How Could F.O.R.M. Change Your Business?

As an industry we are always looking for that next buyer or seller. We invest significant amounts of money buying leads, paying to drive our SEO higher, and trying to capture more eyeballs which will hopefully turn to leads. All that is great, if what you are doing is giving yourself a good return on investment. If you are, then by all means continue, and keep your eyes open for new opportunities as they arise. However, don’t let yourself be caught up in “the way you’ve always done it” and allow yourself to be blind to the freebies that might be right in front of your eyes .. Or hamburger.

 Keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on around you, wherever you happen to be. Personally, I like wearing shirts and jackets that have our company logo on them. They are excellent conversation starters (plus, who doesn’t love a little brand pride?). Just yesterday, I popped into McDonald's to grab and go, or at least that was the plan. I was waiting in line another customer saw my coat with the RE/MAX Ability Plus logo and asked me, "How is the market at RE/MAX?" We talked a bit while waiting on our food before he told me he wanted to sell his home. He’s on the South right now, but wants to be closer to his grandkids on the North side. He’d like to buy a new house, too. We sat down together, ate lunch, and just visited. He now has an appointment with one of my agents to get things started. 

 Over the years, I have sold millions of dollars of homes standing in all sorts of lines in all sorts of businesses. Some of the time it was because I’m a natural salesman, natural speaker; most of the time my branded clothing did the work for me. If not wearing a logo, I engage my "Three Foot Rule” and it also works well. If you come within three feet of me you are going to hear my story. Rather, I will hear yours.

 For those who are thinking, "Well maybe it will work for you, but I am not that outgoing," let me assure you it is much easier than you might think. If your concern is you don't know what to say to start a conversation, or worse, to continue a conversation let me give you a great tool. It is called F.O.R.M.: Family – Occupation – Recreation – Message. Everyone wants to talk about the first three topics, and you might be surprised to find how many people are starving to find someone who will give them genuine interest in hearing their stories. The ice breaker can be almost anything, weather, something you see while standing in line, anything. Then you ask about themselves, their family, kids, etc. When they tell you show true interest and ask follow up questions, of course share your own quickly, then back to them. Keep the focus on them: often times you’ll find that people will share things you wouldn’t believe. Within minutes you’ll know more about them that you may have wanted to. After you’ve covered their Family, Occupation, and Recreation, offer your Message. Hit them with your elevator speech, the Buffini Mayor’s Speech, if you like. Sometimes, its as simple as being asked what you do. That might be all someone needs to ask you, "How is the market?" or "I have been thinking...." 

 You are likely walking right past clients every day who are people who you would be able to meet face to face. Develop a relationship instead of complaining about how hard it is to get an Internet lead or to respond to your emails or calls. 

Don't be a Secret Agent: remember the Three Foot Rule and F.O.R.M.

What Will The Real Estate Business Look Like In Coming Years?

There are many who predict the demise of the REALTOR, that one of the portals like Zillow will bypass agents and brokers and deal directly with the consumer. Just last week Zillow added a partnership with Uber to drive prospective buyers to listings. However, I think the death watch is way premature and unfounded.

 Statistically the numbers show a very different picture than one of people moving away from REALTORS and going to the Internet to do it themselves. National Association of REALTORS Study of Home Buyers gave us these examples:

Average Search Time By Buyers:

2001 - 7 weeks.

2013 - 12 weeks.

Percentage of Buyers Who Used A Real Estate Agent:

2001 - 69%

2013 - 88%

Average Commission Paid:

2008 - 5%

2013 - 5.4%

Research makes it pretty clear that consumers want someone to help them through the complicated process of purchasing/selling a home.

 Does that mean that nothing will change? No. I believe you have already been seeing a dramatic change in how business is being done. I believe you will also see a polarization of business models to fit different wants and needs in the market place.

In the REALTrends book,  "Game Changers" beliefs on what the real estate landscape will look like are discussed. 

The general idea is that you will see two distinct business models, the Counselor and the Facilitator. The Counselor is the agent who is a top professional, knows the market, knows how to interpret the flood of data and becomes that guide to maximize his/her client's experience. This is almost a concierge service level experience and will be valued by the consumer at a higher commission rate for the higher level of service. The other will be the Facilitator who will be there to serve the client who is comfortable doing most of his/her own research and processing of the data without expert guidance. They simply want someone who can facilitate the the buying or selling process to make sure things happen when and where they should. These consumers will choose this level of service expecting a discounted rate. 

