Deb Brooks, Lake Conroe Real Estate, 936-661-2624

Take Charge of Your Attitude and Sell More Real Estate!

IMHO...

Our attitudes, as well as our thoughts, actions and the love we choose to give are all CHOICES.

If you want a better attitude....make better choices.

Be grateful there is work to be done. Boredom kills and challenges keep you "thinking".

Quit grumbling and count your blessings. We all have them.

Thank our Nation for giving us the right and the choice to vote.

Thank our customers for being loyal.

Offer to help a friend, colleague, or client with no expectations.

Remind your clients that you will be there for them when they need you.

Allow yourself only two kinds of days....good and great. It's your choice.

Your answer to, "how is business" should be "GREAT." (would you want to do business with a whiney, gripey, naysayer? Not me...

Say, "thank you" with your heart. Even if you wish the outcome were different.

Open your mind to alternative thinking...work the mind without judgement.

Be glad to be here and others will be glad to be around you!

My list could go on for days...Just remember that if you place your best attitude forward you will acquire business. You are the kind of person everyone WANTS to work with.

And, I'm talking to myself here too!

Believe it. Live it.

Is anyone else's head spinning like mine? Geeze, everything is changing! I realize that nothing remains the same but in the "good ole' days" they stayed the same for a lot longer. And, the changes were not just slammed in your face! Changes happened gradually with plenty of time and acceptance to get a grip on how we need to do things. In fact, gas prices did not jump so hard in a day! Fashions changed from a butterfly collar to a straight angled collar and the rest of the blouse was the same. One digit was added to our phone number at a time and our lives moved a lot slower.

Children today, by the time they are two, are playing games on Smart Phones and learning to read on the computer. Computers and technology are simply a part of their lives and they adapt as easily as the wind shifts...

Then there's me.

And, probably a few of you too that just don't catch on that easily!

I hit a button on FB the other day and up popped a screen I had never seen and I really hate the change! I want my own screen back but I can't find it.

Now, I read and see that ActiveRain is going to start messing with my head too...why oh why must you do this to me ActiveRain????

I'm an old dog and it's tough to teach me new tricks!

Okay, I know you are simply trying to make a great site better but take it slow and easy on us please! I understand that women in my age group, (still going on 39), are your heaviest users. Surely I can't be the only one worried about readapting!!!

I have to think hard and heavy when I go to change clothes!

I'm just a little worried and will attempt to learn without trepidation.

I love you just the way you are! Be gentle!

A New Look and Feel on ActiveRain Launches on Tuesday January 24

Are we in Real Estate or Education?

My answer is BOTH. Part, a large part, is the educational process of our customers and clients. If we were to define our positions of Realtors®, and the insignia ®, one of our main duties is to educate and watch the backs of our buyers. When you get a phone call or email contact from a person looking for a property, what do you do? Do you help them learn about our business? Are you Teaching them what they need to know?

Do you say, "sure, I'll show you" or do you say, "May we discuss what it takes to purchase a home?"

Which one do you think is the right way to go?

You do not have to answer that.

I know you know the answer.

We could run and show the home to whomever chooses to want to see it or we could "QUALIFY" the customer/client and decide the best way to proceed. I have found that the main way to proceed is to EDUCATE the interested party.

Do I want to show them something they can't have?
no...

Do I want to spend my time (which equates to money) showing without qualifying properly?
no...

Do I want to create "desire" for a home that a client does not qualify for?
heck no...

Do I want to disappoint my client or customer or waste their time?
of course not...

Do I want to send paperwork to a potential lender knowing they have a snowball's chance in Hades to qualify?
Nope...

These are all great reasons to qualify your client!

But, here comes the Key that makes you an Educator/Teacher. Once you have established that your client is qualified to purchase, the work begins.

Remember to Teach the Specifics and the "Protocol of the Process..."

"We, the REALTORS®, hold Your desire of home ownership in our hands...not by being able to grant your wish but by "Teaching" you the way to make your dreams come true!"

Deb Brooks, REALTOR ®

In Real Estate it truly hurts. It hurts everyone. Two major facts in our business will forever remain the same. People in general want a roof over their heads to call home and it's easier to love it and call it "home" if you hold the deed. Rentals are beginning to skyrocket and why?

This is a true to life analogy that tells the story...

Currently on our books is a pending sale for the amount of $605,000. Not bad, huh? The client is financially superb. The appraisal on the home came in at a much higher number so there is plenty of justification for the cost. The client is placing enough money down so that he is only financing $175,000...that's a lot of money down wouldn't you say? Our client has multiple accounts with Chase Bank to the tune of over $1,000.000.00.

Now, this is a "no brainer".

NOT...

