I finally commenced a project I have been contemplating for some time:  I started printing out pages of property description text from various Bloodhound Realty single property web sites to put into a three ring binder, so I can refer to them for inspiration on those days that I struggle to come up with something interesting to write in a property’s listing remarks.

Following Bloodhound Realty for the past couple years, I am always amazed at, and envious of, the quantity and quality of rhapsodic text produced on a regular ongoing basis by the Bloodhound crew.

In that spirit I offer Friday’s Listing Remarks Haiku:

A poem.  By Cheryl Johnson.

this is a nice house
two bedrooms one bath fenced yard
call for lockbox code

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Flat out and miles to go before I sleep. I’ve told Cathy to make my excuses this way: Greg is wearing three hats, and none of them is a nightcap. This is a reminder to you from me from last week:

If you’re in Phoenix on Friday, May 9th, Brian and I will be doing two 2.5 hour Unchained previews at the Mesquite Branch of the Phoenix Public Library (4525 Paradise Village Parkway North, Phoenix, AZ 85032). We’ll be talking to Realtors from 9:30 am to 12 Noon, and to Lenders from 1 pm to 3:30 pm. These two events are free — provided you pay attention — sponsored by Chicago Title and Mortgage Solutions of Arizona. RSVP with Lisa Capes at Chicago Title — 480-695-3136 — if you want to come.

Brian Brady is here in Phoenix, which is a real treat for me. I will tell you that he is itching to raise the price on Unchained tickets, so tonight may be your last chance to lock down the $199 price for all three days of the conference.

We may shoot some just-for-fun videos tomorrow. If we do, I’ll post them tomorrow night.

Technorati Tags: blogging, BloodhoundBlog Unchained, real estate, real estate marketing, real estate training, technology

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One of the best parts of BHB for me, is taking the ideas and the round tablediscussions that happen here and bringing them to the street.  (I must admit an occasional guilty pleasure taken, when I use the knowledge I glean from BHB to steer and even dominate these discussions.  I am shamelessly looking forward to Unchained, that I might return a 600lb gorilla in gorilla marketing.)  There has been some very interesting debate recently, both here and on other blogs, over the valuation of real estate services.  It is a tough dialogue because large amounts of money are involved and strong feelings abound. 

But asking the agents I work with what they think of the NAR, their sense on the moral obligation of a contract and how they value their services opens up new view points and sheds more light on these issues.  Recently I was talking to a Realtor I know and respect about how to answer the question of commission and agent value.  Now, there may be many right answers to this question; but I have yet to hear one that cannot be debated and diminished.  Not due so much to anyone’s superior skills as a wordsmith but rather the multi-faceted nature of the topic.  This agent and I, however, after deciding that the premise of the question itself was suspect, eventually decided that there is one answer that is inarguable, morally justified and epistemologically sound.  The very simple answer to the question of how one justifies their commission is this:

I am a real estate agent and, by definition, an entrepreneur.  I am in business to make a profit.  I charge what the market will bear.

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This is going to be a really short post. I keep on promising Teri Lussier that I am going to get some serious Twittering going on in our brokerage. Truthfully, I have been too busy on all of my projects like the contest and the industry newspaper to get there.

This news item might change my mind though! (grin)

Teri and Brian, I promise I will do a better job of Twittering, just in case!

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This came in over the transom, and I think it is a thing of beauty. The ludicrous notion that buyers don’t pay for real estate representation induces too many buyers to be lax in choosing their Realtor. Everything we do is based on delivering value, so we do best with people who are sharp enough to shop for value. When I read this in my email inbox, I sat and marveled at all that it portends.

Like this: Most internet leads stink. Suzy with no last name (aka SuZQ1983@hotmail.com) might be cute and spunky, but she’s probably not motivated, and it’s good odds she’s not financially qualified.

But: The internet enables serious people to shop until they find exactly what they want, even as it teaches them how to want wisely and in exacting detail.

