Gary Woltal's Blog

In one of Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", he mentions Sharpening The Saw. This is about renewal of oneself physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. In today's more difficult real estate times, agents, Stagers, and industry workers can sharpen their saws during slower times. For consumers, note those who continually improve themselves despite some leaner times. Sharpening a saw could be like:

Targeting their business - finding a niche, finding their best customers.

Creating systems - becoming a more efficient professional with automation making the most of their time.

Excellent contact - always in touch with contact data base using marketing tools.

Polished networking - a wide web of social contact which keeps their name out there in many organizations creating relationships.

Today's times can be challenging for the professional. But that's why they call them PROFESSIONAL. If you are one, maintain the highest of standards. If you're hiring one, look for these GREAT qualities.

Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly,

but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.

This post ought to be about real estate, and it is to some degree but it is also about life and happiness. Many REALTORS go into this tailspin when a listing expires and they don't get a renewal. They wonder what did they do wrong? Some Stagers are perplexed when they propose great services for assisting a homeowner or REALTOR to make a home sell faster. And then nothing happens. I'm talking about being let down. It's called EXPECTATIONS.

In life you have one idea of how something should go. Then there's the reality that doesn't match up. You come home and want to go out to dinner with your wife, husband, or that special someone. This particular evening they are sick or under the weather. Maybe some other time. You want your teenager to go on that Easter weekend family outing at the lake. No, they want to go play video games at the mall with their friends instead. Mom and Dad are not cool enough anymore. Your business was supposed to take you to a new level in 2007. Didn't quite work out that way. Or back to relationships - something that started off so glowing and cheery months back has cratered now where they don't even return your phone calls. Or health... you expected to live out your golden years together, and now a spouse's terminal illness has you on a new road.

Life can have its exciting moments and its share of disappointments. If we wrap up ourselves too much in our expectations, and attach ourselves strongly to them, we set ourselves up for being unhappy. Let life flow, and roll with the outcomes. It is not your fault your expectations were not met. It is all about YOU having a good attitude, and remembering you only can control "some" things. When you embrace those two things you will be happy and have peace. And isn't that the state we would all like to be in most of the time? Watch those expectations. Don't hold on to them too tightly. It will get you in trouble. The "decision" to let go is very freeing. Practice it till you are good at it, and then help others with this life lesson once you have mastered it. You then will spread more joy in yours and the hearts of others.

When most REALTORS hear the term "relocation" pop out of a buyers mouth their ears perk up. This is often because someone may have already sold a house and is ready to buy or living in a rental and can get out of that fast. On the selling side, a relocation company may be easy to work with in pricing a property for sale.

But hold on their pardner! It aint always as easy as it looks.

Sometimes in corporate relocations the company that someone works for specifies an agent or realty brokerage. Well there's a snag! Sometimes if they do work with you, there may be 20 pages of documentation to complete. Sometimes they will "not" work specifically with you or your company. They may have predetermined rates or some huge relocation fee that comes out of your pocket while you do all the work.

On the selling side they may absorb a loss on the price on the house to move it faster so if you do list it then your commission gets lowered.

Many buyers to new areas DON'T know that they can push back on their companies and use YOU, Mr. or Ms. WONDERFUL REALTOR, if the buyer just speaks up.

So the moral of the story is, THERE ARE NO SET RULES in this relocation game. You as a REALTOR, Buyer, or Seller, need to huddle up and TRY to make this transaction work out the best you can for your side, despite the RELOCATION COMPANY rules.

Always in life, MAKE IT HAPPEN. YOU are in charge!!

It cracks me up to listen to debates about job titles for Realtors, Stagers, Inspectors and what "exactly" to put on their business card. Everyone hates Salesperson, like that is the scum of the earth title. Then there is agent. That sounds too formal. Many like the word "Consultant"of some sort. Fair enough. But if you are helping buyers and sellers with a product or service you are in "Sales." There is nothing dishonorable about that although some think it has a bad stigma to it. I hear some say they are Marketeers, or in Customer Service, or are a Professional Advisor, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Trust me, you are in Sales!!

The term consultant probably is an ok one but with my simple brain I wish we could all use the kindergarten term "helper." How about Real Estate Helper, Staging Helper, Inspector Helper, Finance and Loan Helper? Afterall, this is a service business moving a product and that is what we do.

Which brings me to today's topic. How well are we doing at this helping thing? For many I see, not too well. That's because many forget we have ONE mouth and TWO ears.

Check the mirror sometime. It is true. In "selling" (there is that dreaded word again), we must FIRST,

SEEK TO UNDERSTAND!!!

Don't blab on about yourself so much. Ask a few questions of the client, then LISTEN, and the followup questions should be based on what you heard. Listen way more than twice as much as you talk. I think from Realtors at least, they want to keep telling you how great they are. BORING!!

