Today I was invited to the New England RE/MAX Fall Conference in Providence RI.  It was rainy, cold and dark when I pulled out of my drive.  I joined a group of agents on a luxury bus for the trip not too far from my home.  During the ride down we all reviewed a 72 page listing presentation that RE/MAX Landmark has just created for their agents.  It included statistics about their incredible sales record world wide, the number of sales completed, a three page list of the tasks the agent will perform and report on during the sales process and more.  It was impressive in the way all those super polished presentations are.  My feeling is the key to those kinds of presentation is to make them your own, but more importantly make them about the prospect I am presenting to.  It is key to remem... 10/07/2010

Everyone knows there is a direct correlation between focus and exercise.  We all know the benefits of exercise, but that just never seems to be enough to rally us on a daily basis to strap it on and get some exercise.  We start, we stop.  We join a gym and go for a bit and then we drop off.  We buy books, tapes and equipment and they sit, sit and sit.  So how do you break through?  Here is how. Never consider exercise a chore, or something that you have to do.  Do children playing in a yard running around and having fun think their exercise is work?  Consider exercise a haven away from all the thoughts and pressures of your day.  This is your time.  This is the time when you don’t have to answer the phone, call a prospect, or show a home.  It is a time when you can listen to your breath... 10/06/2010

Personal and Corporate responsibility seems to have been lost.  Strategic foreclosures, Banks foreclosing on people and not reading the documents first, our political parties pointing angry fingers at each other saying “You are to blame.”  It is a sad scenario of our time.  What has happened to personal responsibility?  What can we do about it? Personally I think it starts with the individual, how can I take responsibility for my actions each and every day?  How can I find the ways to serve my clients and my community in an honest, straightforward and value added way?  This week we read about many banks not reading the documents before they foreclose and evict on homeowners.  This smacks of corporate and personal irresponsibility to me. I also think this of people doing strategic defau... 10/05/2010

Ally Bank, Bank of America, Chase and a number of other banks have suspended foreclosures in 26 states due to the fact that it has become common knowledge that they have not followed any of their own normal protocals for review of final documents.  It was reported that a Bank of America official in New Englands signed off on 8000 foreclosures without reading them.  A representative for Ally in New York signed off on 10,000 without reading them.  The economic hardships of the last several years are affecting everyone, even those who still have their jobs. “Maybe this is like shock therapy. Maybe this will actually get the lenders to the table and encourage them to work out deals that are to the benefit of everybody.” –Economist Karl E. Case, quoted in The New York Times. Anyone who has h... 10/04/2010

I am not the only, nor am I the first person who has been lied to and cheated in real estate, this I know.  I had been wooed over a period of 2 years before joining my first agency and felt comfortable with what I was being asked to do when I joined their ranks.  I knew I could go into an agency and update their websites, provide compelling content that would produce and drive leads to the agents and upgrade their “old school” mentality.  This was a lot to chew, but I was confident on my ultimate results based on my 28 years of experience doing just these things for many Fortune 500 companies.  While I wasn’t a licensed agent until this year, I had worked in the real estate industry as a hired gun to produce content that would sell projects.  I won awards for this work and created frien... 10/03/2010

Yesterday I got a call from a woman who asked, “I got your name from someone, somewhere I heard about your office, I am looking for a discount broker because I want to sell my house.”  I first repeated what she said so I could hear a “yes” from her right away.  So you are looking to sell your property and want to work with an agent who will discount their services?  She said, “yes.”  I quickly explained to her that I was no longer living in her area, and no longer working for that agency, but could I suggest someone and share some thoughts as you figure out your process to sell your home and move to the next.  She gave me another yes. “Just a couple of things, but let me start by saying it is a tough market out there.  The economy is skimming along the bottom; the houses are loosing som... 10/01/2010