And: People who shop that way will not care that a Realtor was a high school tennis star or the immediate past president of the Junior League. Everything that chummy, clubby Realtors have used forever to get by has gone by the wayside. When people finally learn to shop for value, they shop for nothing but value.

With that, permit me to introduce you to my kind of clients. The specifics have been fictionalized, but the underlying email is real:

Currently we are email interviewing several Realtors in our area of interest in Arizona. We would like your response as to whether you would be interested in having us as your clients. We have created this document introducing ourselves.

Summary:

We are a couple in our forties who are moving from the state of Washington to the state of Arizona. We have specific requirements for a house, and we have a short period to purchase it. Our current house should close at the end of June. In the event we can not purchase a house in with a close date near then, we will either rent or lease a home.

We are looking in the Glendale to Scottsdale area, and we are looking at the $360K to $460K price range.

1. Who we are…

   Carl Halverson, government statistician working in the US treasury department. Carl’s hobby is woodworking, and he has several large wood working tools. Carl will be working from home two or three days a week. Carl has asthma, one of the main reasons for our move.

   Alice Halverson, former aerospace systems engineer, and unix administrator. Alice’s hobby is running a personal website and email server from the home.

   We have no children. We lost our rottweiler last year, and we plan to bring another rottweiler into our home and therefore we need a backyard. We have also in the past have had one of our dogs die in a drowning accident at someone’s home, so we have little interest in a pool.

   For us, function and structure has an equal, and sometimes greater, importance than style.

2. What we would like… (understanding we may not get everything)
   • A secure neighborhood, but not a gated community
   • A single story preferred, 4 bedroom, 2+ bathroom in an established neighborhood. We are not interested in a new house or a very new neighborhood.
   • A three-car garage or equivalent for single car storage and a workshop. We would also consider a two car garage if there was a separate shop.
   • A partially landscaped enclosed (opaque fencing/wall) backyard big enough for large dogs
   • No pool, a wading pool would be acceptable if it does not take up a large portion of the backyard, and is either fenced or is easily fenced.
   • Either no CCR’s or one that only covers common areas – There must be no neighborhood restrictions on Carl’s workshop (noise etc…), or restrictions on the breed of pets.
   • High speed DSL connectivity.
   • Kitchen preferably with a closet style pantry.
   • Interior laundry room because more than likely the garage will be a shop (wood dust and clean clothes don’t mix).
   • Large master bedroom suite with a large master bathroom.
   • Hard material floor finishes are preferred – Carpeting will have to be removed due to allergies and asthma.
   • RV parking access through a side gate preferred
3. Who we would like…
   • A broker with experience in the area, who has completed certifications.
   • Someone who understands our house requirements, and our age group.
   • Someone who doesn’t object to our need for a large dog.
   • Someone who will help us migrate to our new home, by providing us with good information on utilities, etc…
   • Someone who can give us recommendations for contractors.
4. Mistakes a realtor can make…
   • Showing us property with a pool, without telling us why, first.
   • Showing us houses that cannot be dog-friendly and have room for a shop.
5. Inspections/Similar we will require…
   • A home inspection by an investigator who belongs to a home inspection association/organization (inspection to include any pests)
   • A roof inspection by a licensed company
   • A electrical inspection/initial quote to convert a portion of garage space into a workshop [subpanel 100 AM, safety AFCI, GFCI].
   • Specific ages of major appliances and HVAC systems

If we sound intimidating, you probably should pass on evaluating us as clients. We have had problems with realtors in the past, because we are honest people who like to be straight and forward. We will want questions answered clearly, and our concerns addressed intelligently.

