The Long View in Real Estate

A hallmark of a great Realtor is the desire to question and investigate the long view of any piece of property.  Someone just wanting a sale will only look at the immediate need; but a Realtor with a good head for planning and desire for life long clients will be looking ahead and advising of long term possibilities and/or limitations of the property you have in your sights.

What do I mean by this?  When I look at homes with a newly wed couple, I'm already thinking of resale value for them once their family outgrows their starter home.  Is it a good location?  Is it an improving location?  Are their amenities within easy reach?

When I look at acreages with people I discuss access to the home and outbuildings, not just on the beautiful summer day we're seeing the property, but in the middle of a raging snow storm when one of them is out of town.

When I look at a property with crops or livestock we have to consider long term water availability.

Before selling a tenanted property, a great Realtor will have a discussion with the prospective buyers about their tolerance for stress!

A great Realtor is a resource with your long term interests foremost in mind -- not a one hit wonder pressing you into a quick sale!  Kind of like a great financial planner who is not merely selling you today's hot stock but taking an overall view of what will best serve your needs over time.

Look for such a Realtor (well, if you're in the North Okanagan you already found me, but in other areas...) that is, in fact, looking out for you!

If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room!

"If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room!"  I saw or heard this recently and it led to a great pondering on the implications of this statement. 

Likely from our school days when we got a gold star and praised in front of the class for "right" answers most of us like to appear intelligent and learned.  The trouble with this of course is a.) that nobody likes a know-it-all and b.) if you're busy seeming smart, you're not asking "dumb" questions (which may hold the key to unlocking all measure of success!)

How teachable are we?  I know some people in the real estate field that I never thought would make it because of the vast amount they did not know or seem to understand.  But, you know what?  The ones that were not afraid to ask questions and were not afraid to ask for help are doing very well indeed!

Who doesn't like being asked for help?  Don't you willingly share your ideas and experience when someone genuinely wants help?

Pride can be a very two edged sword.  Proud people tend not to ask questions -- especially ones that might sound stupid.  Proud people would never consider asking someone with less experience then them how to do something, or for another view on how to succeed.

Floyd Wickman (great veteran real estate trainer) once commented that one of the reasons women sometimes make out better than men when showing a home is that they don't think they have to know everything.  A client asks a man, "so what do you think that wire is for?"  Most men feel it a measure of their manhood to come up with a plausible explanation for the wire.  Most women might rather say, "I'm not too sure, what do YOU think it could be?" 

Our answers can either come across as a lesson or the beginning of a conversation.  Another example my broker mentioned the other day speaks to this.  She heard a trainer mention that rather than say "great or lousy" or launch into a training session when someone merely asks what the market is like try simply saying "it depends."  Because it does depend on many things!  And because that answer invites a two way conversation!

I'll venture to say that the happiest and most successful people in any profession are the ones who are the most humble about what they know and the most hungry about learning.  Learning from anyone about anything; being genuinely curious about how someone is generating more business or their approach to the tasks of the trade...this marks an interesting person to be around!

This take me full circle to Steve Jobs admonition that I have my calendar bring up each and every morning:  "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

And it makes me laugh about another statement on learning my cowboy pal, Wendell Monical, said.  "You know Beth, there's something you can learn from everyone...even if it's how not to do something!"

Real Estate Bullies and Snotties be gone!

Today is "pink shirt day" in honour of banishing bullies here in my corner of the world!  Aiding that message today I shall blog about who you do and don't want to be known as in the circle of real estate professionals (or any circle for that matter!)

Years ago, when first starting in this profession, I can remember calling some of the veteran Realtors to book a showing or discuss an offer.  I remember with clarity some of the nasty retorts I received from a few bullies practicing in our area:  "That offer is not worth the paper its written on!"  "Did you READ the listing?"  I won't bore you or enliven them with more press; you get the idea. 

Then we have the the snotties, those Realtors dripping with disdain about anyone who is not a client they're hoping to get.  There is nothing the snotties don't know or haven't done.  The snotties have never had a deal go sideways or made a clerical error.  The snotties have never dealt with fickle clients.  The snotties don't have any human experiences the rest of the Realtors seem to encounter on a regular basis!  Ha!

As you can imagine...any Realtor falling into the two categories above does not solicit warm and fuzzy feelings of cooperation.  And, if they think they're working in the best interest of their clients OR their wallets, they're sadly deluded.  What they are doing is leaving a lot of business on the table.  Who in their right mind would want to deal with overbearing, pretentious dipsticks?

Now, when I entered real estate I knew there were a lot of "type A" personalities in the business.  I just didn't think A stood for a**hole.

Bullies and snotties of the world be gone!  Life is way too short to listen to your self important drivel!

Thankfully these num-nuts are far overshadowed by delightful and humble Realtors I deal with.  I remember with equal clarity these fine veterans who were kind mentors and helped me if I needed something when starting out.  These characters are fun and fair and fine -- and you want to do as much business with them as possible!

We don't all have to hold hands singing Kumbaya together but professional kindness and courtesy takes exactly as much time as being rude and short tempered.

Be that great mentor and helper to those newer at anything than you.  This is the true measure of success.  Look out for your colleagues and friends; the return on that investment is priceless.