Gary Woltal's Blog

In working with real estate clients, particularly the buyer side category you always see in their eyes that they are

IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING PIECE.

That last component to make the selected house a perfect match.

This role of matchmaking and finding what "fits" applies to all areas of our lives. Finding the perfect love relationship, a job that matches what you want to do, finding treatment for overall good health, finding what is missing in your life spiritually, finding where you want to live for this particular phase in your life.

Assembling the "complete" jigsaw puzzle in your life is indeed a lifelong struggle. Much of it is trial and error with some forethought. But when the pieces fit together in whatever facet you are trying to make a best fit, oh what a thing of beauty you have assembled. It feels so right.

                          May You Have The Perfect Fit With Your Relationships

In the area of Global Positioning Systems I consider myself a late adopter. I still prefer my printed out Google maps. I guess when the next phone I purchase includes this I'll move into this realm.

That being said, plans and maps of where you want to go are important in life. Even if you are not 100% sure of your destination, a map or a plan is very worthwhile in launching you on your journey. Don't you just wish life's plans were as easy to create and use as a GPS map tool? Plan for detours and side roads to explore. Plan for rest stops. Plan for it to take longer than you originally thought.

Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride.

But

Map Your Way To Somewhere.

I thought while driving with the setting sun today how the sun gets lower and lower in the sky as we approach the shortest daylight of the year at around Dec. 21st. Then when most of us switch to standard time weekend after this weekend the evening daylight hours will have melted away (AGAIN).

It was a stark metaphor for me for the idea if the daylight hours are your time to get things done, what truly are you getting done? Or,

                   ARE YOU JUST BURNING DAYLIGHT???

The preciousness of time comes to us when we are robbed of it or the sand left in our hourglass is forecast to be very limited. It is true we all have finite time. Most of us just don't know how long that candle will burn.

Face it, we all waste time. Probably gobs of time. We know when we waste time when we look back on what we did and apply that judgment call. But how can we STOP wasting so much time that we do?

We have to learn from our mistakes. Think of all the time wasters: Traffic, lines in stores, selling houses for unmotivated sellers, other people wasting our time, meetings, dumb classes you take that don't amount to a hill of beans or are not useful, on an on. Surely in life there also is sacrifice for others which could be considered a waste of OUR time but we choose the sacrifice. How about too much TV, too much Internet?? 

The reason we should stop wasting time is they are not making any more of it. We do not manage time, we spend it. Spending it doing what we want to do with it is what we should be striving for. Do we have to spend it working in areas that are not optimum for our life? Sure. But there are areas of your time that are very much under your control.

I have no time for telemarketers anymore. I use the word No so liberally nowadays it takes people back in surprise that it only took a nanosecond to hear that word.

You must get a handle on what is working and not working with your time and best as you can "stop wasting it." I think from cancer survivors and even just getting older, people finally figure this one out.

Good luck with keeping that sun up high in the sky longer each day you live. It can be done. But you have to be aware of it that it is YOUR life. Not someone elses.

As I enjoyed my last bowl of cereal for the day and conked out for my mid afternoon nap in my high chair I got to thinking about Real Estate blogging and Social networking in general. I have been at it myself in addition to my work for awhile so I know quite a lot about it.

I also am a heavy reader of many blogs with topics ranging from core real estate to the day's weather. Some of the topics get pretty far off real estate industry related sometimes but that's ok, as there are only so many days and ways to write about how to do that perfect open house.

In today's technology world we are so well connected particularly in the wireless world with voice, data, video, and text. Think of sending and reading blogs, email, photos, and videos over your cell phone.

Yet I read out there in the blogosphere of burn out. Boredom. I want to get away from this. I want to unplug. It indicates addiction to the medium, obsessiveness, compulsiveness, and lack of balance.

I'm here to remind everyone there is a life OUTSIDE of blogging. You remember that don't you? Back there in the past before you started blogging.

It is the offline world. Some call it the real world.

Keep your life in balance always. Communicate, entertain, grow your business sure. But use your precious time wisely. It is one of your most valuable resources.

I am constantly amazed in Real Estate by all categories of professionals in dealing with clients or their peers, how so many need to vastly improve on effective communication. Some of us out there are INCREDIBLY BAD at it. They need a lesson in

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FRIENDLY KIND.

No nothing risque' going on between professional and client here, although that might make for juicier blog material. Just clear and concise effective communication.

An effective communicator leads the discussion, asking the appropriate questions and putting the deal together. Sure things can go sideways at times and emotions are ALWAYS involved with negotiations. But the cool heads that prevail get things worked out.

The friendly side comes into play in mastering the art of disagreeing or having an alternative point of view without being disagreeable.

Also it involves setting the positive tone all along the way. Do not let others negativity drag you down into the mud with them. If you become the master of this with both peers and clients, everyone (in most cases) will leave with the good feelings that it was a good experience. Other agents and associates will prefer working with you because you were so nice to deal with. Clients will boast that you went the extra mile for them and offer up referrals.

When you are working in this Close Encounters of the Friendly Kind realm think all forms of contact. That would be face to face, phone, and letter or email. You can set the friendly tone in all of them. You are someone whom is pleasant to work with, does what you say you will do and is one of those, what seems rare these days, a person who can be counted on.

Use laughter to break the ice. Show a genuine smile to show you are open. Be positive despite the inevitable difficulties that crop up to keep driving forward to a positive conclusion for everyone.

Remember when it is all said and done at the end of the day, or at the end of the experience, whatever it happens to be, the details will fade away of exactly what transpired during the transaction. But keep this quote in mind of the moral of the story I am trying to make a point about here.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

One thing about a skill set - YOU individually know when you are good at your craft. With all professionals they say perfect practice yields perfect play on the field. There is no more gratifying experience than to know you are one of the best in your field. You know you have reached this point in your work because

THE BEST MAKE IT LOOK EASY.

