Remembering Family This Memorial Day

She reaches down and pulls the step stool in front of the vanity, steps up to the top step, reaches for her toothbrush standing in its holder, grasps the small tooth paste tube, flips the top and squeezes the tube for a dab on the bristles of her toothbrush. She looks into the mirror, smiles, raises the handle to run water over the tooth paste and returns it to her smile as her mother steps behind her and starts brushing her hair. She parts the hair in the middle and pulls the long curly strand to the side of her head for pigtails. The young girl continues her brushing mission as her mother twists the scrunches to hold the pigtails and ties red, white and blue ribbons around the scrunches as the little girl spits into the sink, spins on the top step, looks into her mother’s eyes; is grandma going to be there too? Yes she is, her mother replies; are you excited about visiting daddy? In a quiet voice she answers, yes. Her mom wipes the excess foam from her lips and chin, kisses her on the lips; share the lipstick, as they both giggle from the kiss. Let’s get going, we don’t want to keep grandma waiting when we visit daddy. The little girl steps down from the stool, returns it to its storage position and then skips down the hall to the front door, opens it and skipped down the sidewalk to the car parked in the driveway. Her mother walked behind her, opened the door and lifted the little girl into her car seat, fastened the straps around her and shut the door. As they pulled out into the street, the little girl looked out the side window and thought about seeing her father as her mother watched her in the rear view mirror. The drive went quickly, and soon, they arrived to an awaiting grandma’s hugs and kisses. Do you know where he’s at; the grandmother asked? Yes I do, as she turned and ran to her father’s position among the other soldiers. When she reached his position she sounded out; hi daddy and touched the white tombstone marker. As her mother walked through the garden of stone and looked down at the markers of those who sacrificed their lives, so we could celebrate our freedom.  Both women knelt down and placed an American Flag on the grave and leaned a wreath of flowers against the back of the stone as the little girl talked to the father she had never touched, shared a kiss or giggled from the tickles he promised to give her on the video they had all watched hundreds of times. Her father did not return home to the pageantry of fanfare and speeches. He arrived in a solemn hearse with a veteran and police escort, in a flag draped coffin. The sound of blaring rifles, the folding of the flag and being presented on behalf of a grateful nation and a lone bugler sounding a call to rest with taps. Memorial Day is the time we remember those who defended our freedom with their last breath but it goes beyond the service member, there are families who bear the weight of loss. As we pay respect to our fallen, Memorial Day 2015, please take time and remember our Gold Star Families.

Your Voice or Your Property Rights; Choose One

The Board of County Commissioners are about to decide, which is more important to you; your voice in front of your peers or your property rights, which one are you willing to give up? How could this happen, you ask? County Staff is attempting to follow the City of Gainesville position of removing your voice, in front of your peers, in speaking out against cases brought against you from the county Codes Enforcement Board. The position of the Alachua County Building Department and Codes Enforcement officer would rather have an Independent magistrate hear each case presented by officers of Codes Enforcement. It can be intimidating to stand in front of a board of your peers, who are volunteers, but having a county paid magistrate, listen to cases being presented by county officials being paid, with a county paid attorney overseeing the counties position; what could possibly go wrong? The arrogance of members of our county commission, county attorney’s office and members of staff reflect their personal political desire of centralized government control of every aspect of your personal property rights.  You can make a difference with policy by writing our county commissioners and expressing your opinion and your choice. The motion to be read to the commission; Have an Independent Magistrate listen to specific cases, remove the volunteer codes enforcement board and have an Independent magistrate hear all cases or leave it just as it currently is; a voluntary citizens board. You other choice is do nothing, say nothing and lose your voice as well as your property rights; which are willing to give up? 

Homeowners Manuel

Here is the link to my YouTube video for my Homeowners Manual. It is a how to video to develop customer satisfaction, whether you are in the real estate or insurance industry, remodeling contractor, home inspector or handyman.