Today, both service levels are easily identifiable, but at present the fees are not distinguishable. That is likely to change. Think in terms of Nordstom vs Wal-Mart. Both are very successful business models but cater to different consumers and at different fees. Both the Counselor-approach and the Facilitator-approach could find that their businesses and incomes increase dramatically as they better market and brand themselves to the consumer who wants the type of services  they provide. The Facilitator might end up charging less in fees per transaction but may find they have a greatly increased amount of business. Teams will likely continue to be a growing trend in both models as well.

 There is one group that may find themselves on the outside looking in, and those would be the Generalists, those in the middle. Generalists are those who aren't keeping up as the experts or aren't creating operating systems to allow them to be efficient with the facilitator transactions processes. We can look to the retail world and see what is happening to the retail generalists like Sears, J.C.Penny's and Kmart to see how the world is moving away from that model. 

 Bottom-line is this: if you have survived and thrived in the Real Estate industry over the last ten years, you should continue to do so over the next ten years as well. If you study the opportunity and position yourself to help move the ball on these changes, you will likely see serious growth. 

Is Good Good Enough? What If Great Is Possible?

 Something that a mentor taught me many years ago is that Good is the greatest enemy of Great. We can easily become complacent with doing good.  Our business is good. Our families are doing good.  Our lives are good. To move to Great might present a risk, is it a risk worth taking?

 No matter what you do there will be decisions to make and consequences to those decisions. In our company goals at RE/MAX Ability Plus, we have chosen to pursue greatness in one area and know that requires us to abandon others. For us, our goal is to be the very best place for top producing REALTORS and teams to practice their businesses. To do that we knew we had to not follow normal real estate business models where you hire large amounts of new agents and help them start their careers. New agents require a large amount of time and resources, both financially as well as human resources to help them get off the ground and protect them and their companies from liabilities. Under that traditional model, there is a heavy allotment or resources directed toward those new agents, and the top producing agents get a very small amount of the time and resources from their broker because they are already self-sufficient without a lot of help. 

 What we wanted to do was to turn the model upside down and allocate all our resources to those top agents to help them be even more productive, to grow their businesses to levels they had never dreamed possible. We choose to do one thing great rather than many things good.

 How about you and your business? Your family? Your life? Are you trying to be good at everything, or are you looking to be great at the really important things? That is ultimately the choice all of us must make.

Fishers Property Maintenance Ordinance And What It Means To You

Fishers Property Owners are about to get a very big surprise when they unwrap the pretty package being presented to them as a program to protect their property values. When they open it, they will find that they have lost many of their property rights. It is being fast tracked to try to pass before the end of the year so that the new council won't have a chance to look at it.

The City of Fishers, Indiana is joining a long list of local governments who are trying to address the concern of empty bank-owned houses and properties that are not being kept up and tidy. The challenge is that so far, most of these plans attack the rights of those who are taking care of their property, while not impacting the bank-owned or truly derelict properties at all. Noblesville recently passed one nearly identical to it, but like many things political it happened completely under the radar. If anyone knew about it, they only knew it was to "protect property values."

"An Ordinance Of The Town Of Fishers, Hamilton County, Indiana Concerning Property Maintenance" will be given its first reading at the Town Council Thursday November 17th, a few days from this writing. However, if not killed by then, you will want to engage.

 This ordinance will make the Town Of Fishers a massive and Omnipotent HOA superseding all other HOA's. It gives authoritative power to the Building Commissioner who then becomes sole arbiter on what is or what isn't a violation and the penalties involved. The Policeman, Judge, Jury, and Executioner all in one sets the table for future abuse of power and possible graft. 

 What would it look like for a home owner as writing?

 Imagine this: Your dog has a bad day and digs up the neighbors roses. Your neighbor is ticked and uses this new law to get back at you, so they call in a violation against you. You then get a call from the Fishers Building Commissioner to say they have a report that your home has violations, maybe even gross violations of the law. 

Building Commissioner: "Hello Ms Homeowner, we have a report that your house might be in violation and we need to set a time to come see it."

You: "Who reported this? What are they saying is wrong with my house? There isn't anything wrong, there is no need to meet."

BC: "Ms Homeowner, we need to meet to review possible violations."

You: "No!"

BC: "I will simply get a Search Warrant."

