I overheard a conversation the other from a gentleman in sales, that he had contacted a prospect a month ago and heard nothing in return. His friend went on to ask him if he had tried to contact the prospect again, and the salesman replied no that the ball was in the other guy's court now. He seemed quite angry that he had received no return call yet he also seemed unwilling to make a second call himself. He was content to simply brush aside this prospect and move on.

 Well guess what, if you want business then the ball is always in your court. You may have called and left a message and expect a return call, but that doesn't mean you are through if you want this person to work with you. After all, it's you that wants their business, not the other way around.

 I write this to remind myself as much as anyone else, because it's always the basics that we overlook. This goes right back to the most basic principal of all, which is ask for the business. Did you ever think that maybe your number didn't come through on the message. Maybe they were extremely busy or completely missed the message altogether. The fact of the matter is we have no idea what is happening on the other end, but we are completely responsible for what happens on our end. So remember if you want to play ball, do it right and don't sit around waiting for the other person to toss the ball back in your court. That's how you end up on the bench.

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 One of the most difficult hurdles I have seen agents in this business get over is themselves. That's right, I am talking to you. It's not an easy thing to do, I will be the first to admit. But at some point, you are going to have to get over yourself in order to have any success at all and that's regardless of the market.

 Now give me a moment to explain. I'm not just talking about your ego, Lord knows there are times when my head will fill a room too. You also have to get over taking everything personal as well. For your clients this is personal, for you this is business. This is the profession you have chosen and now it's time to be a professional.

 That means it's not about you. It's all about your client and what it is that you can do for them.

  You have to consider the fact that your entire job is based on giving the client what they want. Good service, good advice, and a closed transaction. Guess what, in the end that's exactly what you want too so why not go ahead and give your client what they want. Because in the end, no matter how you slice it, this isn't about you. It's about them.

 I think it was Zig Ziglar that said, " You can have anything you want in life, you just have to help enough people get what they want first". So keep that in mind the next time you start thinking of yourself throughout the process. Just help your clients get what they want and in the end, you'll get where you need to be too.

These days price and condition are more important than ever. Maybe dogs are flying off the shelf elsewhere in the world, but since the market has cooled in most of the country, you need to pay particular attention to the key factors that will enable you to successfully sell your house. That being said, most people do not like their personal tastes to be critiqued and that can cause a great deal of stress for your agent. Especially if your personal taste is horrible and hinders the sell of the property. And since your agent is a little too nervous to say what really needs to be said, I am going to do it for them.

10 - Shag is a dance, it should not be a carpet. I will admit that from time to time I have seen shag carpet and thought that it was pretty cool. But each time, it was in a scene from a movie based in the 60's such as Austin Powers. Most buyers will agree with me, so lose that shag if you want to sell.

9 - I should not hear your kitchen before I see it. Or any other room for that matter. Just because you think that a color of yellow so bright that it can knock out an elephant is a cool thing, it doesn't mean that 99.9% of the rest of the world would agree with you. Remember, there are people who suffer from epilepsy and you don't need an agent or a buyer going into convulsions in you house.

8 - Raising your voice is not a form of negotiation. I know that you've seen several movies about high powered people who get their way just by demanding it and you think that's the way things work, but that movie is only for entertainment. Screaming that you don't want to lower the price doesn't suddenly make the rest of the world think your house is more valuable.

7 - Buyers don't care about you. I know that sometimes you think it's nice to ask your agent if they will communicate to the would be buyer all the reasons that it would be a great burden on you to go through with their demands, but they just don't care. They want a good deal and that's about it, so our broken leg, two jobs and inability to have the carpet replaced really means nothing to them.

6 - Dirty cloths are not a fashion statement. I could care less if you are wearing dirty cloths or not, that's more your business than mine. However, you don't need to scatter your dirty cloths that you are not wearing all throughout that house. They make dimmer switches if you want to set the mood, don't do it with a T-shirt draped over your lamp.

5 - It's not your home anymore. For whatever reason you have now decided to sell your house, therefore you no longer intend for it to be your home. So stop taking everything so personal, put on your big boy pants, and do what needs to be done to attract a buyer that will make it their home.

4- Jungle taming is not a favorite past time for buyers. If your lawn looks like you would need a machete to get through, then the buyer not even get out of the car. The only thing you do with an ugly yard is send the message that you don't care and it makes the buyer think you didn't take care of anything else either.

3 - Testing the market only tests my patience. The price your agent said the house should be listed at is usually a good indication of a price that the house should be listed at. I know, you glanced at Zillow and added $20,000 to their Zestimate to come up with your number and you want to "just give it a shot at this price." Or you could just go ahead and price it right from the start and not waste anyone's time including your own.

2 - I know less is more sounds wrong, but let's lose the chicken figurines anyway. The last thing you need to do is draw attention to how little counter space already have by overloading it with crap you don't need. I understand that some of these things may have a great deal of meaning to you, but that's all the more reason to store them out of sight so nothing happens to them.

1 - It's not worth more just because you lived here. Let's lose that ego, because unless you are very famous or are perhaps a historic figure, then your living here doesn't really add value here. I apologize if you are famous, but in case you haven't heard stars are losing money on their houses left and right these days too. So if you're just Joe Blow from the local corporate conglomerate, then I'm sure you're a great person and your family loves you, but see number 7 would you.

Have  a nice day!!