Get Some Guts

Employers, managers, superintendents and other so called supervisors; do your job! All I wanted to do was come into your store and buy a soda after filling my gas tank. As I wait in line, the line builds behind me, from other customers waiting to pay for gas or buy items, as your clerk chats on their phone while slowly using their other hand to scan items. While this is going on, several customers place their products back on a shelf and walk out of your store, very soon, I follow their lead and walk out as well. My second adventure of the day was walking into a real estate office to get a key for a project I was going to bid on, for repairs. The front desk person was entranced with their phone, texting someone, as I waited for them to look up. When they finally noticed I was standing directly in front of them, they offered a friendly smile and asked if they could help me. I asked for the key to the project, they got up from their desk to retrieve it. When they finally returned with the key, they had the phone stuck to their ear in an in-depth conversation. They sat down and moved in slow motion to get a receipt book, for me to sign for the key. They paused their conversation, only to ask for my business card, and continued on with their conversation as I walked out the door with the key.  My next stop was a supply house to pick up products to deliver to a working project. As I paid for the load of lumber, the clerk asked; do you need help loading your truck? I welcomed the help, the clerk called over the PA system for a loader, as I wheeled my cart of lumber out the door towards my truck. I started loading the lumber into the back of my truck, looked around for the assistance I was asked if I needed; nobody was walking in my direction. I continued loading my truck, as I was about to load the last three pieces of lumber into the back of my truck, a young man was walking towards me with his phone in his hand texting or playing video games, not sure which, put his phone in his pocket just before he got within ten feet of me; need some help he asked? I looked down at the last piece of lumber on the cart and then back to him; I believe I can take it from here. He shrugged his shoulders, reached into his pocket, retrieved his phone and walked back towards the building.
I have really had enough of today’s technology and the addiction which goes along with it. I’ve also had enough of the gutless supervisors, who watch this going on around them, who say nothing to the employees about their personal business on company time. We hear the complaints of low wages for these service related positions, given their lack of focus on the purpose of their employment, they are being paid entirely too much as well as their direct supervisor. If you have an addiction to technology; seek counseling. If you are in a position of authority and have difficulty supervising those who you were hired to oversee; get some guts!

I Screwed Up

I screwed up; yes, it’s true, I screwed up. Who would have known, someone actually followed my instructions for doing preventive maintenance around their home and I happened to leave out a simple piece of information. I will be the first to admit, I don’t always follow my own recommendations for home maintenance. I am no different from my dentist friend, who recommends flossing and doesn't do it himself. I've seen the high number of visitors, on the most popular page on my website, “My Home Doctor”, spend an average of five minutes reading content that is all about helpful hints to guide you in the right direction when doing home maintenance. I once appeared on our local TV station, during the evening news, giving advice on what to do when buying a home that has been sitting idle for years and yet I screwed up and left out a sort of important procedure when applying preventative maintenance to plumbing fixtures. I assumed those who visited my website, understood where the important disconnects to your home were before you started doing maintenance; I was wrong.

It all started when, someone was trying to be a responsible homeowner and stay ahead of the maintenance by checking the shutoff valves to the sinks and toilets. The owner applied to much pressure to a frozen valve and snapped the PVC pipe it was connected to and they had no idea of where the main shutoff valve to the home was located. After several phone calls to plumber’s answering service, (it was a Saturday afternoon), they found a plumber who talked them through the process of how to locate the shutoff as the water was now flowing out the front door. What the plumber assumed, the home owner knew they needed a tool to manipulate the valve; he as wrong. After the homeowner located an adjustable wrench and screwdriver to be able to turn the main shutoff valve, the water had flooded the entire house. The good news, they were insured, the bad news; they probably won’t be calling me for the restoration. So here is a note to myself; write step by step instructions when writing tips, but then again, most guys won’t read them anyway.

My BNI Experience

For all good intentions and purpose; BNI is a great place to display your business, learn how to connect with others and develop a presentation.  My prospective of this organization is based upon my activity and participation with a couple local groups I have attended.  The concept of “Givers Gain” is something that everyone in the group should grasp, but all too often it was; you give so I can gain.

  I was excited with the first meeting my wife and I attended.  The thirty second infomercials explained the members business, who would be a great referral along with the eight minute spotlight presentation on a members business, presented a platform I would be very comfortable participating in. I initially saw the value with membership, having the ability to present our business to fifty other business members within our community.  We looked at the application fee as a little pricey, but with all of our other marketing failures of the past, what could we lose having the eyes and ears of fifty other members who would possibly refer our business to other members of the community.  Since only one of us could be a member, my wife joined and I would join her weekly, at the 7:30 AM meeting. My wife attended the mandatory leadership training for the purpose of being able to give an eight minute presentation as well as learn the value of; one on one’s, continued education and the referral concept, all great information.  The strict rules of the organization; only one member per industry, (we had four different insurance agents, three real estate agents, two attorneys), wink-wink, nod-nod they created different categories for each just to fill a seat within the group. Absenteeism and tardiness would cause expulsion from the group, unless you had someone substitute for you. What a perfect platform for me as a Toastmaster, I became a professional substitute for several members within our group as well as another BNI group. This was going to be a fun experience, or so I thought.