Building Commissioner arrives with Search Warrant while you are at work and now you get a letter from the Town Of Fishers.

"Dear Ms Homeowner;

 We have used a Search Warrant and have inspected your home and found it to be in violation of these provisions of the Property Maintenance Ordinance of the Town of Fishers. These issues come with a fine of $100.00 and we demand that these repairs be made in no less than 60 days and are reinspected by Building Commissioner to sign off that they are complete and in compliance.

• There were two live ants found in your kitchen, as well as evidence of a mouse at some time behind your refrigerator. 

 (This violates Section 9 paragraph E: Foundation Walls; All foundation walls shall be maintained and free from open cracks, breaks, tears and holes and shall be kept in such condition as to prevent the entry of rodents and other pests.)

• Your windows in your 2nd and 3rd bedroom and your back door do not seal properly and there is air infiltration. 

  (This violates Section 9, paragraph M; Windows to be tight. Every window sash shall be in good condition and fit reasonably tight within its window frame.)

• Your windows, we feel, were not easy enough to open from the inside, and a there was one that had fogged glass in one pane. The hall bath room window mechanism also did not hold up the window when opened without being propped. 

 (This violates Section 9, Paragraph N; Windows to be tight. Every window other than a fixed window, shall be capable of being easily opened and shall be held in position by window hardware. Also Paragraph P, Q, R and S.)

• There is faded or peeling paint on your West side exterior wall of your Mini barn. 

(This violates Section 9, Paragraph E)

• The hose bib in the garage didn't work. (This violates Section 27, paragraph F)
• There was a drywall crack, a nail pop, and a corner bead break in your living room. (This violates Section 27, Paragraph M.)
• Your hall bath tub faucet had a slow drip. (This violates Section 28, Paragraph E.)

We have found these to constitute a Gross Violation and as a First Offense the fine is $100.00.

Unpaid Gross Violations shall be referred to the Fishers's Town Court. Every day that a gross violation continues after due notice has been served, in accordance with the terms and provisions hereof, shall be deemed a separate offense. 

Second Offense with one year: $100.00

Third Offense and each additional offense with one year: $250.00"

 If this fabricated letter and exchange would concern you in real life, then make your voice heard. 

Contact you MIBOR Political Director, Chris Pryor and let him know your concerns at 317-956-5240 or ChrisPryor@mibor.com. 

Also call the Fishers Town Council and Mayor. http://www.fishers.in.us/index.aspx?NID=292

The Proposed Ordinance:Fishers Property Maintenance Ordinance

 

Does Getting A Real Estate License Erase Your Individual Rights?

Contrary to what many seem to believe, when you get your Real Estate license you do not relinquish your rights as an American. You may have noticed that our rights today are under attack from all angles, by both those who wish to strip them from us and those whose "good" intentions have unintended consequences.

 This week, we have seen two drastic examples of attacks on our freedoms. One directly upon us as REALTORS, the other as property owners.

 MIBOR recently had a speaker in to teach Social Media. This speaker allegedly told the agents in  attendance that if they, as REALTORs, posted one-sided political or religious posts on Facebook, this could be a Fair Housing or Code of Ethics violation. That is absolute nonsense, and the speaker actually broke the "Chilling Effects Law" by making that suggestion to the group. It matters not what label you claim politically, you should be equally outraged.

Chilling effect is a term in law and communication that describes a situation where speech or conduct is suppressed by fear of penalization at the interests of an individual or group. It can affect one’s free speech. Since many attacks rely on libel law, the term libel chill is also often used. The term chilling effect has been in use in the U.S since 1950.

 It is up to you to know your rights and to stand up for them or one day wake up and mourn their passing. We lose them incrementally, we lose them because we don't know them, or we lose them because we don't understand what our rights are to begin with. One of the greatest minds this nation has ever had, John Adams told us, “And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people who have a right from the frame of their nature to knowledge...” 

 Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If you read the First Amendment, you see that Congress shall (“shall" means “mandatory") make no laws. So NO law can prohibit the free exercise of speech or press or assemble. Today, Social Media is simply an extension of the old Town Square.  

“Be not intimidated...nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice.”   John Adams

 Of course there are restrictions for Commercial Speech, unlike personal speech, this would include advertising. You cannot in any way discriminate, or be exclusive, or favoring one group over another in any of your commercial advertising. You also may not slander or disparage competition. Those are the Fair Housing and Ethics violations that are possible with speech. Not making political or religious comments on your personal posts.