This is so easy. This is a detailed road map of how to succeed — not just with these clients, but with all clients. If you treat everyone the way the Halverson’s want to be treated, you’ve got the whole thing clocked.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

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This is quoted from a John Derbyshire dismissal of a creationist documentary film. That much is good. This much is great:

Western civilization has many glories. There are the legacies of the ancients, in literature and thought. There are the late-medieval cathedrals, those huge miracles of stone, statuary, and spiritual devotion. There is painting, music, the orderly cityscapes of Renaissance Italy, the peaceful, self-governed townships of old New England and the Frontier, the steel marvels of the early industrial revolution, our parliaments and courts of law, our great universities with their spirit of restless inquiry.

And there is science, perhaps the greatest of all our achievements, because nowhere else on earth did it appear. China, India, the Muslim world, all had fine cities and systems of law, architecture and painting, poetry and prose, religion and philosophy. None of them ever accomplished what began in northwest Europe in the later 17th century, though: a scientific revolution. Thoughtful men and women came together in learned societies to compare notes on their observations of the natural world, to test their ideas in experiments, and in reasoned argument against the ideas of others, and to publish their results in learned journals. A body of common knowledge gradually accumulated. Patterns were observed, laws discerned and stated.

If I write with more feeling than usual here it is because I have just shipped off a review to an editor (for another magazine) of Gino Segrè’s new book about the history of quantum mechanics. It’s a good, if not very remarkable, book giving pen-portraits of the great players in physics during the 1920s and 1930s, and of their meetings and disagreements. Segrè, a particle physicist himself, who has been around for a while, knew some of these people personally, and of course heard many anecdotes from their intellectual descendants. It’s a “warm” book, full of feeling for the scientists and their magnificent enterprise, struggling with some of the most difficult problems the human intellect has ever confronted, striving with all their powers to understand what can barely be understood.

Gino Segrè’s book — and, of course, hundreds like it (I have, ahem, dabbled myself) brings to us a feeling for what the scientific endeavor is like, and how painfully its triumphs are won, with what sweat and tears. Our scientific theories are the crowning adornments of our civilization, towering monuments of intellectual effort, built from untold millions of hours of observation, measurement, classification, discussion, and deliberation. This is quite apart from their wonderful utility — from the light, heat, and mobility they give us, the drugs and the gadgets and the media. (A “thank you” wouldn’t go amiss.) Simply as intellectual constructs, our well-established scientific theories are awe-inspiring.

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This is a sad day for BloodhoundBlog. Russell Shaw, who was our first contributor after Cathleen and me, has elected to stop writing with us.

Of possibly more immediate import to people reading this, Russell has decided not to participate in BloodhoundBlog Unchained. If you feel his absence will significantly impact the value you expect to receive from Unchained, let me know by email and I will arrange to have your money refunded to you.

Russell has been a consistent boon to BloodhoundBlog and to the RE.net in general. We will joyously celebrate any future contributions he makes to the wired world of real estate. We have never killed an account, so we will be twice delighted if Russ should choose at some time to return to the pack.

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Much ado about Galen Ward’s Truliamazing Tricks of the Trade! Greg has already written a fantastic post about the reaction, so I won’t spend any time rehashing. An interesting side note that has been brought up by a few commentators is why Trulia is really kicking butt in the SERPs. It’s their Truliamazing Trojan Horse(s)!

Linkbait is one of the most powerful tools a white hat SEO can come up with. It can come in the form of interesting content (ahem, BHB,) controversial content, and neat tools that include a link back to the creator. Linkbait is by no means a bad thing. It’s part of what makes interesting/cool sites rank highly in the search engines. Google like-a-da-linkbait!

However, linkbait can definitely be a bad thing to you - in your market. If one of your local competitors cooks up some tasty linkbait, and you happen to repost it, and link to them, you’re helping your competitor rank higher than you in the search engines.

Trulia is truly kicking butt in the SERPs (for big time terms, and for long tails) because they’ve cooked up some solid linkbait in the form of widgets.

Let’s focus on one widget, and why it works - the “Trulia Stats” widget. (Oh, let’s also completely ignore how terribly inaccurate this widget is.)

