Rants — Chance Brown's Real Estate Blog

F#@* the Haters

July 1, 2016 By Chance Leave a Comment

If there’s one thing the world isn’t short of, it’s people who are ready, willing, and able to criticize. Their way is right and your way is either wrong or not as good. They always have their two cents to throw in when it’s easiest to point out a fault or a risky move. They know more than you do and they are in the mood for sharing, regardless of their mood. Sometimes it seems that no matter what you do, you didn’t do enough or do it right or whatever they need to say to make themselves feel a little better about their shitty lives.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are those who are truly invested in your success and their criticism or guidance is intended to make you better, to encourage you. I’m not talking about those people. I’m talking about those whose criticism is designed to discourage, dissuade, and damage.

F#@* those people.

Yep, it may seem a little harsh, but the longer you make excuses for their behavior, the longer you will allow them to negatively impact your life and your progress along your chosen path. You don’t need that garbage in your life. Cut it out. Right now.

It may hurt, but that will be in the short-term. In the long run, you will be glad you did. Don’t just ignore the haters, discard of them completely. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and what you are doing. Create your circle of people who support you and offer constructive criticism, but work with you to make you better. When you get to the point where you can genuinely celebrate your success with the people who helped you get there, it will be just as sweet as reaching that goal because you weren’t alone on your journey. They were there with you.

Now, this isn’t just some motivational, rah-rah post. There is real science behind this. Thousands of studies have proven the power of positive (and negative) thinking and the effect that environmental stimuli have on people’s performance and even their overall health. Whether you’re an athlete or a businessperson or just someone with a goal, the results are similar. Being surrounded by negativity, anxiety, and harmful stressors will cause someone to perform poorly and have a negative mindset, regardless of how tough you might think you are. On the other hand, being able to create and carry a positive mindset because you are surrounded by positivity, encouragement, and support will have the opposite effect. Mindset affects health, attitude, and so much more.

So, knowing the effect on your ability to perform, succeed and be happy, why would you allow yourself anything other than a positive environment?

That’s not a rhetorical question, mind you. Who you surround yourself with is a choice, your choice. It may not always be an easy choice, but if you’re going to rid yourself of those who hold you back, it’s a choice you must make. Just be sure to replace the negative with a positive as soon as you can and you will see the immediate difference. In fact, you’ll probably wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

Don’t try to figure out why some people are the way that they are. It’s an exercise in futility.

Life is too short to deal with the haters. F#@* them.

Just Be Yourself

November 12, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

I apologize in advance for this rant, but it is overdue and today pushed me over the edge a bit.

Dr. Seuss once said, “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you.” Of course, the meaning behind the quote is that you are perfect just being you. You don’t need to try to be someone else because you’re just terrific, aren’t you?

Except that you’re not perfect and you’re never going to be. Truly accept that and it will change your life. Embrace the challenge of that and don’t use it to hold yourself down and you’ll never be happier.

The problem is, for 95%+ of the people I meet out there, they don’t like themselves the way they are or they perceive that they are less (fill in the blank) in one way or another than the people who they work/hang out/live with every single day. They’re too fat or too stupid or, most likely, just too damn afraid to do whatever they want or become who they want to be. Why? Because you want to be accepted? You want to fit in? You’re worried about what those people will think of you if you became the badass you were intended to be?

Instead, we will make excuses. We lay blame. We take on the personality of our supervisor or mentor or whoever we aspire to be like or are envious of this week. We get our hair cut like the latest celebrity, wear the latest fashions, or chase some other trend that we don’t really give a shit about just to be part of the crowd. So, the burning question is: Why? Would this crowd not be there if you were yourself? Why? Are those the kind of people you want to be associated with? Why? I just don’t understand it.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a difference between not being satisfied with yourself and not being happy about yourself. Not being satisfied is a catalyst for growth and development. Not being happy about yourself is a downward spiral. At best you stay where you are as the world passes you by. At worst, you are miserable. So again, I ask you why. Why?

If we’re going to be real about a good portion of the world, Dr. Seuss should have said something more along the lines of, “Today you are they, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is theyer than you.”

So, instead of just sitting here and bitching about it, how do we fix it?

First, we stop caring so much about what people think about us that we change to suit some ideal vision of who they want us to be. Who gives a crap what they think of you? At the end of the day, you have to be able to look yourself in the eye and know that you did the best for yourself and the people that depend on you.

