Eastside Real Estate Working-for-you!

Need A Home Loan? This is a time to work with a pro!

By Greg Perry
Kirkland Realtor

For over 10 years, I've met with my real estate colleagues in monthly small groups.  These groups are "mastermind groups" and include good agents (from all companies) and lenders (mortgage initiators).  We have one thing in common....we have a desire to make our systems and businesses better.

The main focus of our discussions is to mastermind ideas on how to build business by referral.  We explore ways to deepen relationships with our clients and ways to give better customer service.  The accumulative effect of these monthly mastermind meetings is nothing short of incredible. 

In our meeting today, the lenders in our group actually dominated the discussion in many ways.  They are frustrated.  Changing rules and guidelines are driving them crazy.  Banks and underwriters are changing programs at the drop of a hat.  They are getting clients started into programs just to find the program disappear and that leaves them scrambling to find suitable replacement programs.  Their biggest source of frustration is the inevitable "bumps in the road" that their clients may interpret as their (the mortgage initiator's) fault.

If you're looking for a loan, this is a time to work with an experienced professional.  There are good loans available with great rates....if you qualify.  Work closely with your lender.  Communicate closely on your loan lock.  Be responsive to their needs, and if they need something from you act quickly.  And above all, give them some grace in a time when the industry is scrambling to make sense of new rules and guidelines.

Drop me an email, or give me a call and I'll be happy to refer you to the best!

Buffini & Company Turning Point Seattle

Greg and I just finished two awesome, inspiring days listening to Brian Buffini relay educational and fun stories on how to build and maintain a successful real estate business and personally grow.  There is a ton I walked away with during these two days, but I thought I'd highlight some of the best (for me)

Brian maintained a theme about how today, right now, is the most exciting time to be a real estate professional.  He couldn't be more right!  With the longer listing times, inventory on the market, and negative news press many would think a real estate agent is out looking for food to have with their meals.  However, now more than ever, we provide a service that can amount to a huge win for any client.  The agents role in the process is more important than ever. Beyond that,  being more than an agent...a resource, friend, and "hub" of information will set a professional full time agent far above the rest.

The Turning Point seminar covered all the basics of building a successful referral based business, and emphasized some old (yet brushed up) ideas.  One "to do" we walk away with, is 425realty.com's business to business referral directory.  It will be a directory of professional services that we know will provide a high level of service and satisfaction.

Other than the referral system, Brian Buffini covered some fantastic material about how to become an effective communicator, getting your finances in order, increasing your effectiveness, living an 'intentional' life and the importance of goal setting.

The section I found most enlightening was when he spoke on communicating and effectiveness.  The emphasis of the message was to not worry and dwell too much on your weaknesses and highlight your strengths.  Yes, shore up your weaknesses and educate yourself on how to deal with them, but more importantly, FOCUS on your strengths.  Finding and leveraging your strength in communicating will win with clients and negotiations.   

There were about 2,000 Realtors and not all of them were real estate agents in the Seattle area.  Half of the agents flew in from all over the country, and Canada.

The Turning Point Retreat was a fun and educational two days.  Now I am looking forward to the inspirational Master Mind Seminar in San Diego this August!

Oh by the way, if you or anyone you knows is looking to buy or sell a home, please let us know.  We are never too busy for you or your referrals.

 

Monday's Inspiriaton! An interview with Christopher Gardner

At the Mastermind 2007 Conference that I attended in San Diego, Brian Buffini interviewed Christopher Gardner.  Here are some of the highlights of that interview.

In the "Pursuit of Happyness", actor Will Smith portrayed Christopher Gardner's character as he faced setback after setback while trying to achieve his goal of becoming a stock broker.  He was single father...and at one point ended up homeless on the streets of San Fransisco, while serving as an intern.  He relentlessly pursued his dream, and at the end of his internship was selected as a stock broker.

Chris Gardner doesn't become an inspiration if he remains homeless.