The keys to being a great listener are:

* Ask good questions, then shut up and listen

* Maintain sincere eye contact and avoid physical and mental distractions

* Read between the lines and listen for what is "not" being said

* Re-phrase back to the client what they said for clear understanding

* DO NOT INTERRUPT, and pause till they are done speaking before you speak

* Take written notes to help that failing brain of yours

If you SEEK TO UNDERSTAND FIRST, and PAY ATTENTION you will learn more than you ever will with those lips of yours flapping in the breeze. You will also turn into that "trusted advisor" you so want to put on your website and business card. Above all, you will have achieved becoming a MASTER COMMUNICATOR.

I've heard from other REALTORS that sometimes a beautiful house on the exterior situated up a country road with gorgeous trees and the sweet smell of fresh air can turn into something else once they walk in the door. It can be a dump inside. Old dilapidated furniture, smells of the kitty litter box and a sink that hasn't been cleaned in ages.

But I want to also remind them to keep their eyes open further. One of the gifts I have been given is perception of unseen beauty. They need to tune into another sense and that is the beauty of "people." I see it ALL THE TIME!! While all of us are not the greatest housekeepers or maintenance repair folks, there are a lot of many fine people inside the walls of the dilapidated homes. They have good solid moral cores, are friendly, and would give the shirt off their backs if you asked them. So don't be so quick to stick your nose up in the air.

I have always had this personal theory in life that some of the most beautiful people you will find are the very old or the very young. I think it has to do with their closeness to God either just coming from God or heading back toward God. I think there is more innocence with them and the cares of the world do not bother them so much.

So keep your eyes open for this other beauty as you walk through the halls of that new listing you are working on. It is all around you if you just take the time to see it.

Life just has this tendency to surprise us all the time. 

I know REALTORS can relate to information overload with having to process something like 192 pieces of paperwork from listing agreement to closing documents. But any kind of overwhelming feeling with information is true across all fields of business today and even into our personal lives with 400 channels to choose from with your satellite TV provider to how many songs can you stuff into your iPOD. The speed with which information is coming at us these days is certainly overwhelming and not slowing down at all. So how do we sanely manage all this? There certainly isn't one answer, or even an ability to truly be able to do it. But here are a few thoughts to bring some peace and order back into your life.

Email: Delete early, and delete often garbage email. Learn to scan subject lines to open the most important ones sooner rather than lately. Write brief replies only to the sender. Create PST folders to move mail into categories. Read email throughout the day, not allowing it to build up. Check your Blackberry or PDA for urgent messages and text back quick replies.

News: read online, read print, whatever works best and fastest for you. Bookmark all your favorite sites. Learn to scan headlines and read first sentences of paragraphs. Subscribe to a handful of your favorite blogs via RSS feeds.

Social Networks: Be selective with Active Rain, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Tweeter, etc. You don't have to belong to all of them. Who has the time?

Time block: Allocate time for work, exercise, volunteering, YOUR personal time, entertainment, family, church. Don't give all your time to information overload and checking email till 2 a.m. in the morning

Remember the 48 hour rule: Act on something in 48 hours or it will never get done, or know you have let that one slip by which is ok too.

Disconnect and unplug "occasionally" for a sanity break: It may be a half day or full day or on vacation. But know it all will be there in an overwhelming sense when you get back. But this idea is good for you. Refresh and re-charge.

Multitask well: Learn that it is "ok" to be triple or quadruple booked at the same time, and then you pick the priority "one" based on what you value. Be comfortable in being overbooked. Everyone else is too.

Time: It all is about time. You only have so much in a day. Balance things out and don't let the information overload freak you out. Laugh about it, and discuss it with your co-workers. Mess up your hair and scream. The sun will still come up tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe you will feel like fishing in the morning and you'll leave your cell phone back in the car at the boat ramp. Or throw it in the water. Above all, enjoy your life!!

This is not the end result you want to have happen when putting your house on the market for sale. You do not want a foreclosure, a short sale, or be chained to your house and can't get out because no offers come in, and no one wants to buy your house.

Who can come to your rescue to make life easier?

They are called Stagers. Those magical women or men who have this unique ability to "transform" what is ordinary surroundings and appearance of your rooms and its interior decorating into a grand experience of a house feeling like a home. They also extend their talent to recommendations on the exterior of the home, landscaping, and improving curb appeal.

If you haven't cozied up to a Stager lately for getting your Realtor fanny out of the fire in making a deal happen you need to get chummy with one today.

I get many what may be called spam emails from Amazon.com based on building a library of reference materials for staying abreast on times in the Real Estate world. Today I was alerted to another book called The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money. Guess what subject it was on? Staging. At that link along with many other books on the subject you can see that Staging is very important in the sales process of getting the end result we all want which is a SOLD sign and not looking like the imprisoned house above.

Have you hugged your Stager today?