Crystal Webster
By Crystal Webster
*OK, I was at the midnight premiere of the Muppet Movie—alone—because no one else would go with me. But the movie did serve as inspiration for the title of this post.
I am not a hemp-wearing tree hugger, but I do care for the environment. I’m not environmentally-friendly for business reasons, I do it for myself. It’s like a game to see how much “trash” I can keep out of the garage can or how I can reduce my monthly expenses.
Here are some of my tips to help make you green and save you green:
Print your showing information to PDF and use PDF Expert to view it (and write on it) on your iPad while showing buyers. You can even go a step further — do the same for your clients; hand them an iPad with all the MLS printouts, allow them to take notes and then email the document to them after showings.
Quit buying bottled water. Invest the $5 in a water bottle (without the straw please, that’s yucky) and fill it with water from your Brita Pitcher. Wash it and use it again! I bought some BPA-free, recycled, compostable water bottles with my logo. I fill them with distilled water (that I “brew” myself, I don’t buy it) and let them take the bottle at the end of our first showing. The second showing I have another set of bottles there, but I ask they leave the bottle so I can reuse it the next time. When they close on their home they get their bottles, and a Brita pitcher, as part of their closing gift.
Buy recycled, compostable, or reused promotional products. Continue reading »
Brandon Rodriguez
By Brandon Rodriguez
When I first became an agent just shy over 7 years ago, I was a novice and this dichotomy was not apparent to me. I was under the impression brokers were in charge. They gave you a desk space or office, nice decorated conference rooms, brochures, and you could even do desk duty for them. Not to mention nice team meetings. I am positive back in the 80s and 90s this was the case.
REALTORS(R), with their demand of technology and different commission structures, have changed everything in real estate. My dream of being a broker making lots of money put a glimmer in my eyes and a huge Kool-Aid smile! I could not have been so wrong. Brokers are competing for agents to join their firm. Buyers and seller rarely want to go to an agent’s office to sign papers because we live in “real time,” meaning, they do not want to waste their time and gas to go sign papers. They’d rather you fax (becoming obsolete in itself), e-mail (also becoming a nascence when you have to scan) and the most preferred way is something like DocuSign (not endorsing any company here, but I use them). “Click, click, send.”
The real estate sales people, who are more tech-savvy, rarely need to go the broker’s office anymore. At times I have heard, “I don’t know why my broker wants me at the office. I have everything I need at home.” Walk-in traffic is becoming unheard of since buyers and sellers do most of their hunting online. This is where tech savvy practitioners know how to capture the majority of their clients. Continue reading »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
Back in January, I wrote a blog post about a recent dispute I had with another practitioner. At the time, the incident had just happened and it hadn’t been completely resolved. Things are finally getting pieced together.
The whole situation was a hard thing for me to go through. My fellow co-workers had always given me respect and knew that I did things professionally. But in every office there is always the one person that maybe doesn’t share the same opinion as you. In my case, I was the type of person who doesn’t get into all of the drama. But when I started getting e-mails from others in my office, the day after the situation happened, I was floored! But at the same time I did not respond to the e-mails and questions from other people in the office. I felt it was inappropriate to say anything. But at the same time, it was hard for me to hold back the urge to defend myself.
But I still tried to take the high road. This has been a whirl wind experience for me. But from every experience, there are valuable lessons to be learned. Here are some tips to better handle an in office dispute.
- Until the issue is resolved, keep it to yourself.
- Be an adult and try and work it out with the other practitioner.
- If you can’t get the issue resolved between you and the other practitioner, always get your manager involved.
- Make sure you have your facts straight. Speculation doesn’t get you anywhere.
- Try to put yourself in the other persons shoes.
- Don’t let yourself get too worked up. Letting yourself get emotional will only hurt the situation.
- Be willing to comprise, if possible.
- If you are right and you have the facts to back it up, don’t give up!
- Don’t get down on yourself if you’re wrong. We all make mistakes!
Brooke Wolford is a real estate practitioner with Edina Realty, Hastings, Minn. Follow her blog at strugglingrookierealestateagent.blogspot.com.
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