Change: Love it? Hate it? Motivated by it? Paralyzed by it? Get Used to it.

 Change.... Love it? Hate it? Inspired by it? Paralyzed by it? Terrified? Motivated? What is your reaction to change in your life? The one thing that is a virtual guarantee is that Change is going to be a constant in your life, and that of everyone you know.

 Our company at RE/MAX Ability Plus is going through many changes, it seems like daily. That is to be expected when you are growing like we are from 32 agents in 1 office doing about 100 million in business in 2008 to 130 agents in 6 offices on track for more than 400 - 500 million this year. REAL Trends 500 Magazine ranks us as the 37th fastest growing company by percentage of volume in America. Our biggest CHANGE currently is a Dream coming true, we are moving our Carmel office from one that has housed RE/MAX Ability Plus for the last ten years. It has been home to many of the areas top agents, but we are moving to a Brand New office in Carmel's Arts and Design District in the beautiful Indiana Design Center, the first Real Estate company ever housed in a Design Center in America. This new office is a physical presence of the Dreams we have been dreaming for years.

 Even exciting change can make people feel uncomfortable, but sometimes feeling a bit uncomfortable is the very best thing for you. For years when I have been coaching people I challenge them to change things, even if it is the route the drive to work, maybe the parking space, something, mix it up get your brain reengaged. Far too many people are in such a rut they find themselves driving to and from work the same way, the same time, every day. Have you ever driven through a traffic light and then wondered if it was green or not? We often get up the same time every day, do the same routine, drive to work, drive home, over and over and over until we have become mindless in our actions. The only difference between a rut and a grave is that the ends are not closed. Jump out.

 One of the most impressive athletic feats I have ever seen during my life was when Tiger Woods, who was the best golfer in the World, decided that to get better he had to completely relearn his swing he had been using all his life, and he did. He could have messed his old swing up and never learned the new one as well, but he took the risk to get better to push through a barrier his old swing had created. Whatever you think of Woods, that was courageous.

 In our own company I am thrilled to witness some of our top agents challenging themselves in that same way as did Woods. They hit the biggest year of their long celebrated careers last year, but now have looked from the peak of the mountain they had climbed across to peek at the top of yet a higher goal and are dissecting their business to make changes to double their business once again. It is inspiring to watch and it is clear that those goals will be accomplished.

 You must understand, CHANGE is going to come, you can choose to embrace it, become an agent of that change, or you can resist and be buried by it. With the advances of technology change is coming faster every day, we need to learn not to just keep up, but to jump ahead. The technology of the day used to dictate the very economic age they came to be known as, the Stone Age, Iron Age, Agrarian Age, Industrial Age, Technology Age. They used to move so slowly most people were born, lived their lives and died in the same economic age. That is no longer the case, adding to the stress many people feel.

 For instance, in 1930 there were about 30 million American farmers, barely producing enough food to feed the 100 million Americans, by 1980 there were only 3 million American Farmers producing so much food that they were feeding the World and were being paid by the government to not produce on much of their land. What happened to those 27 million farmers? Many retired or died, their kids were forced to move to the city to find jobs, but since it happened over a 50 year time frame it made little disturbance until the last few years when we saw things like "Farm Aid" trying to help the ones who couldn't pay the banks.

 Many of those first generation off the farm went to work in the Midwest working in the auto industry, in fact in 1980 there were 250,000 people making carburetors in Indiana and Michigan, however by 1985 almost all had lost their jobs because their skills were not compatible to building the Fuel Injector Systems that overnight had replaced the carburetors. Many of those displaced people found work in the vinyl record industry in Indiana and Ohio alone more than 150,000 people were working making records in 1990, the next year they were gone, as RCA and Sony had revolutionized the industry with Compact Discs.

 The old idea was to learn a skill and be the very best at it for job security. Today, the best is to learn to learn how to adjust and change as change keeps coming. Those who are most adaptable are the winners in this new world.

 At our company, I truly love the culture. It is all about change, all the time. It is about pushing the envelope to find where the newest sweet spot is every day. In other words, If It Ain't Broke Break It, surely there is a better way. Good is always the greatest enemy Great can ever have.

So Change!

