"Optimism is the one Quality more Associated with Success and Happiness than any other"
- It is so much easier to frown.
- It is so much easier to get down on yourself and your business.
- It is so much easier to look back at what was.
- It is so much easier to be distracted.
- It is so much easier to be depressed.
- It is so much easier to go to work late.
- It is so much easier to leave work early.
- It is so much easier to get caught up in not doing the right thing.
- It is so much easier to get out of the Real Estate business.
- It is so much easier not to fight for the business you have been in for your adult life.
- It is so much easier to wave the white flag.
- It is so much easier to work at Starbucks.
Did we get into this business because it was easy or because it is what we love to do? If you answered easy then get out of the business. If you answered because you love it then you must fight for what you love. You must work harder than everyone else. You must knock on doors, and talk to people. People are no longer coming to you. You need to come to them.
We are very fortunate to be in the real estate business. A busineess that we love, and if you find yourself no longer loving it then my advice is GET OUT. We do not need you nor do the customers. You are doing a disservice to your customers. Let someone who loves what they are doing handle your customers.
In this difficult market you have to love the real estate business. You have to have passion in the business or again Get Out!!.
Here is wishing everyone who stays in to be passionate, and prosperous in 2009!!
David Serle
Vice President/Managing Broker
RE/MAX Services
561-912-3500 Office
561-912-3502 Direct
561-756-3104 Mobile
Great post, David. Very motivational! It is so much easier to be lazy and negative. You're right, life itself is hard work.
I agree with you David, I believe there are peopl out there who just aren't really trying and continuing to give us a bad name. Let the people who are serious about this business service the clients like they deserve to be serviced.
David - very interesting post. Hopefully those in the choir will heed your call!
Cheers
I believe the only people left in this business now are the true professionals and the people who are serious about what they do. This is no longer the business of a quick buck.
The harder it gets, the more folks leave, through necessity or desire.
I agree with your advice, but reserve the right to publish facts about the market. Folks need to know more than what we get from NAR.
Great post. It is very true that you must fight for what you love.
Great post! Thanks for the optimism!
excellent blog! We only need people who wanna hustle and get busy, the only people I know who aren't complaining are the only ones actually making any money now!
Well as you saw over the past year the market has weeded out a lot of the order takers per say... the only way to make it now is passion and that is good!!
People are saying to me that the solar industy over the next few years will be just taking orders, to be honest I hope not, attracts to much greedy reps who will not follow up or provide any type of service...just take an order and run :-(
Now with that said I do hope it picks up big time because of the value solar can provide to the environment and economy.
Good post! Thanks
David, Thank you for your insight...it's true that real estate should be your passion...it's what gets us up, dresses us and pushes us out the door!
David, I love your post and agree with you for any profession. If you LOVE what you're doing, you're going to make it work! Pessimists get left behind...
Im loving it!
David,
The bad ones are dropping out like flies. I am here to stay. Congrats on the feature!
David, The old adage is true that, "When the going get's tough the tough get going." It is the law of survival, that only the fit shall survive anyway. Thanks again and have a great day.
David ... this is a great post! (ps - i love Cashflow game!)
Dave,
Way to lay down the law!!!!
Looking forward to your motivation and passion tomorrow in our 9 A.M. meeting.
Have you played cashflow? It is suppose to be a great game. I agree with the optimism!!!
David, we love it and wouldn't think of doing anything else!
I love this business...even through the ups and downs and use those as a learning experience. Everyday is different, as are clients and every deal. I DO think there are many that should hang up their lic' and find something else that will make a difference in their life.
G'morning or guess afternoon to ya.
Great post. I agree with you 100%. And the truth hurts to those out there looking for a quick buck. I hear it day in and day out. Excuse after excuse, and this is my exact comment/reaction. In Wa state all agents will become brokers and will be required to have take more class hours...they will probably deter a lot of laziiies as well.
Thanks for the fearlessness in writing the post.
So true....we only want the good ones left.
You nailed it!
HI David, Given the fact that it's march, many agents won't need a push to get out of the market. YOu sure gave them a good reason to do just that though :) Again, this all comes back around to NAR's inept ability to train new realtors for the reality of the field. Many think leads will be handed to them at large brokerages. It's just not true. You have to work hard to achieve success. Unfortunately next year, success = pay more taxes. So work hard this year and save up for next. Great article David, and hopefully you can return the favor by answering our question in regards to your aerial photograph and how you aquired it, if you know. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely, Castellum Realty LLC
You said it all! Love for the profession is the motivator. I think, too, it's always important to get out among the client base -- hot times/slow times, it's still a people business, and one has to be seen to be "out there".
I wouldn't say the agents getting out of the biz are "bad agents," perhaps they are bad prospectors or bad at follow-up, but not "BAD AGENTS" - there are a lot of truly bad agents staying in the business and doing bad things. But I digress.
If you are staying in the business, be positive. Do your best. Show up on time. Don't make excuses if you really didn't do what you promised. If you need to make changes, make them.
If you have to leave, do it with dignity and style and leave the door open if you are coming back later.
For those of us staying in the biz, remember, that doesn't make us all the "GOOD AGENTS." Maybe we are tougher. Maybe we are more stubborn. Maybe we are better off financially right now.
Hopefully, we are good agents who will help others through these difficult times and still be able to provide for our families.
David - you're absolutely right...I got into this business because I love it! You have to. You have to believe that real estate is still a great investment and convey this to the public. Money will be made during this time for those of us willing to work hard and fortunes will be made for those willing to invest in real estate!
David - I'm IN! And I agree with you. Consumers need committed agents now more than ever. Great post.
