up-to-date evaluation.

Stage Ready

When a house is not “stage ready” you might not see an offer no matter how good the price is of the home. When a home show poor maintenance, is stuffed full with stuff and unorganized you truly will turn off buyers and later end up needing to lower your price or pull the home off the market.

Car sales mentality

Many sellers might hold and open house and trying to sell the home during the open house. Open houses are not a good time to “force” a buyer to sign at the bottom line. Open house is there to showcase and to have your home shine.

Remember the time you bought your home. You fell in love with the home and not the deal.

Be prepared that you have “lookie looks” coming in and most of the time they are only interested in what the neighbor’s home looks like from the inside.

Know the rules and laws

When you finally sit down with a buyer make sure that you know the rules, your rights and responsibilities from the inside and out.  Some of the transaction can get complex and confusing at times and when you overlook even a small detail it could cost.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Lack of willingness to learn, might cost you

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booksJust ran across a blog post from Mark Graban called No Time for Improvement? Bah! Make Time for Improvement! That reminded me of an interview I did just recently with a REALTOR that I wanted to hire for REO’s and Short sales referrals in her home state.

As a real estate professional I am always looking for other professionals in other parts of the country to make connections with to be able send personal referrals too.

I always ask anyone who I plan to work with about continues education, and self-improvement.

This conversation stuck out and I never will forget this one for sure. It was with a new REALTOR. She had, at the time, her license less than 12 months and during the conversation she point blank told me that she does not have to learn anything else within her profession and everything she needed to know about real estate was thought to her in real estate school and she did pass her real estate license.

We all need to make time for continue education, and self-improvement and we need to make time and see that it is as important as making money. We never should stop or not be willing to learn for self-improvement or for business.