After several months of one on ones, continued education tapes and books, the monotonous 30 second infomercials, (often read from a smart phone or tablet).  The eight minute spotlight for business often presented family vacations and left me wondering what their business actually did.  I quickly volunteered my services, as a Toastmaster, to several members to create a more effective thirty second presentation.  I coached several members with their eight minute presentations, which would have been applauded by most fortune 500 companies, and developed confidence with the members I coached, (Givers Gain), for free.  My thoughts were; why should I accept a poor business presentation just because I live in Gainesville, Florida and why should those with limited business experience be given accolades, for such poor presentations, which established weak business foundations.

Months had past, we gave out thousands of dollars in referrals to several members of our group and yet our business received nothing, although we were told to expect 6-8 months before we actually started to see results.  We witnessed members come and go, we watched as the referrals passed from member to member as we passed referrals and the dollar value increase to over a million dollars of referrals in a year from the group and yet nothing for our business.

The downturn started; we used the services of company who cleaned tile floors and carpet. They made appointments with a couple of our customers and stood up both appointments both times. We used them on a project to clean tile in the bathrooms and kitchen in a home we were remodeling, we had to go back over areas they completely missed during the final walkthrough. Other disappointments; overpriced services, failure to deliver a website, (which I’m still waiting for a refund), failure to keep appointments and the invitation to a five hour education credit seminar, which turned out to be nothing more than a hard sell presentation for a “Networking Course”, that would have given the “Buy Real Estate with No Money” a run for its money.  Attending a BNI social event which became a hard sell; “why aren’t you using my business” from several members of a different BNI group. The final straw came from two different BNI, HVAC members who promised service but only tried to deliver a sell.  Their diagnosis was it would be too expensive to repair a pair of HVAC units, ($1800-$2700 respectively), and we should replace them at a cost of $4200, each. I got a traveling HVAC tech to evaluate the units, he repaired both units for less than $700. I took the story to the media to expose what many in the HVAC industry is doing to an uninformed public.  The member filed a complaint against us, we attended a hearing and made our decision to drop out of BNI.

Our experience with BNI was not all bad.  We met some wonderful people and will continue to refer customers to their business. Helping business people develop a professional presentation was a joy for me personally. What is lacking with the application process is the reviewing process for each business that applies. Some questions need to be asked; what is your business model, what does your business plan look like and how will your business benefit the group as a whole.  I believe there should be some ethics training as part of the education system of BNI. Would your business benefit from BNI? If you lack the basic skills of networking, BNI is a great opportunity for you to learn and possibly gain from being a member.  I encourage you to attend several meetings, with several groups, before making a decision to join.  Just by attending the meetings, you will be able to start developing a, “one on one”, strategy without spending a lot of time and money joining an organization that attempts to shackle both.  

An HVAC Repair Nightmare

We recently acquired four rental units to manage in a condo complex, within our local community.  The owner was dissatisfied with the previous management company’s operation and the condition of their investment properties. As we inspected and made the necessary repairs to make the units move-in ready for the next tenants, we found an HVAC unit not working.  We contacted a vendor who was in our networking group to service the unit and what we received was information we were not expecting nor could the owner could readily afford. The technician advised us; he would have to remove the interior coils to clean because they were impacted with debris and because of the age of the unit, it required the old R-22 Freon, which is difficult to acquire and very expensive.  Along with various other repairs, the cost to repair the unit was $1800 and it would be money better spent to replace the unit for $4200.
The problem was; the owner had purchased the four, ten year old units, as an investment near the height of the real estate market. The rent, at the time of purchase, was barely covering the financial costs of the properties. Over the past eight years, the property values declined over half and the rental income by 30%. The owner was coming out of pocket every month, hoping to maintain ownership of their investment and appreciation values would increase over the next several years and paying $4200 to replace the system was not in the budget.  To protect the owner’s interest, I inspected the unit and found the coils were not impacted and I easily cleaned them myself within fifteen minutes.  I contacted a local HVAC technician to evaluate the system and what he found was surprising to me.  The system was low on Freon, he charged the system and it held pressure. The cost to repair the system; under $300, the owner was ecstatic. A week later, another one of the systems went down and we contacted another vendor who we had used in the past. The technician evaluated the system and said it was leaking Freon and couldn't be repaired efficiently, (around $2700), and it would be better to replace the system for $4200. My thoughts were; a system just doesn't break overnight unless something catastrophic happens, so I inspected the unit and called my tech back in to evaluate. The system was leaking, at a valve, and could be repaired efficiently, under $400. The owner was not happy about having to pay $700 for the recent HVAC repairs, after having to pay the cost to make the properties rent-able with paint and repairs, but was excited about us looking out for their bottom line and saving them an additional $8000 in replacement cost.

