Tony & Darcy - The C Team's Blog

As the New Year approaches, I have to say that I am excited.  It will be good to begin the year without the unrealiestic expectations that we had entering into the past couple of years.  The thought that we just had to have a Real Estate Sales Agent license meant that we were in line for a lot of money.  Commissions were just going to roll into our bank accounts. 

This year, reality finally came to most, if not all Realtors.  There was still business being done, it was just being done by Realtors that worked hard.  I think that is the reality that replaces the myth, success=hard work and vice versa.  Gone in our market is the quick and easy sale, sellers and buyers are looking for Realtors that are up front with them, and are willing to work hard.  That doesn't stop them from listing with agents that are willing to take overpriced listings. 

That is where the hard work comes in, the agents that are selling properties are the ones that stay the course.  They only take listings that are properly priced.  Do they lose listings?  Yes, but they aren't wasting their time and energy on something that isn't going to sell anyway.  They are busy getting as many saleable listings as they can.  They have a plan, and they work it, everyday.  That is the other myth that is being broken Real Estate is work that needs daily attention and effort.  It isn't a vacation nor a get rich quick scheme. 

When I look at the bottom line on some of our deals, after subtracting the advertising costs, and the other costs associated with selling the property.  Once we have that figure, we divide the number of hours that we spent getting the listing or client, hours spent showing and marketing we don't have a great hourly wage.  Even with that we take them, why because by treating them right, they refer their family and friends to us.  Our hourly wage increases dramatically with referrals. 

The hard work is there for each of to do.  I really believe that our success depends on our ability to work hard and smart.  Working with referrals is working smart, but developing those referrals can be hard work.  It is worth it, regardless of whether a commission is generated or not.  Those relationships are what makes this one of the great careers in the world!  I am sorry if I rambled too much, it is getting late.

I know that I have blogged about goals before, but we are still working out our goals.  Trying to get them nailed down.  I know that the way to go about it is to set long term goals then fill in the steps of reaching those goals with short term and intermediate goals. 

I guess that my biggest concern, as I quote Stephen Covey is that we don't put our ladders against the wrong wall.  We, like everyone else, have taken a hit in the past year, so the challenge to re establish our past levels of success.  Then use those levels to continue building our business.  Basically it feels like we are starting over, I am sure that we are not alone in this.  We know that nothing is guaranteed, that is the nature of our business. 

I guess our fear is that we not pick the wrong area of the business to focus on.  A couple of years ago, in our market if you could get connected with a good builder, you were set.  Today, not so much.  I sort of feel like as focused of a shot gun approach may be the best way to go.  Focus on all aspects of generating leads, and concentrate on particular areas. 

Any way these are what we are discussing as we set down to finalize our goals.  Any ideas or input?  Thanks in advance for any help.

I have been away for a few days.  We travelled to see my inlaws the weekend before Christmas then on Christmas Eve, we travelled to spend it and Christmas with my family.  It was a great time, even though the two families live in complete opposite directions.  We travelled to se my inlaws in Southern California, then to Northern Utah to be with my family.  About 1000 miles of driving. 

I put in the mileage as a way of saying that it was a great time.  It is good to remember what the Holidays are about, and that is family.  Although we had our lap tops and our cell phones, we did little more than answer phone calls.  It is a good thing to take a break from the stresses of work and spend time with those that matter most in our lives.  While it is nearly impossible to completely take a break, doing as much non Real Estate stuff as possible is a way that we found worked for us. 

We do hope that everyone enjoyed a great Holiday!  We also hope that everyone enjoyed a safe Holiday!  For us, it was great to celebrate the birth of the Savior of mankind with our loved ones!

Reading yesterday of another sports scandal as up to 25 members of a college football team won't be eligible to play in a bowl game because they cheated to get good enough grades to be eligible to play football.  This, on top of what has gone on in baseball with the steroids along with the videotaping of opponents signs during a professional football game should not come as a surprise to anyone.  Let's face it they have gotten away with it.  The have told us as a society that it is ok to take advantage of the rules and do what ever it takes to win. 

I will never be one to say that life should be fair, or even that life is fair.  It isn't, that is plain and simple.  That is why rules of behavior were and are established, so that everyone can participate on reasonably equal ground.  Does that mean that I will ever hit a baseball like Barry Bonds?  Absolutely not, I have never had the talent that he has had, before or after steriods.  Will I ever be able to run like Marion Jones, again no.  I am not in good enough shape to compete at that level with those athletes.  By the same token I could never pitch like Andy Pettitte nor coach like Bill Belicheck, that isn't the point. 