The Problem Is Not The Problem, Never Has Been, and Never Will Be.

 

When it comes to not reaching your goals the problem is not the problem, never has been, and never will be. What do I mean? What I mean is that we like to find something, or someone, to blame when we miss our goals. Often we choose not to set goals because too often we have been disappointed by not reaching them in past attempts. So, those "obstacles" we want to believe are our "problems" that keep us from reaching our objectives. Are they really the problem or are they excuses? Or is there something else that is the true "problem" that we have never before identified, to they seem to be the problem?

The truth is that those things can't possibly be the true problem. If they were there would never be anyone who has accomplished similar goals with similar situations. We may say "I'm too young, or too old, too educated, or not educated enough, too this or too that." It might be "If I had more money, more supportive parents, a better spouse, better health", you name it there are at least as many excuses as there are people. So if others have accomplished such goals and dreams with such obstacles, how can those obstacles actually be "the problem?"

It was explained to me in this way in a, let's say we're sitting at a diner and we take a salt shaker and a sugar dispenser and separate them with a napkin holder, (think old school stuff.) Now say you are the salt shaker and your dream or goal is the sugar dispenser but you are too short to see it over the napkin holder, if you can't see it, how can you focus on it? What I am saying is that your dream isn't big enough to keep you focused on it. You need to find something that moves you, something that excites you, and makes your passion come alive. What you need is a big enough dream or goal to be able to "see" it over the obstacles. Your focus needs to be on that dream, and not on the obstacles or problems. They are always going to be there, but what you focus on, you will get more of. If the dream is big enough, the facts simply don't matter.

Consider this, if you are standing at one end of an auditorium full of tables, chairs, and other obstacles, and your goal was a flag at the other end, and all the lights are out, but there is a spot shining on the flag. If you just keep focused on that flag and walk toward it you will run into tables, and chairs, step on conference attendees, maybe even fall down. However, if you never take your eyes off that flag you know that you will reach it. How many times have you heard of stories of people climbing mountains who came just short of the peak, or swimmers swimming the English Channel, because they "couldn't go on" when fog set in? They lost sight of their goal or dream and couldn't go further.

Let me tell you a story of a friend of mine who changed my life forever. Paul Ramsey and I were in a MLM business together in early 80's. Paul had worked his entire life in a factory, but had a dream to own his own business. He was having modest success, but something happened to galvanize his dream into his very being. Paul was diagnosed with a very rapid spreading terminal cancer. He then decided that not only would he fight it, but he would fight to build his business to a level that would take care of his family after he was gone. This was not an easy goal to reach, night after night his wife Peg would drive them to another meeting where they would share the dream with another couple, or group of people. Many nights Paul would be so sick from chemo that he had to lay in the back of the car, holding his head out the window to vomit so she could keep driving to meet their time deadlines. Once they arrived he would clean up in a gas station, the go in and get in front of those living rooms full of people and speak for an hour or so, meet and greet after, help people set their goals and work with them. He would encourage them through their own obstacles that they thought were stopping them, without scolding them with what he had to consider as trivial problems. Then back into the car, Peg behind the wheel, as he collapsed in back once again.

There is a night and image in my mind that will never leave me. It was the night at a convention where Paul and Peg were recognized at the level that he set as his goal. When Paul came up to speak. I can still see how his skin was nearly the same color as was his gray suit and wig that hung on his skeletal body. I was standing next to his oncologist who had to see this speech himself, he too fell in love with Paul's passion and drive. The doctor stood there with tears streaming down his face, as they were on mine, and told me that there was really no way that Paul should be standing there. He told me that Paul had too little muscle left to stand, walk, or even hold his head up, but seemed to be doing so out of his steely will. Paul reached his dream, his goal, he spoke to all of us lucky enough to know him that night. Who could ever make an excuse after knowing and watching a man like Paul fight through something most of us, thank God, could never fully understand? Paul went to be with the Lord before the weekend ended. I miss him, but he will forever be with me, speaking from that stage.

