Talking Dog Syndrome
By: Chris Johnson,
http://instigate.me,
Post Archive,
RSS FeedPosted: Thursday, June 30th, 2011, 1:40 pm MST
Category: Enduring Interest
Robert Worthington’s car story reminds me of this.
In 2003, I had an epic run. Â A 6 figure 60 day period.
I was happy as hell. Â In 2004, I became…
Arrogant.  Thought this was my new life.  Thought I was now a 7 figure agent. Made a 60 thousand month an 80 thousand month (and forgot the famine that sandwiched the months).
We’ve talked about this before.
Anyway, enter a man, Harry. Â Harry was a mid 40′s (I was late 20′s) agent. Â Looked like Peter Falk with a crew cut. Â Harry was a nice guy, a little slow, and kind of a bumpkin. Â Harry’s mom used to be in Real Estate as an old time agent. Â Harry’s mom could now move to Florida.
People thought Harry was a moron.
People derided Harry for having his momma’s business.
Harry drove a 1993 Geo Prizm everywhere. Â He got to the office around 7am and left around 10am. Â He got back to the office around 7pm and stayed for a half hour or so. Â We didn’t see much of him. Â I was in the office to sober up for an hour after being a little too boozy. Â We passed as he was coming back.
I can’t resist the urge to brag, and this time was no different.
“4 closings this week.” Â I said, counting my $129,000 4% double ender as 2 closings.
“Great.” he said, “You only get about 2 great runs a year, so work hard.”
Whatever, bumpkin.
Slow talking Harry was always enthusiastic, didn’t miss a meeting, and kept to himself.
Later, he referred a client he didn’t have time for to me. Â I didn’t close him. Â The client was a jerk. Â (Note: I probably could have closed him had I not wanted to be right, but that’s a lesson for another time). Â Another client, and nothing. Â Harry asked to see me, I was too busy, but would welcome his referrals.
I got one more, another closable person that my arrogance kept away (after all, I was driving an Acura RL, what the hell could Harry know.  He drove a Hundai to get here. I never met with Harry  and didn’t hear much from him.
But after our brokerage closed, he was curt with me at a boozy Realtor meeting where we were all informed who our new masters were. Â He came into a different brokerage and I learned a few things.
- Harry made over 650,000 per year.
- Harry had a vending machine business that brought in another $120k (heh heh tax free heh heh). Â He schlepped the quarters, candy bars and laundry soap himself.
- Harry had something like 9 duplexes, all in an up and coming neighborhood.
- Harry had ear marked me to be part of his business after I was agent of the month 3 months in a row.
Harry wasn’t a fast talker.  He was, however focused.  He didn’t take bathroom breaks during the day.  He cared about his clients.  I whiffed at what was sure to be a bonafide amazing opportunity.
I learned this second hand, from another old timer. Â I had no idea about any of those facts. Â When I pondered this, slow talking, Prism driving Harry, it was as if my dog had a secret life teaching Russian to diplomats. Â I never saw how this mouth breather was better than me.
But he is, still churning out volume without complaint, drama, rancor facebook twitter or a blog.
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9 Comments so far
Great story Chris.
I had a similar story. I was a Painting and General Building Contractor is Southern California, and my main supplier of paint material was the Frazee paint store in Vista CA. There was a $10.00/hr clerk that worked the counter that fit Harry’s description exactly. He kept asking me to do some painting for him and I finally resigned myself to do some work for him only after judging him as inferior to me. As it turned out, he owned 30 (that I am aware of, probably more) multi-family apartment buildings in Orange County, CA. I was humbled to say the least.
He died of cancer in his late 40s about 15-20 years ago leaving behind lots and lots of family. And to top things off, he was one of the most loving and generous persons I have ever met. It would not surprise me if he gave half his income away to folks that were less fortunate.
Great story Chris and Joe. Wow. Humbling lessons.
Classic post, Chris, with innumerable lessons. “Don’t just a book by its cover,” being just one.
Economically, this country was chock full of Harrys, especially since WWII. Their demise, with a replacement rate approaching zero, is why production is in the tank. Nobody ever noticed them, so they figured they didn’t matter.
Keep your nose clean. Work hard. Don’t look for kudos. Your banker and your wife are the only ones who need to know.
Your best post (in my opinion). And bless you for your honesty and candor.
I was in Westerville this past week, which if memory serves me, is where you were located when you started posting here.
Great story I really enjoyed it. Something to be said about simplicity…
Tom – yup, I was in Westerville. I’m in Gresham, OR now.
Thanks for being so candid. I have fallen in the arrogance trap myself…. it is easy to do. Just about the time I think I am smart…. I outsmart myself!!
[...] told you about Harry, right? He’s carrying 14 houses, and had 53 listings sold and another 25 buyer sides last year. [...]