Where you focus is where you will go.

Success in life is a deliberate focus.

 

You can let life happen (reactive downward spiral) or make life happen (deliberate growth cycle) Here are some things I've learned along the way:

 

 

1) Add value wherever you go - There are givers and takers along the way. If you truly want to be successful you must be a giver. Adding value is like planting a garden. Plant and tend the seeds and you'll never go hungry.

 

2) Be a catalyst. Make things happen- Have you ever been in a room full of people and no one will make a decision? Be the one who gets the ball rolling. You may make a few enemies but one friend you will never make is mediocrity.

 

3) Give in the area you love- Passion is contagious. Like attracts like. If you try to contribute in an area you aren't passionate about your words and efforts will be far less fruitful than when you give in an area you love. You will be energized and not grow tired and you will also energize those around you.

 

4) If it's buy a new coat or buy a new book, buy the book- Never stop educating yourself. Build up your success attitude and you can own the coat store.

 

5) Never stop growing- Sounds a little like #4 but it's much broader. Constantly stretch yourself with new things. I have a quote on my desk from Eleanor Roosevelt. It reads "Do one thing every day that scares you." Nothing is worse than a daily life of mundane existence. Challenge yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and financially. Never be satisfied with the status quo. All living things are either growing or dying.

 

6) Make your success a "have to"- A life of "shoulds" will never inspire or motivate you. It's like the business owner who plans a vacation and suddenly their business explodes. I once heard it said that you should live every day as though it's the day before your vacation starts. When your back is against the wall there is no room for procrastination.

 

7) There is no such thing as failure- We have all heard that the difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is how they interpret failure. Every unsuccessful attempt teaches you something. The question is, are you listening?

 

8) Get a mentor or coach- Find someone or better yet, several people who inspire you. Follow them as closely as possible. Take their seminars, read their books, listen to their CD's, make them your best friend. Perhaps you will never meet them in person but that doesn't mean they can't mentor you. A coach, on the other hand, is someone you will have direct contact with. It may be by phone or on line but they can help you with the details of your success plan. With a coach comes accountability. That's a word that can be very intimidating if you've never had it but when you get use to it you'll find it's absolutely necessary for your ultimate success.

 

 

So how do we apply these principles?

 

The answer is that we have to break out of our default thinking and question our assumptions. Are our patterns of thinking empowering or disempowering? We all have the God given ability to think about what we think about. Operating at the default level is simply a life of reactions based on poor conditioning. The good news is, conditioning can be changed. The analogy I like to use is, if you walk out of your house and suddenly realize you're wearing an ugly shirt you simply go back in and change the shirt. Well, if you walk out of your house and have some ugly thoughts you can also choose to change those to empowering, productive thoughts. True there may be some things in life that aren't in your control but how you interpret those situations is completely in your control. Change what you can and learn from the rest.



What is true leadership?

Poor leaders develop followers. Strong leaders develop other leaders.

     I first heard that principle from one of my favorite leadership trainers, John Maxwell. Unfortunately it seems that we are overrun with poor leaders and strong leaders are in short supply. For instance, it's interesting to look at the current state of affairs in politics. On the one hand there is a philosophy that says "I believe you can do great things and I'll provide an environment for you to do that." The other philosophy says "I know what you need. Just follow me."

     So what is the proper use of power?

The strong use power when absolutely necessary. The weak use power because they can.

The strong enlist support. The weak demand obedience.

The strong communicate ideas for the future. The weak operate behind closed doors.

The strong set high expectations. The weak want to keep their followers in ignorance.

The strong inspire and encourage. The weak bark orders and threaten any who "rock the boat".

The strong coach their people. The weak drive their followers.

The strong inspire good will. The weak abuse authority.

The strong inspire enthusiasm. The weak inspire fear.

The strong focus on solutions. The weak focus on blame.

The strong say "let's go". The weak say "go".

     Henry J. Kaiser showed true leadership in his statement: "I make progress by having people around who are smarter than I am - and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am."