Take a look at the bottom links that are included on the Trulia stat - “Austin Real Estate” which links to their Austin page, and “Trulia” which links to their main page. When you post this widget, you effectively tell Google that Trulia is the authority for your market, and then you give them another vote to their index page, which helps them kill it in the longtails.

So….what to do?

I would recommend not using the widgets at all (did I mention they’re really inaccurate?) However, if you want to be a “Truliamazing Agent” and act just like Trulia, then you can go ahead and post the widget, and either delete the link, or add the rel=”nofollow” tag. After all, you just trust their data - you don’t trust the source, right?

Here’s the (slightly modified) code for Trulia Stats:

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:300"><tr><td style="text-align:center;" align="center"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" width="300" height="323" id="sample" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="movie" value="http://widgets.trulia.com/300_short.swf?rand=12926937" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="FlashVars" value="place1_nhood_code=&place1_nhood=&place1_color=526131&place1_city=Austin&place1_state=TX&place2_nhood_code=&place2_color=&place2_nhood=&place2_city=&place2_state=&show_price_tab=true&show_volume_tab=true&bg_color=F0F2D8&header_bg_color=526131&header_text_color=FFFFFF&link_color=62A1D1&text_color=000000&price_type=Average&custom_text=Local+Real+Estate+Trends&show_search=true&rand=12926937"> <embed src="http://widgets.trulia.com/300_short.swf?rand=12926937" quality="high" bgcolor="#FFFFFF;" width="300" height="323" name="sample" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" FlashVars="place1_nhood_code=&place1_nhood=&place1_color=526131&place1_city=Austin&place1_state=TX&place2_nhood_code=&place2_color=&place2_nhood=&place2_city=&place2_state=&show_price_tab=true&show_volume_tab=true&bg_color=F0F2D8&header_bg_color=526131&header_text_color=FFFFFF&link_color=62A1D1&text_color=000000&price_type=Average&custom_text=Local+Real+Estate+Trends&show_search=true&rand=12926937" /> </object></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;" align="center"><a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.trulia.com/TX/Austin/”><font color=”#000000″ face=”arial” size=”1″><u>Austin Real Estate</u></font></a> - <a rel=”nofollow” style=”color:#62A1D1;” href=”http://www.trulia.com”><font color=”#000000″ face=”arial” size=”1″><u>Trulia</u></font></a></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>

Do you see the big, red rel=”nofollow” tags that I added? Just add those to your Trulia widgets (anywhere after the “a” and before the “href”,) and you’ll make sure that you’re not helping Trulia beat you in the search engines. Or you could just not use the widgets. Please email me if you need help.

Vote this up | Puurple.com!

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As the real estate industry awaits the long anticipated trial pitting the Department of Justice vs. The National Association of Realtors, another Multiple Listing Service has been targeted by the DOJ.

On May 2, 2008, the DOJ filed suit against the Consolidated Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) of Columbia, South Carolina. The suit challenges the manner in which the CMLS operates and governs its members.

The lawsuit states that CMLS rules unreasonably restricts competition among real estate brokers and has caused consumers in the Columbia area to pay more for the services of real estate agents and brokers.

The lawsuit alleges in part that the CMLS mandates that real estate agents and brokers perform a myriad of obligatory services, which provides for a reduced level of customer service and limits consumer choice.

The suit also states that these mandatory services provides for an exclusion of competitors who might offer innovative options that could provide better services to consumers in that area.

“Buying or selling a home is one of the most significant financial transactions in the lives of most Americans. The kinds of rules CMLS imposes stifle competition to the advantage of its members and the disadvantage of home buyers and sellers,” said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division.

“Today’s lawsuit seeks to remove unlawful impediments to competition for real estate brokerage services in the Columbia area, so that consumers will benefit from the additional options and reduced fees that competition can bring.”

The MLS in most areas allows for the free exchange of information by and between its members regarding available homes on the market. The efficiency of the CMLS, or any MLS for that matter, can be a benefit to the consumer.

