Sean's Blog

Want Hyper-Local Blogging? Think Cat Blog

CQ Financial Group — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:25:17 -0600

I spent a good portion of yesterday pondering Jeff Brown's post on hyper-local farming. (I know, I know; my ex-wife used to wonder how I was going to pay the bills too.) In a post over on BloodhoundBlog, Jeff celebrates the vindication of an earlier thesis on hyper-local blogging - or in Jeff's case farming - by none other than Seth Godin. I have come to the conclusion, and you can read the post and his links for yourself here, that Jeff is recommending a cat blog.

Well... maybe not a cat blog in the common sense of the term. But look at what he is saying:

"Imagine, if you will, a blog site having more info on your neighborhood than you ever thought existed. I don't mean boring real estate stuff, as any yahoo can generate that boring crap. I'm talking about reading about your son Steve's game winning, last inning double in yesterday's Little League game - complete with pictures. Yep, each neighborhood blog would be a de facto newspaper, with all the work that goes with it."

This is not a blog about your real estate business and it surely is not a blog about all of your skills as an agent. Giving people that information is like delivering the newspaper to their door and just about as dead. People no longer want their news edited and parsed for them. They would much rather go online and research their own areas of topical interest. In the same way, few clients these days are going to be impressed with the number of closings you had last year or the number of letters after your name. What they are interested in (what they have always been interested in) is how these things affect THEM.

People hold a very strong interest in themselves. That is our nature and I am as guilty of it as you are. The main message of being a 2.0 agent is realizing that your client wants it to be about them and not you. I know many agents realized that a long time ago, but the power to market this change in the zeitgeist has been lacking. Until now. The reason people post pictures of their cat is because they like their cat. You are rarely going to earn business by posting a picture of your little ball of furry fun, but you will definitely garner the interest of your prospects by posting a picture of theirs.

A true, hyper-local farming blog is really a cat blog for everyone in your community. There are pictures of their little league stars and stories on the school art program their children entered (along with a picture or two that they forgot to take). There is information on their neighborhood, their street and yes even their house. Greg Swann elaborated on this in relation to Zillow and Zestifarming:

"To other Realty.bots, what matters is the listing, an ephemeral state-change in an otherwise uninteresting terrain. To Zillow, what matters is the house..."

Not just to Zillow; to clients too. Push is a tough way to create interest, pull is a snap. If you succeeded in the ultimate (albeit unattainable) goal of creating a cat blog for each and every person in your farm, what do you think their interest would be? The pull interest? Do you think you would achieve top of mind status? If you demonstrated your level of expertise (of direct, personal expertise) by giving your clients what they crave most: themselves, how many would look to you when it was time to buy or sell their home? How close do that lofty goal does one have to get in order to own that farm? Lots of work - yes. But imagine that level of farm ownership. Hyper-local farming: one big cat blog. :)

I Learned Everything I Needed to Know About Referral Marketing from a TV Show: Survivor

CQ Financial Group — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:04:27 -0600

How can watching a TV program make you a more successful real estate agent? There is one reality show on right now that exemplifies referral marketing like no other. I am talking about Survivor. This year the producers of Survivor decided to create two teams: one comprised of fans of the show (think of them as clients) and one comprised of favorites of past shows (think of them as agents). In almost every interaction the two teams have, the fans defer to the favorites. They look to the favorites with an almost rock star adulation. Why is this? Because the favorites' perceived level of expertise is high in the fans eyes simply because the favorites have been on the show before. That's it really. By virtue of their (limited) previous experience they are considered experts in this game.

Here is the interesting part: there is no real difference between these two groups of people. The favorites have some experience but they are not professional Survivors. They have never seen this local or these particular challenges, so their only real experience is in creating strategy (which, for most of them, was wrong at least once more than it was right!) The reason the fans defer so readily to the favorites is a perfect example of how people react to those that they perceive as having expertise. The goal of all referral marketing is to increase your perceived level of expertise in front of your clients. If they are already fans of yours (whether from watching you on TV or reading you on a blog) your job just got that much easier.

