real estate class: Vendors - 10/31/17 09:52 AM
TEAM Hughes Real Estate School is in its third week of a Real Estate Broker Course and to make the course as convenient as possible, we asked vendors to sponsor a dinner each night and to give a short presentation about their products and/or business.  Vendors are the bomb!  Without these vendors, TEAM Hughes could not accomplish such a successful broker course.  Historically, the school has presented this course only once a year and preparations for it are time-consuming at best.  To rely on vendors to help take the edge off can be a risk.
 
After the course is finished, TEAM Hughes … (2 comments)

real estate class: Travel - 09/19/17 09:32 AM
I love to travel.  We spent more than a few years in an RV ministry where we got to travel around the country while working on churches, Christian schools, Teen Challenges, etc.  It was a great life, but not for the faint of heart.  Now that we’re out of ministry and have settled into a routine with our real estate school, we don’t travel as much as we’d like to.  As you read this blog, we are in New England enjoying friends, family and foliage.  It was on our bucket list to take a train ride and to get Bob up … (1 comments)

real estate class: Team Efforts - 09/03/17 06:28 AM
Regardless of team efforts, sometimes your team doesn’t place first.  The other night, I watched FSU succumb to Alabama.  The overall team efforts in that game were painful, to say the least.  FSU’s quarterback couldn’t control his passes, and FSU defense looked like a bunch of school boys practicing.  To be honest with you, even though Alabama won, I wasn’t none too impressed with some of their team efforts either, and if they don’t get it together soon, they may have an upsetting season.  By the way, I’m an FSU fan from high school days back in the 60’s and I’ve … (0 comments)

real estate class: One Thing I Know - 08/26/17 12:38 PM
At my age, you tend to know lots of stuff.  Some of the stuff you know is of great value and some of it has little value or use to anyone.  One thing I know, however, is how to make money as a real estate practitioner.  There’s an old saying, “Those who can’t, teach.”  There’s a lot of truth to that adage, but in my case, it’s a bit different.  I no longer practice real estate because I do not have the energy or the physical capacity to do what must be done.  One thing I know is how to make … (1 comments)

real estate class: To Be or Not To Be a Broker - 08/20/17 02:46 PM
Many real estate agents think it is a waste of time to go through the time and expense to get a broker license.  To be or not to be a broker is the question.  Some think a broker license is only for agents who either want to manage an office or who want to open their own office.  They couldn’t be more wrong in my opinion!
 
To be or not to be a broker is a no-brainer in my world.  When I first got a Florida broker license in 1985, I had no idea of ever owning my own company.  I wanted … (4 comments)

real estate class: Become an Avenger - 08/11/17 06:06 AM
It seems a bit strange to me that I love the Avengers.  If I were 9 years old, my imagination would run rampant and I would become an Avenger.  Avengers are the coolest superheroes ever!  I would become an Avenger, and if I couldn’t do that, then I would become an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  
 
I know there are many superheroes in the comic fantasy world, but for some reason, I want to become an Avenger.  Of course, I speak metaphorically about this.  After all, I am female, 68 years old, and hardly a candidate to become an Avenger!  My heart, however, … (1 comments)

real estate class: It’s a New Day - 07/27/17 06:11 AM
Ever wake up knowing it’s a new day and you are so glad yesterday is gone?  We’ve all heard the adages, for example, tomorrow’s another day, joy comes in the morning, there’s a new day coming.  How would these sayings relate to a real estate career?  We all have bad days that we’re glad to see come and go, but a bad day for a real estate agent can be monumentally destructive.
 
There are times things appear to be going well.  That closing date is getting closer and you can finally take that vacation or pay those bills.  Two days before closing … (1 comments)

real estate class: That Drive in Us - 07/16/17 04:30 AM
I know you have felt it.  I know you have been touched by it.  I know it has consumed you before.  You wouldn’t be in this business if you didn’t have it.  Each of you knows what I’m talking about!  That drive in us becomes so loud sometimes that we can hardly think!  What is that drive in us?
 
We humans sometimes operate on fuel we never wanted; sometimes a death forces us to do things we never wanted to do.  Sometimes a birth happily pushes us to make changes in our lives.  Many times, that drive in us is unexplainable, yet … (4 comments)

real estate class: Should You Work Smart or Work Hard? - 07/13/17 06:36 AM
Should you work smart or work hard?  There are two schools of thought.  One says we need to work smart; the other says hard work pays off.  In a real estate career, I think we have to work both smart and we have to work hard.
 