The DOJ contends that certain practices by the CMLS negatively impacts how the real estate industry members can choose to operate their businesses and accordingly adversely influences competition.

Specifically cited are rules imposed by the CMLS wherein its members are not allowed to offer a home sellers the opportunity to avoid paying a broker’s commission if the seller locates a buyer on his or her own.

CMLS rules require brokers to be involved in certain aspects of the real estate transaction, even if the Seller does not want the service or can find a similar service less expensively in order to save money on the fees charged by the real estate agent or broker.

The DOJ’s lawsuit challenges CMLS rules that the Government feels unreasonably restrain trade and competition among real estate brokers and thereby lead to reduced consumer choice and higher fees paid by consumers.

The CMLS in Columbia may not be the last MLS organization in the cross hairs of the DOJ. Justice Department spokeswoman Megan Gerking said the antitrust division has been monitoring multiple listing services in the past few years to ensure they are “competitively efficient.”

As we continue to see these lawsuits filed against MLS organizations and the DOJ’s obvious intent to bring down the MLS, why is it that so many real estate agents are not preparing for the inevitable?

I read stories and write stories about the ongoing assault that the DOJ is waging against the anti-trust laden operations of MLS orgs. These bastions of information, the gatekeepers of what is holy to a real estate agent are truly under attack.

it’s not like MLS operators are not being forewarned. Obviously reading about these lawsuits, MLS operators should be re-assessing how they are conducting business. In fact the CMLS was warned they would be sued on April 17, 2008 and despite meetings to amend some aspects of their operation, they still would not amend their operations to come into compliance.

Who runs these boards and what makes them think it’s okay to spend the members money fighting a lawsuit they have little chance of winning?

I keep reading on blogs in the RE Net from advocates supporting the NAR and its member organizations. I don’t understand how one can support such an obviously misguided and allegedly illegal run operation. It’s one thing to be a team player, it’s another to exist in a state of obfuscation which it seems that blind-following faithful must.

the MLS is not going to survive in it’s present state. Any reasonably thinking adult can clearly see this. The government has made the elimination of the MLS as a private members only discriminatory club a definite priority.

The consumer wants the walls torn down and with the assistance of the mighty hand of the DOJ can it be anything less than a certainty? The first it seems to fall or become insignificant will be the object of the aforementioned flagship lawsuit, the DOJ v. NAR.

Once the head of the snake is removed it will make it much harder, if not impossible, for subsequent MLS lawsuits to be won by the local boards seeking to defend them. Once a precedent is obtained in Federal Court regarding these MLS lawsuits, what will be the outcome?

It is doubtful the MLS will survive in its present form. The prudent agent would be preparing themselves as a mercenary. Ready to go either way.

The application of the Sherman Act has brought down quite a few companies and inflicted huge monetary damages against others. It’s sword is sharp and it’s blade will not dull.

Whether you like it or not, the revolution is truly under way.

For further information see this previous article.

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I, like some of you, have just received the AAR’s May newsletter, in which Christopher A. Combs, AAR’s ”legal hotline” counsel, provides a legal treatise on a contractual issue regarding short sales in Arizona.  I direct your attention to Exhibit A (page 11, dab-smack in the middle of the page). 

In this article, Mr. Combs Esq. indicates that a “short seller” can accept as many offers as they can possibly get for their home, but that only the first one is “active,” will all subsequent offers being in a “back-up” position. 

Now, to me, what this means is that the first offer I get is the “active offer,” and only that offer can be sent to the lender. Any subsequent offers will be on hold, unless, and until, something goes wrong with the first offer.  If the buyer flakes out, or the lender rejects the first offer, we then send them our “next in line,” and hope for the best.

