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.

Armchair quarterbacks never throw interceptions

Have you ever noticed when you get in trouble for taking action it’s usually with those who take none?

I’ve had the opportunity to work with teens in various settings for over two decades. One sad observation I’ve made over that time is that teens abound in energy and ideas and they are constantly being pressed into a box of conformity by “concerned” (read fearful) adults around them. Now our children are being taught that things like competition and striving for victory are somehow bad qualities. This blog is dedicated to all those who rejected that pressure to conform and sought to be their own person. Here are some tips on getting on the field rather than sitting in the armchair.

1) Plan simple – “Confusion lies in the sophistication, success lies in the simplicity.” Kevin Eastman, assistant coach of the Boston Celtics. Armchair quarterbacks spend their lives preparing, planning, and consulting. Of course they’re far too busy to actually do something constructive.

2) Take immediate action on you plan – In the words of Tony Robbins, when you set a goal, take immediate massive action toward the accomplishment of that goal. Procrastination is the killer of dreams.

3) Beware the barking dogs – I once heard it said that a firefighter driving to a three alarm fire doesn’t stop their truck to address a barking dog. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should see people as dogs. Just be careful the weight you give their input. People of action make armchair quarterbacks very nervous. As long as no one is doing anything of significance they won’t look bad. As soon as a doer enters the picture the planners are shown to be unimportant.

4) Fail big – Small risk, small chance of success. Big risk, big chance of success. When the timid fail no one really notices. After all they weren’t really doing much of anything anyway. When the bold fail everyone notices. They may fail big but eventually the succeed big. A word of warning here. When you set yourself on fire with a vision the bucket brigade will quickly form.

5) Fail big again – Napoleon Hill, when interviewing some of the most successful people of his time noted that the one quality that ran through all great achievers is persistence. You can’t beat someone who won’t quit.

6) Build your team carefully – No one “makes it” alone. Even if you are a company of one your success depends on how well you are willing to serve others. Surround yourself with those who are likeminded and have a vision. The world is full of attitude vampires. If you find one on your team don’t be afraid to repalce them.

7) When everything falls apart, go back to step one. IMMEDIATELY!

Scare yourself: An engineered lifestyle

Besides my career as a real estate agent I am also a huge fan of experiential education. Specifically, I am a ropes course facilitator..

So why do I sometimes like to take my tie off and put on a harness? Because personal growth has been a passionate study of mine for many years. I love seeing people push through their fears and conquer them. Sometimes that comes from jumping off a pole and sometimes it comes from writing an offer on a house. Fear is fear and success is success.

What does this have to do with my title?

On the ropes course I try to create an environment where it's safe to challenge things that terrify you. Hmmm, kind of like selling houses isn't it? But more important, I work with groups to provide situations where the encouragement from the team can influence people to do things they would never dream of doing alone.

Likewise I see that kind of encouraging atmosphere in my fellow Realtors on Activerain. In fact I was inspired to write this post by a post from my Activerain friend Loreena Yeo. As much as we may try to control our destiny there are things that happen that are out of that realm of control. What defines us is how we interpret and react to those little surprises.

What determines our interpretation and reaction is our conditioning. So do we choose our conditioning or are we conditioned by circumstance? If we carefully guard and craft what we put in our minds, and if we carefully guard who we allow to influence us, then we will be in control of our destiny. Allowing life to happen to us just doesn't produce the desired results.

Think of it this way, if you dump random airplane parts into a huge pile they won't assemble themselves into a 747. If you dump random information into your head you won't come up with a successful life either. Like the 747, a successful life is carefully engineered.

Are you building your life according to a plan or just dumping random information in? I'm going to suggest you take inventory of what you are currently doing in your life. What do you read, watch, listen to? Who do you spend time with? Do you have a mentor or mentors? Most importantly, when was the last time you did something that really scared you?

Competition and living the American dream

What role does competition play in our American way of life? Without it, we sink into hopeless mediocrity.

Last week I listened to a news story about a school that had 30 valedictorians in it's graduating class. I decided to look up the dictionary definition of "valedictorian".

Valedictorian: a student, usually the one ranking highest academically in a school graduating class who delivers the valedictory at the commencement exercises.

Note the first two words of the definition! A student. That would be ONE student who had earned the right to carry the title of valedictorian. A right earned with years of consistent hard work. So what is the problem with having 30 valedictorians? The theory is to make everyone a winner. The truth is you are just making everyone mediocre.

Competition: the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc.:

Competition is what made the US the greatest nation on earth. Unfortunately we are seeing the systematic dismantling of competitive environments in lieu of making everyone "feel good". We start with our children and the games they play. Schools are banning any type of elimination games. There are no more tryouts for sports. Let everyone have a chance to play. I speak as a parent who attended my son's little league games and watched the second base player sitting on the bag with their glove in their lap while the right fielder chased butterflies.

OK, so I'm one of those competitive parents who thinks the purpose of playing a sport is to actually win! I confess it's true. So why shouldn't every child have the right to play instead of having to earn that right? Simple, by allowing everyone to have the same opportunity whether they earn it or not we are preparing them for failure in the real world. My son is seeking employment after being laid off. One job he applied for had 1,000 applicants for only one position. Do we require that employer to hire the first 500 so they will feel better about themselves?

I would suggest that many of those little leaguers that sit on the bag or chase butterflies in the outfield really don't want to be there. They are there because mom and dad want to live vicariously through their children. If a child doesn't want to be on the ball field then we, as parents, should encourage them to pursue their own dreams, not ours. I suppose some would argue that they don't know until they try. I actually would agree with that. That's why, in my younger days, we had tryouts. So what if they really want to play but don't make the cut? Then we are preparing them for real life. If they truly want to play they will learn to practice and improve so they can make the cut next year.