Chris said that his drive came because he "wanted to be world class at something."  His mother was his greatest inspiration.  He virtually had no dad and it was important to him break the cycle of the absent dad.  He made a promise to himself at 5 years old.  he realized that the problem doesn't have to be generational.  He said that being there for his son was "The most important thing I've ever done  in his life."

Here are some of the highlights in bullet points:

• Although his Mother's dreams were shattered, she still instilled in him that he could do anything and be anything.
• He made conscience CHOICE to go the other way from poverty, alcoholism and child abuse.
• He said the best time to make friends is before you need friends.
• "Always pursue happiness", is what he said when asked the "one thing" needed to live an inspired life.
• When asked if he would like any "do overs" in life he responded, "Absolutely NOT.  Change one thing, everything changes afterward."
• When asked, "What kept you from feeling overwhelmed?", he responded, "I embraced the spirit of life that he saw in my Mom.  I chose the light."

To learn more about this remarkable man, rent or purchase the DVD movie of his life "The Pursuit of Happyness"

Here is a video clip about Chris Gardner

Buffini Mastermind 2007 Living an inspired life! Day One

Living an inspired life is the theme of Buffini's Mastermind conference in San Diego with over 5000 Realtors, lenders and their spouses/partners in attendance.

I've been to 8 of these conferences throughout the years.  So far, this year's conference has been the most moving.

The conference actually started on Sunday evening with a flashback of Mastermind conferences since 2000.  Artist Erik Whal, taught and entertained us and encouraged us to tap in to our creativity.

On Monday, Brian Buffini's theme was inspiration, which Webster defines as, 1. A divine influence on people. 2. To creatively stimulate. and 3. To breathe life into something.

His talk itself was quite inspiring.   However, in the afternoon, his special guest was Christopher Gardner, the true life character that the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" was based on.  He interviewed Chris for over an hour.  It was entertaining and enlightening.  I'll expand on the interview in a few days.

The evening ended with a stirring performance by Oprah Winfrey's adviser, Wintley Phipps who sang "Amazing Grace" to an hushed crowd and ended the evening with everyone on their feet to "God Bless America"

Day one filled my tank.  One of the most poignant moments of the day was a video that Brian played that depicted an underdog story by an man who has an incredible gift. The video is from a British TV show called Britain's Got Talent.  The contestant is a man named Paul Potts who is a cell phone salesman.  You can see as Paul took the stage that he lacked confidence and the judges wore their skepticism on their faces.  All that quickly and completely changed after just a few bars of hearing his voice.   I have always found that whenever anyone nails a masterful performance, especially in music, that it creates an emotional response in people.  Paul Potts not only nails the performance, but represented the underdog.  This video is amazing.

 

Old fashioned 4th of July neighborhood picnic -- Kingsgate, WA

Hoo-ray for the red, white and blue!

For over 30 years, the Kingsgate 3&4 has held an old fashioned 4th of July picnic and celebration in their community park.  Yesterday's weather was fabulous and parents and kids came out in droves.
Potato race, Kingsgate 4th of July Celebration

Festivities start with the raising of the flag and the Star Spangled Banner and a kiddie bike parade around the block. To eat and drink there were hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, pop and beer.  Games included sack hop, 3 legged race, wheel barrel races, potato race, balloon toss and egg toss.

Enjoy the photos of an old fashioned 4th of July neighborhood celebration.

Lining up for the sack race, Kingsgate 4th of July celebration

On the backstrech...sack race.  Kingsgate 4th of July celebration

3 legged race.  Kingsgate 4th of July celebration

Bystanders under the shade canopies.  Kingsgate 4th of July celebration

Ray and Bill, long time partners in the "unlimited" division for the balloon toss.  This year the got beyond the first round! Kingsgate 4th of July celebration.

Success is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice....

Joe Niego was in top form at Buffini & Company's Training Camp in Portland, Oregon yesterday.  Over 700 clubnet members attended as Joe gave us solid business building blocks and tips laced with wit and humor.

He had a justice scale on stage and demonstrated that it's the sum of our choices that tip the balance toward success or disappointment and frustration.  The problem we have is that when we don't make the right daily choices, that by default we choose the disappointment and frustration side.