Blogging is all about creating your community and running for mayor. The goal is an endless stream of referrals. I do not know who will ultimately win this season of Survivor. But I already know who owns the high ground. If this game were about referrals, it would be all over but the crying. Your tribe is speaking...

Real Estate Blogging to be Mayor

CQ Financial Group — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:17:48 -0600

I just finished reading another brilliant blog post by Brian Brady: the great and powerful Oz. (He gave up his moniker as "America's Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker" a while back and now he is just "America's Mortgage Broker". I think he needs a new nickname and "the great and powerful Oz is more than a little appropriate). Anyway, in his post Brian says: "I make my presence known. Tony Gallegos called me "ubiquitious". Critics have called my strategy "puking all over the internet" (but placed my results in the top 20 of all real estate bloggers). " Now this is true and I have heard him accused of "puking" all over the Internet more than once. Here's the thing: he is absolutely doing the right thing and we should all be copying him, except that it would be pointless. Let me explain:

The concept behind social media marketing has been called many things, but viral marketing is probably the easiest to understand. Simply put, you want to be a virus (and I mean in that in the best possible way) that friends, family, clients and just about anybody else that comes in contact with you spreads to others. This is the definition of generating referrals. The question you should be asking yourself (the question we always ask ourselves when ever we start something new in business like "creating a virus") is WHY? Why do I want people to sneeze me around to everyone else. The answer may seem obvious: to create more business; but that misses a huge part of why social media marketing - and especially blogging - is so powerful.

The Chamber of Commerce Meeting... EXPLODED Let me ask you a question: would you rather close 25% of 100 leads or 70% of 50 leads? Again, the answer appears obvious but the power of blogging is found here. Your posts are a grand resumé for everyone to read. Think of it as the most successful Chamber of Commerce Networking meeting you have ever attended. Instead of painfully coming up with small talk and trying to ever so smoothly work real estate or mortgages into a conversation about the garbage strike, you get to sit quietly while everyone in the room has a chance to learn about you in intimate detail. Instead of fishing through your pocket for a business card and handing it out clumsily through the sweaty and the greasy wings, your information is plastered all over the walls and hanging from the moose antlers. In one fell swoop you have not only "introduced" yourself to one heck of a lot of people, but you have communicated to them who you really are.

People do business with people they think are like them. I will repeat that: people do business with people they think are like them. After everyone has gotten a chance to know you, how many in the room will call you? Not as many as if you had kept your (literary) mouth shut. But... the ones who do are a lot more likely to do business with you. Now that is TRUE efficiency in marketing.

DON'T Be the Disease, Be the MAYOR So here is another question: if you do not want to be a virus and the idea of puking all over people is a tad beyond your comfort level; if you understand the Chamber of Commerce example but have no idea where your local Chamber is located, what do you do? Or, as I pointed out in the beginning of this post: WHY do you do it? Because you want to be the Mayor. If you were to talk to the great and powerful Oz, he would tell you to build a community. Build a community of raving fans that will do business with you and refer you because they see you as an expert. I say: take that one step further. Your goal is to build this community and then be elected their mayor! Think of it: a community of raving fans that looks to you for leadership. Now you are going to want to put as many people as possible into your "community", but at the same time it does you no good to add people that will never vote for you. Those people are "dead" to your campaign and unless your community is Chicago, they can not vote. You want people that have read your platform and agree with it. You want people that know how you stand on the issues and agree with you. You want people that believe in you because they see themselves in you. Put your bumper sticker on every car and your poster on every light post IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

Which bring us back to why copying Brian Brady would be pointless. Your goal should be to get elected mayor of your community. He is running for President... or great and powerful Oz, I get the two mixed up.

Remember: your job is helping people to buy and sell real estate, not writing blog posts (no matter how great the prose that drips from your fingers). Get your platform out there, kiss a lot of babies and shake a lot of hands. You are always campaigning and your are always working to earn your communities' support. The reward for all that hard work is being mayor for life, which equates to a lot of transactions. MAYORAL MARKETING. Hit the campaign trail!!

