Unless you can see them everyday!

Many times I am bombarded by new Realtors who ask me how I have become so successful in my first year in business, in a town where I didn't know anyone, in a market that hasn't exploded yet.

The very first thing I did was write down my goals for the year. I wanted to hit at least $6 million in sales, buy my first new car and be the number 1 Agent in my office of 65. I pasted the #1 on my ceiling so I saw it every morning when I woke up.

One of my good friends made up a strip of paper that broke down the monthly goals that made it seem more attainable. For instance, if your yearly goal is $12,000,000.00 in sales then you should break down your closings  into $2,000,000.00 every month. How many homes would that be in your area? How are you going to get the listings to acheive that goal? How many phone calls are you willing to make per day to those FSBO's and expireds?

Are you willing to step outside your comfort zone to obtain your goals?

What do you want?

• State what you do want, not what you don't. If you don't want X, what do you want instead?
• Be specific. The better you understand how your goal will look, sound, and feel, the more likely you will make it exactly what you want, and the more resources your unconscious mind can muster to help you achieve it.
• Where, when, and with whom do you want your goal? It may be appropriate for some contexts, but not others. Mentally rehearse it to find out.
• What time-frames are involved? How soon do you want to meet your first milestone?
• If you achieve your goal, what will that do for you? And what will having that do for you? Ask these questions several times to uncover what you really value. You might find there are better ways to get what you want than the one you had in mind.

How will you know when you achieve your goal?

• Be specific -- what will you see, hear, and feel? What will you be doing, and what will others notice about you?
• How will you know you're moving toward your goal? What is a small but significant sign you're making progress? Sometimes people achieve a lot without noticing.
• How often will you check your progress?
• Is there more than one way to get what you want?

Is your goal achievable?

• If someone else has done it, then in theory you can do it too. If you are the first, find out if it is possible. This may require doing it! Many important advances were considered "impossible" until someone achieved them, so other people's limits may not fit what you want to do. If your goal is impossible, you may be able to achieve the value of it in another way.
• If the goal seems overwhelming, break it into smaller steps that seem doable. Many times, people try and for very lofty goals and when they don't achieve it, they quit.

Is achieving your goal within your control?

• Make sure your goal reflects things you can directly affect.
• What stops you from having what you want now?

Are the costs and consequences of achieving your goal acceptable?

• Watch a mental movie of yourself achieving your goal. If you have never watched the move, The Secret, I would recommend going to www.TheSecret.tv to see how many of us have been able to keep a mental picture of acheiving our goals.
•  What do you notice from this outside perspective? Step into the experience as if it was happening right now -- how is this different? If your goal is to drive a brand new Chevy truck, go to the dealership and take a test drive. Believe it's already yours! 
• If you could achieve your goal now, would you take it? If not, revise it until it's what you want.

Do you have all the resources you need to achieve your goal?

• What resources do you already have to help you reach your goal? Resources include skills and training, information, attitude, internal emotional state, money, help or support from others, etc.
• What resources do you need, and how can you acquire them?
• What would have to be different for you to have your goal? Be specific.
• Do you want your goal enough to achieve it? If not, what would need to change for you to have that level of motivation?
• Is the first step to achieving your goal specific and achievable?
• What are you already doing to begin or achieve your goal?
• Imagine stepping into the future and having your goal fully. Look back and determine what steps were required to achieve the outcome now that you have it.

By checking your goal carefully, by experiencing it from multiple points of view and from several points in time, you get extra information to help you plan and proceed. You can catch and solve potential problems in your imagination, where it's fast and free. And by rehearsing the future so vividly, you

help yourself create the results you want.

As some of you may know, it's about that time to renew with many local boards to keep practicing for another year. Unfortunately for some, they may not be able to practice again Many Boards are reporting a lower than average renewal rate and many are just dropping out of real estate all together.

It's definitely possible to perservere! There used to be a time where a highway patrolman would pull you over and ask you for you license, registration and real estate license. Just because everyone had one!

As stated in my earler blogs, now is the time to get as much inventory as possible. Call those expired and FSBO's! These are the people that need our help the most. I picked up two expireds today because their agents are no longer in the business.

Find a way to stand out. I found out how to use video e-mail with a power point CMA embedded in the body. There isn't anyone out here that uses this kind of technology.

ok, now I'm just blabbering. There are just too many ways to be the best in your town. Don't give up. Perservere.

