Thursday, June 26, 2014

It Takes A Team

Real estate is an interesting gig. Most Realtors go get their license, they hang it at the first office they find and they expect to start selling houses. They forget about lots of the other parts. The prospecting, the continual learning, the let downs, the fact that almost everyone already knows at least one Realtor. They also forget to build a team around them.

Now I'm not talking about the "team" concept that some Realtors use where there is one "superstar" Realtor and a bunch of other Realtors under that person all using his or her name. I mean a team of professionals that support the transaction in a variety of roles. A good real estate team should consist, at a MINIMUM, of a great lender or 3, a great title company or 2, an excellent home inspector, a small army of contractors in multiple fields--including at least 3 or 4 reliable "handy men" and an insurance expert.

Realtors have to have their "go to" people in all these areas. They need to be able to trust the service providers to ALWAYS deliver to at least the same standard as they would themselves. When the Realtor refers that service provider, the provider is, essentially, an extension of the Realtor. If that provider messes up, it absolutely looks bad on the Realtor.

Does your Realtor have a team? Can your Realtor get anything done? Does your Realtor get stuff done? Is your Realtor the person to call when you need a great referral for some type of service? If the answer to any of these questions is "no", then you should reconsider sticking with your Realtor.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Starter Homes in Murfreesboro

Hey guys!

Today I wanted to do a search on starter homes in the Blackman area of Murfreesboro- check out what I found!



3144 Wellington Pl
1,605 sq ft
3 bed, 2 bath, 1 half
$167,500















1533 Quantum Ct
2,190 sq ft
4 bed, 3 bath
$167,900













1817 Saint Andrews Dr
1,799 sq ft
3 bed, 3 bath
$168,000

What is Justice?

2 years ago a mother in my town of Smyrna fell asleep and let her 3 year old and 2 year old get out of the house and into a broken down car. They shut the door and died because of the heat. These poor kids died a horrible, painful, excruciating death because of their mother's exceptionally gross negligence. She was sentenced yesterday. She plead guilty and received 16 years. Of that 16, she will serve 8 but can actually serve less based on "good behavior" or whatever they do for parole. 



The Facebook jury was outraged and is still speaking. Let me tell you, some of the comments far exceed the measure of decorum one would expect from civilized people. Now, before you jump all over me for "being on her side", hear me (or should I say, "read me") out. 

Is it really possible for justice to be served in this case? 

If the mother had been given the electric chair and killed the next day, would that be justice? Some would say no she did not have the opportunity to experience enough grief or be haunted long enough.

If she had been given a life sentence, would that be justice? Some would say no because she gets to live on our dime for the rest of her life. 

If she would have been sentenced to die the same way her kids died, would that be justice? Some would say no because there were two of them and she can't die twice. Plus, that doesn't bring the babies back.

I read several comments that say she has no remorse. We can't know that. I read some comments that alluded to vigilante justice, that just puts blood on someone else's hands. I read some that called this woman all kinds of names from "crackhead" to "hooker". None of that is substantiated nor is it constructive. Of course the woman's mother was in the interview and did not help matters with her idiotic comment that it wouldn't have happened if it was cool outside. 

Bottom line is this, there is no way for justice to be served--period. It doesn't matter what you do to this woman, the babies are gone and they died way more horribly than I would wish upon anyone else. It is a tragedy, an avoidable tragedy. 

The best thing for the community to do is to remember that it happened and educate people so that it never, ever happens again. In the meantime, let our "justice" system work, broken though it may be, and pray for this woman, her family and anyone that knew the babies. Pray for them all to heal, to repent, to gain perspective and to perhaps, somehow, redeem this situation. Maybe she can go on to share her story with expectant mothers as a means of communicating the need for vigilance and responsibility. I know that is far-fetched but you never know. Either way, stop trying to make sense of it and exact justice. It can't be done.





Thursday, June 12, 2014

Follow Up

Follow up is probably one of the most difficult things for people in a service oriented industry. We get busy following leads and forget to go back to the prospects that aren't making a lot of noise. Those prospects, however, are the future clients. I know it is hard to remember to keep in touch and incubate all those leads. I certainly don't have a great system for it. I wish I did.

It is also hard to remember to follow up on all the things you say you will do or "get around to".  If you are like me you have an infinite list of things you want to do, maybe chores or projects around the house, maybe trips you want to take, maybe things you want to tell people, who knows. If you are like me, you also forget about more of these things than you actually accomplish. It is frustrating, you know.

Please share some tips and tricks you use to keep up with all your follow up and your ever expanding to do list.

PS--one bit of follow up, the situation I wrote about last week--resolved--mutually beneficial. Thanks for the prayers if you offered them up for me and my clients.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Writer's Block

I don't know that I truly consider myself a writer. I do write regularly. I do have some people that read it but I certainly don't do much to hone my craft. I am not purposeful about getting better. I don't seek publicity with it or even really worry about how many people read it. I write because it feels good. I write because I like opening up conversations and giving people things to think about. I write because I like to think. So, it is kind of interesting when I run into writer's block. Part of me says, "Jonathan, you have to come up with a topic, your public depends on it." Another part of me says, "That is stupid. You don't have a public." So, I missed last week--and I felt guilty. I don't have a ton to write about this week--and I feel guilty.

The truth is, I am in the middle of the most difficult transaction I have ever been in. Both sides have dug lines in the sand and, quite frankly, I am on the "losing" side this time. I'm not used to that. It all kind of culminates today and I have been nervous for the past week. I've been praying like crazy and have been losing sleep. I'm ready for it to be over but I am far from giving up. It has completely consumed me for the past week. the crazy part is, its not a deal where I make a ton of money or anything. Its just a situation where, if it goes one way, my clients lose--big time. If it goes the other way, everyone wins. It is so incredibly one sided, I have actually thought to myself "its unfair." And that is almost never something I think. The one silver lining is that I have discovered a few people that are truly reliable and helpful. Its good to know who those people are.

Do me a favor and pray for me today. Pray for my clients and pray for a peaceful, mutually beneficial resolution to this ordeal. I appreciate it. I will always return the favor.