Second, stop being so damn concerned about things you can’t control. There is only a small fraction of our world that we can control. We have to let the rest go. Focus on the things you can impact and let the rest fall by the wayside. Don’t let the weight of the world bring you down. Let the opportunity in your world move you forward.

Finally, never be satisfied. Keep getting better. Wake up every day bound and determined to make it as awesome as you can. Impact what you can in the best way possible. Leave your mark and then go to bed planning to leave a bigger, better mark tomorrow. Because, by God, you are you and there’s only one you. Don’t deprive the world of that. Just be yourself.

Creativity, Motivation and Stress Relief

October 22, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

Why I write and don’t draw.

I made a conscious decision early not to inject too many personal stories or my own ego (which I contend does not exist) into this blog. I had the good fortune of having an early mentor that taught me to use third-person stories even when they are first-person stories. It irks the crap out of me when people who are clearly thought leaders put themselves up on a pedestal. It completely ruins their message for me (I’m looking at you John Maxwell). So, I do my best not to sound “preachy” or like I’m the best at this stuff so you should do what I do. I’ll dispel that myth for you now. I’m not the best at this and almost certainly never will be.

I am stressed and need to use this post as an outlet for my stress. In the past three months I’ve hired 20 agents, completely revamped our new agent mentorship program, am in the process of changing our recruiting program, and have taken on a 12 month project that is both incredibly exciting and at the same time completely scares the shit out of me. When those are finished, there’s a list of stuff on both of my Do, Doing, Done boards waiting to happen. All of that is the 8-5 part of my life. I also have a busy family when I get home from work. I’m not complaining, mind you. Life is good. I’m doing what I love and loving what I do. I’m also very fortunate to have an awesome wife supporting me and helping carry some of this load despite the fact that she also works a full-time job in a supervisory capacity and has stresses of her own. Nonetheless, I am stressed. Stressed almost to the point of hitting the wall, which we’ve talked about here before.

So, I am going to take an hour or two and just write.

Over the years, whether I was stressed or just needed a boost of energy or had to be in a game time mindset, I’ve found that doing something creative helped me get there. To be honest, when I first started blogging, it was because I needed an outlet. Just like today, I would wait for the kids to go to bed, plop down on the couch and go to it. It was my massage or pedicure or round of golf or whatever people do to unwind. Doing creative work just helped clear my mind and get over whatever hump was in my way. Looking back at a lot of those posts, I probably should have just kept a diary.

When I sold new home construction, Saturday and Sunday were the big days. That’s when people came in to model homes looking to buy and I needed to have my game face on. So, I planned my weeks to where the only thing I would do on the weekends outside of selling was creating marketing pieces. I’d sit there in my model and copy and paste things into Microsoft Word from Netscape Navigator. There was some serious WordArt happening in those days. Graphic design didn’t know what hit it when I started using Power Point to make flyers. Sometimes I miss 2003. It was fun and got my creative juices flowing. When I got up to meet clients who came into the model, my brain was already working. The difference being, for those who haven’t sat in a model home, that it is easy to get bored to death during downtime, of which there is plenty.

The other thing I find myself doing when I’m stressed like this is listening/watching/reading inspirational material. I don’t know if it’s the kick in the ass I need or just the break from whatever is stressing me out, but I’ll stop and watch something like the Holstee Manifesto or some Gary Vaynerchuk or listen to Napoleon Hill or read Success Magazine. Something that gets the juices flowing and makes me feel like I’m ready to take on the world. OK, I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes I close my door, turn on Eminem and in less than 5 minutes I’m good to go. I know it’s silly, but you can listen to whichever white rapper from Detroit you want to. Don’t judge me.

Anyway, that’s my two cents for the night. Thanks for listening. I appreciate you allowing me this outlet and I hope that you find value here. I love reading your input and comments. It keeps me going, makes me look forward to next week, and seriously adds some level of validation that not all of my ideas are completely crazy. I hope that you know what it is that takes your mind off the things that stress you out and help you push past the obstacles. If not, start writing and see where it leads you. If that doesn’t work, try painting or running or yoga or whatever you have to do to find it, but find it.

Professional Courtesy (or lack thereof)

June 25, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

As a word of forewarning, this post is going to sound more like a rant than anything else. Quite frankly, it is, to an extent, just that. You see, I consider myself a professional. As such, I hold others in my field to a similar level of professionalism. Sadly, I find myself let down by my colleagues more and more often these days.