They just flat out get the job done. No hemming and hawing. No maybe it will work. Just pure execution.

I would say in Real Estate or whatever profession you find yourself in strive to be one of the best. You will know you are there when people are coming to YOU for the mentoring. They come to YOU with their questions and need for assistance. And like a hot knife slicing through butter you've got the mechanics down and the systems in place.

Whenever a great pianist is encountered the observation is that they make it look so easy. But behind the scenes, before the concert, is massive hours of practice.

To back up your expectation of greatness, even guaranteeing success, like that Super Bowl win a la Joe Namath, "knowing" and believing you are the best is sweet.

Do not fault as arrogant those who back up their claims that they are good if not great. Marvel at the hard work they have put in beforehand to care so very much to be the best. You can too, whatever you choose to work on. You will stand out head and shoulders (and parachutes) above the others and soar down from the sky.

When you wish upon a star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.

Seriously, you see this with buyers of homes all the time. They talk about wishes. The focus needs to be more about dreams.

Wishes are very light and fluffy. They are a good beginning point, but the real problem with wishes is they lack vision. Start with a wish but make it into a dream.

You never heard that famous quotation from Martin Luther King Jr. come up as

                 " I Have a Wish! "

Dreaming shows action. It shows that there is some plan behind the words. Wishing is still probably not even on paper. It is very passive. It is much easier to put wishes on the shelf. Where do you think the term wishy washy comes from? Wishes can seem impractical, hopeless, and maybe even impossible. When we launched the goal of putting a man on the moon before this decade was out, THAT was a dream, not a wish.

Stop wishing and start DREAMING all those ideas you have into living breathing reality. Sure there may be fear at first.

Once you take the first steps in the direction of your dream the courage will follow. But don't wish,

          DREAM!!!

With so much "change" going on that I see day in and day out, I wonder if people first off cut themselves some slack and say whatever change they are going through it's ok. And secondly do they realize they can't do everything in life? Not that you can't do "one" or "several" things following your dreams but you can't do "everything." Just a practical point. Wherever you go, whatever you decide to do with your housing, your career, your family life, your individual self think that

Transformation Begins With Harnessing Resources.

I can think of at least five resources you need to gain control of to properly focus on changing:

Time: They only make so much of it and once used up it is gone. Things take longer to do than you think too.

Energy: Allocate the amount of energy you need for a project. Work during peak energy times.

Money: Who cannot have enough of this to make things happen? But like time, there is only so much you have to work with. Be realistic.

People: Highly underutilized in getting where you want to go. Many heads are better than one. Talk out your change with others. Enlist their help.

Spirit: Find your spirituality for YOU. For me it is faith based. But for you it may be something different. Connect with your core, your center for added strength to keep you on track.

Knowing what resources are on the table for you to tie into to get through change makes the world of difference. Get through your metamorphosis and know there is nothing but beauty lying in your days ahead.

In working with buyers and sellers of real estate it is important to discover the underlying motivation for the transaction. Realtors need to play the role of armchair psychologist at times.

What is the "real" reason these folks are selling?

Why is this buyer taking so long to make a decision?

This investor seems to be able to afford whatever he wants yet he is so picky. What is up with that?

A key motivator at times can be fear.

Another HUGE motivator in life is pleasure in pleasing oneself or pleasing others.

What about money? Money has been a motivator since the beginning of time. Going after something because it is a good deal. Selling now because of a huge windfall of a profit. Not going below a certain price because you will lose money.

As an investor you project rental income, or return on investment for a building for business purposes.

Doing something for financial gain or to avoid financial loss is a tremendous motivator.

But with motivation it can be both temporal and dynamic. What motivates you today does not motivate you necessarily tomorrow. You see this with the classic can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink.

True motivation at any point in time is dependent on our roots.

Our roots are whatever is most important to us at that point in time. If we have had a cancer scare maybe time is precious to us and we don't get hung up on money or wall paper. If we have many young children in our family their welfare and happiness and schools are most important.

Empty nesters, divorced men and women all see the world completely differently.

Be also ok in the phases of your life that you are differently motivated now vs. ten years ago. You are a different person. Life's circumstances change. So in understanding yourself or the clients we work with, dig deeper into the roots and find out the "what" is going on to explain the "why" of the behavior. You too can play armchair psychologist !!

It seems lately with watching the oncoming Presidential election campaigning hitting a fever pitch, the daily roller coaster ride we are all taking with the financial markets and for those of us here writing and reading about a still tough housing market, that we need glimpses of hope. Solutions. Being positive. Knowing that we are still on track despite difficulties.

I am BIG into images to represent things. One of our strongest coping skills is the ability to tie into our support system of great friends, acquaintances and family. Like the giant KC-135 Stratotanker, the flying gas station for military planes to refuel midflight, we need to know who and where the people are in our life who refuel us.

The good ones are ALWAYS there for us.

So imagine ace aviator that you are, you are starting to run on fumes. Who do you go to to get boosted back up? You can continue flying. You just need refueling.

Knowing FOR SURE who these people are in your life, or if you don't have them, creating them or finding them, is essential for your well being.

I know with me it is some select family members that never let me down and even some very close friends who even a short time ago in my life were complete strangers. Do not discount the Stratotankers you find. Reach out to touch them with their 31,000 gallons of gasoline. Don't worry they've got plenty for you.

Who are your Stratotankers?

And all my friends, don't forget to laugh too. The KC-135 is getting long in the tooth in its original design from many years ago. The interior even included ash trays.