Once again saw a clear reminder at Dave Liniger, Co-Founder or RE/MAX, has had to fight for his life and to once again walk on his own after near fatal MRSA infection. He was in a coma hanging onto life for more than four months last year, and when I saw him walk onto a stage in Denver for the first time on January 30th, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. You can read about Dave's amazing comeback story and with your purchase support The Wounded Warriors, Komen for the Cure, and The Children's Miracle Network where all the proceeds will go.
https://www.remax.net/public-news/Pages/MyNextStepOffersLessonsToAnyoneFacingDifficulties.aspx

Remember, The Problem isn't the Problem. The Problem is that you are focusing on the obstacles not the dream. Focus on your Dreams!

The Dodd-Frank Bill And C.F.P.B. For REALTORS.

 “The CFPB is the driving force behind almost all policy decisions a lender makes today. Far and away the fastest growing division of the company, we are spending more on interpreting and implementing the guidelines in this massive document. For my REALTOR partners, I would want them to know that we have much stricter guidelines for disclosures to the borrower, many of which are automated and seldom make sense, so our client tends to get forms emailed to them before we get a chance to thoroughly review them ourselves.  Every lender lives in fear of being found in violation, as the penalties are huge and meant to be financially devastating.”   Cathy Warga - Movement Mortgage.

 On July 21^st 2010 the 848 page Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act became law. As of July 2012 only 30% of the rules and regulations are complete, but they have already expanded to 8,843 pages of law, so every page of the law has created ten pages of regulations so far. This has created the single largest government agency in the history of mankind in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or C.F.P.B. and every business transaction large or small that has an element of credit will be touched by regulations found on the 1,099 pages of the C.F.P.B.

 

The stated purpose of the Dodd-Frank Act and the C.F.P.B. was to make markets safer for consumers, to conduct rule-making, supervision, and enforcement. To restrict unfair, deceptive or abusive practices, to take consumer complaints, monitor financial markets, and enforce laws that outlaw discrimination and other unfair treatment.

For our purposes, let’s look at how it will affect home mortgages in the coming months.  A great deal of it will be in place late this summer, and more the following January. Most of all it is going to make the cost of a loan to increase to the consumer and strip them of options that we have long enjoyed.

“As you and I both know regulation in the mortgage lending industry has gone from being very lenient to becoming overly regulated by the Federal government over the last decade.”  Todd Hollingsworth – Midwest Bankers

“Right now the new QM, CFPB has had little to do with impact on the consumer/Realtor. Most of the rules are yet to come. The biggest thing I think we will be seeing will be the new HUD (which comment just recently ended). Even though the comment period just ended, I think there will be minor changes to the proposed HUD. Most of the changes are around verbiage and the way terms of explained to the consumer. Today, you have total of payments or "cost of credit" if you keep the loan open for the entire period. With the new HUD, you will see a new topic called TIP or Total Interest Paid. This will be calculated to show the consumer if you keep the loan open for the entire period and pay $x interest on a $x loan your TIP is X% (example - $100K loan, $60K interest = 60% TIP).”  Mark Etchison – Stonegate Mortgage.

A new rule issued 1/10/2013 defines “Qualified Mortgages” and these rules will be in effect on 1/10/2014. A qualified mortgage would have a maximum of 43% DTI and will be fully documented, there will be no balloon, no interest only, no longer than 30 years, and the maximum lender fees are 3%. This will limit option due to costs of rebuttable presumption litigation is expected to be between 70,000.00 and 100,000.00 per case on any non-qualified loan. A lender has the legal responsibility to know what a borrower is expected to earn through the life of the loan, there is some uncertainty as to what that means, or how they are to look into the future.

“The Qualified Mortgage rule is out now, and basically gives a waiver to agency eligible deals like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA, etc, but only for a limited time – something like seven years for the waiver & then it can be fought over again at a later date (life everything else these days). Since the government is in complete control of the agencies, they DO have the ability to tweak the automated systems at their leisure, which could completely change which borrower profiles will meet the “waiver-eligible” programs. Personally, I find that a bit scary.”

Jae Tolliver- University Mortgage

A type of non-qualified mortgage would be what is called a “High Cost Mortgage.” The rules for them were issued 7/9/12 and took effect 1/10/13. The lender must notify borrower in advance with terms and fees identified. Borrowers MUST receive home ownership counseling. Any pre-payment penalties or late charges over 4% are banned. As of 1/18/13 and taking effect on 1/18/14 the borrowers MUST receive a copy of the appraisal 3 days before closing. To address the investor flipping a house a second appraisal is required if home is sold within 180 days and a sales price is at least 10% higher. The second appraisal has to be done at no cost to the buyer.

