Gary Woltal's Blog

In listening to many training presentations with other REALTORs and overhearing individual business owners who want to run over their brethren in the spirit of competition, it dawned on me the fatal flaw everyone is making.

Just because some training material says you need to be the #1 residential agent in your area, or build a team of seven buyers agents or have three hundred transactions a year, guess what? So what? The fatal flaw is you are NOT in a comparison game with everyone else. YOU SHOULD COMPARE YOURSELF TO YOU.

Words of wisdom: FIND YOUR OWN PATH. Maybe commercial NOT residential real estate is your bag. Maybe you THRIVE as an individual agent with no assistants.

BE YOURSELF and you will find your path. Set goals vs. yourself and your prior achievements. "Your path" by the way, is what you were destined to show the world!

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel the statisticians in real estate are out there asking the wrong questions and plotting the wrong graphs? Oh sure, we have year over year sales, number of homes in inventory, average days on market, and other stuff that bores us all each month.

But what about for sale signs that are bigger and are on posts do they sell homes faster than little metal signs? How about what is the trend in a neighborhood of homes that NEVER sell. Is that growing or decreasing? Do Realtors who drive a Lexus sell more houses than the Realtor who has the Toyota Scion with the advertising wrap around it or the beat up Honda Civic? How productive is each agent in an XYZ independent company compared to a name brand chain in a year? That last one is in some MLS systems but that's insider information.

If you could only dig out some of the really cool and perhaps arcane statistics you might REALLY figure out what's going on. Sure, we see more foreclosure signs pop up. But why are they being foreclosed upon? Some of it is subprime and ARMs adjusting. But where's the piechart for financial reasons due to job loss, bankruptcy, divorce, health problems? What is the mix? That last one may be a bit gruesome to focus on the negative, but aren't you curious?

Do tall salespeople with the perfect hair actually sell more? I think I read that in a Dilbert book by Scott Adams. Do the glamour shot "hot" babe women Realtors sell more than their average appearance counterparts?

Any one have any statistics they would love to know about?

In today's turbulent real estate times, with days on market increasing, more foreclosures, tougher times to qualify for a mortgage, lowering of prices to get houses to move, we need to keep perspective that everything is ALWAYS changing. TRY NOT TO BE SHOCKED. Sometimes comps from six months back are not to be trusted as much as maybe comps three months back. They might give you a better reading of today's market value on a property.

Which brings me to today's analogy. That changing times are like a computer hard disk crash. If this has never happened to you the geeks tell me it is not a question of if it will happen to you but when. When it does, since you didn't back up critical files or even anything, you go through this sort of grief reaction. Panic sets in, fear, denial over the loss, coping to figure out how you can recover the disk or start over and buy a new PC, and you finally hit acceptance and move on. The sun will still rise tomorrow. It is not the end of the world. You reset and recover. You adapt with changing circumstances, kicking and screaming all the way.

Change itself is neither good or bad. Change from loss requires more stomach from us, while change from gain seems easy. People die in your life and you grieve the loss and are not sure how long it will take to get over if ever. Yet the same day babies are born. You lose a job or on the other hand you gain a great job or promotion. Life is all about cycles. Enjoy the ride on the roller coaster. It's called life!

My point is don't be sad too long with the change that may come from a loss. Life is primarily intended to be joyous. The losses and struggles can be great lessons for us and discoveries about what is important to us. On an overstuffed Thanksgiving day dinner plate the jello intrudes into the gravy. In the desert, flowers find a way to bloom despite lack of water. Life portrays stark contrasts at time. You can be crying in your car from the death of a friend yet they are telling jokes on the radio. Get a shock yes, but try to be happy "most" of the time. Give your love to others when you are strong because love is a transforming power in the world.

Above all, keep your perspective on things. Each day you're given is "another chance to get it right!" And one other thing, "Don't ever give up!"

This is my 100th blog post. My, time flies when you are having fun!

Real Estate is a People business. A former sales manager said selling and customer service are really in the big picture all about love. Not romantic love, but love of fellow man and seeing to their needs. I think those of us in all aspects of the real estate field get to practice love every day with our co-workers, buyers and sellers, and partners. An interesting facet of love is you can step back from what you did during a day and ask yourself how loving were you? Sometimes we fall short and have to vow to get back up on the horse the next day and do better.

A great tip in this area came from Mother Teresa who had a quote that "You can't love people if you judge them." I refer to this as planting seeds of kindness and looking for nothing in return. When you do this you have hit the highest level of love in the world. And don't judge YOURSELF too harshly either. Just let things go and move on to a new day.

Real Estate is definitely a People Business. Bring smiles wherever you go despite circumstances. It's not always easy. It's not about show me the money. But FEEL the love when they encounter YOU!!

Whether as REALTORS or members of society out in the general public, our small, thoughtful, kind actions produce ripples beyond a single incident. I found this little story that illustrates this point.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend's tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."