The point is that there are people who are nearly as good at what they do as the afore mentioned athletes and coaches.  The rest of the playing field is (or should be) trying to better themselves to compete with those individuals.  The fact that these players and coaches feel that they have to cheat to succeed should indicate that there are many other people at or near their level of excellence.  The damage to us is that it says that even if you do cheat, it doesn't really matter.  The baseball players got paid, some won world championships some set records, and the reality is that nothing happened to them.  The Patriots are on the verge of completing a perfect season, one in which yea they paid a fine and lost a draft pick next year, but in the year that they were caught competing unfairly, they could go undefeated.  

This precedent, though not new sets a terrible example, especially to the youth of this country as well as other countries.  Who do the young people today look up to for an example of putting in the extra work to be great at what ever they do?  Who do we as professional adults look to as peers of excellence?  I am not saying that everyone in this era in sports cheats, that is too broad of a brush to paint with.  There are great athletes and individuals competing in many levels, Tiger Woods comes to mind, no hint of cheating in his past.  The problem that I see, is that there are too many that have taken the easy way out and cheated, and gotten away with it, so those individuals are just as plentiful as those that have risen to the top with integrity. 

I believe that our society is lesser for allowing this to continue.  Maybe Florida State should forfeit the games that these ineligible football players participated in?  Would that change the thought process of the next person that looks to cheat on exams to be eligilble?  What if once proven that illegal drugs were used, the numbers accumulated in those seasons where those drugs were used were erased?  Records set while under the influence of steriods would be nullified and restored to those that competed according to the rules.  Would that solve the problem? 

I doubt it, we have become too focused on the now, and not focused on the consequences of what we do now.  Whether we like it or not, everything that we do has consequences.  We are seeing some of the results of mortgages that were too easily obtained, or homes that had their prices "pumped" up to make investors more money.  Real estate used to be thought of as a great long term investment, not a "day trader" commodity.  It is still a great long term investment, if it is purchased as such.  It will have periods of rising and declining value, but almost always will, in the long term, make the purchaser money. 

Our profession has taken some hits in the media, and by those discounters that have become the "darlings" of the media.  The best way to combat these attacks is to be in it for the long haul, think about the consequences of our actions, and prove our worth to our clients by protecting their interests above our own.  The athletic world has taken some wrong paths, maybe it is a good time for the business world, especially our business world to show the way that it has to be done.  I hope that this blog makes sense, it seemed to while I was thinking about it. 

As a baseball fan I was saddened by the depth of player involvement in the entire steroid mess.  While some future Hall of Fame players have seen fit to use, albeit not admit to using, steroids, I hope that baseball can regain it's luster.  I understand the argument that steroids cannot make you hit a baseball, they do make you stronger, and improve the fast twitch or reactionary muscles.  At least that's what I have read and been told, I don't have any first hand knowledge on the subject. 

I guess that the part that sickens me the most is the cavalier attitude towards cheating.  Some of the players named in the Mitchell report were locks for the Hall of Fame.  I wonder now if some of the sportscasters are correct in asking for a wing or a building to be added to the Hall of Fame for the steroid era.  Should these players that put up astonishing numbers, albeit while cheating be allowed into the Hall of Fame with the other immortals of baseball? 

As a fan, I don't pretend to be naive enough to think that every player enshrined in the Hall of Fame is perfect.  Far from it, they were people with everyday problems like the rest of us, but they didn't cheat the game.  I see parallels in life and sport often.  As a society, I think we have too many people that believe the ends justify the means.  This is wrong!  Two or more wrongs cannot make something that is right.  As Realtors, if we get caught cheating, we are fined, lose our license, which means our careers, and still are subject to lawsuits and judgements.  It doesn't matter if we cheated to try to extend our career one more year or were trying to bounce back from a bad year. 

While I agree that it is impossible to punish these baseball players now for indiscretions from the past.  I do think that it is time to stop allowing this type of garbage to slide by.  This attitude of the ends justifying the means has to stop!  We slide ever closer to mediocrity as a nation and a people the longer that we allow this thought process to dictate our actions. 

As Realtors, we certainly can't afford to allow it, our livelihood depends on our honesty and integrity.  We don't get passes on our licenses when we decide to cheat, we get to find a new way to provide for our families.  We certainly will lose our opportunity to be in anyone's Hall of Fame