“Basically, more loans are going to fall into a “high cost” category – which will make them harder to obtain, since doing high cost loans is a little on the dicey side for a lender. There are exceptions for smaller loan amounts, which is good – because otherwise it would result in Red-Lining.” Jae Tolliver

 There will be a brand new Disclosure Form to replace the HUD form; it will be five pages long. When a borrower applies for a mortgage the lender MUST get them the loan estimate delivered within three days of application.

There will be no point in trying to do a quick closing within 30 days any longer, there won’t be  any times where you will be surprised on the closing day that” it is in fact going to close today after all.” The buyer MUST have the closing documents in their hands three days before closing. If any numbers change on the Buyer’s side, there needs to be a new Disclosure issued and the clock starts over on the three days. Those days are Monday –Saturday and not counting Sundays or Federal Holidays.

So bottom-line was summed up nicely by Todd Hollingsworth of Midwest Bankers.

“Dodd- Frank Act:

Pros-

·         Standardized Compensation

·         Required lenders to become more precise and accurate on their overall fees because of the 10% max tolerance.

Cons-

·         Eliminated the flexibility of the lender to accommodate the consumer with their closing costs, pre-paids, etc. at closing table.

·         Made compensation for all loan types the same when in reality all loans do not take the same amount of time or effort. This was punitive for low-income, self-employed, or credit challenged clients.

·         All clients with small loan amounts are being discriminated against.

·         Ultimately increased overall rates and costs to consumer.

·         Borrowers with excellent credit are being offered higher rates and fees.

·         Increased oversight and regulation has caused road-blocks and delays for the consumer.

CFPB:

Pros-

·         Establishes a consumer advocate bureau to bring calmness to the public that the Federal government was addressing any lack of oversight.

Cons:

·         Market had already responded and addressed the matters that the CFPB set out to do.

·         8 required steps for mortgage qualification.

·         Implementation affordability standards at 43% DTI unless approved by FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie, Freddie, creating a misunderstanding in the market place.

·         Redundant oversight.

FHA:

Pros-

·         Will encourage early payoff for FHA loans.

·         Helps keep rates low on FHA loans because of the long-term insurance guaranteeing banks.

Cons-

·         Will worsen the overall quality of loans in FHA guarantee pool by driving higher credit borrowers away.

·         Borrowers will have MI for life of the loan.”

“FHA – Wow! Making it very unattractive for any borrower, really making it a program now for only lower credit scores and little down payment buyers. This is a dramatic shift from just a few years ago. PMI is now more affordable and much easier to obtain than in the worst of the downturn. For my Realtor Partners – credit score is everything! If we can get buyers up to say 700 or higher, PMI will be lower than FHA. There is a conventional program that only requires 3% down.”

Cathy Warga – Movement Mortgage.

“No law will ever ‘fix’ the bad intentions, and we’ve had enough law on the books to prosecute bad guys for years. There’s just not been enforcement. When you do see prosecution these days, you see a lot of ‘wire fraud’ charges, since wiring funds was involved in whatever scheme has been exposed. That law has been there for years and years, so why the need for thousands of pages of new legislation."  Jae Tolliver – University Mortgage

Ultimately, it is going to just make the loan process longer and more difficult. The best thing to do is to prepare your clients expectations that it will be a process but if they work with you, as a professional everything will be just fine.

Now a tip for you as a REALTOR. Be sure to work with professionals in lending and title as never before because C.F.P.B. has an agenda as a regulatory police force, and if they find a case where they feel a consumer is wronged, they will come after everyone in the chain, lender, title, and Realtor. Make sure your partners are following the guidelines.

 

 

Rule of 95%

 

As a Real Estate professional, you are in business for yourself, you might think you work for your Broker, they might think you work for them, however neither is really true. You are in business for yourself, you are the CEO, CFO, and President of your own business, or at least you should be. However, most of us are trapped in the 95 percent thinking, not the thinking of that business owner who should be facing us in the mirror. To change, you must first understand what it means.