It is Not Your Fault

CQ Financial Group — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:17:48 -0600

"This is not your fault. You were never properly trained (educated, informed). I have the answer." Does this sound a little formulaic? Lately I am seeing a trend and the statement I just refrenced sums it up.

I attend a lot of seminars in my role as coach, motivator and seminar host for real estate agents. Sometimes I go because the content sounds interesting and sometimes I go because I want to see how others are setting up and delivering their presentation. In the past week I attended two such seminars, on very different topics, and the speakers used the same device of "not your fault, you didn't know, I can help". One was an economic summit and the other had to do with marketing. Yet the pitch is the same: We can and should blame others. Brian Brady (whom most of you know from his writing - but until you have attended these talks with him personally you are only scratching the surface of his genius) commented that it "sounded like a speech in 1922 Munich but it sure played up to the crowd of real estate agents" on a humorous post of his own.

This is a sorry development for seminar hosts that are ostensibly helping attendees find their way. It is also lazy. What inspiration does it take to tell people what they want to hear? Real Estate industry is in trouble? Blame the lenders. In a more specifi post on the topic I wrote: "I am sick and tired of the lending industry being blamed for foisting "exotic" loans on an unknowing public. What geniuses those lenders must be, what masters of double talk, what scam artists... what balderdash".

Maybe the nanny state is what people want. Hard for me to imagine but watching the lawsuits lately and hearing this formula in seminars leads me to that conclusion. Apparently what we need is to abdicate our responsibilities as adults. Then someone else can make our decisions for us.

A man walks into an ice cream store and the clerk says: "I will not serve you ice cream because you are already fat. It is my job to protect you from your own poor decisions. It is not your fault though, it is the advertisers that make you want ice cream. You were never properly taught that if you eat a quart of ice cream every day it would be bad for you. I can help. Turn off your TV and start eating donuts instead"

How To Move Buyers & Selles Off the Fence

CQ Financial Group — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:19:15 -0600

There is currently a tremendous marketing opportunity to move buyers and sellers off the fence at the same time! The recent rate drops by the Fed provide several possible outcomes. I have discussed them before and Option 3 was more fully explored by Dan Green. But they can be a great source for marketing material that raises your perceived expertise. More importantly, this information can be used to move buyers AND sellers off the fence. How is that possible? I go into greater detail here, but as agents you simply follow the bouncing ball of fiduciary obligation:

Each option lends itself to someone acting immediately
We do not have a crystal ball. The market is going to move (it always does) and it is going to benefit one group over another.
It is this acknowledgement that gives us the edge in helping both our buyers and our sellers act now.

An agent's fiduciary obligation is to look out for their client's best interest and that interest is usually aligned with their safest one, which means minimizing risk is more important than maximizing reward. Now look at the following two conversations:

Conversation with seller: "Mr. and Mrs. Seller, after reviewing these outcomes, I believe we should act now. If we are wrong, the downside is you sold for less than you might have had we waited. But if we are right and do not act, you may not sell your house at all. By comparison, the latter is far worse to your financial position."

Conversation with buyer: "Mr. and Mrs. Buyer, after reviewing these outcomes, I believe we should act now. If we are wrong, the downside is you paid a little more for your dream home than you might have had we waited. But if we are right and do not act, you may never get into your home. By comparison, the latter is far worse to your financial position."

Now the clients are impressed with your expertise (which leads to referrals); of much greater importance, however, you looked out for the best interests of both your buyers and your sellers. Icing on the cake: you are moving twice as many clients off the fence and into action.

Countrywide, Wall Street and Animal House

CQ Financial Group — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:21:17 -0600

There is a great scene toward the end of the movie Animal House. The Deltas have decided to wreak havoc on the Faber College Homecoming parade. The grandstand has been destroyed, floats are running amok, people are fleeing for their very lives and there is chaos in the streets. One of the ROTC members who has been charged with maintaining public safety (played, I believe, by Kevin Bacon in his on-screen debut) stands still amidst the whirlwind of activity that envelops him and screams at the top of his lungs: "Remain Calm! All is Well!!" The absolute lunacy of his reality is made hilarious by his sheer conviction. I am amazed every time I see it. I feel that way lately as I watch Wall Street react to Countrywide, almost imperceptibly screaming "Remain Calm! All is Well!!"