What we didn't know about the first vendor; the technician earned commissions on the sale of new units and up sales on maintenance.  Not only did the tech earn money from selling, it guaranteed him a day’s work. The pressure to inflate price, if the owner was to accept the cost of repair, would have put additional bonus dollars in his pocket.

The second vendor turned out to be the owner of the HVAC Company. His focus was to sell a new system, build his customer base and not offer the service our owner desperately needed.  

We learned some valuable lessons we intend to follow for the future, for all our customers. I want to pass on the following suggestions to you if you are in the property management business or concerned about estimates for repairs for your personal home.

Ask your vendor;

Are technicians paid commission? If the system needs Freon, how do they measure it, (have them show you the scale they measure with before and after the service)? If parts were replaced, have them give you the old parts. Do they charge a trip charge along with a diagnostic fee to come to your home or business?  How many employees does the business have, (think about the cost and overhead of a large business versus a small one or two man team)? 

By asking these questions, you can possibly save yourself hundreds to thousands of dollars in repairs not needed, overcharges as well as looking out for your bottom dollar.  Is it better to have a new HVAC system than a fifteen year old system? The answer is a resounding, YES; but if you can't afford to pay for a new system, repairing the old one may be your best bet.  Get a second or third opinion before you make the choice of spending money you don't have.

The Noose

One of my favorite books of all times is “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. The simple overview is how the world appears through the eyes of rabbits, but it goes far beyond that.  In the beginning, a character has a premonition of the destruction of their colony.  When he tells his friend of the premonition, they decide to take the information to the leader, who discredits their ideas.  The characters so believed in the premonition, they told several other of their friends and decided to leave their colony before disaster befell upon them.  In their travels, they come upon a colony of rabbits who were larger, healthier with shiny fur.  Their colony was well protected among blackberry and raspberry brambles within a large pile of brush, giving them protection from predators and the weather.  The characters didn’t understand why these rabbits were so much larger and healthier until they asked.  The rabbits explained a human created their habitat for them and often left them piles of food, more than enough for the members of the colony and invited the characters to join the colony.  As the days went by, the characters shared the wealth of the gifts the human had left for them. They felt they had found their new home but another premonition befell upon them that brought them to be concerned of their new home.  The premonition brought more fear to all the initial characters than before as they watched their friend appear to be choking to death.  The character awoke from his dream and told his followers, they were not safe here and must leave.  Several of the characters were in disbelief until the premonition come to pass.  One afternoon while the group were heading to eat from the pile of food the human had left for them, reality set in.  One of the characters had slipped into a wire noose and as they struggled with the noose, it tightened and choked the character.

I don’t want to ruin the story for you, you’ll just have to find the book to find out what happens, but the point being made is what appears to be happening within our human country right now.  The healthy colony of rabbits knew of the danger of their colony but were willing to accept the sacrifice of a false security.  They were willing to accept the gifts from their host but what they thought were gifts was nothing more than scraps.  Many within our society are just like the rabbits living among brambles in what they believe is security and are willing to accept the scraps for what they assume is their security.  As our government draws many to a false security, it prepares a noose to choke our society into serfdom. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into a false sense of security by the gifts of government.  Remember, the security for the rabbits was a brush pile in a blackberry and raspberry bramble and scraps for the many.

 So, are you prepared for the noose?  

The Driver

 

It’s another real estate convention with first class accommodations and as our van rolls to a stop under the hotel canopy, men in traditional doormen uniforms steps forward to assist our traveling group with our bags.  Walking into the grand foyer was like walking into a palace.  Marble floors adorned with red carpets, marble support columns with polished accent light fixtures and displayed works of art.  The impeccably dressed staff worked diligently to accommodate each guest’s registration request as the concierge answered questions from an impatient current guest of the hotel. As the door opened to our room, the light poured through heavy lace sheer drapes covering the doors which opened to the balcony, revealing the glass encased atrium of the hotel shops and restaurants.  The park-like setting was a constant movement of people coming and going from other conventions, open air displays with professional speakers with the Potomac River as a backdrop. We were staying in one of the finest hotels Washington DC had to offer and yet I lacked the excitement I should be feeling as I stared over the atrium.  Since we had arrived a day early and now bored with the lack of business activity we were normally accustom to, we invited ourselves into another conventions area to listen to other business speakers to gain additional knowledge to share with our other agents and staff.  One of the speakers was Michael Woodford, the former CEO of the Olympus Corporation, turned “Whistle Blower”, which could have cost him his life in Japan. His story, to say the least, was very interesting, so interesting, following his speech, my wife immediately went to our room, went online and ordered his book.  I reminded her, she already knew the end of the story and she gave me a smirk and continued to order her book.