One of the wisest men I have ever known told me the Rule of 95%, upon hearing it I knew that I had heard something quite profound. This gentleman is someone who raised himself from a school teacher living in a mobile home to a businessman whose enterprise does nearly a billion a year in business. It makes sense listening to those who have the fruit of success on their tree. Another one of his sayings is that "A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with a theory."

The Rule of 95%

The Social Security System several years ago did a study to determine the statistical financial results of people at 65 years old. What they found:

At 65:

1 was rich
4 were self sufficient.
5 were still working.
36 were dead.
54 were dead broke living off friends, family, and/or government.

That isn't too motivating at the surface. However, the question is how to reach at least the top 5%. Do you believe that those 95% intended to be dead or dead broke? Of course they didn't plan to fail. We have all heard the saying that they didn't plan to fail, they failed to plan. However there is more to it than that. It takes more than planning, but proper planning.

If the above is correct, and it is, that means that at least 95% of everything you have learned you have learned from someone in the 95% bracket, isn't that true? If you learned what you know from those who ended up in the 95% where would you likely to end up? Again, the 95% would be likely wouldn't it? Those who taught you, your family, your teachers, and professors, they were not trying to harm you, they just taught you what they knew, and that was 95% thinking.

Wouldn't it make sense if you wanted to end up in the top 1% you would need to learn to think like a 1%er? Because you don't know what you don't know, and that is why you don't have. If you knew what you don't know, you would have what you don't have, and to know and not to do is really not to know.

How do you learn to think like a 1%er? Listen to them? Pick their brains? There are many who have written their story into books, read them. Learn not just how they did something, but even more important, why they did something. What you want to learn is how they think.

Once Aristotle Onassis was asked by a reporter what he would do if he lost all of his great wealth. His reply was if he were poor, he would live as cheaply as possible, do whatever jobs he could get to make enough money to buy a fine suit of clothes, and at least once a month have lunch at he most expensive restaurant in town where the wealthiest businessmen ate lunch. He said that the ideas that fell from their conversations like crumbs from their tables would be all he would need to start another business empire. In other words, listen to and learn from those who you would like to emulate. If they are speaking somewhere, go, take notes, if you can get a chance to meet them afterward to ask questions, do. If you can get them on CD or DVD do, and wear it out. You won't get all of the information out of it in less than five playings, because as you listen it will cause you to think and you will be distracted and miss portions. If you can get with them for lunch, buy them lunch, so you can pick their brains.

If you want to be a 1%er you must think like a 1%er. Are you in Mastermind groups with the top agents in your firm? Are you taking them to lunch, spending time with your Broker? Is your Broker, or were they top producing agents themselves? If not, find those who have the fruit on the tree of success and learn to THINK as they do, not just how but why they do what they do. Your life will change forever.

The Cost Of Leadership

 

In our world today we see so many so called leaders in business and politics who are all about themselves, their own benefits, their own rewards, their own egos. It makes it hard for people to understand that what they are showing is the antithesis of leadership. True leadership is built on sacrifice.

Sacrifice is a constant in leadership. It is an ongoing process, not a one-time payment. Many times the cost of moving forward in leadership is often financial, there is usually a temporary step back in income when you take on a new challenge of leadership. If you do your job right the finances will come, never hesitate to make a sacrifice when you know the step is right.

Leaders who want to rise have to do more than take an occasional cut in pay. They have to give up their rights. When you become a leader, you lose the right to think only for yourself. Dexter Yager says "If you have a decision to make, you can never go wrong choosing the option that is best for your people over what is best for you personally." For every person, the nature of the sacrifice may be different. For example, Lee Iaccoca's sacrifice came late in his career to save Chrysler. Former South African president F. W. de Klerk, who worked to dismantle apartheid in his country sacrificing his own career. The circumstances change from person to person, but the principle doesn't. Leadership means sacrifice.

Leaders give up to go up. That is true of every leader regardless of profession. Talk to any leader, and you will find that he has made repeated sacrifices. Usually the higher that leader has climbed, the greater the sacrifices he or she has made. Effective leaders sacrifice much that is good to dedicate themselves to what is best. Robert Palmer said in and interview, "In my model of management, there is very little wiggle room. If you want a management job, they you have to accept the responsibility and accountability that goes with it." He is really talking not about management but the cost of leadership.