I was more than a little confused by Wall Street's reaction to Countrywide's pronouncements last October regarding a profitable 4th quarter. I wrote about it then and I guess I am writing again with a childish "told you so." Countrywide is underestimating their financial obligations in my humble opinion and it seems rather obvious to even the casual observer. But as I have pointed out, main stream media is missing the real problem as well. In a world of doom and gloom I am loathe to admit it, but these players are not doom and gloomy enough. That is all well and good because their misjudgments serve them and it is easy for us to follow the ball when we follow the money. More difficult to follow, however, is Wall Street's desire to play along.

Today Countrywide announced that they were in fact unprofitable in the fourth quarter (which must have come as a bit of a shock to those that bid their stock up last quarter) . This was in direct contradiction to their public estimates. It now seems even more reasonable to conclude that Countrywide's set asides are woefully inadequate, yet their stock today was... up. "Remain Calm! All is Well!!"

Life is Hard

CQ Financial Group — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:43:45 -0600

This is a post from last year, but it seems more appropriate here.

Each week I have the opportunity to share ideas and inspiration with over one hundred Realtors at the Brokers' Open Caravan. Last week I shared the poem IF by Rudyard Kipling. It is a poem on life, happiness and what it means to be a truly successful person. I learned it in high school and amazingly, I have yet to encounter a situation that is not covered by this heartfelt letter from a father to his son. It is, in my humble opinion, the greatest piece ever written in the English language. If you have not read it, please do so here. You may find yourself, as I have, burning it into your memory and served by its wisdom on a daily basis.

Every night when I put my boys to bed we read a couple of stories. Occasionally, instead of reading a story, I recite the poem IF for them. As passionately as I feel about this poem you can imagine my desire to impart it to my sons. They are just coming into the age where they can begin to appreciate what it says and remember my telling of it. Two nights ago was just such a night. I turned down the lights and recited the poem with all my heart. When I had finished I had a tear in my eye, which I normally do by the time I have finished. My seven year old looked at me and asked: "Daddy, what do all those words mean?" This is a fair question given the old English nature and style of the poem. I told him not to worry so much about all the words, that we would discuss them individually over time (it was, after all, bedtime). I told them both that the poem was about life and a philosophy of living that led to being an upstanding citizen of the world. I told them that it was about the trials and tribulations that one may face and more importantly: how to face them. My five year old then asked: "Does that mean that all those things are going to happen?" I told them that they may all happen and they may not. This poem is about being prepared. This poem is about having a blueprint for how to handle anything that gets thrown at you. This poem is about life. There was silence for a moment and then my five year old said: "Life sounds hard."...

How do you explain to a five year old that life is a celebration of daily wonder and effortless joy? How do you explain to a five year old that we experience magic and miracles every day if we live in the present moment? How do you explain to a five year old that life is only as hard as we decide it is going to be and tell ourselves that it is? How do I explain all this to a five year old when, nearing the age of forty-five, I still find myself saying at times "life is hard"?

We talk to ourselves constantly; not only in what we say out loud and what we think inside, but in the very words that we choose. Let's decide that life is a beautiful, awe inspiring celebration. My thought for each and every one of us today is this: before we go outside we tell ourselves that today is going to be a terrific day overflowing with wonder and happiness. Let's see if we can't make it so just by the act of telling ourselves it is so.

Some Borrowers Do Not Deserve to Own a Home

CQ Financial Group — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:32:52 -0600

Last night 60 Minutes aired a piece on the mortgage crisis and how foreclosures have impacted communities like Stockton, CA. I reviewed this show and I have commented on it more in depth here. My question for the Active Rainers is this: Are there some people that just do not deserve to own a home?