The way I see it, this is a clear breach of my fiduciary duty to my client. My duty is to sell the client’s property. Now, because of the nature of a short sale, my client, in fact, has very little to do with the process. He could care less how much I sell his property for, as he really has no control over whether it sells or not. Is it not in the best interest of my client to “accept” any and all offers, as they come in, and submit them to the lender, and let the lender decide which one, if any, they will accept?  By dragging out the process of “oh. . .you don’t like that one? Let me send you this one. . .,” am I not doing even more damage to my client’s credit? Am I not to act in a timely manner, and get the most money for my client’s property as I can, so that we have a greater chance of getting the deal done?

This nonsense from the legal hotline seems to hamstring me while trying to perform my fiduciary duty to my client. The only remedy I can see is to have each and every potential buyer sign an addendum to the contract which essentially states:

“You do not have a legally binding contract with the seller, contrary to you or your realtor’s opinion. Any and all offers will be submitted to the lender, in the order in which they  arrive. Your offer will not be assigned priority or legal positional standing. The lender(s) and the lender(s) alone will determine which, if any, offer they will accept and take to closing.”

 See any other way around this impediment?
Allen

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Galen Ward’s post on Trulia.com’s policy of adding “nofollow” tags to links back to its own listings partners has elicited quite a bit of controversy.

The original post itself excited a great deal of commentary, and this is explored in encyclopedic detail in a fascinating post by Union Street Media’s Gahlord Dewald.

Trulia.com’s Rudy Bachraty participated for a while in that comment thread, then elected to take the respondent’s side of the debate back to Trulia’s home weblog, where head honcho Pete Flint made an effort to put out the fire. Comments there have been noticeably light, which made me wonder if Trulia has learned ahead of the curve why video commenting is a stoopid idea.

The story was picked up by Inman News today.

I am in the perhaps unique position of being just barely smart enough to explain what’s going on within what might well seem to others to be a blizzard of jargon.

Start here: I observed that Trulia is achieving truly amazing long-tail search results.

Galen pointed out that an ancillary reason for this is that Trulia is not allowing search engines to “follow” its links to its listing partners.

In other words, you — or your broker or your brokerage chain — feed Trulia.com a real estate listing, the primary content it uses to sell advertising. That listing will link back to its source (in hierarchical order: brokerage chain, broker, then lowly you if neither of the others is coming between you and your listing). But that link will include a “nofollow” tag, which means that when search engines see that listing page on Trulia, they will not queue your own page for spidering, nor will they in any other way regard that link as lending any strength to your page.

In still other words, Trulia is happy to feast on your crackers, but it’s not about to share any of its Google juice with you.

Trulia’s claims about why it is not doing this are specious and bogus, in my opinion, but you can read their side of the story at their weblog.

Does this actually matter? I think so, for two reasons. First, the link back from Trulia.com to your web site will be a very high-authority link, very good for your own SEO. Second, if someone is entering a long-tail search term for your listing — for example, the exact street address — Trulia.com is doing everything it can to elbow you out of the way on search traffic for your own listings.

By contrast, Zillow.com does not add nofollow tags to links back to agent- or broker-supplied listings.

By contrasting contrast, for now Zillow is adding nofollow tags to the effectively unlimited links in the “About Me” section of user-supplied profiles (but not in the “Contact Information” section). In contrast to that, Trulia.com is not adding nofollow tags to profile links — except that profile links are hugely restricted on Trulia.com.

Is that much as clear as mud?

Let’s start here: This is a link to my profile as I wish it were appearing on Realty.bot sites.

This is that same profile on Zillow.com. They won’t let me put my pictures exactly where I want them, but mostly they’re staying out of my hair. For now, Zillow.com is adding nofollow tags to the profile links, but Zillow has said this is an error that they are in the process of correcting.

This is that same profile on Trulia.com. No photos, no links, no personality. The regimented links up at the top don’t have the nofollow tag, but all of my other links have been stripped out of the HTML.

My take on all of this, from the point of view of an SEO layman: Trulia.com is not being an honest broker about this. The clear intent of putting nofollow tags on listings supplied by agents, brokers and brokerage chains is to compete with or eclipse those suppliers on the long-tail search terms that should be coming directly to those suppliers.