The second attack this week is against property owners in Fishers with the Fishers Property Maintenance Ordinance to be read at 7 pm at the Fishers Town Hall on December 1st. This ordinance is written for a "good” purpose. It is designed to protect property rights from abandoned properties falling into disrepair. However it goes too far. The Ordinance impacts every single property in Fishers. It gives omniscient powers to the Fishers Building Commissioner as Policeman, Judge, Jury, and Executioner to decide what is or isn't a violation and how much it will cost. 

You could potentially be in violation if the Commissioner "had reasonable cause" to search your home, if you refuse a Search Warrant, if you have windows that aren't sealed against air infiltration  or don't open as "easily" as they believe they should. You could be in violation if you have ants that get into your home, or a mouse, or even have cracks in your drywall. Or, if you are a snowbird and have winterized your home, you could be at risk of violation. It’s likely if you live in Fishers, you are already in violation of the proposed Ordinance.

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” John Adams

It is up to you to protect your freedoms for you, for your clients, and for your children. To protect them, you must first know them, understand them, and have to courage to stand up for them.
Remember the words of John Adams once again.

"But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."

 

Are You A Business Owner, Or Are You Self-Employed? Why Is The Difference Huge?

What is the force that drives your business? It may not be what you believe it to be. It wasn't for me. However, until you know and understand what drives your business, you could very well be limiting your own success.

 Is it possible that you like to be in control? Could it be possible that you love being in control, or maybe even that you are a bonafide Control Freak? I was, and what I didn’t know is that I was continuously holding myself back.

 One of my mentors tried to explain to me where I was hurting my own business. He told me that we, as children, are dependent upon others to do most everything for us. Then hopefully, as we grow we become independent and do for ourselves. But, to truly reach the pinnacles of success we need to learn to become interdependent and learn to grow as a team. Intellectually, I understood this, but emotionally I found it very hard to let go of control and truly share the load with others.

Have you ever read a book that changed your life? I hope you answered yes to that one. Several years ago I was fortunate enough to read "Cashflow Quadrant" by Robert Kiyoski. What I read opened my eyes to my own belief systems. I saw myself in a way I never had before.

The concept is that there are four different ways people earn money, and you will operate in the one that aligns with what you truly value in your business mindset.

What you truly value places you in one of these four quadrants.

Employee:

 It isn't money that is the driving force for employees, it is security. The security of a pay check. However, of the four quadrants the least secure is the employee. They do not own their job, are at the mercy of the employer, and could be terminated for any number of reasons, fair or unfair.

Self Employed:

 It isn't money that is the driving force for Self Employed, it is control. The Self Employed are by nature perfectionists, no one can do it as well as they. They are the ultimate control freaks. When they hire employees, they do not try to hire someone who would be capable of taking over and running the business. They fear that someone might take what they know, and go in business competing with them. Long hours await them there. Where the business owns them, rather than owning the business, is the norm.

Business Owner:

 It isn't money that is their driving force, though normally they make much more than either of our two on the left side of the quadrant. Their driving force is systems. What they are most interested in is creating systems that will run their businesses when they aren't there. When the Business Owner hires employees, he/she will try to hire someone who is smarter in an area. The Business Owner needs employees who can be trusted to do what they are hired to do, can run the systems they have been hired to run. This way, the Business Owner can step away and start up something else.

 There is a story of a town that needed water. The townspeople took bids on someone to bring water up over the big hill between the river and town. One guy took the bid to carry water in buckets, he started right away, hired several others to help carry buckets and immediately they had a business carrying water. His competitor seemed to disappear for a year as he got bids from engineers and construction firms to build a pipeline and aqueduct. He  allowed his competitor to carry water until he opened the pipe and started collecting his checks. The one who had been carrying it had to find another job. That is the difference between self-employed and business owner. The self employed water carrier laughed at his competitor for losing out on all the business and money, until the business owner's system took all the business away.

Investor:

Investors make money with money. They do not have to work, because their money is working for them. The "I" quadrant is the playground of the rich. Regardless of which quadrant people make their money, if they hope someday to be rich, they ultimately must come to the "I" quadrant. It is there that money becomes converted to wealth.