OK folks, let's get back to basics. Some of us have been wondering, how do I get more business during this slow down? Well, get back to the basics!

I remember when I first started in real estate 7 years ago, I called just about every expired listing and FSBO I could find so I can add to my inventory. I was told, "You need to list to last!"

One of my strong areas was the elusive FSBO. I would drive by and take a picture of the front of the house, put together a CMA and bind it like a book with a hard cover. Put it in a FedEx packet and drop it at the door. I would get 3 out of 10 listings and since they already been beat up by other Realtors about the sale price, I would be able to get agood price reduction and it would sell faster!

Here are some of the things NOT to do to a FSBO that other "professionals" are doing...

 1. Never tell the FSBO they are overpriced or degrade them on their reason for the price. Sometimes I would walk in for the appointment and they would say that the last person told them "It will never sell at that price!" Always be respectful.

2. Never tell the FSBO that we call them "Fisbo."Most homeowners don't like to be tagged with that name because they think it's an "us versus them" mentality

3. Never ignore the spouse or the significant other in any of the conversations. I should actually make this the  number 1 thing NOT to do. Although one fo them is talking and negotiating, the other is usually the one who makes all the decisions. I have been imany situations where the husband does all the talking and the wife is the ultimate decision maker.

4. Never put down their color decisions. Most homeowners take great pride in personalizing their home and may have several colors that you may think are ugly. Don't tell them that!

5. Never talk about yourself and how you are the best in the business. Homeowners don't care about how many letters you have behind your name. They only care about what you can do for them.

6. Feel free to add more after this...I have heard many horror stories about some of our local agents talking down to people and actually leaving notes on their doors!

I had one agent that left a note on a FSBO door saying they are stupid for trying to sell themselves!

A question I am asked by many new agents is "why should I join a service club like Kiwanis or Rotary?"

ok, so, you've received your license, found a good broker and now you're ready to take on the real estate business. Then it hits you,"what do I do next?","How can I get business being so new?"

Before going into the hows an whys, let me give you a little background...I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001 to Humboldt County. I knew not a soul in Eureka! No one! zip! zilch! Starting truly on the ground floor. How we ended up here is another story for another blog. I started in May and by the end of the year, I surpassed $65,000 in net commissions. What did I do?

The first thing I did was join a service club. I figured the best way to get my name out fast is to join a club that I believe in and somewhere I can also help my community. I never let on that I was new. No one knew how much of a newbie I was unless I actually mentioned it! When I went out on a listing appointment, I always mentioned how much exposure our company has and how much experience would be available to them. I always said "we will help you" or, "we have several years of experience"

My buyers never asked me about my experience and they never had to. When you conduct yourself in a professional manner, they wouldn't be able to tell!

Next, show up for the different functions and fundraisers of your service club. See if you can lend a hand. they will remember you longer if you are constantly there.

So, I guarantee you will be able to get a great jump start from this tip alone! I will periodically add more tips to get your business going even in a slow market! If you have any questions or would like a tip answered in my blog, drop me a line!

When is it really ok to publish kids in a magazine or profile them on the news without permission? Most news agencies will not release the name of an injured victim of a crime if they are under 18. But yet, there are photographers who blatantly shoot a movie or television star's child and sell them to a publisher who runs the story without permission. What about the other kids in the background? Not all their faces are "wiped" out. How are we to know if that photographer hanging outside the school ground isn't a registered sex offender or pedophile in the guise of a papparazi? Where else are these photos being sold? Why are we allowing this to happen? Why am I ranting about this and what does this have to do with real estate?

Many of us sell homes to the stars and do our best to keep these transactions very private. We don't brag to our co-workers who we're working with and many times they are buying the property in another name or a trust. We get to know these people and get attached and feel it is our duty to protect them and honor their privacy.

Someone would say,"they have chosen this profession so we have the right to take their pictures!"Does that mean it's open season on their kids?

In Humboldt County, I wanted to have my kids in a real estate commercial with me and I had to get permission from their Doctor, the Principal and a permit from the county for a 20 second spot!

 A good frined of mine nioticed his child was in the same picture as a well known actor's kid and he was furious!