You will see lots of paradigm shifts in this industry.  You begin as novices, not knowing the lingo, not understanding legalities, relying 100% on those who have been there ahead of you.  In the early days of your career, you must apply yourselves to everything.  Training is paramount, trying to learn as much as you can … (2 comments)

real estate class: Raise Your Standards - 07/11/17 12:53 PM
Kyle Skipper is a young man who works with NY Life Securities, LLC, here in the Pensacola area.  I admire Kyle because he has a realistic view on some major issues in life, even though he is someone I consider young.  With Kyle’s permission, I am sort of quoting one of his recent Facebook posts: 
 
“Your current situation is a direct result of your standards. Think of where you are in life, whether It’s your job, your money, your happiness, etc.  You are in that place because you set that standard for yourself.  If you’re not happy where you are, then … (1 comments)

real estate class: Why I Do What I Do - 07/11/17 04:43 AM
Allow me to explain why I do what I do.  My real estate career began in 1983 (I tell people I was only 10 at the time).  I was a single mother receiving zero child support.  Although my background had been as a legal assistant and paralegal, I quickly found I could not continue in that profession and raise my daughters without being catapulted into poverty!  My real estate rental agent gave me a job lead with a real estate broker and it didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted to be on the other side of the desk!  … (1 comments)

real estate class: A Clear Path - 07/07/17 05:13 AM
Real estate agents sometimes run around without being organized.  They don’t have a clear path to lead them, and their attitudes are like one that promotes slinging enough mud so some of it will stick.  Organization isn’t their thing, and at year-end they complain because nothing seemed to work out and they wonder why they didn’t make the money they expected.  Several REALTORS® come to mind who needed a clear path in their real estate career. 
 
The first was a student who got his license on the first try after working hard to get through our one-week Fast Track class.  He … (0 comments)

real estate class: A Few Suggestions - 07/05/17 05:57 AM
When you are newly licensed and have begun a real estate career, you tend to follow the lead of some major players in your professional life.  Brokers, trainers, and top producers will all have a few suggestions as you muddle your way through the first month of filling out forms, attending meetings, setting up sites, ordering cards, and generally staying bewildered and wondering when and if it will ever end.  Once the paperwork is done, and the dust has settled, it may be time for a few suggestions about what to do next.
 
Granted, not every new real estate agent starts out … (1 comments)

real estate class: Raising Your Bar - 06/28/17 07:29 AM
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, there were 1,255,619 active members as of June 1st.  This figure does not include licensees, like myself, who are not members of NAR, but who hold active licenses.  I cannot imagine how many more that represents, but suffice it to say we have lots of real estate licensees in this country!  So, you might agree that raising your bar is necessary to stand out from the myriad of other agents in your area.
 
Our country grew out of visions of entrepreneurial spirits.  Back in the earliest days of this nation, men dreamed of owning a … (1 comments)

real estate class: You Are Not Your Thoughts - 06/12/17 12:55 PM
When negativity sets in and your mind begins to ramble or you create conversations with others in your mind, it is easy to fall prey to your thoughts.  To train your mind to reject all negative thinking takes years of meditation, training and is never easy to attain.  Some of us are products of great negativity over the years.  It could be difficult to realize you are not your thoughts.  Because thoughts come from within ourselves, we assume they are part of us, which doesn’t have to be the case.  It’s okay to observe your thoughts and to be aware of … (1 comments)

real estate class: My Idea of Fun - 06/05/17 11:57 AM
When I was younger, my idea of fun was quite different than it is now.  Thank goodness for paradigm shifts because I’d miss the mark if I was out every night drinking, dancing and carousing.  When I think about all the times I did things like that, it’s as if I wasn’t the one doing them, but rather, someone else did them in my name.  It’s a funny thing about age.  The older we get, the more “establishment” we become, and the realities of our past become memories that fade along the way.
 
My idea of fun today has more to do … (2 comments)

real estate class: A Commitment - 06/03/17 06:46 AM
TEAM Hughes Real Estate School is winding down its June Fast Track Real Estate Class, which will finish up tomorrow and then the students will take their final exam on Sunday.  This class causes me to think about commitment.  Even though the Fast Track Real Estate Class is only one week out of a student’s life, it takes a huge commitment to see it through.  We ask our students to literally give up their lives for a week.  We ask Moms and Dads to inform their families that they won’t be around for them for a week and to remove themselves … (2 comments)

real estate class: When All Else Fails - 06/01/17 05:53 AM
Every part of the U.S. is experiencing an influx of real estate agents and REALTORS®.  
The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, ARELLO, estimated there were over 2,000,000 real estate licensees in the U.S. during 2015, and that number has had to have grown with the successful market we’ve experienced.  There are some fascinating statistics offered by NAR that show the practice of real estate is growing throughout the country.
 
With all this growth, why then do we see real estate agents failing?  According to REALTOR® Magazine, there are four main reasons why agents do not succeed.  Without going into … (0 comments)

real estate class: Try - 05/31/17 01:22 PM
As an instructor, one of my pet peeves is to hear a student say he/she would like to “try” real estate.  I’m reminded of something my instructor told me that has resonated to me over the years.  He said he could not recall a doctor, lawyer or accountant tell him they were trying their chosen vocation.  So many of us seem to forget the practice of real estate is a career, not a job to try out until something better comes along.
 
Statistics show many real estate agents drop out their first year of practice.  I’ve pondered that dilemma more than once, … (3 comments)

real estate class: Joy Comes - 05/21/17 08:56 AM
The other day I blogged about disappointments and how they sometimes infiltrate our lives.  In the particular instance I used about my grandson, Oliver, not being able to visit, we had a twist of fate the very next day.  My daughter was able to procure a direct flight from Boston to New Orleans, and Oliver can visit after all, which turned my disappointment into joy.  Joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:1-5) has always been true in my life, and even when the disappointments remained, there were always other things to replace them with joy.  In this case, it is Oliver, … (1 comments)