     Real leadership requires a combination of strength and humility. I've often joked that if I walk into a room and no one is in charge, I am. Actually it's not so much of a joke but I've learned that the best way to take charge is to enlist the opinions and support of those present. Running a "one man show" is perhaps the greatest show of weakness. Assembling a small elite group to take charge is a close second. Don't get me wrong, leadership is critical. Someone has to be in charge. The key is how that is lived out.

     "Authority without wisdom is like a heavy ax without an edge, fitter to bruise than to polish."
Anne Bradstreet

     Another test for the leader is their response to glory. "A man who wants to lead an orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." James Cook. Sometimes, as a leader you are required to make choices that will be unpopular. I know from personal experience that some choices a leader makes can be very costly. The choice often comes down to doing what's expedient or doing what's right.

More to come!

Should home sellers have a pre-listing inspection?

In the current unstable market many sellers want to hold on to as much of their cash as possible.

The question is, does it pay to "invest" money in a pre-listing inspection? Based on my experience in real estate, I would say it absolutely does. There are a couple of reasons why I say this.

First, you, not the buyer are in control of who inspects your home. Any agent who has been in this business any length of time knows there is no shortage of home inspectors who have no clue of what they're doing or who feel it's their responsibility to scare the buyers to justify their fee. Of course the buyer can have an additional inspection done at their expense but most of the agents who have the sellers do such an inspection find that the buyer tends to go with the provided inspection. Let me also say that it's wise to have repairs done on the items found and put a copy of the report and receipts for the repairs in the listing information that goes to potential buyers.

Second, a pre-listing inspection tends to put the sellers at ease because there are no "surprises" after contract. Again, anyone who has been through the process knows repair negotiations can get ugly at times.

Areas where trouble is often found:

Grading and drainage - When I see moisture in a basement the vast majority of the time it's either grading or gutter and downspout issues. Very seldom is there actually a foundation problem and if there is you really want to know that ahead of time. I have to add here, I've seen many home inspectors cite major foundation problems when the issue is actually a clogged or disconnected. downspout

Electrical - Occasionally we find situations where the existing seller or even the one before did some of their own work. Of course the first issue here is, was there a permit? I've seen incorrect guage wiring, ungrounded outlets, reverse polarity, double taps on breakers and many other things that should be handled up front so there is no panic on the part of the buyer when their inspector finds the problem.

HVAC - Since the heating and air conditioning systems are a pretty expensive repair item having them checked out and serviced prior to listing is very good idea. It's also not a bad idea to purchase a service agreement with a local HVAC contractor on behalf of the buyer.

Roof - The roof is another very expensive repair or replacement item. Having a detailed inspection report with the age of the roof, average life expectancy, and current condition of the shingles or other roofing material and the flashing can be a huge relief to the buyer.

Finally, the price of a home inspection can vary from area to area and the size of the property but it's a great up front investment and can save a lot of money and heartache down the road.

 

Comfort zones, the true enemy in real estate.

It's so easy in our everyday lives to get caught up in developing our businesses that we can forget to develop ourselves.

I know that I have to spend time studying listing and sales statistics. Or methods of having a better presentation or a better website but sometimes I just have to turn my computer off and put on a harness and do something crazy. For the last two years I've had the opportunity to work on the ropes crew for Over the Edge, a fund raising group that, in conjunction with a tall building helps raise money for the National Kidney Foundation. This year we rappelled off the  Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. Not only is it a great chance to get out of my comfort zone but it's a great way to give back to the community.

I also do some work as a challenge course facilitator. I get the chance to teach others how to stretch themselves individually as wall as a team. It's a great parralel between having someone afraid to act when they're 25 to 40 feet in the air and having someone making that final decision to write an offer or following our lead in pricing their property correctly to get it sold. I guess that begs the question, if we're not willing to push ourselves past what we fear, how can we ask our clients to do so?

I remember my early days as a Realtor. At that time Floyd Wickman was offering a great training program called "Sweathogs". By the way, even though he no longer has sweathogs he still has some great training materials and products. At any rate, that was before the days of the do not call list and our first order of the day was cold calling. If you ever want a way to push yourself out of your comfort zone and, of course, can do so without violating the law you should give it a try.

Finally my prayer for my fellow real estate agents and all of you who are making the decision to buy or sell that you follow the admonition of Eleanor Roosevelt. "Do one thing every day that scares you."