The highlights of his first session, "Choosing To Win The Day....Every Day!" were:

1. Tap into your energy source.  (What drives us?)
2. Structure your energy bursts. (Our daily structure or workday.)
3. Flip on your energy switch.  (Take action)
4. Measure, track and record your energy.  (Record daily activities and   track them.)
5. Eliminate energy drainers.  (Like the dome light left on in the car...the daily distractions."
6. Draw power from your energy network.  (Positive associations).

In the next section, Joe talked about "Choosing to Optimize Every Lead you Generate".  Here he taught us how to:

1. Capture and Secure the lead.
2. Qualify and rank the lead.
3. Advance the lead.

Joe concluded the seminar by giving us the five "I Believes" for Success in Real Estate:

1. I believe...it takes years to become an overnight success.
2. I believe...people either grow or slowly wither away. No one stays the same.
3. I believe...you just run your business like a business, and treat it like a job.
4. I believe...you create an extraordinary business by doing the ordinary every day.
5. I believe...the best selling technique is to unleash your passion.

All in all, this was an outstanding workshop.  I was able to network and deepen realtionships with great realtors and lenders from all over the northwest.

Posted by Greg Perry, Eastside Realtor
Kirkland, Washington
www.425realty.com
 

The March of the Penguins

Buffini & Company 2007 Turning Point Retreat

The Emperor penguin is a small bird with short wings exclusively used for swimming, 4” legs and a body shaped like a bowling pin.  Every year the emperor penguin walks 70 miles in 7 days to their breeding grounds over some of the most inhospitable land in the world…What in the heck does that have to do with real estate? 

Many things were covered in day one of the 2007 Buffini Turning Point retreat, but of them all, I came away with a renewed confidence that we are doing business the right way.  We do things that set us apart from the average agent, though sometimes it’s at the cost of instant gratification.  “You can’t have the fruits without planting the roots”.  The Turning Point retreat is not about teaching agents how to overcome buyer or seller objections, or anything as shallow.  It's about teaching how to service your clients in a real estate transaction at such a high level both personally and professionally that those people will not only use you again, but strongly recommend their friends and family to use you.  This type of loyalty would not be gained without a strong sense of TRUST.  Here is something straight from today’s seminar:  character + competence = trust.

Let me back up to bring this all together.  There are three types of agents out there. 

1. The part-timer:  Someone who buys or sells as a hobby, or part time endeavor to supplement their full time income
2. The full time Transactional agent:  An agent who is a heavy advertiser to generate business.  They (generally speaking) are out for the quick hit, and don’t invest in the people they serve
3. The full time relational agent:  The agent who invests in the relationships of the people they serve, and in turn generate their business through referral

Agent number three is us. Sometimes it feels like you could rename agent three the “Emperor Penguin Agent” an agent who uses an immense amount of effort to travel distances, but knowing their effort will pay off in the end.  There is no instant gratification; you have to invest the time energy and effort to get to where you need to go.  The Emperor Penguin and the relational agent both know that if they didn’t do things the right way they’d be eaten by polar bears (transactional agents), go extinct and the only thing left would be crappy agents.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Written by Greg Perry

Shortly after starting my real estate career, I hired a Business Coach through the largest real estate coaching company in America, Buffini and Company.  I saw the value of working within a proven system of developing powerful and profitable real estate businesses.  Buffini and Company referrs to their members as "ClubNet" because they teach real estate agents and lenders how to focus on "net" profit. 

My business model is referral based.  In traditional real estate, up to 70% of a Realtor’s time is spent prospecting for new clients.  Because my clients refer virtually all my business, I have the time and resources to give my clients a “first class” experience.

   

In 2006, I was selected by Buffini and Company to be their Regional Leader for Washington and Oregon.  Presently, I lead seminars for up to 300 Real Estate Agents and Lenders, teaching them the referral process.

