“Don’t think, React!” That was the daily advice of my Junior High School basketball coach, Mr. Korwin. He believed that if we spent too long pondering the next move on the court, we would be prone to mistakes, indecisiveness, and poor judgment. For us, gangly eighth graders, it may well have been excellent advice. Better advice might have been to learn to be proactive rather than reactive. If we could anticipate the… Read More »Are You PRO or RE?
So here we are, saying good-bye to 2017 and look to the coming year with hope and anticipation. Honestly, I can’t help but to think it’s going to be an excellent year. The question, then, becomes: How do I (I meaning you, me, anybody) make it a better year, or at least have it be as good as we’d like it? For me, the answer has always been clear: OPTIMISM!
If you’re beginning to feel the pressure of running out of time to find the perfect gift, here are a few suggestions that may not be on their “list” but will certainly be appreciated. The gift of really listening without interrupting, daydreaming or planning your response can be exactly what people want when they have something important to say. The gift of affection with appropriate hugs, kisses and pats on… Read More »Eleventh Hour Gifts Without Shopping
As often happens in a course where we touch on technology, the other day I mentioned blogging as a way to reach people, share, and establish expertise. Then, as often happens, I asked who had a blog. As per usual, about a third of the hand rose. Then came the next obvious question, how many of you post regularly? One hand remained. Unfortunately, that is “the usual.” So, why blog? Does… Read More »Blogging: Being Roseanne Roseannadanna
We never know exactly when any given market might change. If you pay close attention to the numbers, you might see some of the telltale signs. Monitoring inventory (supply) is always a great way to see one of the most important movements in the market, as is watching demand (sold properties). The Sales to List Price ratio can show a lot too. Your familiarity with your marketplace, no matter how… Read More »When the Market Changes…
If you had an email marketing campaign in 1998, chances are your had somewhere between an 80-90% open rate. Today you would be considered OUTSTANDING if your rate was one-third that. Times have changed and it’s not that your emails are worse than before. The problem is that people get more emails than ever and most are extremely tired of it. According to textrequest.com, the average email user receives 88… Read More »Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing
Value Proposition: Yours/Mine We chat a bunch in the real estate business about the concept of Value Proposition. So what is a Value Proposition? And why is it important? Well, first things first, according to Wikipedia, it is “a promise of value to be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged.” Okay, but that doesn’t really tell me enough. I like this one from the good people at Kissmetrics.com: “a believable collection of the most persuasive reasons… Read More »Do You Have a VP?
If you go to Google, Bing, Yahoo or any of the major search engines we frequent, type in the words “real estate 2017”, the fruits of your efforts will be a plethora of articles focusing on hot markets throughout the USofA. Low inventory seems to highlight most areas. So, if someone’s business should be a reflection of the market, the next question easily becomes, what topics should agents and educators… Read More »The Agent’s Education Checklist
The first quarter of the year has seen me teaching a bunch of listing courses. As a result I have had the opportunity to share with a great many established listing agents as well as a large group of future ones. While the challenges of focusing on listings are many, the best place to begin is with your mindset. So, what is the listing mindset? First, the mindset begins with… Read More »Creating the Listing Mindset
I taught an SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist) course a couple of weeks back and in it, we discuss generations. The focus, of course, is on ‘Seniors,” but a side focus is that no two buyers are ever the same – regardless of generation. But, to arrive at individual needs and wants, it is beneficial to become familiar with groups and preferences. Generational groupings provide a unique framework from which… Read More »COMFORTable Sales