Despite having a multitude of communication options at our disposal and technology making it infinitely easier to communicate with one another, we seem to be failing at doing so in a truly colossal way.

So, I’d like to address professional courtesy for a few minutes, or, particularly, the lack thereof these days. I think a lot can be blamed for it, particularly the number of new and part-time agents, low barriers to entry into the real estate industry, and/or lack of education on how to do the job properly. That being said, none of those really preclude you from just being a decent person. I mean, do you need a class or a test on how to return a phone call or email? If the answer is yes, then you’re not cut out for this. Please leave and go work at the post office. You’ll fit in well there.

You see, when you enter into a transaction as the listing agent, the buyer’s agent becomes the co-op agent, and if you’re the buyer’s agent, then you’re the co-op agent. But enough with those pesky technicalities, let’s focus on the word “co-op”. Not to get all Noah Webster on you here, but co-op is short for cooperative.

Cooperative (adj.) – Working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit.

Read that again. Let it sink in. You and the other agent owe a duty to your clients to work together to reach the common goal of closing that transaction. In order to work together, there is an inherent need for a level of professional courtesy. Since we’re talking semantics here, let’s understand that professional courtesy requires both the professional part and the courtesy part. I’d love to assume that the professional part goes without saying, but come on, seriously, that would be just as naive as assuming someone could return a phone call, text, email or all of the above.

Regardless, nothing is gained from being unprofessional. You do not bring value to your client by being difficult to work with. You provide no service whatsoever by complicating things through a lack of communication, not knowing what you’re doing but acting like you do, and/or attempting to use your general distastefulness to “negotiate”. Yep, those of us who have been around this long enough can see through that and know that you’re incompetent. You’re not fooling anyone.

Answer your phone. Acknowledge that you’ve received things. Actually speak to your client before you reply with some nonsense, “telephone tough guy” answer. Return emails or texts. If you don’t know something, it doesn’t make you weak or incompetent. It makes you human. Ask for help. Even if an offer is terrible and your client doesn’t want to respond, send an email letting the other agent know that. Understand that losing the transaction means that you’ve failed your client through your inability to do your job. Know what your job is and then go do your damn job.

Be professional. Be courteous. It’s not that hard.

Answer the Damn Phone!!!

October 4, 2014 By Chance Leave a Comment

Want to know the number one complaint about Realtors? It’s real simple. They don’t answer their phone and they don’t call back. I was just listening to this week’s episode of Watercooler, which is probably the best realtor-centric podcast out there, and Scott Stratten, author of UnMarketing amongst others, was the guest. Scott is one of my favorite people on these here interwebs and he was telling a story about house hunting in Las Vegas recently. He and his partner Alison were looking for a new home. They called on four agents to schedule showings. The receptionist at the first office blew them off because they weren’t ready to buy right that minute. The other three? You guessed it. Not an answer. Not a call back. Nothing.

You will find it extremely difficult to talk to new clients if you don’t answer the phone when they call.

Now, I know you are busy and I know you have a lot going on. I also know that you are smart enough to take a couple of very simple steps to make sure that a) expectations are set about calling people back if you can’t answer your phone and b) you have time in your schedule to call people back. People will understand that you can’t always answer your phone. If you aren’t making that first experience a winner for them (and because of that, for you) you aren’t giving them the respect they deserve. And, if you are not calling them back, you are clearly disrespecting them. So, how do you make sure that you are not constantly answering your phone to the point that you aren’t productive while still giving your clients, current and prospective, a world-class experience?

Your Outgoing Message

Most people have some variance of this as the message someone hears when they call and have to leave a message:

“Hi! You’ve reached Sally Realtor with Pineapple Realty. I’m sorry I can’t take your call right now but please leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks and have a great day.”

It’s a nice message. It’s friendly, it’s short and by saying that you’ll get back to them as soon as you can, you imply that they are important to you. Heck, you might even tell them outright that their call is important to you in your version of the message. The problem with this version is that it doesn’t set any expectations of any sort.

I would submit to you that this variation, used by a number of By Referral Only clients of the past, is a far better option.

“Hi! You’ve reached Sammy Seller with Pineapple Realty. My hours are 8 to 6 Monday through Friday, by advanced appointment only on Saturdays and I take Sundays off to spend time with my family. If you are calling during my business hours, I will return your call the same business day. If your call is after business hours, I will return your call the next morning. Please leave me a detailed message including the property you are calling about so I can be prepared when I call you back. If you were referred, please let me know who referred you so I can be sure to thank them. Thank you for calling. Have a great day.”