"He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great.

He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled..."Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began...

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...I am here to tell all of you that being a Friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize its depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

BE A DIFFERENCE MAKER. BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD!

WE ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN WE EVER COULD IMAGINE.

I've always wondered both outside and inside real estate why the consumer in the end selects one Realtor over the other? Is it the power of the brand? Is it the market share in the area? Is it the relationship and skill and experience of the individual agent?

Some say new agents are better viewed by the public with established brands. Others say veteran agents can be successful anywhere. Some models have profit sharing or residuals but the consumer wouldn't select based on that.

Do you think branding is as powerful as everyone makes it out to be or in the end the relationship a Realtor has with their buyers and sellers is more important, or is the answer somewhere in between?

There are days that Realtors and their clients don't get along. Shocking isn't it? Same holds true between office workers. How about an agent and a house inspector, appraiser, or title company person. Friction can develop. Managers don't always get along with their team members. Are you in the dog house with someone today?

What is it that causes us to fray on some days and not others? Psychologists say it is not just about anger management. More often than not there is pain inside that is expressing itself on the outside by us just "losing it" some days.

Are you crabby today? Any thought about why that may be? Is there something ELSE going on in your life besides your work? 

A gentle reminder. We are all in this together, and don't forget to remember that the person that just snapped at you may be carrying a tremendous burden or have a heavy heart today. Be kind, and let it go. You'll be glad you did and so will they.

I tour a lot of preowned homes and as they approach five years or older in age many, despite their owners best efforts, start to deteriorate. Condition is all important with a buyers market that we are in for many areas of the country. Necessary repairs and maintenance will probably be caught up in prepping a home for sale or caught by the home inspection process. But you know what you really need to do if a house is priced right, marketed right and in updated condition?

CLEAN IT!!!

I know, another statement of the obvious, but from my own informal survey of homes this little step is often overlooked. There are rust stains in the pool. There are baseboards that are dusty or dirty. There are countertops that don't shine. The garage floor has entirely too many oil spots on it. Is that a dust bunny under that table? What about fingerprint smudges around light switches? You would not believe what is not clean. Basic stuff.

Fortunately for us lazy types by throwing some cash at the problem we can hire a service to help us out. Just when you sign up for someone else to clean your house go for the "deep scrub." That's what's needed to properly prepare your house for sale.

You want your buyers to give your house the white gloves test and not find a smidgen of dirt, dust, grime, or grease anywhere. Don't forget to also check odors from smoking or pets and GET RID OF IT with shampooed or vacuumed carpets or flooring or replace the stuff. Any ongoing smoking needs to be done outside!

One final thing, don't stress in this area, just pay someone, take the time to do it, and yes one other thing - DON'T FORGET THE WINDOWS!!

Sometimes I've been accused of being a little too bottom-line oriented, but it is my nature so I am to be forgiven for it.

With many homes that stay on the market entirely too long, or buyers that search and search for homes but just can't find the right place, I wonder what is the Realtor supposed to be? What does the consumer really want from a great agent?

I think the answer is one word: RESULTS! I read some tag lines that say the "RESULTS team", or "We produce RESULTS." But sometimes they don't. There is a failure rate in listings (sometimes 90% in a dead market don't sell, but that is a topic for another day).

A Realtor only can control so much of what makes a house sell and what it takes to get a buyer to make a buy decision. But if they are doing their job with cooperating clients and with their knowledge of the market, they will get RESULTS.

I'm not saying they'll win every deal or never have an expired or canceled listing, but more often than not they will achieve RESULTS. It doesn't have to take two years to sell a house. If they think RESULTS are not possible based on setting too high an asking price they should advise the client or don't take the listing.

The public comes to Realtors to assist them with the transaction and give them professional advice based on the market. With their honed skills a Realtor should be able to get RESULTS and that's all anyone can ask for.

Behind each front door of a house you drive past on a street is a FAMILY. Each family may be composed of multiple members, a single member, a mixture of the young and old, retired, or elderly, healthy or sick, financially well off or struggling.

The realization of family struck me this weekend at a neighborhood gathering where a man's sister had passed away at a younger middle age having been stricken down by cancer. To lose loved ones at any age is hard but when they are in the prime of life or losing children seems exceptionally unfair.

Yet behind each door on your street, in your neighborhood, some family members are reaping successful lives, some have addictions, some have tremendous relationship problems, yet they come together under one roof to make it through life.

I read where having a good day is when everything seems to flow in order and a bad day is when things don't go your way and people don't behave the way you think they should.

In creating an environment we call home that surrounds us it is good to build a shelter from the elements of course. But we also need to build a shelter from the world and hopefully surround ourself with family members and a select set of friends we can count on to celebrate those good days and make our way through the bad days. For each of us has a story "behind that front door." A house is more than a house. It is a shelter from the world. It's comforting to know that at least counting the fingers on one hand we should have that many people in our lives that we can always count on.