John Palmisano

Well, this is a comment I hear when I prospect for listings, and I have heard worst. Some people will say Realtors are no better than a used car salesman. Poor used car salesman they always get picked on. Well, you know I was in the lobby of my office, and unfortunately one of the agents in my office has a 5 year old son, who has Leukemia. Currently we have people donating things so we can purchase raffles, so we can raise money to help the agent with medical expenses, and so forth. I then saw agents who just donated money and did not ask for a raffle, and you know now that people are hurting for money. Anyway, I started thinking about all of those people that Damned me on the phone, and how they have such a poor perception of agents. How we are so greedy and we are only looking to make our commission. What good are we. Agents are just snakes in the grass,etc... Then I looked over and saw that agent dig money out of their pocket and just donate without question. Well, I for one am glad to be associated with all of those Damn Agents, who really have hearts of gold. I have to chuckle now when I hear those comments from buyers and sellers, only if they knew what we are really like.

I went to Mike Ferry's prospecting school, Well I got my butt kicked. I have been prospecting for a few months now on and off. I would go into the office and make my calls, with poor results. I read about the prospecting school on MikeFerry.com and decided to go. I had the typical fears of what are they going to make me do, etc... DO I have to call people I do not want to call! Anyway, I walked away from the school not only with appointments and leads, but a discipline, or example of what I needed to do everyday. Patrick Ferry was there coaching us, he did a wonderful job. He was attentive to our needs and he took a non invasive approach when listening on your call. He would comment and coach you once you where off the call. When I felt more confident in my calls he would then coach me, while speaking to the prospect. We did affirmations twice a day. We would roll play twice a day. There where also some top producers there at the school as well as people similar to me (Newbie), and some in between. the top producers gave me an example that setting 7-10 appointments per day was possible, and the newbies showed me that I am not alone in my lack of experience. You know sometimes you hear the words, and you hear what Mike is saying, but in the school I was given the real life example. If you want to take your prospecting to a new level, or you need to get started. I highly recommend going to the school.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Mike Ferry. I am in 2 on 1 coaching.

P.S. I secured 1 listing from the appointments I set from theschool. I am going on a second listing appointment this week. I have 2 more appointments to go to that I set at the school and I have set another appointment on my own. I have 11 leads to follow up on. Before the school I had no listing appointments, and no leads.

OK, So while doing my prospecting this morning. I decided to start hitting some FSBO's instead of the expireds. Boy, what a day! Almost every call I made to a FSBO, they where hostile and told me that they did not need a Realtor to sell their house. I could not even get passed my first line of my script. Well, I chuckled to my self and thought if Realtors are having a hard time getting houses sold, what makes you think you will get your home sold. Of course I kept this to myself. You know I sometimes go on the FSBO forums, just to see what they are saying. I crack up when I read a FSBO post claiming that the "Damn Realtor" had my house for 6 months and could not get it sold. Then they go on to say how they have been a FSBO for 2 years and don't know why there house is not selling. So lets see you wan t to save that 3-6% commission, but you have been a FSBO for 6 months. You are losing roughly 2% per month on your equity for the last 2 years, and you still have not sold your home, but you saved that commission. Boy, talk about "Cutting your nose off to spite you face." Oh the otherFSBO post I see a lot is "I called all of the brokers in the area and offered 2% to a buyers agent." OK, let me run right over and bring my buyer to a house that there is no guarantee that I will get paid, just so you can pay me the 2% and I can do all of the work, since you have no Idea on what to do. I don't know ,this is just my little rant and rave about FSBO's. But I will be calling the FSBO's tomorrow, so FSBO's beware a Realtor is going to call you.

WHAT IS WESTON?

The City of Weston is located on Florida's southeast coast, in western Broward County.

Weston is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, located 25 miles west of Fort Lauderdale beach and 31 miles north of downtown Miami. Weston is a bedroom community, that is located near some of the finer attractions that the "bigger" cities provide, yet it is able to maintain a home-town feel that so many people enjoy. If the "big" city is not what you want, many fine dining and shopping opportunities exist within the city limits, making it possible to never really have to leave to find what you are looking for. Weston truly has it all.

Built to give Weston a "home-town" feel, Weston Town Center provides shopping and dinning for many residents and non-residents alike. There are activities organized there all year long, such as multi-cultural events, a 4^th of July parade, and Halloween trick-or-treating. Adults can find their fill of night life and dining, while kids can enjoy family-style meals with their parents and friends. Small stores and boutiques line the streets of Town Center, with many residents becoming loyal followers to Weston owned and runned businesses.

Many residents have flocked to Weston because of its park-like atmosphere, its focus on family living, and its priorities toward children and schools.

All the schools in Weston have maintained an A+ rating over the past 5 years. There is a huge amount of community and family involvement in all of them, and they consistently produce some of the best FCAT scores in the county and the state. Children also have the opportunity to enjoy the many parks and recreational opportunities, as well as the educational and entertainment events held throughout the city all year long. Whether it is watching a movie under the stars in the park, joining an athletic team, hearing a philharmonic play, or visiting the local library, children never have to go far from home to participate, and many of the events are appropriate for the entire family. There is a sense in Weston that children belong to the community, and there is a genuine sense of caring for the welfare of all children.

Weston was named one of the 25 most affordable suburbs in the United States by BusinessWeek.com.

According to the US Census in 2006, Weston had the lowest poverty rate in 2005, just over 1%, among US cities with a population of more than 65,000.

In 2007, CityTownInfo.com rated Weston as being a top city for college educated adults.

Once you have experienced the City of Weston, you will have to agree, it is a wonderful choice for families. With all there is to experience, it is worth the time to explore. So relax and enjoy, you will be glad that you did!

I wanted to know if everyone is seeing more activity in their markets. I am here in South Florida and I am getting calls daily from people looking to buy a home. Really a second home and they are usually from out of state. I am also getting calls for rental property. The market has a way to go before it gets back to a balanced market, but sure is positive to see it moving in the right direction. Broward County has 1300 REO's currently on the market out of 14,473 homes that are for sale, this does not include short sales. So 11 percent of the market is Bank Owned. Short sales are about 32 percent of the market, with 4,682 homes on the market that are selling short. I guess people are feeling that the market in South Florida has some pretty good deals right now

What are other markets like right now? Are you seeing more activity since the new year? What is your prediction for the new year.