See the difference? Not only does this message set the expectation of when you are working and when you will call back, it asks them to leave a detailed message so you can show them respect by being prepared when you call back. As an added bonus, it sets an expectation of referrals with every single person that calls you. This is a very professional way of getting people to respect your time, understand when and how you will call back, and give you a referral all in one twenty-second outgoing message.

Now for the fun part…

I’ve heard variations of the message stating that you will be return calls between x and y and then again from a to b each day. I’m not a fan because that requires you to record your message every day based on when you’ll return calls and you actually corner yourself into doing it. What happens when you can’t call back during those hours because something pops up? You’ve already let the prospect down and you haven’t spoken with them.

The last part is pretty simple. Block time during your stated business hours to call people back. Then do it. Make sure that you have a time right at the end of the day. You have to make this a mandatory part of the day, every day.

These are two steps that you can take right now to make your business function better, have happier clients, and probably close more deals and make more money. Don’t be that agent that doesn’t call back anymore.

Thoughts on Zillow’s Acquisition of Trulia

July 31, 2014 By Chance Leave a Comment

It took about five minutes after the announcement of Zillow’s $3.5 billion planned acquisition of Trulia for the critics to come out in force. In the past couple of days I’ve seen everything from continued bashing of Zestimates to the obituary of the Realtor. Rather than continuing the bashing of a company that is capitalizing on our own stupidity, I thought it might be fun to actually propose a few ways to overcome the behemoth that is the collective denial of our shortcomings, er, I mean Zillow.

5 DIY Solutions For Overcoming Your Fears of Zillow

1) Be More Professional

There’s a reason people go to the web instead of calling you. It’s not them. It’s you. Well, it might not be you because you read awesome blog posts, but it’s people who share your profession that don’t read awesome blog posts. In the most recent Gallup poll of respectability in professions, only 20% of Americans rated real estate agents as highly or very highly respected. That means 80% of the country finds us average to low in respectability. That puts us even with attorneys and just a little above state politicians. So, to be completely candid, 80% of America would rather get incorrect information from a website than talk to you. That seems like a problem, no?

2) Push More of the Good

Directly related to #1, is a good ole #2, which is what most people see/hear when it comes to Realtors. When was the last time you turned on the news and they were covering something awesome that a group of Realtors was doing? I can’t remember that either. More likely, it’s an investigative report or a story about something an agent did wrong that got a poor family foreclosed on and they had to give away their dog and their kids didn’t know how Santa was going to find them. As an industry, we must do a better job of marketing what we do for our communities. Whether it’s protecting homeowner’s rights through our PACs, doing community service, or highlighting our expertise in certain areas, we fail miserably at getting the word out about how cool we are.

3) Be the Resource

There’s a secret about Zestimates that most people in the real estate industry don’t know or don’t want to admit. The consumer doesn’t care that the Zestimate is wrong. You might, but they don’t. It’s the only place they can find it, so Zillow owns it and you don’t. Not to be a total homer here, but in Houston we provide more information to the consumer and the result is that we beat Zillow. Our brand is stronger here because we are the resource. We are the go-to for the consumer. Stop being a data hoarder and give it away to the consumer. If not, they’ll keep getting it from Zillow. Your choice.

4) Stop Feeding the Animals

Where does Zillow get their data? From you, your Broker, or your MLS, that’s who (mostly). What happens when you feed something a healthy diet? It grows. There are a lot of arguments on both sides of this issue and I can see the points in both sides. That being said, we own our own “Zillow-esque” site. It’s not great, mostly because of our fear of giving up control of the data (see point 3), but it could be. Until we make it that way, people will continue to go where they can get the data. Unless, of course, the data isn’t there. Side note, Zillow’s commercials are also WAY better than Realtor.com commercials. We need a better ad agency (PS – Ad agencies tied with state politicians on the respectability survey. So, they’ve got their own issues).

5) Stop Paying to Eat Your Own Kind

This one should be pretty simple. Stop paying boatloads of money to Zillow and Trulia for leads generated by your fellow agents. It is literally forced cannibalism. For as much bitching that comes out of the industry about these sites, there sure are a lot of agents paying money to them. You can read more about this on my rant “Realtor Tastes A Lot Like Travel Agent” by clicking here.