I see lots of bad agents still hanging around the business in my area- talking things down, doing nothing and making it harder for the rest of us. I think I'll print out your post and snail mail it to them.
Oh yeah, that's what I am talking about. Optimism, that is great. Let me tell you we just had an owner ship change up here in the Vancouver area with a KW office that was a little sloppy so it involved some other steps to get it all sorted out. Anyway to make a long story short, we went to this rally yesterday afternoon with a bunch of other KW agents and about 15 of us from an office out in the valley came out to support the new team in the Vancouver area. I am telling you we were pumped up and go out and have a super duper 2009. It's going to be a huge year. Keep dreaming and keep working. Smarter not harder.
Cheers!
I've been involved in Real Estate since 1984 as either an investor or an agent, usually both at once. You *HAVE* to love the business to put up with what I have put up with over the years.
90% of what I have done has been great but the bad 10% has been really bad....
Having a good attitude is key; some of the stuff I considered good someone else may have considered bad. For an example, actually not related to Real Estate...
I spent my 50th birthday, a hot summer Saturday, working all day in a cramped space on a stinky, nasty toilet. My thought was "I'm 50 years old and I have a boat with air conditioning and a toilet. It just doesn't get any better than this". That night I had a surprise limo ride to a surprise party...
My Broker, when I started 19 years ago, used to say RE is too easy to get into and too easy to get out of. I've seen lots of agents get in, do a few deals, and then when it gets harder (because you've run through family and friends) get out again. The economy has made it worse, but it isn't new.
Leslie
Thank you all for your comments. We have to work harder and smarter for less money, and if we cannot do that then we need to rethink our careers. If we no longer have the passion then we need to get out, and let someone who is passionate about real estate take care of your clients.
I do like what Castellum Realty said as well. We continue to fail and educate the realities of real estate. This is why it is so important to be with a good broker who is going to continue to support you. I do however think NAR has some responsibility in educating not just license law, but again the realities of real estate.
Thank you all for your comments. It is not a time to be pessimistic. It is a time to show everyone what we are made of, and that we have real estate in our blood. We sleep, eat, and breath real estate. This is a time to fight for what we believe in. Good luck to everyone.
David, good post. Now can you please send this info to a few real estate agents I know? I'll send you their names & email addresses.... He he.
Join my new AR group and post your blog at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice
Regina P. Brown
"(If) a smile is just a frown turned upside down!"
--- I better start walking on my hands! -- Carla E. Muss-Jacobs
------------------------------------------------
HA HA HA -- anyway, the point to my idiom is that I will do anything to be happy now! And if I have to stand on my hands to do it -- I WILL!!
"Smile though your heart is breaking," Nat King Cole, "Smile"
This is GOOD: http://www.snopes.com/science/smile.asp -- (Does it take more muscles to FROWN then SMILE?)
Very true, thanks. The same is true with politics as well: it is easier to whine than to plug along, do your part, and be part of the solution.
Just because something isn't easy, doesn't mean you don't do it. :)
In fact, I rarely find anything that is easy to do but is also worthwhile.
For me it is about the challenge.
Passion and persistance is key. Thrive instead of survive in 2009.
Dear David,
Loved your post! It is so good to spend time around positive people and to read their posts.
Your graphic was great.
Keep generating that positive energy.
Barbara
This is not always an easy business, but I figure if you can make it through these times, then when things turn around, it will be GREAT! Thanks for the post!
Great blog man. I totally agree with you. There are alot of peolpe who don't need to be in the biz.
Excellent post, David! Cheers from Reno!
Wendy :-)
Best of luck to everyone in 2009!
Cheers to the most positive person on Active Rain!!1
Excellent post, David....Cheers from Reno~Tahoe and much success to everyone in 2009! Get out there and make it happen....it's hard work and noone ever said it was gonna be a rose garden! Wendy
I agree! There are a lot of people in the business because they thought it was easy. Those people are slowly diminishing and that should eventually leave energetic, professional Realtor!
Enjoyed the post. So true!
I guess the Consensus is Work Passionately and Diligently or Get Out!! We do not need part timers or people who dabble in real estate. We need those people who
Thank you all again for your comments.
I like the part about knocking on doors. It does work and people love to talk about Real Estate! They are sick of listening to all of the bad news and want to know what is happening in their community. Open houses is a great way to meet people and get yor name out there! Too many agents don't want to go back to the basics.
Kim Tomasko
David: Thank you. I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's always tough to give up something that a person has invested so much time and energy into but the bills need to be paid. Plus, it's doing a disservice to the client if your head's not in it. Thanks again and good luck to you this year!
Hey David - I loved the post. PSST - Starbuck's isn't even hiring anymore though. :-) Who is still buying $5 coffee?
Great post! My broker says there will be millionaire real estate agents that will come out of this recession if they get back to the basics and take the opportunities out there such as REO's and Short Sales. Millionaires came out of the great depression so why not this time around. Will you be a millionaire? I know I'm working towards it! Have a great and your best year ever!
David - I too wish you a prosperous year. If there is no passion it is time to exit, some places have already seen an exodus.
I find Dawn's to be the most well measured addition to this discourse.
David,
Good luck and keep on fighting. I know I will!
I agree with everything you said except for the knocking on doors part. :-)
Attitude is the most important thing! Without a good / positive attitude, you won't succeed in this business.
Thanks for posting...definately right on the nose.
Great points to remember for everyday living as well. Good days or bad days it is totally up to you.
Like Will Smith said in Pursuit of Happiness Happyness ( At least thats how it was spelled in the title of the movie). You want something you out and get it. Great post.
David,
That's what it is all about. You have to have a passion for it, whether as a real estate agent or a mortgage consultant, but the end result will be positive.
WELL SAID!