We are training the desire for excellence out of our children if we allow them to participate in what they have not earned. Wow, that sounds harsh even to me as I write it. Fact is, though, it's how the world works. The more we lower the standards for our children (and adults) the more we doom them to a life of mediocrity. We need to teach our children to set goals and work for those goals. Life is not the art of getting safely from birth to the grave.

My prayer for America is that we would turn back to our desire to be the best at what we do. To learn, to grow, to dream and to take risks to achieve those dreams. If we seek only safety and demonize risk then we are participating in the demise of the American dream.

Are appraisals really objective?

sOK, to all my Realtor friends out there that title may bring a chuckle. Unfortunately the public and most underwriters see appraisal results as set in stone.

I'm writing this post because I'm seeing appraisals come in all across the spectrum of value. Not that we didn't have appraisal issues before but now, the law meant to protect the public is actually hurting them. As a Realtor and a licensee in the state of Maryland I'm required to be familiar with the market area I'm listing and selling in. Although I've heard from appraisers that they are also I'm not finding that to be true in practice. Any experienced agent knows the same house in a different neighborhood may be valued differently. This could be because of highway access, road noise, proximity to public transportation or numerous other factors. Of course one would assume an appraiser could look at the area and also make that determination. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be happening in the real world.

What about distressed properties? I have a listing under contract and on the way to settlement that is the highest sale in the past six months in the subdivision. During that time a number of short sales and foreclosures have sold for well below market. The story turns out well because we got a local appraiser who was wise enough to go outside the subdivision to comp to similar properties that were not distressed. My listing appraised for the full contract price so this story ends well. However I hear horror stories for my fellow agents on almost a daily basis that an appraiser came from two hours away, sent by a management company and came in dramatically under market simply because they didn't know the area and compared a traditional sale to the short sale across the street. In this market that can mean the difference between the seller being able to complete a sale or being forced into a short sale situation or even a foreclosure down the road.

So back to my title, are appraisals really objective? I have actually been told by an appraiser in a CE class that they are. I didn't check his bio to see what planet he was from but I think anyone who has been in this business for more than one transaction knows better. I know many fine appraisers who are diligent and take the time to consider all factors in establishing value. Unfortunately with prices being driven down for appraisals by management companies some (to all you offended appraisers please note I said some) appraisers are cutting corners just to make enough to survive.

I think the answer to the problem lies with a little used resource of late called reason. Legislators, if you must make a law to fix something try tweeking what is in place to make it better. What we see going on now is similar to knocking the house down to change the paint color. To cite an idea I've used before in my blogs, laws made in the heat of passion and in response to an outcry are never good. I suppose I could expand that to deal with a lot that's going on in America today but that's for another blog.

Buyers beware - or not

I recently ran across a website that held the position that renters win, buyers lose.

Not long ago I registered with stumbleupon.com. It's a great website where you can enter your interests, hit the stumble button and have a rotation of websites randomly come up based on the interests you pick. Of course, one of mine was real estate. Most are either informative or searches. Occasionally I come across one that is pure garbage.

Case in point, an article by a real estate "expert" telling readers that it is foolish to buy a home in this market. I suppose that could be debated depending on the local market conditions. Unfortunately that was not the case being made. Instead the writer used distorted statistics and some very twisted logic to say, for instance that there is no real tax advantage to owning vs. renting.
What about investment potential? I recently got a listing under contract for a young couple that is moving up. The home was purchased before the bubble. Using a little fuzzy math one could say that the seller lost about 60K from it's highest point. However, over the time of ownership the seller actually realized nearly 100K increase. This is the true representation of the benefits of long term investment in real estate. Not only did they see a good increase over time but by buying up in this market they got a great deal on the single family home they're moving up to. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that if they wait for the market to "come back" it will cost them. If they see a 10% increase in their 200K townhome they single family they bought at 335K will have increased the same 10%. The net result will be that they lost over 10K by waiting for the recovery.

I've also heard the argument from buyers that they are reluctant to borrow from their 401k's to purchase. Let's look at the performance of the 401k's vs. long term performance of real estate investment. Again, not rocket science.

So buyers beware...beware of real estate experts who are actually blogging's version of shock jocks. Those alarmist souls who don't buy or sell real estate but know all the answers. I would never advocate uninformed decisions in buying a home. Just the opposite. Get all the real facts and make an informed decision. When you do, I think you'll see that real estate is and has always been a great LONG TERM investment.

Success in life. Things to ponder daily

Success in life is a deliberate focus. You can let life happen (Downward spiral) or make life happen. Here are some things I've learned along the way that have helped me:

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 won't 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 fall to the ground unfruitful. If give in an area you love you will never grow tired. Your actions will energize you and 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/coach - Find someone or better yet, several people who inspire you. Follow them as best you can. Take their seminars, read their books, listen to their CD's, make them your best friends. 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 often brings fear into the hearts of us all but it's absolutely necessary for you to reach your full potential.

So how do we apply these principles? The answer is that we have to break out of our default thinking and question our assumptions. We all have the God given ability to think about what we think about. Operating on the default level is simply a life of reactions based on conditioning. The good news is, conditioning can be changed. The analogy I like to use is, if you walk out of your house tomorrow and realize you have a really ugly shirt on you can go back and change the shirt. Well, if you walk out of your house and have some really ugly thoughts, go change them! There may be some things in life that aren't in our control, but most things are! Change what you can and learn from the rest.