 

Our company’s lineup of convention speakers was a who’s who of the business world.  Darren Hardy was the keynote speaker for the morning. His message of healthy living, healthy business and his drive for success is what makes his Success Magazine the primary reading choice of the professional business person.  Darren’s message was well received and although it had changed some since the last time I heard him speak, (Darren is a very good motivational speaker) and I really didn’t get all that motivated.  Upon his completion, a well-deserved standing ovation was rendered by the audience and then the introductions of another speaker, more applause, another speaker, more applause and the day was completed by a catered party, supplied by the vendors, which could have fed an army, twice the size of the attending party.  The fun part of any convention is the re-acquaintance of the people you have become familiar with over the years and hearing how they were doing in business, children, common complaints of other agents and the lack of quality supply of homes and quality sales agents.  As the week rolled on, I was soon on information over-load that I would have to process what information would best suit our business model, I was ready to go home.

 

While waiting for final check-out, the transportation concierge assigned a driver to take us to the airport.  He graciously took our bags and loaded them into the trunk of our car, opened our doors and soon, we were on our way home. As we pulled away from the convention center, silence filled the car as we were taking our last look of the area and the driver began his story.

 

He spoke with a heavy accent about his job and his love for our country.  He arrived in the US only four years earlier and had been sponsored so his transition would be easier.  He had immigrated from Ethiopia and spoke of the poverty of his home land and the riches and lifestyle of our country.  He shared his questions of his sponsor of how could everyone be so rich in this country and they had to explain to him that they were only middle class people who had to work every day to have and keep a home.  He went on to tell us of how exited he was working for minimum wage and having the ability to save enough money to buy a car and pay for the insurance.  He had worked his way up to become a driver and had much bigger plans for the future.  As he spoke, I become at awe with this man and was humbled by his goals as it was he who reminded me of why I came to convention.  The richness of the fine hotel, the content of the motivational speakers and being in the company of very successful Realtors had not stirred the coals within me to reignite the flame that the driver had done.  The fifteen minute ride to the airport had done more to rekindle the flame than the four previous days of convention.  My problem was, I went to convention to hear the speeches, not listen to them.  Darren Hardy, for all intents and purposes, delivered an exception speech, and I’m sure he was paid well to address the convention but, he was no match for our driver.  What I gained from the convention experience; I now have to concentrate and really listen to people, not just hear them and wait to answer but really listen.  My suggestion to our convention committee; save some money on the next keynote speaker and hire my driver, I’m sure he will deliver a speech that will inspire the convention, to listen.

   

Choose Your Words Carefully

What is the value of free?  For the majority of people, free is the hook for; open your checkbook or break out the credit card and pay for free for the next year or more.  I often wonder when something of value is offered for free, why most people turn their nose up and say there has to be a catch.  A great example of the value of free came from a friend who bought a new refrigerator and placed his old working refrigerator out by the street with a sign tapped to it “FREE”.  It actually worked and would be ok in the average rental property. It stood in front of his house for a week with no takers.  So he changed his strategy, he placed a sign on it; works, $50… somebody stole it. Nothing had changed other than a value had been placed upon it.

So what is the value of cheap?  If someone wants to give another person a good deal and the price is too low in the mind of person about to receive a deal; that equates to cheap. What do you get for cheap in your mind?  Poor quality, short cuts or unfinished business and the imaginary lack of value.  As a contractor, I have had customers tell me they wanted the project as cheap as I could make it.  After many unhappy customers, giving them exactly what they asked for, my response became; you won’t like the look of cheap. I even went further and gave my customers additional choices; cheap, fast and good, pick two out of three.  I have often run into people who chose to go with another contractor because the other contractor offered them cheap.  Quite often, later on, I have been met with a handshake and the comment; “I wish I had gone with you” or “You were right”.  There is never any satisfaction with being right after listening how someone else paid the price of cheap.
Expensive is generally thought of as high quality or getting your monies worth and more often, has a professional sales person reminding you of what a great deal you just bought into.   Keeping free, cheap and expensive in mind; what is the value of free information that saves you a lot of money?  What if you learned how to buy for a cheap price through the power of negotiation and never had to make an expensive mistake again?  What would be the value of that?
There are professional people and groups out there where you can learn how to answer the questions for free.  They are not well advertised and you will have to do your homework to find them. It will take you time to find these groups and professionals who find their success with your success.  So what if groups and professional people charge a fee?  If as a result of their information, you receive great value and success; would you classify their information as cheap? More than likely you would classify the information as expensive if you gained nothing from their information.
So if you want to become successful and looking for value in building a solid plan, I will give you three words to build your plan upon; cheap, fast and good, pick two of the three.  If you pick “cheap” and “fast”, the results may not be good. Pick “fast” and “good” and the results will not be “cheap” and if you choose “good” and “cheap”, the results will not be “fast”.
Three words, confusing analogies, the results of word placement which cause different results, how confusing! Success is not easy and you will be judged by others on your success.