Last month, I was asked by Buffini and Comapany, along with my colleague Tony Meier,  to present to their innagural Northern California Regional meeting in San Jose, their largest market.   We were met by over 120 fired up ClubNet members and presented a topic to  enhance their client communications.  It was a remarkable experience that we won't soon forget.  I find it an honor and priviledge to serve and give back to our real estate community.  Tony and I would like to congratulate ClubNet Northern California for a wonderful event 

A personal evaluation

Written by Greg Perry

In our weekly meeting this morning, our broker gave us a Business Evaluation to fill out and contemplate.  I'm blessed in that the office environment that I work in has by and large seasoned, full time agents.  I would bet the average years in the industry here would exceed 15 years.  Most agents here view their real estate business as a business.   Here's the evaluation.  We rate each of these 10 categories 1-10, 10 being the highest:

1.  My business is a self sufficient business mode which is able to weather any market rather than being in survival mode.

2.  I am disciplined in my business rather than being "busy" with non-productive activities.

3.  I always have a strategy to my business rather than a reaction.

4.  My business is built on solid systems which help my business survive.

5.  I make it a priority in my business to exchange ideas with my colleagues, read relevant articles/books, and attend appropriate classes.

6.  I surround myself with positive influences and avoid complaining that I am a victim of the market.

7.  I am able to put my client's interests ahead of my financial interests.

8.  My business priorities stay in the forefront of my time management.  I am rarely distracted from those priorities.

9.  I continually practice my skills in real estate.  I go over scripts and responses often.

10.  I am not afraid to try new things in my business and I am willing to make a mistake if it will help me grow.

The rating system looks like this:

90-100  Congratulations!  Your business is a well-run machine. 

80-90   You have a realistic approach to your business.  You need to tweak your attitude a little to get the most out of what you've put into your business.  Keep your ideas fresh.

65-80   Definitely some aspects of your business need attention.  Try a new system or two and evaluate again in 6 months.  Watch for improvement on a consistent basis.

40-65   Some major difficulties in your business.  Need to be working on foundational principles. 

I wonder just how much the public realizes the difference between an agent and an agent that runs a business.  As an industry, what have we done to educate the public in the difference between the part timer who wants a little extra and a professional that is developing systems in a business model?  There is a difference. 

Something to value...

Written by Greg Perry

In 2003, I attended a real estate and lending Peak Performer's conference in Maui.  This was an invitation only conference, and only approx. 250 of the top Realtors and Lenders in the country attended.    During this conference much of the content was created around a book called: Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.  One of the common denominators that the 50 most successful companies in the last 50 years had were written value statements.  These "Built to Last" companies simply state their governing values in words to create value statements to remind themselves of their purpose.  These value statements become the soul of a company, and each employee must line up with them, or the employee is not a good fit. 

After the conference, I created a value statement for the Working-for-you team.  These words hang in our office to remind us daily what we stand for:

1.  To have a servant's heart.

2.  To negotiate our client's best opportunity.

3.  To be a trusted adviser.

4.  To continually self improve, self renew.

5.  To lead the way to a better Real Estate industry.

We value these words.  They help us keep focused on what is important to us as we work with our clients and keep us on our course.

Written by Greg Perry

In 2003, I attended a real estate and lending Peak Performer's conference in Maui.  This was an invitation only conference, and only approx. 250 of the top Realtors and Lenders in the country attended.    During this conference much of the content was created around a book called: Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.  One of the common denominators that the 50 most successful companies in the last 50 years had were written value statements.  These "Built to Last" companies simply state their governing values in words to create value statements to remind themselves of their purpose.  These value statements become the soul of a company, and each employee must line up with them, or the employee is not a good fit. 

After the conference, I created a value statement for the Working-for-you team.  These words hang in our office to remind us daily what we stand for:

1.  To have a servant's heart.

2.  To negotiate our client's best opportunity.

3.  To be a trusted adviser.

4.  To continually self improve, self renew.

5.  To lead the way to a better Real Estate industry.

We value these words.  They help us keep focused on what is important to us as we work with our clients and keep us on our course.