Chris Nichols
By Chris Nichols
There’s a story about a group of students that goes a little something like this:
A Harvard professor was fielding questions from his class regarding the upcoming midterm exam. The questions were varied, but all seemed to carry a similar theme. Upon realizing this, the professor stopped the questioning and said, “Even though your questions sound different, they are essentially all the same; ‘What is the minimum I have to do to pass this test?’”
As of writing of this blog post, the London 2012 Olympics are just two weeks away. Athletes from around the world will be gathering to compete in various events. I can guarantee you, without a doubt, that none of these world-class athletes are asking themselves, “What is the minimum I have to do to get a gold medal?”
There is no question that the real estate business can be viewed as a “test” at times. But are you falling into the trap of finding ways to do the minimum necessary to just pass this test? If you are, I’d recommend you find a way to adjust your thinking and instead “GO FOR THE GOLD!”
Chris Nichols is a REALTOR® with Prudential Utah Elite Real Estate in Orem, Utah. Learn more about Chris at utahrepro.com or @utahREpro.
Veronica Barragan
By Veronica Barragan
Some REALTORS® conceived 2012 as “The Year of Volume Transactions” because lower home prices created the need to increase transactions to keep up with personal career goals while maintaining life styles and income. In actuality, 2012 has quickly become “The Year of the Professional.”
We’re in an environment where REALTORS® celebrate authentic, professional standards, and embrace all markets as a visionaries. They can stand back and understand the big picture, while in turn, offering excellent client service with integrity.
For example, in states such as Arizona where I currently practice, many REALTORS® have shifted their business dramatically and quickly from the dwindling REO niche back to buyers and sellers. REALTORS® are going back to basics, which should have never been ignored if they planned on making real estate a long term career. “The basics” encompass key fundamental characteristics that never ever disappear and easily transcend time. The basics include the utmost professional attention to each and every client’s needs, appreciating every phone call as the gateway to referrals because of the agent’s attention to detail, and, more importantly, having the ability to be fully present and aware of the intentions, desires, and needs of every individual who comes to you, as an agent, for your real estate expertise.
Today’s market is diverse and includes first-time home buyers, the tech-savvy newest generation, the growing and underserved Hispanic community, investors, second home buyers, and sellers in a hardship situation. To be able to serve this new and diverse clientele effectively as a professional, you must be able to adapt the basics into your business plan and into your soul.
There is no more sitting back and waiting for the bank to assign you that distressed property, because you will not survive — Continue reading »
Anand Patel
By Anand Patel
Earlier this year I gave a presentation locally that I entitled “The Pipsqueak Principles” — three lessons my now 2 ½-year-old daughter inadvertently taught me during her first year. You see, before her birth (as those of you who are new parents may attest to) I lived in my own bubble and didn’t pay much attention to anything that didn’t affect me personally. But during the first twelve months after my daughter was born, I began to see things around me in a very different perspective. Three principles in particular that I learned from my little “pipsqueak” (in addition to changing dirty diapers!) were to 1.) Love unconditionally, 2.) Give back to the community, and 3.) Connect with others.
The other day as I was reflecting on that speech I realized these same three principles of loving, giving and connecting can also be applied to real estate:
Love what you do. To truly be successful in real estate — not just financially, but for it to be personally fulfilling, you really need to love your profession. If you don’t love being a REALTOR®, you inevitably will be unhappy, no matter how much money you make doing it.
Give back to your community and profession. As a real estate professional in the field, you see firsthand the amount of change that needs to take place in our communities. We all want safer neighborhoods, affordable housing for the poor, better transportation options …well WE need to get involved and do something about it. The same holds true for the professional associations we belong to — by giving back and getting involved, everyone benefits.
Connect with your peers. By networking and connecting Continue reading »
Chris Nichols
By Chris Nichols
I had the unique opportunity to attend a special event this last Friday. I didn’t realize how unique this event was until I got there and heard the speaker admit that he was a little nervous as he had never spoken to a stadium full of people before. That was kind of shocking to me since the speaker was none other than the founder of a little website many of you use daily… Facebook!
That’s right, Mark Zuckerberg came to visit a few thousand of us packed into the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. There was a lot of buzz surrounding this event and he was greeted by an awestruck audience as he entered the facility to answer various questions that were posed to him, on what else but a Facebook page! Mark discussed many interesting things as he answered the wide spectrum of questions, but two of the answers intrigued me most.
The first question was regarding what college classes have been most beneficial to him. Mark admitted that he wasn’t in school for that long and that he was a double major in computer science and psychology. Surprisingly his response wasn’t a computer science course, it was psychology! He said, “At the end of the day, all of the problems we face are about people. People care about people.”
The second question was asked about what advice and or character traits a budding entrepreneur needs to possess. Mark’s answer was spot-on, “You have to have passion for what you are doing. If you don’t completely love or believe in what you are doing, the natural thing will be to give up when you face the challenges that will inevitably come. More than anything you have to really have faith in what you are doing.” Continue reading »
Drew Burks
By Drew Burks
Very few REALTORS® are following their true passion!
Make your own rules, be authentic, transparent and have fun …
Real Estate can be a challenging business and the majority of licensed REALTORS® struggle to succeed, but it doesn’t need to be this way. In fact, real estate can be a great deal of fun and rewarding when you are following your passion.
Yet when I speak with REALTOR®S, I find that most are frustrated and tend to share the below problems.
- the inability to generate leads consistently
- inconsistent income
- keeping up with technology
- knowing what daily activities to do to get real results
It’s no wonder that so many are struggling to succeed as a REALTOR®.
After reading the book, Crush It, I realize why so many are having these problems…
Why you ask? Continue reading »
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