Should I use an individual real estate agent or a team?

What is the best choice for a buyer or seller to make?

I've been listing and selling real estate in Frederick, Washington, and Montgomery counties for over 23 years. For most of that time I was not in favor of using teams. Clearly my opinion has changed recently. About a year and a half ago I joined forces with a good friend, Darren Ahearn and became part of "The Ahearn Team". With all the technological advances, law changes and ever changing market scenarios I felt it was almost too much for one person to keep up with alone.

Unfortunately, I've seen many teams fail because of personality conflicts mostly due to the team not having clearly defined responsibilities for the team members. I also wasn't particularly in favor of large teams because I felt they lost some of the personal touch. That's why I chose to become part of a small team so we could be very efficient and specialized but still keep the personal touch.

Our team is comprised of only three agents and our assistant. Darren handles all the listing responsibilities. This is a great fit for him because he's a high energy detail oriented guy. So much so that when I was a manager I tried constantly to recruit him. He is also licensed in Pennsylvania. I handle our buyer calls. I love working with buyers because I know I can help them through the challenges of our quite unique market. I have numerous lenders I recommend to give my clients a broad spectrum of choices in loan programs. I also set each buyer up with their own listingbook account which they can also reach though my website. Our third agent is Billy Shreve. Billy handles all our commercial transactions. By having three agents, each with a specific field of expertise each transaction gets the undivided attention of their own agent. Last but certainly not least on our team is our assistant Christina. Christina takes care of all our file processing and marketing and keeps everything in order.

So what choice should a buyer or seller make? Certainly I'm in favor of using a small team but each person has their own needs and things they feel comfortable with. I would encourage each person to interview both teams and individuals and feel confident that you will be taken care of properly and that no details will fall through the cracks.

So you want to buy a short sale.

What are the pros and cons of shopping for a short sale. Can you get a "great deal"? How long will it take?

The first thing to consider is your time frame. If you're selling your home and moving in to your next purchase a short sale probably isn't the way to go. The only exception would be if you have someplace else to stay while waiting for settlement on your short sale purchase. In that situation you could try to negotiate a post settlement occupancy but that could lessen your chances of securing a buyer. Of course there is also the possibility that you could be three or four months into the transaction and suddenly find out the bank has denied the sale and you have to start over again. All things to take into account.

The second issue is financing. Although loan rates are pretty stable you can't lock your rate until you're within a certain number of days until settlement so your rate floats while you're waiting to hear from the bank. Of course if things stay the way they are you should be fairly safe in this area. Now, what are the chances things will stay the way they are? We all know what they say about the definition of "assume".

A question I often hear...Can I get a great deal? That depends. A while back I wrote an offer on a short sale for a buyer client that needed quite a bit of work. (The house, not the client) We looked at comparable sales and an estimate of work needed and made an appropriate offer. We ended up competing. The buyer who won paid almost what a house in good condition had sold for. On the other hand I found another home for a different client that needed substantial work and was priced accordingly. We made the offer at list based on comparable sales and when all the work was completed after settlement the buyer had a total of about 180K in the house and the comparable sales were in the 205K range. It's really a case by case issue.

Then there's bank approval to deal with. I've had that happen in as little as 60 days but that's unusual. Is there a normal time? I've heard from 60 days to 12 months in extreme cases. When writing an offer for a client on a short sale I usually advise a minimum of 120 days for approval from the bank. That can be extended if need be by the parties to the contract. The important thing to remember is that you need to understand the process up front so, when things seem like they will never come to a close you don't give up and walk away just before the bank says yes. One more word on bank approval. It can also depend on how many loans there are. The easiest scenario is when there is only one loan. Add a second or possibly third and things can get really complicated.

I think I would be remiss if I didn't add that the agents involved need to know what they're doing. If not the whole transaction can fall apart because the agent missed a deadline they were given by the bank. If the bank says they need such and such information by close of business Friday or they will close the file they aren't kidding.

Bottom line, a short sale can be a rewarding experience but go in with eyes wide open or rewarding is not the adjective you'll be using at the end of the day.