 When I read this book I finally understood what made me tick. I was a passionate Self  Employed person, the product of several generations of Self Employed people. So relinquishing control is why I could never actually become "Interdependent." I was always grabbing things back from those I was trying to train, because I knew I could do it better and quicker myself.  Does that sound familiar to you? Fortunately, after reading this book, I took a position managing 15 different new home sales representatives in 20 communities over 7 counties. It quickly became clear that I couldn't be in every location at every minute. I had to force myself to learn to develop systems, train my people on the systems, and empower them to succeed. It was painful at first, but it truly works.

 Are you, as a REALTOR or other commissioned sales person, trying to do it all? Or are you becoming Interdependent and using a team of some sort to make you better?

I was speaking with an agent with another firm over lunch the other day. She told me what she had planned to do over the next couple of days. She had to go to a sign company to design and order signs, she needed to pick up those signs and place several of them at a large commercial property, along with several other projects. None of the items on her “to-do” were face-to-face with a client. She estimated these tasks would take her around 12 hours to complete. Even if you consider her productive time at a very low value of $500/hour, that is $6,000 in time lost. How much is your time worth to you?

 How can you as an Agent operate as a Business Owner and not be consumed as a Self Employed?

 What we offer our agents are systems. Our agent can take advantage of any that fit their business model and ignore those that don't. 

At RE/MAX Ability Plus we realize that we work FOR our agents. This mindset allows our agents to focus their time on productive activities and provide services to better their business.

Systems they take advantage of:

1. A full-time marketing department to assist with all their marketing needs.

2. A wide array of automated systems that will send clients follow up cards, emails, gifts, etc.

3. An in-house courier that will deliver anything (earnest money, for example), whenever, wherever they need it delivered. 

4. A completely integrated paperless system, so that they don’t have to run around to chase paperwork or signatures.

5. A showing agent program. They can hire an experienced agent to show properties for them, go to a closing, do an open house, etc. for only $40/hour.

6. A fully mobile Intranet platform to give them full access to everything at their fingertips.

 Dozens and dozens of systems well beyond these, creating a smorgasbord of opportunities for agents to move away from the time-controlling and income-restricting Self Employed quadrant and into the life changing Business Owner quadrant.

What quadrant are you? If not the Business Owner, how do you plan to make that jump?

More time, more money await. Start making a life instead of simply making a living.



Zillow and Trulia and Move, Oh My!!!!

 Is the sky falling? Is the world coming to an end? Will we see human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together,,,, mass hysteria? Zillow to buy out Trulia! Will they open a Real Estate company and put everyone else out on the street? Zillow and Trulia and Move, Oh My!

 Okay, let's step back from the cliff for a second. Should we give web portals like Zillow and Trulia attention? Sure, it is well deserved, they have done an amazing job of finding a need/want by the consumers and filling it. There could be an argument made that the REALTOR community, brokers, agents, MLS's and Trade Associations created this need by refusing to understand the changing expectations of our consumers. We have too long tried to force the public into looking at and buying homes through how we as an agency are most comfortable without asking, or really caring, how they might prefer.

 But what are these massive portals that control most of the eyeballs in the house hunting market? They are first and last advertising sites, in fact the day that being the sole keeper of the data in the marketplace is long gone for Brokerages and Agents. If that is all you think you're valued by, you better quickly figure out a new value proposition. Today, Zillow and Trulia have replaced the newspaper advertising for properties, so instead of paying for a newspaper ad, you will be paying a portal for the leads generated.

 What portals do not do is provide the actual service involved in buying or selling a home. Portals cannot replace REALTORS, because although people look for houses on the Internet, they don't buy them there. A house is NOT a commodity like a book on Amazon.com, and it never will be. A real estate transaction is much more complex and emotional and people still want a professional to help guide them through it. The difficult market of the last several years reinforced that message.

 If you fear that they will move from their current model and go into the real estate sales business out of the Internet Advertising business, you have to consider that they would have to completely redo their current model and would lose all their current paying customers. Those customers are you and your brokers who pay them for the advertising and leads they generate. So to move into our part of the industry they would first lose all their revenue.

 You are the trusted advisor, you are the one to guide them through the process. What you should be focusing on is how to give them that "Wow" experience as a consumer buying or selling a home through you. Our model at RE/MAX Ability Plus is to create a "Wow" experience for our clients, who are our agents, and to help support them to create that "Wow" for their clients.

 So Fear Not.