Have you seen the signs for "Celebrate Milton" around town?  They are hard to miss.  But, if you are new to town or just curious, you may not know what it is.  Celebrate Milton is an organization that helps to promote diversity and among other things, puts on an annual Celebrate Milton fall event.  The Celebrate Milton website states that this year's event will feature 70 exhibitors, a food tent, blowup amusements for children and a packed entertainment schedule. Celebrate Milton is this Sunday, October 3 from 12 to 4 p.m. at Milton High School (with a rain location of Collicot/Cunningham).  Please stop by and say hello to your fellow neighbors and maybe make new ones!   09/29/2010

The Best Buddies organization is a nonprofit that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  They are having a fundraising 5K race November 20, 2010 at the Cunningham School, 44 Edge Hill Rd, starting at 9 a.m.  Learn more about the Best Buddies program at their website: http://www.bestbuddiesma.org/5k. 09/27/2010

Have you written off this year and waiting for the economy to be working easier for you?  Have you started just phoning in rather than showing up and practicing?  Your results are a direct result of your actions.  What actions are you taking on a daily basis to get any better.  Are you even doing the work that is in front of you and has to be done, or are you putting that off too. That is what I am talking about being on injured reserve.  You are taking yourself out of the game and not even trying.  That is a choice and a decision, not a good one, but a decision that you will live with. On the other hand there is always one more thing that can be done.  But don’t do it.  Do the thing that is highest priority on your list to produce income.  Do that right now.  In fact, write the word “p... 09/24/2010

Many of you know I have moved from one market to another. Dallas is very different place than Boston; but this can be truthfully said of any two cities or towns.  The point is, I was one thing in one market because of the nature of what that market offered, I needn’t follow that exact path in Boston.  I will  assess opportunities now to better determine my direction here in Boston.  There is value in running the numbers and taking a look at the overall market in general. The best times to assess your new farm area is when you are first coming into the market, or changing offices or locations as I now am.  Each Realtor with rare exceptions will work for more than one office, agency, broker, firm in their career.  When you change, what are the types of adjustments will you have to make in... 09/23/2010

Maria Jannatpour’s audio book Must See Inside is a great listen.  In late August I reviewed the first of the three cd set describing The Shark Principle of Mario’s.  What I like best about this series is that Mario is a guy who has been there and is doing it.  More importantly he is a professional who wants to continue to do it and he is not interested in selling you a consulting package, or have you buy into some series of future coaching materials.  He wants you to benefit from his years of successful sales training in real estate and his background as a sale manager.  It is a no-nonsense straight ahead listen to what has worked for Mario over the years. Having now consumed many books by many of the gurus I find Mario’s approach very personal and human.  He isn’t afraid to go against ... 09/22/2010

By adopting the state's Stretch Energy Code, Milton, MA has joined many other municipalities such as Quincy, Brookline and Dedham in participating in the Green Communities Program. The Town adopted the code Monday night. I previously wrote about this program in March. Basically, The Green Communities Program encourages cities and towns to reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint.  It also provides funding to help towns pursue large renewable energy projects.  Milton now is eligible for these grants.   09/22/2010

Quite often I look to sports for a metaphor for my activities.  Now that football season is upon us and I watched both my favorite teams go down in defeat yesterday,  I have lots of content to draw from this morning.  Yes, the economy is difficult right now and even more so getting someone through the loan process.  The banking industry  in it’s kneejerk reaction to giving away loans to anyone who asked and getting burned, is now making it so difficult to get an approval that they are standing in the way of progress, again.  So what is a Realtor® to do? Defeat in a game is different than a defeat in your career.  Everyone looses games, but it is only those who refuse to learn from their game losses that are defeated in their career.  Learning what you are doing wrong is important.  Stud... 09/21/2010

A very good friend of mine and noted MA appraiser, Gerry Hailer, shared this with me this morning and I think it is worth a post here because what Ted Turner has said about failure is so important to each and everyone involved in Real Estate every day. I am currently re-reading Jim Mullen's The Simple Art of Greatness.  I just read something reminicent of your blog from last week that I thought I'd share: "Unfortunately, there is another, less lovely quality that seems to be required of every true entrepreneur:  the ability to endure adversity.  While I cannot speak for entrepreneurs as a class, I am obliged to report to you that my own career is more memorable for its times of pain, fear, disappointment, and heartbreak than for its fleeting moments of glory.  Not only must the entrepre... 09/20/2010