If leaders have to give up to go up, then they have to give up even more to stay up. Have you ever considered how infrequently teams have back-to-back champion seasons? The reason is simple: If a leader can take a team to the championship game and win it, he often assumes he can duplicate the results the next year without making changes. He becomes reluctant to make additional sacrifices in the off-season. But what gets a team to the top isn't what keeps it there. The only way to stay up is give up even more. Leadership success requires continual change, improvement, and sacrifice. "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Sacrifice is the rule of leadership, yet nothing is more rewarding that leadership. Helping others follow a vision, helping them realize more than they ever could have dreamed of without your leadership is priceless. Of course leadership is rewarding financially in the end, it isn't what you get out of it, it is about who you become.

It's too bad so many of our leaders in name or title only have it all backwards.

Tis The Season For Goals

Tis the Season that the visions of goals dance in our heads,  goals of years past, goals of the present, and goals of the future, haunt our minds and chase away our sleep.

If you are currently chasing down the finish line on your goals for the end of the year, Congratulations, keep going, you can do it!!!

If you gave up on your goals months ago, you are far from alone. Would you like to be in the position those above are next year?

If you aren't going to miss your goals, because you never set any for this year, is it because you find them frustrating and a waste of time since you never hit goals you set anyway? Would you like to know that is one of the most common things I hear when I am visiting with agents, no matter what flag flies on their office. It isn't surprising since most people have never been taught how to set goals that will be a driving force for you.

 Are written goals important? There was a study done years ago where they studied a freshman class at Harvard finding out how many had clear specific written goals, and in the hallowed halls of the prestigious institution only 3% had done so. When they checked in on them twenty-five years later they learned those 3% held 80% of the total wealth of the class. Coincidence?

What most people do wrong is they just decide out of thin air what they will set as a goal, how many sales, how much money they would make, whatever, then go out and try to reach it. They may even go so far as to break it down to what they need to do a month to reach their yearly goal in dollars or sales. However they have no daily action plan, they have no emotional commitment to it, they are doomed to fail. At some point through the year, normally early, they look up and see how far off they are from their target and decide it was a stupid idea anyway and bail on it. Does this sound familiar?

 Let me suggest a change of strategy. Rather than just pulling a number that sounds good out of the air, let's arrive at a number to accomplish something you really want. Let's start with Why and then figure out How. What is your WHY, what do you WANT? Take some time to soul search and figure out something you really want, a family vacation, a cruise, a new house, new car, a Rolex, something for a family member, your church, whatever it is that really moves you. It doesn't matter if anyone else is excited about it, what matters is that you are.

 Now, figure out how much that WHY is going to cost over what it takes for you to cover your living expenses for the year comfortably. Let's say your WHY  is going to cost you 10,000.00 cash and your standard of living is 70,000.00, now you know you need 80,000.00 this year to reach your WHY. Adjust up or down as needed for your standard of living and your own WHY.

 So if you need to make 80k, now we need to figure out how much you make per transaction and your average drop out rate. In other words how many of your contracts last year fell through for whatever reason, let's say it was 10%.  Now divide the average per transaction say it is 3,000.00  from the 80k so we get 27 transactions and then multiply  by 1.10 to get 30 transactions, or 2.5 a month.

Next step is to start setting activity goals, those are things you have complete control over, unlike the above production goals. To set activity goals we need to look at some of your averages, what is the number of people who you have a face to face appointment that you get on a contract? How many phone calls (this could be texting, IM on Facebook, whatever) do you need to make to get one appointment? Now how many contacts or suspects must you make to get a phone number to call?

Now we know you need to write 30 contracts to get 27 closings, let's say our math said that you wrote a contract with 40% of those who you met for an appointment, (your numbers could be higher or lower,) so you must meet with 75 people to get those 30 to end up with 27.

 To get those 75 appointments we have to call people, how many people do you normally have to call to set an appointment? Let's assume 3 for 1 appointment, so now we need to call 225 people to set those appointments. Now, how many people do you have to meet to get contact information to make those calls? Let's assume 3 to get 1 number, these could come from Open Houses, Internet leads, referrals, standing in line with them at a store, where ever you meet people, now we see you need to have conversations with 675 people.