If Trulia can grab the click first, it gets the ad revenue, and, possibly, also the added “featured listing” type of revenue. This is not nearly as odious a Chokepoint Charlie type of strategy as those deployed by lead vendors or Realtor.com, but it is of a piece with the same kind of thinking: Trulia.com wants to interpose itself between consumers of real estate services — buyers and sellers — and vendors of real estate services — agents, brokers and brokerages.

That by itself is not outrageous, but deliberately crippling the SEO results of its listing partners, in order to outpace them in search results, definitely is.

Zillow’s way of handling links back to listings is better — including its inversion of Trulia’s top-down hierarchy. Everyone supplying listings to Trulia.com should make their dissatisfaction with its practices known.

Technorati Tags: blogging, disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing, technology

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Take it from someone who for years did what he thought would produce, but in reality experienced haphazard results. There’s a huge difference in the quality of results (read: success/failure) when the actions taken to produce said results were proceeded by an easily defined thought — followed by a slamdunk belief in said thought — which generates behaviors, followed closely by expectations of successful results. It really comes down to this: We know what we know, and we tend to act on what we know. Not what we hope. Not what we theorize. What we know. If you say you believe something to be true, and you can honestly substitute the word ‘know’ for believe, you’ll succeed.

Make sense?

I understand for most readers, it’s certainly not a new concept. Most of us have heard various versions of this since somewhere in our childhood. Years ago, I experienced a spontaneous breakthrough of clarity. I was talking one day with someone who knew me too well. She compared the difference between my behavior when I strongly believed something to when she felt I knew something to be true. I demurred with much volume and histrionics until she smiled and gave me a few recent and inarguably concrete examples. I hung my head in shame.

She then asked me one of the most important questions I’ve ever had to answer. What methods of acquiring new business was I using knowing it would produce results?

Substitute the word ‘know’ for ‘believe’ and tell me what you think about your goals for this year, if you have them. Do you believe the methods you’re employing to attain them will work, or do you know? And for the record? This isn’t some Kumbaya, rah-rah, ‘ya gotta believe’ crappola for the soft headed out there who need to feel good for an hour or so.

The Point?

What we think of most of the time is what we become. (Paraphrased — hat tip to King Solomon)

If we’re consistently wondering if what we’re doing will produce the results we’re pursuing, we’re on the doubt train headed to who knows where. It’s a good bet thinking those thoughts daily won’t lead to the party at the end of the year celebrating goal attainment.

When I still umpired college ball, (I still miss it like breathing.) it became easy to spot those who absolutely knew they belonged at that level. The others? They rarely lasted more than a handful of games. Baseball eats its young. They’re like lions smelling fear. On the other hand, when they run into an umpire who knows they belong, players, coaches, and most importantly, the umpire’s attitude is observably different. They get tested. They earn their stripes. They’re seen as college umpires.

Expectations Change When We KNOW

Do you expect to hit your goals because you know it’s gonna happen? Again, go back to something for which you have unshakeable belief. You expect the sun to set in the west every day for the rest of your life? Yep. Doesn’t that expectation result from the fact you know it’s gonna set in the west? Sure it does. Baseball fields are designed directionally expecting the sun to set in the west. See? Behavior follows unflinching belief (knowledge).

Make sense?

Trends and cycles in real estate are not under our control. What we think, what we convince ourselves we know, is. Not too long ago I wrote a post in which I offered to consult with a limited number of agents. I’d show them what I thought they could do to increase their income. We had several takers, more than I said I’d take in fact.

Though in the infancy of their new business models, a couple of them can already attest to their confidence level racing headlong into unshakeable belief in their new M.O. When that happens, expectations begin to pilot your behavior and ultimately your successful results, like a laser guided missile. Smart bombs aren’t more effective than a human being who knows behavior A will end in result B. We’re like monkeys on a cupcake when we know something works. We can’t help ourselves — we’ll do it ’till we drop.