Today I moved my Active Rain blog from Dallas TX over to Milton MA where I live.  Turns out that no one in Milton blogs so I went to the head of the line on that platform in that area.  While these rankings measure only blogging and not real estate success you can’t get too excited about being featured.  My goal here in Milton is the exact same goal I established in Dallas when I landed there on Jan 6, 2010.  I will share with my readers timely and pertinent information about real estate and the real estate industry. Using stories from experiences I have or have been shared with me I will help the home buyer/seller with their process. Make no mistake, home selling and buying is a process that has an incredible amount of crucial details to get right.  That is why the real estate industry... 09/18/2010

I arrived back in my home town last night after 8 months building a web presence for a company in Dallas Texas.  I learned so much from the good people of Texas, both the good and the bad.  I learned that real estate is hard work these days, when it wasn’t always this hard.  I learned what worked before, does not come close to working now.  I learned that circling yourself with talented, smart, hard working real estate people is the way to grow.  I also learned it’s opposite, having people who aren’t working hard and aren’t staying up to date around you is debilitating and you need to make a change.  I did. Milton Massachusetts is the boyhood home of George Bush, not the Dallas W, but his father who grew up here.  It is the town right south of Boston, west of Quincy, north of Canton and... 09/17/2010

How do you choose the right agency for yourself?  What is the process that most people go through to find their second, third or ultimate office from which to work?  How do you approach a new market, or as a new agent into an area, how do you choose that area?  Does it make sense just to look at the statistics?  Where do most of the houses sell?  Where do the houses with the largest price sell?  Where do the top producers work?  On the other side is being practical about your choice of where to farm.  Everyone says to farm near where you live. Because your neighborhood will dictate the content you produce you should work in a community you have a connection with whether it is physically living there, or ongoing involvement within the community. That makes sense just like the reality is ... 09/16/2010

Successful people have far more failures in their lives than do people who are not successful.  The reason for this is that you have to move through your failures to get to your successes. Successful people know how to put failure in perspective quickly.  It is not big deal to fail, it is however, crucial for you to recognize, understand, learn and grow through the failure.  As Thomas Edison answered when asked how his thousands of failures led to the creation of the light bulb, he remarked that with each new failure he learned what didn’t work as he worked on what would.  To me this has always been the case.  It is never about the failure and always about the learning and growing.  The faster I can move through some of the inevitable failures that mark any successful career the better ... 09/14/2010

Via Adam Roberts ~ Just months after the Milton Public Schools were forced to eliminate 17 non-teaching positions due to budget constants, an increase of $327,683 of funding from the federal Education Jobs Funds bill will allow the district to address staffing needs. Governor Deval Patrick announced the state would be receiving $204 million from the bill earlier this week. The bill allocates at least $25 per students to every school district. Patrick said the funds, which are designated for salary and benefits, will keep classroom sizes manageable across the Commonwealth and "take the edge off" for districts struggling with cuts. "This is the highest level of education funding in history, which means $327,000 more for Milton than they were expecting," Patrick said. The funds, which wer... 08/29/2010

I often walk around my neighborhood in Milton, Massachusetts with my little dog (Max--shown below sitting on may daughter's lap with his New England Patriot's Jersey on). It is part of my daily ritual, and my walks with Max in the morning take me through my residential condominium complex [a rural setting even though 8 miles from the center of Boston] As I walked earlier this morning with Max, two thoughts struck me about my neighborhood, which are reflective of the true state of affairs in residential real estate in my hometown, and perhaps in yours, too.      1. I walked past one set of Units where there had been a sort sale about six months ago. The former owner had leveraged his Unit past 100% of value in the "bad old days" and then defaulted on his mortgage loan, with the Unit subs... 08/11/2010