Let's break it down, that means you need to bump into 56 people a month through any source you use, to get 18.75  calls for appointments a month and we should get 6.25 appointments a month giving us 2.5 contracts.

Take that down further, 56 people a month becomes 14 a week or 2.8 a day if you work 5 days a week. Those 18.75 calls per month become 4.6 calls a week, or 1 call a day five days a week.

So to reach your 80,000.00 goal to buy your 10,000.00 WHY you will meet 2.8 new contacts per day somehow, and will call 1 prospect per day five days a week.

If this is brand new to you, my I suggest that you give yourself rewards for hitting your goal every week, if not every day. It doesn't have to be expensive, just something you want. Learn delayed gratification it could be you love one of those fancy Starbucks drinks and you get a few each week, take them away from yourself unless you hit your activity goal the day before, make them a reward. It matters not what it is, just that you want it but won't let yourself have it without earning it.

Everyone should put rewards for each month if you reach your goals that month, maybe a massage, a cigar, who knows, whatever floats your boat. If you focus on the daily activities and reward yourself for achieving them, you will find that this time next year you will be chasing the victory and that big exciting WHY!

It's Here!!! Realtors Property Resource Is Here!

 On November 1st the National Association of Realtors opened their Realtors Property Resource or RPR website for all REALTORS nationwide. Until then you had to be with a local MLS board that had signed on to it to have access to it. You can go to www.narrpr.com to set up your free account. You will needs your NRDS number, if you don't know it, you can go to www.Realtor.org to find yours, or look at your REALTOR magazine address label.

 When you get there you will learn that you now have a national database of information for REALTORS only that you can get information on everything from what you could get on your own local MLS, but much more, with ready to print reports that will help you be the true expert when you meet with your clients. As we are all aware our Cheese moved as Realtors, and continues to do so, with all the information our clients can get on their own. If you want to show more value to them, take advantage of this amazing tool that only Realtors can access.

 Unfortunately, our own Metropolitan Board of REALTORS has chosen not to participate in RPR.

" The MIBOR Board of Directors has been following the RPR™ discussion for the last three years. The Board has formally discussed whether MIBOR should contributed BLC® listing service data to RPR™. In each discussion the same concerns have arisen; at this point there are concerns about the accuracy of the information and philosophically, the Board has been opposed to releasing data under an arrangement where RPR™ intends to resell the data but not compensate the brokers within the listing services who have provided the data. For those primary reasons, the Board has adopted a “wait and see” approach. We will continue to be part the discussion with RPR™. BLC® listing service participants will have access to RPR™ regardless of whether your data is included. Member feedback on the how useful RPR™ is to your business will be part of the decision making process moving forward. "  Dona Keefe, Communication Liaison for MIBOR.

 It seems that MIBOR has much the same concerns too many agents hold, that somehow that their only value is the information that they restrict to only be available to come from them. To me, that is locking the barn door after the horse ran away. The information is out there now, our clients are accessing information through Google that we can never take back. If you believe that your only value is your access to information, quit selling yourself short.

 Have you ever been upset when a client comes to you with their "Zestimates?" Have you ever complained about the inaccurate information clients are finding? Now is a chance to do something more about it. The RPR is a tool for Realtors by Realtors to open up the entire country at your fingertips so you can be that expert. It will also help to capture more and more accurate information. If you are sitting down to list a house and in RPR it says it is a 3 bdrm 1 ba, and you know it is a 4 bdrm 2 ba, you can change it online right then and get it correct. Think Wikipedia, an encyclopedia of Real Estate information and data that not only scrapes the MLS and government systems to provide you information but you and your fellow Realtors can correct mistakes when you find them.

 This system could be truly a silver bullet for some of the challenges that Commercial agents exerience. How does a nationwide database of commercial properties and all the information you need on them at your fingertips sound to you?

 NAR came to our office and showed this system to us about two years ago, we have been excited about it ever since. What they did this month was give each and everyone of you a chance to access it, see it, play with it and if you see the potential we do, you can call MIBOR and ask them to let you have access to all it has to offer.