Online Newsletter for the Week Ending July 30, 2010

QUOTE: “A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them. He serves them, not they him.” Steven Pressfield: Gates of Fire

LATEST NUGGET FOR THE NOGGIN HAS BEEN POSTED ON WWW.NUGGETSFORTHENOGGIN.COM. This one is political so be forewarned. Gymbeaux

IS COLD CALLING A WASTE OF TIME? According to Jeffrey Gitomer it is. Read his article, watch his 7 minute video: http://tinyurl.com/28b7jw3 Remember that Gitomer’s presentations are for sales in general but refer to corporate sales specifically. Does his comments relate to real estate sales? When you answer the question consider this. Almost everyone has “caller ID”, do you? When you receive a call and you do not identify with the caller, do you answer it? Being in sales the answer is probably yes because real estate agents think every call at every hour of the day is a sales call. Are they? You know they are not. Calling For Sale By Owners and Expired Listings are not necessarily “cold calls” since both are probably expecting you to call. More questions. Do you answer your phone when you are at lunch, dinner, with your family, or driving your car? The answer should be NO! Yet when do a lot of people call you? During the dinner or lunch hour; why do they do that KNOWING you are probably with someone having a nice cordial lunch or dinner? The problem is that for a lot of real estate agents if they did not cold call they probably would be doing nothing to generate business. Therefore if you are not engaged in the 33 touch programs, keep cold calling, it is your only chance.

ANY MEMBER READING THIS WHO IS THINKING ABOUT OR DESIRING TO SERVE ON THE 2011 AGENT LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, ought to read Joe Tye’s new book, All Hands on Deck. It will significantly assist you in understanding the Keller Williams corporate culture and the importance of literally buying into a feeling of ownership in your position as an ALC Member. This is your change to learn from Walt Disney, Mary Kay Ash, and eight other well known business people in our history; you won’t regret reading it. Go to http://www.amazon.com/ to purchase it.

NEED YOUR HELP: As the designated broker it is my respon sibility to insure that everyone in the market center is in compliance with the Louisiana and the Mississippi Real Estate Commissions Rules and Regulations. I periodically send out a COMPLIANCE EMAIL identifying those areas of concern. If you open such emails on your IPhone there is no way for me to know you ever received it. Please, if you would, if you open the compliance emails on your IPhone, do not delete it from your desktop or notebook and instead open the email from your computer as well as your IPhone. That way I know you have received the information. This also applies to important dates where dues are to be renewed. I need to know you received the information. Thanking everyone in advance. Gymbeaux

MICHELLE FRADELLA RECOMMENDS ACTIVE RAIN, Michelle from Picayune, MS did a training class for our Market Center recently and today she is published on WWW.ACTIVERAIN.COM. In this link she discusses why YOU should be on ACTIVE RAIN and makes a compelling point: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1755644/results-in-the-rain-think-ar-can-t-help-you-find-clients-

IS THERE A 3.8% TAX ON THE SALE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE NEW HEALTH CARE BILL? Yes but it is not as all-inclusive as some lead you to believe. Here is the result of one man’s research: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1754968/there-is-a-new-real-estate-transfer-tax-in-the-obamacare-law What does that mean for real estate agents? I would think that this would be a great opportunity to become a teacher for real estate owners who might stand to make $200,000 or more on the sale of their home or the cash-in on investments. It would be a great time to sell to avoid the extra 3.8% tax.

JEFFREY GITOMER SEMINAR IN BIRMINGHAM: Gitomer will conduct a two-day seminar on November 11 and 12 in Birmingham, AL. Thursday afternoon, day 1, is for managers. Day 2 is for anyone who wants to improve their attitude. It is based on what I believe to be the best of his many books, The YES!Attitude; How to Find, Build, and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS! I have read the book at least 6 times; it is that good. If you would like more information or to register, go to: I am the Designated Broker for KW in Slidell, LA. I am also a HUGE fan of Jeffrey Gitomer. http://www.gitomer.com/Birmingham-sid1016.html

BE THE ONE TO HELP RESTORE THE GULF, sign on at: http://www.restorethegulf.com/

GETTING CUSTOMERS TO TEXT MESSAGE YOU ON YOUR LISTINGS? Check out this site: http://www.clubtexting.com/real-estate/real-estate-text-messaging.html. You can get a Keyword that you advertise and promote like on your yard signs, the customer text messages to the keyword and receives information on your listing. Check it out.

BROKER BIT: WHO HAS THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO BUY AND/OR SELL REAL ESTATE? This is NOT a trick question. In most cases it is the owner as we all know. But what about Corporations (Corp), Limited Liability Corporations (LLC), Banks (REOs)? Whenever you are working with a buyer and/or a seller who indicates he or she or they are CORP, LLC, or BANK or other such institution, you must obtain a Corporate Resolution indicating who within the company has the authority to list, sell and/or buy real estate and it needs to be specific; include the property address if listing and selling and type and location if buyer. The closing company will require such a document so not obtaining the Corporate Resolution puts you in a hazardous situation if the person you are working with does not have the specific authority to list, sell and/or buy and it could delay the process when the document will have to be produced later in the process.