 My advice to you; choose your words carefully.

In Search of that Silver Bullet

As a licensed contractor and real estate broker, I’m constantly inundated with emails of products which will cause me to make tons of money if I buy into their hype.  I often attend conventions where many other products and coaching companies pitch their wares which will be the “Silver Bullet” to my success as I make strides against my competition.  I walk through and bookstores and grab the latest self-help manuscript that proclaims great wealth for me, if I follow their plan.  I, like many others have purchased programs, coaching CD’s, books, attended seminars; looking for that “Silver Bullet” that will give me a step ahead of my competition, and just like my competition, I discovered that the “Silver Bullet” was nothing more than chrome plated hype.  But all was not for a loss, I did gain some knowledge and a few tips, which some have helped me gain additional income. 

Being the skeptic, I recently turned my nose up at webinar which, my wife bought into the initial hype of great wealth from a side business as a contractor, (as I am a licensed contractor).  What I found interesting was; realtors in Florida would find themselves in hot water, taking on the roll of contractor, as you must be certified by the state to be a licensed contractor. What it did offer me was a different approach to areas of which I never thought of, to where I did further investigation, got additional training which opened my construction company up to a different market and we just recently was presented with a fifty-thousand dollar contract, I wouldn't have had, if I had not been part of the webinar.  It wasn't a “Silver Bullet”, and I will have some different sub-contractors I will have to deal with, but the additional cash in my account will come in handy.

The saddest part of my business is I evaluate REO’s and foreclosed properties for repairs and debris removal, (in which many have been Realtor and contractors homes), where I find a multitude of books, CD’s, and more often, unopened training materials, I know had cost hundreds of dollars. It never ceases to amaze me the money spent, looking for that “Silver Bullet”, in which the person never took the time to remove the packing material and actually use the product. I often question; was the pitchman really that good or was the thought of sitting through all that training information that tedious?  What our agents will find in our office is an open library of this information, free for them to use and we never promise them; a “Silver Bullet” awaits them.

What I encourage agents to do is; focus on your strengths and if you need a tool to assist you in with your strengths, buy it, (or get lucky enough to find it in a foreclosed property or find it on the shelf of your office library). 

We recently bought into an investors program which has really paid-off for us, (as we started in the real estate business as investors).  By utilizing the tool, we have developed a following of investors.  No “Silver Bullet”, just another tool setting us apart from our competition.  The product would not work for everyone, (I have read reviews of how the product failed other Realtors), but it has made a huge difference in our business model.  

The real “Silver Bullet” lies inside those who are willing to make that extra effort, to set themselves apart from their competition.  Before you jump on that next “Silver Bullet”, I encourage you to evaluate your strengths and ask yourself: how will this product or service really assist me? What can I really expect, as a return of investment, from this product? Will you actually use the product or will the packing material get in your way?  So don’t be afraid to explore the tools waiting for you, enjoy the seminars and conventions but leave your credit cards and checkbook somewhere else, so you have to walk away and think about the “Silver Bullet”.

Leadership in War and Real Estate

April 1975, the last Marine was lifted off the Saigon embassy roof which ended our campaign in Viet Nam.  It would be another sixteen years before we would stumble into victory…

For the next fourteen years we trained for a European invasion from the USSR.  We patrolled borders and watched Soviet Block soldiers watch us.  After a while the training became mundane, boring… a lot of check the block on score sheets and move back to the motor pool to waste time working on our tanks and tracks with the promise of parts availability so we could someday have complete operational platoon vehicles.  There were always field problems and play battles in terrain we all were to familiar with and the only ones receiving any training, was the fresh soldiers just out of Boot Camp and soon, they too were bored with the monotonous training. Many of our soldiers decided after their first enlistment, they had had enough… the limited training they had received was not what they expected… so they left.  Many said they were leaving because they couldn’t cut it… they left because they were not given what they were promised.

