Tony & Darcy - The C Team's Blog

I am sitting here way early in the morning thinking about family.  I and Darcy have been married 10 years, and while we have had our share of rough spots, but for the most part it has been wonderful.  I hate to think where I would be without her in my life!!!!!We recently have had an issue with a brother in law that shall we say is struggling.  He struggles with honesty, with his career or lack there of.  Let's face it he struggles with work ethic or even a desire to work. 

When we become a family through marriage, we take the good with the bad.  We deal with what we don't like, and enjoy the blessings of being a family.  I must say here that for me, the blessing grossly outweighs the bad parts.  We adapt and come to understandings, and in many cases we agree to disagree.  I was raised by parents that believed that disagreements were to be discussed and not argued.  My father told me more than once that no one wins an argument, someone always will have their feelings hurt.  It is not easy trying to be rational and discuss things, and I must admit that occasionally we have argued.  Never anything serious, just enough that it embarrasses me to fall prey to it.  And honestly, my dad was right, someone always gets their feelings hurt. 

I think that Real Estate is in a small way like family and marriage.  Everyone knows the prospect that takes great pleasure in wasting your time and resources, only to frustrate you to the point of breaking you down, and making you want to quit.  We have all had the seller that is sure that his or her house is special, and isn't like the 20 other tract homes on the block, so it should be priced a lot higher than the neighbors.  These are real frustrations, and as Real Estate is an emotional thing, whether one is buying or selling it, people will once in a while get their feeling hurt.

I would never equate Real Estate's importance with that of one's family, but it is similar in it's basic reliance on relationships to make it work.  That is why I would say just like being in a family, the blessings outweigh the pain or hardship.  Like family relationships, agent client relationships need to be worked on by using honesty, integrity, and caring, at the bare minimum.  These relationships can be incredibly rewarding, even if for just a single transaction, but usually if they are rewarding, they will lead to many more transactions.  The frustrating prospect, after giving it all you have, needs to be moved along or what ever it is that you as a professional need to do to make sure that you are developing the types of relationships that will bless your life. 

The best part of finding those relationships in Real Estate, is often, these clients become some of your best friends.  The great blessing that results in such a relationship is beneficial to both parties, and both parties profit.  You as a Realtor in more business, ie more commissions; and the client by knowing that you have taken care of their interests, you have found them the great value in the market, or stood firm and negotiated the highest price with the least amount of hassle.

The challenge is to look at each client as a long term relationship, and build it as such.  If you're able to turn each of your clients into that type of relationship, great!  But try to make sure that you provide the service necessary to have each of your clients want that type of relationship and you will be wildly successful in what ever you are doing!

On the local news last night there was an interesting story.  It orginated in Salt Lake City, but this particular station, like many others has a "fix it" reporter.  He is the guy that puts pressure on companies or government to make things right, and he does a good job.  He is fair to the companies and to the consumer. 

Last night, he did a story that I am going to keep it as brief as I can.  A family bought a brand new home in 2004, he bought it from the contractor.  As time went by he tried to get some things in the house fixed, like leaks in the roof, etc.  The contractor didn't respond very well, so he went to the local city government to see what they could do to help him.  The City told him that they shouldn't have been living in the house, that their building inspector had never issued a Certificate of Occupancy.

The man was upset, he had a mortgage on the house, and couldn't afford to have another mortgage(if he could get one in this market).  They were a young family, so things are understandably tight.  He contacted the mortgage company, and they were amazed that a mortgage was given on a house that no Certificate of Occupancy was granted on.  In Utah, by law, new construction requires a Certificate of Occupancy prior to people living in it.

The homeowner was able to get a copy of the final inspection report from the building inspector, and the house had failed the final inspection.  Long and short of it the entire thing is now in litigation.  The homeowner, as I understand it, is suing the builder for building and selling him a home that wasn't legal to occupy.  The mortgage company for the same reason.  The city, for taking the fees necessary for the inspections, but failing to enforce those inspections, allowing him to procure city serices without checking to make sure that it was a legal residence. 

In short the whole situation is a mess.  As Realtors, we need to make sure that we protect our clients completely.  I don't know if he used the developers Realtor or not, the reporter didn't mention that a Real Estate Agent was being sued, in fact, no Real Estate Agent was mentioned in the story.  I do think that if one isn't being sued, then they are lucky.  We need to make sure that everything is in order, today people are too ready to sue for us not to be!!! 

In this case, I don't disagree with the homeowner nor his desire to use the courts to remedy this situation.  I just want to make sure to remind us that we need to do everything possible to protect our clients, and possibly ourselves from being sued!

We have contemplated purchasing a contact management system, and upgrading from our own data base that we have used.  Price is definately an issue for now, I guess that I am full of questions today.  What system do you use?  Have any of you used more than one of the systems.  I have looked at Top Producer and Wise Agent, I really haven't looked beyond these.  Any other suggestions?

Thanks again for your help!!!!

Which is more important, especially to a new or newer agent, a brokerage that offers the best split or one that offers the most training?

This is the question of the ages in Real Estate.  We work for a broker that offers fair splits but has great training.  What say ye?  I would also ask the same question to experienced agents, what is more important, continuing training or high splits?

I ask not just to generate buzz, but also to gather information for myself, like I said my broker offers fair splits, but there are a couple of other brokerages in town that offer a lot higher splits.  We also have Exit and Allpro offices that basically is a flat fee per transaction plus desk fees.  So I wanted to gather as much information as I can, from you, my peers.

I don't pretend to think that I don't need to have continuing training, I know that there are a lot of ways to obtain training.  Some that aren't expensive, some that are.  Once again, I thank you in advance for your thoughts and ideas.

Another weekend, another incredible round of upsets in college football.  Doesn't anyone want to win the National Championship?  This week it was #1 ranked LSU, followed by undefeated Kansas, and so on an so forth.  I wonder sometimes if we aren't more afraid to succeed than we are to fail.  I know that sports is not really how life is, nor is it really the most important part of life. I also know that in many cases these upsets occurred in rivalry games, where anything can happen. 

In our profession, I wonder how many of us find ourselves in a position where we are better prepared, have equal or better skills, yet don't succeed as we should.  I know at times, I have let myself to be too worried that I might fail, instead of doing what I needed to win.  In sports it is called playing not to lose, in life it is called failure.  It may not be catastrophic failure, it may be simply not getting a listing, or not closing when all of the signs are there. 

Each of these little things add up, and make it harder to overcome them the next time.  I find that I need to get back to the basics, working more on my scripts, reading books and blogs that are positive and build me up.  Practicing more prior to securing appointments etc.  I also believe that if we aren't improving ourselves, we are falling behind.  I think that it is good to remember that it is alright to be successful.  No one was place here to fail, we have all been given certain traits that make us different from one another.  It is up to each one of us to develop those traits to make ourselves successful.

Good Luck!  And have a Great Week!