HOW TO BE A BETTER LEADER, by Joe Tye: As usual, this is great information plus you can download a freebee at: http://tinyurl.com/297wys3

IT’S ABOUT YOU, by Jon Gordon. Another great article by Jon Gordon, short and sweet, http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-072610-itsaboutyou.html

TIME SENSITIVE:  ALL HANDS ON DECK with Joe Tye, Tele-seminar Wednesday, 11:00 am immediately following the Partners Meeting in the Large Training Room at the Market Center, Everyone is welcome to join me.

TIME SENSITIVE:  SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS FOR SALESPEOPLE, hosted by Jeffrey Gitomer; Tele-seminar. I will be calling into Jeffrey Gitomer’s Tele-seminar on Wednesday, July 28th at 1:00, everyone is welcome to join me in the Large Training Room at the Market Center.

DO YOU HAVE A BIG WHY? I believe it was Gary Keller that coined the phrase Big Why and it is so appropriate. At the end of one year and just before the beginning of the next year you oftentimes hear agents talk about their next year’s goals and they almost always do so by talking about their projected desired income from their sales. It is always about the money. A try BIG WHY is rarely if ever about the money but more about what the money will do for you. Only you can figure out what your BIG WHY is. It could be becoming debt free by a certain time. It could be having enough money to put 1, 2, 3 or ever 4 or more children through college, travelling around the world, you get the idea. Do you have a BIG WHY? Really? Would you be willing to share it with anyone because that is the next step. Select someone who is important in your life and share your BIG WHY with that person and ask them if you can share the development of your BIG WHY with them each week to help keep you on track. If you are the only one who knows you have not been working towards your BIG WHY, no harm no foul. But if an important person in your life has to be kept abreast about your progress you do not want to report that you have done nothing or very little towards reaching you BIG WHY. If you want to achieve BIG THINGS, you need a BIG WHY TO SHOOT FOR. I am more than willing to help walk you through your big why and your financial goals. Just say you want to meet and I will make the time. You may be surprised at what we discover.

DO YOU WORK FROM A KELLER WILLIAMS 4-1-1? If not and if you want to learn why you should, stop in next Monday at 1:00 pm for Jim’s M&M Group and I’ll show you how and why you should be using one. If you are satisfied with your production and progress no one can help you. But if you are not satisfied and that would probably be everyone except for possibly you-know-who, ought to turn up for this one.

IPHONE APS FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS: As real estate agents, you’re constantly on the move. And that means you’re going to need an app that can assist you with the financial and technical aspects of your on-the-go job. These following apps, designed for leading smart phones such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and Droid will help you get it all done on the run!

iPhone Apps:

AroundMe(Free): AroundMe allows you to quickly find out information about your surroundings. When in need of finding the closest Gas Station, Restaurant, Bank, etc, AroundMe shows you a complete list of all businesses in the category you have selected along with the distance from where you are.

Loan Calculator($.99): Have you ever had a buyer pose the question “How much would this home cost per month?” Using the Loan Calculator, you can easily calculate monthly payment based on their interest rate. The calculator also gives you the option to email the payment terms and information to your client from within the application.

ILiving ($2.99) This app allows you to take a picture of a room and then rearrange and add new furniture. This can be handy if you’re working with a buyer who need help visualizing a makeover.

Other suggested apps: Trip Cubby, TourNarrator

Blackberry Apps:

Real Estate Powered by Smarter Agent (Free): search for homes for sale, recently sold homes and apartments for rent by address or current location; filter search by property type, price range, and number of beds and baths; see price, square footage, estimated mortgage, photos, and other property details; save favorite listings; contact an agent to get questions answered or schedule a tour through a "Call to See" button.

Real Estate Calculator($4.99, free trial available): tally up a property's investment potential, including monthly cash flow, rate of return, equity buildup over time, monthly mortgage payments, and appreciation; save multiple calculations and compare properties side-by-side

BlackTrack Lite for Real Estate Professionals (Free):logs phone and e-mail activity automatically; sends daily or weekly e-mail reports that include date, time, duration of call or e-mail, and any other notes.

*Other suggested apps: Homes for Sale, EstateOffice Mobile

Android Apps:

Puluwai (Free): Puluwai allows you to quickly and easily browse real estate property listings in your area of interest. You can locate properties by either entering a location or by using GPS functions. It also lets you view photos of properties for sale, find properties on a map, contact the selling agent, and share interesting properties with your friends and family.

Qualify: Real Estate(Free): This app helps you make an intelligent decision on the purchase of your next home. Through its custom rating system, you can rate the properties you look at on your smart phone, based on distance from work and school, or size, etc. After saving these details, you can compare the home’s ratings against all others.

Safe Neighborhood(Free): This app allows you to search for registered sex offenders by address or current location; view profiles that include name, photo, aliases, address, physical characteristics, and relevant offenses.