In the 60 Minutes piece entitled House of Cards, two couple are interviewed. The first couple is going to lose their home because they cannot afford the new, higher rate. When asked if they understood that the rate would go up when the took out the loan and signed the docs they said no. They didn't really read anything. They told the lender what payment they could afford and so they are "surprised" now that the loan has done exactly what it said it would do. Not being present at the time the loan was sold to this couple I can not say if the adjustable rate nature was explained to them or not. In any case, they did not care too much about anything but getting into the home they wanted. When asked by the host how they could take such risk with the biggest investment of their lives, they responded that they "didn't really think about it that way."

The second couple can still afford their payments. They have just decided that they are not going to make the payment anymore. "Why pay a $3200 payment on a 1200 square foot home?" Apparently 1200 square feet was fine when they purchased, but now it is underperforming. The host directly said to them: "... but that's (making the payments) what you agreed to do when you bought the house." To which the borrower replied "fine, if the value is going up; the value is going down. It makes no sense to ... pay." Can you imagine going through life with such a self-centered view of the world?

I repeat my opening question: Aren't there some people that just do not deserve to own a home?

How to Avoid Drowning as a Realtor

CQ Financial Group — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:04:31 -0600

Last week I suggested to the Realtors I speak with each week that our theme be "A Great 2008", but we need to remember that more than just attitude is needed. This is the time to talk about skills and confidence as well. I often note that being a Realtor is similar to racing a triathlon: it is an endurance event, not a sprint.

To become a better runner is relatively straight forward: run more. The same can be said for the bike. While there are techniques and drills that will certainly help, the thing you can do that will have the most impact is bike more. Swimming, on the other hand, is a bit counter-intuitive. When you come back to swimming and you want to improve, more is not better. Water is much denser than air so it magnifies mistakes in technique or mechanics. If you want to improve your swimming you back down on the yardage and do more technique work, more drills. If you simply swim more you only become a poor swimmer that can swim for a long time.

The last few years of real estate have been a lot like running. If you wanted to earn more money you simply worked more hours. But last year the market began to change. It became more resistant and problems of technique or mechanics were magnified. Now is the time to back down some of the hours (I know how counter-intuitive that sounds) and work on your skills: dialogues, drip campaigns, marketing systems and so on.

In a triathlon a good swimmer will do well some of the time, and a good cyclist will do well some of the time and a good runner will do well some of the time. But those that quickly recognize and react to transitions are the ones who consistantly find their way to the winner's podium.

Option Arms: "Iceberg Dead Ahead"

CQ Financial Group — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:54:10 -0600

There has been a lot of discussion in the press regarding the mortgage industry and foreclosures. But in all of those discussions I have yet to see an accurate representation of what has happened (which is not much) and what is coming (which is another story entirely). Our own local paper, The San Diego Union Tribune, has had a ball with the foreclosure mess. Their headlines and articles have contibuted greatly to the problem in my opinion. Lately, however, the have begun to (inadvertently) help us and I discuss that here. Still, they continue to miss the boat... or more accurately: the iceberg. The sub-prime issue is only what we currently see; the real problem, Option Arms, lurks just below the surface - and it is the size of Countrywide and Washington Mutual plus many more. The US Mortgage ship Titanic be warned: "Iceberg dead ahead!"

Here is the concept in a nutshell: Virtually all lenders use accrual based accounting (as do virtually all corporations of any business type). Standard practice in this type of accounting is to book accounts receivable even though you have not actually received the cash. This is, as I said, standard practice. But what do you think might happen when this accounting standard is practiced by a lender such as Countrywide or Washington Mutual; lenders with a tremendous amount of option arms on their books? These lenders are booking the expected income (which is to say the interest income) from all of their loans. Yet with option arms there is a percentage of customers (in some cases I suspect a very large percentage) that are paying only the minimum payment. "OK", says the lender, "we are not receiving the income right now, but we will eventually". Which is fine until you look at the mortgage reset tables and recognize the vast number of loans that will be going into foreclosure in the near future. February and March of 2008 will see more loans (in dollar amount) reset than in the first NINE months of 2007. These will not be sub-prime, high risk loans either but rather good, strong alt-A and A-paper loans. To the degree that these loans are option arms the lenders will have to go back and remove that part of the interest income they booked but did not receive and will now never receive. This often results in a process on Wall Street called "restating your earnings". If you are curious how Wall Street views companies that restate their earnings, ask the people over at New Century Mortgage... oh, that's right; you can't. They had to declare bankruptcy about 48 hours after they restated theirs.