Human nature makes it easier to commit to something we know is a done deal even before we start. We like to do what works — and the more often we can be guaranteed success, the more we like it. And the congregation said, Duh.

Again — this isn’t a bunch of rah-rah crappola. I hate that stuff too. This is what separates the producers from those who’re constantly getting ready to get ready. You know, the pencil sharpeners, the desk cleaners. The ones who’re so damn confident when talking about what they’re gonna do, but never seem to be able to talk about what they’ve actually done. It’s not that they’re incapable of doing what super-agent Susie, 10 steps down the hall is doing. It’s just that while they’re telling anyone who’ll listen about their plan and it’s ‘can’t-miss methods’, Susie was busy getting it done.

And take notice of what’s missing here: Not word one about how you plan to attain your goals. Nobody wants to know how, until they find out you successfully did the deed. If it produces consistent results for you, that’s good enough, isn’t it? Yep.

Dust off your 2008 business goals. Review the methods you’ve decided upon to attain them. Are you as sure as the sun setting in the west they’re gonna get you there? Really? Are you behaving like you’re that dead sure? Yeah? Cool, ‘cuz you’re 98% there already.

If you’re not, you need to change what you’re doing — preferably by yesterday around 4:30. Hint: If you find yourself saying, “I’m gonna give this approach a try”, stop. Either you know it’s gonna work or you don’t. Leave the test marketing for others, or until you have the capital to finance it.

We all need to believe, without any doubt whatsoever, what we’re doing to generate the successful attainment of our goals is as reliable as the sun settin’ in the west. With that level of confidence — knowing that the more we keep repeating the behavior(s) that will produce the results we crave — it’s no surprise we end up doing as much of it as we can possibly fit into each day.

So — do you believe what you’re doing will bring you success? Or do you know? And if you know, why aren’t you doing more of it?

Oops.

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Dear real estate agent,

I was reading your blog and wanted to send you a personal note.  I couldn’t find your email address, though.  I followed the link to your Web site and your email wasn’t there, either.  Then, I Googled you.

No dice. 

As a last-ditch effort, I tracked down your broker’s Web site and clicked 12 times to find your agent profile.   I hoped your email address would be published.  It wasn’t.

I eventually picked up the phone to call you.  I asked your assistant for your email address.

Next time, don’t make me jump through hoops to do business with you.

Sincerely,
The guy who was reading your blog

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I’ve been sitting on Tim Waits tour dates for about a week. I’m glad I did, because the itinerary has been substantially revised from the original announcement. In the new line-up, Phoenix will come first, with two dates at the historic Orpheum Theatre.

Here are all the dates announced so far:

• Orpheum, Tuesday, June 17, 2008, 9:00 PM, Phoenix
• Orpheum, Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 9:00 PM, Phoenix
• Plaza Theatre, Friday, June 20, 2008, 9:00 PM, El Paso
• Jones Hall, Sunday, June 22, 2008, 9:00 PM, Houston
• Palladium, Monday, June 23, 2008, 9:00 PM, Dallas
• Brady Theatre, Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 9:00 PM, Tulsa
• Fox Theatre, Thursday, June 26, 2008, 9:00 PM, St Louis
• Ohio Theatre, Saturday, June 28, 2008, 9:00 PM, Columbus
• Civic Theatre, Sunday, June 29, 2008, 9:00 PM, Knoxville
• Moran Theatre, Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 9:00 PM, Jacksonville
• Saenger Theatre, Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 9:00 PM, Mobile
• Alabama Theatre, Thursday, July 3, 2008, 9:00 PM, Birmingham
• Fox Theatre, Saturday, July 5, 2008, 9:00 PM, Atlanta

There will be a European leg to the tour, as well, but I haven’t seen any dates for that yet.

And: What does Tom Waits have to do with real estate? If for nothing else, he commands our attention with this perfectly apposite observation: “The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.”

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