Agentjason 2.0

Should you take the listing?

This week I spoke to a friend of mine who attended a real estate gathering recently and he told me that at this event there were two basic camps when it came to listings. ONE: Take the listing only if it's priced right and TWO: Take every listing possible, even if over-priced and try to get the seller to sign a price reduction schedule. I haven't been able to get that out of my mind; because the more I think about it, the more I strongly disagree with one of the philosophies. Guess which one? ;) Floyd taught me long ago that "You don't need them all. Only the ones that will work the way you do." Consider the drawbacks to approach #2:

1. Even though you warn the seller that it may not sell at "their price", when you take the listing at the higher price you send a subtle, even unconscious message that you too think it may just sell. That's giving them false hope and because you know it won't sell at that price...it's really just lying.

2. It takes virtually NO SKILL to list for a higher price and come down later. But it takes selling at a very high level to convince a seller to list it at the right price from the start.

3. It's lazy. The public needs an industry of Realtors who perform as fiduciaries, not order takers.

4. The neighbors know when it's over-priced. Guess who they then view as unskilled? You.

There are a lot of people who read this blog but who I'm really concerned about are my graduates. I would hope that you don't give into the easy way out. That when faced with the "rare" seller who thinks his house is worth more than it really is, you use the Dilemma Technique and our unique pricing visuals. Then if you can't get the right price, terms or length of listing, walk away!

PS. If you need a refresher, pick up a phone and call me.

Call me back already!

Has the world become more and more unprofessional or have people just compeletly lost control of their own actions? Maybe people are being bombarded with more messages than they can handle?

Here's an observation:

73 = # of outgoing calls I made last week
4 = # of calls returned. And no folks I was not cold calling.

Maybe one of the easiest ways to set youself apart from competition and show you care is to pick up the phone and reach out to someone. If you just can't seem to get things done...scroll down a little and click on the book cover for "Getting Things Done". In two weeks it transformed me from a very messy desk person to an eternally spotless desk person.

How do you say Realtor?

We all are bothered by things that seems like no big deal to others. Popping gum, not hitting the gas the split second the light turns green, talking too much to the cashier in the line at Starbucks, talking too loud on an airplane...all things that to me, are like nails on a chalkboard (Ironically, nails on a chalkboard don't bother me that much). Chill out Jason, you say?! Okay, well there is one more thing that drives me crazy. It's the fact that half of our population (and way too many real estate agents) can't pronounce the words Realtor and realty. This week I've noticed it more than usual. Real-la-tor is wrong and makes you sound uneducated. Real-la-ty is wrong and also, makes you sound uneducated. And if you say, "When my listing sales...", you should be smacked. It's "When my listing sells...".

No big deal you say? What facial expression did you make the last time you heard our president say nucular? To be sure, Realtor is on the list of the 100 Most Mispronounced Words.

Can't talk now, in a meeting

Yesterday I called someone on their mobile phone. THEY ANSWERED! When I started the conversation, I was told, "I can't talk now, I'm in a meeting." Now, I know two things about this person:

1. The cell phone & everyone else runs this persons life/schedule. There's no proactive control of the SmartWeek as Floyd would say, and

2. They only think of themselves most of the time.

I've always found it a little strange that people feel bad (or a little embarassed) when they've interrupted someone in a meeting or other activity calling a cell phone. Here's my attitude: You answered your phone you idiot so no one interrupted anything but you!

If there's a chance you won't want to have a conversation, don't answer. What message are you sending to your caller? That you're not as important as the person I'm with now? Most of the time that non-verbal message will be sent to someone with much thinner skin than myself.