There are a lot of issues that we can tackle together, but it is going to take a paradigm shift in our thinking. We can’t hold information under lock and key anymore and expect people to find value in that. It just won’t work because someone will give them the information, correct or not, and they won’t care because it’s all they have. So, if you’re one of those who fear this acquisition is going to put you out of business, you might be right. You might be wrong though. Either way, wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to have this conversation?

For the Love of God, Leave Feedback

January 19, 2014 By Chance Leave a Comment

Pardon my Sunday evening rant, but I just got off an hour long call with a client who would very much like to know what is going on with his house. As his Realtor, I should probably know that. Unfortunately, despite the phone calls, emails, and showing service requests for feedback on his 8 showings, I have gotten feedback from 3. It makes me crazy.

In Houston, as well as 67 other national markets, most of the agents that don’t have time to sit around answering showing calls, use Centralized Showing Service to schedule appointments. Once the showing is over, the showing agent gets an email asking for feedback. They then receive 2 subsequent requests the morning of the next two days. Even the offices that have their own scheduling service solicit feedback.

How hard is it to take 30 seconds, be a professional, and let the selling agent know what you or your clients thought?

Not very hard. That’s the answer. It’s a simple professional courtesy that helps the listing agent sell the house. That helps everyone. One day, when you are sitting around wishing you had feedback on your listing, remember the time you didn’t give it.

Realtor Tastes A Lot Like Travel Agent

January 12, 2014 By Chance Leave a Comment

Let me preface this rant with an admission of guilt. I am guilty of all the things I am about to complain about. I once owned two zip codes and was a premiere listing agent on Zillow.com and owned a zip code and participated in the Listing Showcase program with Realtor.com. Today, our agency provides our agents with premium listings on Homes.com and Trulia. So, welcome to my giant hypocritical rant.

I rarely say hate, but I hate Zillow, Trulia, Realtor (ZTR) and all the other big syndicators out there. Why? Agents work hard and build a business only to have their hard work sold back to them. It’s forced cannibalism. It drives me crazy.

I don’t begrudge ZTR its success. They have taken advantage of the stupidity of the real estate industry.

Let’s take a step back. When was the last time you took a vacation? When it was time to book your flight/car/room, what did you do? What would you have done 10-15 years ago? Most likely, today, you went to Expedia or Travelocity, Kayak or Hotwire, Hotels or Priceline. Fifteen years ago, though, you would’ve called a travel agent. So why don’t you do that now?

Because the same man who killed the travel agency is doing the same thing to the real estate industry!

The travel agent industry died because travel agents thought that as long they controlled the information and kept it from the public, they would be essential. Sound familiar? I guess they learned their lesson a little too late.

Many of you may know of a man named Spencer Rascoff. He is the CEO of Zillow. Prior to that, though, Mr. Rascoff was the co-founder of Hotwire and later a VP at Expedia. He saw the opportunity to do the same thing to the real estate industry. Zillow is now printing money off of the sweat of the people who are paying them for their own damn leads. I demonize Rascoff for the purpose of this post, but he is one of dozens doing the same thing. It’s insane to me.

Why is it insane to me, other than the obvious? It doesn’t have to be that way. Plain and simple.

There is one market in the United States where the local MLS beats ZTR day in and day out. The agents pay nothing but their dues and receive all the leads that come through the public facing site. Information the consumer wants, including sold data, is provided directly to them. The web address is one of the strongest brands in the market. The agents actively inform their clients to avoid the inaccuracies of ZTR and only use their site, thus perpetuating the brand.

What market is this, you ask? Houston, Texas. You know, the hottest market in the United States. HAR.com is the site. Go ahead, take a look around. See what I’m talking about. It is user-friendly, shares tons of info, and even has a great app for your phone or tablet. Sure, we don’t get some of the things that I see members of other getting, but I would much rather have business than lockboxes provided to me.

Here’s the not so funny thing. Representatives of realtor boards from around the country visit the Houston Association of Realtors all the time to learn our processes. We share them willingly. Then they go home and do nothing to recreate our success. Politics and petty prejudices keep them on the brink of putting themselves out of business.

How long do you think it will be before one of these companies strikes a deal with someone like LegalZoom and puts you out of business? Zillow is already circumventing listing agents with their Make Me Move feature. Yet, we, as an industry, sit idly by and pick each other to death with fights over this and arguments over that.

It is time to take control of your own destiny.

Give the consumer what they want, information. Give them access, become the provider and the resource, make it public and reap the rewards that the syndicators are currently stealing from you. Or, ask your travel agent friends what they are up to.