 After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolved, our mission changed… exactly what was our mission?  The threat in Europe was diminished, we have a mission in Korea but it too was on the decline and turning more responsibility to the ROK Army… So we trained… for what or who…Our mission had changed.

How many brokers and managers bring on new people with fresh ideas and dreams; with a promise of training?  They go through training at the local Board of Realtors and return to your office with fresh energy and a willingness to succeed  and the training they receive goes like this; go through the expired listings and call the owners… or go through the company expired files and ask them to list again? Let’s go over our contract with you…Here is the company policy, read this…

 How many times you have matched new people with a top producer to show the new recruits the ropes, who relieved you from the responsibility of training the new recruit; did they actually train them? 

How many times did you watch those same people leave after six or nine months…you told yourself  they got out of the business, because they couldn’t cut it.

  August 2^nd, 1990.  Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army invaded Kuwait and we all bypassed it as something that happens over there; where the heck is Kuwait and who cares? The strongest standing army in the Middle East just invaded another country, I’m active duty Army and all I could do is watch and think; is this going to be the start of the next war?  Training at that time had not changed much… a lot of going through the motions… check the block… gunnery and weapons qualifications and the same old boring training.  We watched the tensions building in the Middle East and the threats to Saddam Hussein from the UN and on November 3^rd, 1990, word from the Commander of the Big Red One, our Division was being deployed to defend Saudi Arabia… we were going to war.  Over the next two months, our training got serious… it was no longer check the box.  Every detail of our mission was being covered, it was time to get serious… it was going to be our lives that we were about to put on the line. 

How many of you know someone who is going through the motions of working or training.  How many people are sitting back and watching the happenings around them and not giving a second thought of what might be waiting for them around the next corner.  How many people do you know who are waiting till the last minute to get serious and expect everything to fall into place without the real knowledge or experience and expect someone else to carry their load?  If I were to exchange your position and place you in a military position with those same people; would you feel comfortable going to war with them? I do want to remind the brokers and managers; it is your responsibility to insure that your agents are trained and are continually training.  But with that being said; it is the responsibility of every agent to insure they are trained and have the ability to accomplish their mission with your customers and their success or failure is a reflection of the training they have received.  The life of your business is being put on the line everyday…are you taking it serious?

I had a set a goal for myself and Saddam Hussein had set the gears in motion so my goal could be obtained.  My goal was to go to war. I needed to challenge myself, I wanted to know how I would react but it was not just me… I had a crew of three other lives that I would be riding with me and five other Bradley crews, (my brothers in arms).  Our mission was reconnaissance, I was assigned to the fourth Cavalry; we were Cavalry Scouts.  We were the eyes and ears of the First Infantry Division and the Division Commander notified us that as soon as we put boots on the ground in Saudi, thing were going to change.  Our roll in the combat scheme was about to change.  On New Years Eve, I kissed my wife good-bye, boarded a bus and headed to the airfield where we boarded a 747 for our journey to war.  We landed in Saudi New Years Day, 1991 and two days later we found out what the change of mission was… We were getting brand new Bradley fighting vehicles with added armor.  We were also going to have three M1 tanks assigned to each platoon.  We were excited… the tankers… not so much.  We spent the next several days training on our new equipment and doing services to insure our equipment was ready for battle.  We uploaded our ammo, hand grenades, explosives, chemical gear and cross loading our equipment from our old Bradley’s and the waiting game would begin. Where were our radios?  A headquarters officer advised us, the radios were waiting for us at forward operations… we wouldn’t need them for transport.  Sounded good to us… So after ten days of training, getting our equipment ready and meeting our new tanker brothers, we were ready to leave our cramped living conditions in Kobar towers and head to the field.  As several of us NCO’s were walking back from chow and entering our sleeping quarters, I was confronted by my platoon sergeant and asked to step inside his quarters, there was a problem.  My gunner was having second thoughts about his roll in combat… He was not sure he could pull the trigger.  I was furious!  I had a nineteen year old observer who had joined the Army to fund his college education, my driver was a married twenty-one year old  new father and he too had joined the Army to fund his college education and now my gunner with fifteen years in the Army doesn’t think he can pull the trigger.  With all the training and our job description, just what did he think he was supposed to be doing…  My thoughts shifted to my crew, my sister tracks and our platoon was short handed.  I needed someone who could not only do their job, but in my absence, take charge, be the leader… for the first time in the months preparing for action… I was scared.  The CO, the adjutant, platoon leader and my platoon Sergeant stood by as I had some of my gunner for desert.  I was asked to step out of the room and shortly afterward my CO asked me if I wanted to head up to the front with my driver to give some security for forward operations, they would work things out when the rest of the squadron got up there and he would see about getting me another gunner… We would be leaving at midnight… when I informed my driver… his lips tightened, he just shook in acknowledgement… our first mission and I was concerned.