Chase Bank has returned to the client for a forth time now asking for verification of minor details, paperwork, proof of funds (held by Chase itself) and hoops of all kinds are having to be jumped! Chase sits on it and won't even turn it into underwriting till it's spot on. Come on! The client is so frustrated that he is seeking an in-house loan from a small bank that would hold the note themselves instead of selling the note to Fanny and Freddie.

AWWWW....there's the glitch. Chase wants to sell the note to Fanny and Freddie so all governmental policies and i's and t's must be dotted and crossed. Now that our lives are being run by the government the pendulum has swung in the wrong direction.

Who cares if the note doesn't sell?

The government will take care of it...right?

"sigh"

If you read the recently published post by Active Rain you will realize the amount of information they gathered is totally invaluable to your business.

And, this applies to you. From the moment I began Real Estate, I have invested a great amount of money in Advertising and On-line Presence. Most of my On-line Presence is self generated but not all of it. With all the sites featuring Real Estate such as Homes.com, Zillow, Twitter, Craigslist, and of course Facebook, I have found that most of my business in dollars $$$'s have been generated from ActiveRain!

ActiveRain is a site that has spread throughout the Real Estate Industry like a wildfire in Texas.

Why not? It's hot!

The other day I was googling a couple of subjects where I needed to expand my knowledge and low and behold, on the first page were posts of mine! Talk about being shocked, overwhelmed and honored at the same time, my head was spinning! Here I am looking for answers and there I was! Google had chosen me as an expert! Now, I do not claim to be an expert on anything! I love to write and I try and serve my clients the way they deserve to be served with strong ethics, personal service and knowledge. But, our greatest friend, Active Rain had me on the first page for my own questions!

Now, I attribute this to many factors but there is no fudging about the truth. Active Rain has taught me how to write with appropriate SEO, the right title, the way to categorize my posts, the way to use Localism and the right way to communicate with Google! Thank you! Active Rain, you will always be my hero. And, they are recommending a service that I do not think we can actually pass up. I have placed my trust and faith in AR for so many years now I simply must listen!

If you have not read the ActiveRain published post Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate Agent then this is a MUST READ! Read the post for the total nuts and bolts of your marketing analysis today!

The post reiterates what most of you know yet have forgotten! With the economy as it stands, each of us are attempting to save our money. The bottom line is, "It Takes Money To Make Money!" and how often have you heard this term? How often has it sunk in to your consciousness that it is a true statement? It's time to face it my friend! We have to spend the money to stay in the game! Now, also what we have to do is to become extremely astute to what is going on around us to give us the return! We have no money to waste or to burn!

Our dollar needs to return ten!!!

How is this possible?

Why is it that:

• We are 16 years into the Internet Revolution and three years into the Do Not Call Registry, YET more real estate agents knock on doors and cold call than advertise on the Internet.
  
  
• Realtor.com is the official site of the National Association Realtors (NAR) and has been around for 15 years (or so), but is falling behind Trulia in real estate agent usage, and only slightly ahead of Zillow, both of which have existed for 5-6 years now.
  
  
• Direct mail is the most popular form of real estate advertising. The US Government and Postal Workers Union thank you.
  
  
• Only 15-16% of real estate agents use an assistant to help with marketing. How valuable is your time? If you use this as a metric, most real estate professionals don’t think their time is that valuable .

Quote by Active Rain.


Oh, and don't forget this quote from Active Rain! Girls, are you going to continue to let this happen?

Demographics:

• Rich real estate agents tend to be MEN (58% male). Poor real estate agents tended to be WOMEN (60% female). 47% of the survey was male.
• Rich real estate agents have 11-20 years of real estate experience. Poor real estate agents had 4-5 five years of experience. The average was 6-10 years of experience.
• The average age of the respondent was 51-60 years old. S/he is a college grad with moderate technology experience. Age did not matter between rich and poor real estate agents.
• Quote: ActiveRain
  

Okay, now that you are totally confused and perturbed with no answers coming your way, get your questions out of your "mind pocket" and tell US about them.

Revelation! Another quote! The average age of the respondent was 51-60 years old. Ladies, are we going to stand for this? Are we letting our pride go to these stats? No way! Let's conquer these stats today!

SIGH, How do they know these things?


MEGA QUESTION OF THE DAY...Why is the word FACEBOOK on the spell check and GOOGLE is not?

ACCOLADES to the person that can explain this to me!

NOW, READ THROUGH THE MESSAGE BELOW OR EXPERIENCE A SLOW YET CERTAIN BUSINESS DEMISE!

Data provided by ActiveRain.com. Join 215,590 Real Estate Agents on the world's largest Real Estate Social Network.

Stay Tuned!