 I would propose a 100 foot boundary around our schools and arrest anyone who is taking pictures of any of the kids. Am I just ranting needlessly or would you be willing to go this extra step to protect our kids?

I have never really been into this whole Blog thing. I noticed that the people that usually blog alot are the ones who are constantly in front of the computer and not out there selling properties. I mean, who really has that much time to sit down ad pick a topic and piece something together?

I myself am not the most grammatically correct and sometimes my spelling is atrocious(thank god for spell check!).But I digress...

I am going to be the first one to tell you, I was wrong. In the time it took me to write this little blurb, I have received a couple of really good leads from Activerain. Time will tell if they actually turn into dollars, but that would be up to me.

I am now an advocate of blogging. It could get you more leads into your own website and raise your standings in the web search engines. How? I have no idea.

So, look for some really weird and strange real estate topics and stories from me. I bet you would be able to red line most of my blogs. Especially if you were an English Major. But hey,at least I'm doing it!

27 Quick & Easy Fix Ups to Sell Your Home Fast and for Top Dollar

 

Humboldt- Because your home may well be your largest asset, selling it is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. And once you have made that decision, you'll want to sell your home for the highest price in the shortest time possible without compromising your sanity. Before you place your home on the market, here's a way to help you to be as prepared as possible.   To assist homesellers, a new industry report has just been released called "27 Valuable Tips That You Should Know to Get Your Home Sold Fast and for Top Dollar." It tackles the important issues you need to know to make your home competitive in  today's tough, aggressive marketplace. Through these 27 tips, you will discover how to protect and capitalize on your most important investment, reduce stress, be in control of your situation, and make the most profit possible.   In this report you'll discover how to avoid financial disappointment or worse, a financial disaster when selling your home. Using a common-sense approach, you get the straight facts about what can make or break the sale of your home.   To order your FREE copy of this report visit www.HumboldtHomeInfo.com     You owe it to yourself to learn how these important tips will give you the competitive edge to get your home sold fast and for the most amount of money.

If you're like most homebuyers, you

have two primary considerations in

mind when you start looking for a

home. First, you want to find a home

that perfectly meets your needs and

desires, and secondly, you want to purchase

this home for the lowest possible

price.

When you analyze those successful

homebuyers who have been able to purchase

the home they want for thousands

of dollars below a seller's asking price,

some common denominators emerge.

Although your agent's negotiating skills

are important, there are three additional

key factors that must come into play

long before you ever submit an offer.

These 3 Steps Will Help You

Save Thousands When

You Buy a Home

Make sure you know what you want . . .

As simple as this sounds, many homebuyers

don't have a firm idea in their

heads before they go out searching for a

home. In fact, when you go shopping

for a place to live, there are actually two

homes competing for your attention: the

one that meets your needs and the one

that fulfills your desires. Obviously,

your goal is to find one home that does

both. But in the real world, this situation

doesn't always occur.

When you're looking at homes,

you'll find that you fall in love with

one or another for entirely different

reasons. Is it better to buy the 4-

bedroom home with room for your

family to grow, or the one with the big

eat-in kitchen that romances you with

thoughts of big weekend family

brunches? What's more important: a

big backyard or proximity to your

child's school? Far too often people

buy a home for the wrong reasons

and then regret their decision when

the home doesn't meet their needs.

Don't shop with stars in your

eyes: satisfy your needs first. If you're

lucky, you'll find a home that does this

and also fulfills your desires. The

important thing is to understand the

difference before you get caught up in

the excitement of looking.

Find out if your agent offers a

"Buyer Profile System" or "Househunting

Service," which takes the

guesswork out of finding just the right

home that matches your needs. This

type of program will cross-match your

criteria with ALL available homes

on the market and supply you with

printed information on an on-going

basis. A program like this helps homebuyers

take off their rose-colored glasses

and affordably move into the home

of their dreams.

To help you develop your homebuying

strategy, use this form:

What do I absolutely NEED in my next

home:

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

4. ______________________________

5. ______________________________

What would I absolutely LOVE in my

next home:

1. _______________________________

2. _______________________________

3. _______________________________

4. _______________________________

5. _______________________________

"When you analyze those successful homebuyers who have the experience to

purchase the home they want for thousands of dollars below a seller's asking

price, some common denominators emerge."