How often have you received new equipment and have office training on the operation of the equipment or paid someone from your office to receive special training only to come back to your office and they can’t pull the trigger.

  So what do you do if you had invested time, money, and effort, so when the time comes, your agents and staff didn’t feel like they could pull the trigger and your business depended upon them?  Replace them, with whom?  You don’t have time to hire just anyone… what do you do? The Army has the correct answer; you train them.  You as a manager have too much on your plate to be effective as both the manager and the producer.  If there is a lack of confidence in your team, it may not be their fault; it may be in the fault of the manager for not conducting proper training or establish tough standards or maybe it’s the lack of confidence your people have in the management.  The problem with my track was the leadership had only been in place less than ninety days.  We had been through gunnery and simulators together.  I didn’t believe for a second that it was all my gunners’ lack of confidence in himself, (although I initially did); it happened to be his lack of confidence in me.

Do your agents have confidence in your leadership? Are they confident when they head to the field, they will be successful in their mission?  Can they rely on your experience, will they receive guidance when things get tough and are you confident in yourself that when tough decisions have to be made, you will make the best decision?  The real estate business isn’t much different from combat, (except for that getting shot at thing), where good communications are often lacking and having the right information at the right time would assist us in making the right decisions at the right time.

As the members of the other crews, my driver and I boarded the bus that would take us to our forward operations base, I questioned myself.  I had the lives of three other people who would depend on me in making the right decision. As the bus pulled into the darkness, there wasn’t much talking… mostly silence. It would be a twenty hour bus ride before we met our forward contact and the information he had, put the lives of every soldier on the bus at risk.

To be continued…

What's Holding you Back?

  So you have an entrepreneurial spark inside you; so what do you do?  All too often, you ask the wrong people for advice.  The real question is; do you want advice or do you want an opinion?  If you wanted to be a plumber, would you ask a bartender?  If you wanted to be an attorney, would you ask a plumber?  So why would you ask a friend or a family member about your entrepreneurial ideas, if they have no experience in the field of your desire?  All too often, young entrepreneur’s ideas are squelched because the friend or family member, they were asking, were not interested in the idea or had no idea or experience of how to proceed in the business.  Several of my greatest returns on investment came from projects many of my friends and family said I was crazy for taking on and when the projects were completed and I was celebrating the sale, all too often they were reluctant to admit my success or stated how lucky I had been.

   My suggestion for you, if you want to know if your entrepreneurial idea has merit, ask someone in the business.  Find a mentor to work with or ask for some of their time to answer your questions.  Unless you have been working on a scientific discovery, your entrepreneurial idea has and is being done right now, so don’t try re-inventing the wheel.

  Real estate investment is now on the rise and if you want to jump into the game, I encourage you learn the art of investment before you jump into the game.  Just because your family and friends have bought a house before or have lost a home because of economical conditions, doesn’t make them experts with real estate investment.

  Those late night info-mercials telling you how you can buy real estate without any money and how you can gain riches for a lifetime, (is too good to be true?). For as little as $500 or as much as $19,000, you can learn the secrets to invest in real estate and they will coach you for at least six months and offer to fund your purchases for a little as 2% interest.  Just to let you know, it’s “ Snake Oil Real Estate”, so don’t get sucked into the hype. I offer workshops on how to invest in real estate and you will actually have to do homework and if you choose to participate, a walk through of an investment property with a project coordinator and contractor who will educate you on what to look for and give you an opportunity to evaluate the property for yourself. Keep this in mind, not all areas of the country, has real estate values stopped declining and unless you have the right tools and information, you could lose a lot of your investment so get educated on the right way and the right places to invest.  Gainesville Florida is one of the “Top 10” cities to invest in and I ask you to check out the properties for yourself and rely on investors who have experience in property management, flipping and rehabilitation, "we have over 20 years experience in all those areas".

  It’s never to late to ignite that spark of entrepreneurialism in real estate investment.  Contact us in Gainesville Florida or a Real Estate Investment Specialist in your area to get started.  If you are having difficulties locating an experienced agent with the correct tools, I do offer Real Estate Coaching, so there is no excuse for you not to reach for your dream.

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