The Press becomes the Vaccine

CQ Financial Group — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 07:36:20 -0600

At the beginning of the year, I predicted here that the newspapers would start printing stories that will actually help us. Their headlines up to now have been less than kind to the real estate market, the real estate profession and especially the real estate mortgage profession. One might suggest that their blatant hyperbole and lack of perspective bears some responsibility for the state of affairs as they stand (I know I have suggested it...). So you can imagine my surprise at seeing the front page of yesterday's Union Tribune. I was genuinely excited by what they reported. So helpful was it (once you read the entire article and work through the same old spin) that I suggest we take a copy to every client we can contact.

First and foremost, we can show them the layout, which so clearly reveals the Tribune's true intent that there is no longer plausible deniability. Across the top of the paper in bold, over-sized headline font it reads:

Foreclosures up 353%

in S.D. County in 2007

Another article, in the right column, above the fold has a headline in standard font which reads:

Fed slices

key rate

to calm

markets

Now I ask you, based on these headlines, which of these articles does the Union Tribune expect - even demand -you read? The foreclosure article, of course; yet is that even news? They have reported on this "story" ad nauseam. There is nothing new here and very little that could be called news. Down in that smaller column, however, is a HUGE story. The Fed dropped their key rate a stunning three quarters of one point; "the biggest one day reduction... on record" according to the article itself. Not only that, but it was undertaken during an emergency meeting, called at night, on a national holiday! This is truly historic news, with the potential for massive impact on the economy, yet in our newspaper it plays second fiddle to any story where they get to use the word foreclosure.

Within the headline story there is cause for celebration, but you have to look for it. I have gone through and done the math and here are the talking points I would raise with my clients:

The numbers look horrific when posted in big letters across the top of the paper, but in reality we are talking about six-tenths of one percent (.006) of homeowners in San Diego County that are in foreclosure. Granted, this is up from the four-tenths of one percent (.004) previous record and if it is happening to you it is a very large problem, but overall? Six-tenths of one percent is hardly an economic problem for the community. It merits mention somewhere in the business section... or possibly as a human interest story in the local section.
Between 2000 and 2005 the home values have doubled in San Diego County. From the high two years ago the values have come down 17%. That translates into a 66% return on your investment, which is an annual return of approximately 8% on your money... and that is only if you bought at the bottom and sold at the bottom! If you sold previous to this year your return was higher, in some cases substantially.
The rate of foreclosures in San Diego County was only 62% of that in the state of California. San Diego is once again leading the way. If you want to invest your money, this is the place to do it.
Finally, the rate of default notices, which is a precursor to foreclosure, was up only 128% or roughly 1/3 the rate of actual foreclosure. This should signal a significant drop in coming foreclosures, even acknowledging the fact that a higher percentage of those receiving a Notice of Default end up in foreclosure.

Overall, this article, even with its intentionally misleading graphics and promise of depression inducing gloom, delivers some much needed good news. We just have to know where to look. Then we need to take responsibility as professionals and show our clients. I end with this thought:

Within every problem there lies an opportunity; the more difficult the problem, the more rewarding the opportunity.

The Good, The Bad and The Fed

CQ Financial Group — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:56:53 -0600

The Fed has done it again. Known for over reacting to economic stimuli, the Fed announced today a surprise, 3/4% cut to the overnight rate as well as the discount rate. Cause for celebration, right? Maybe not. Here are three of the possible ways that this plays out:

The Good: people take advantage of cheap money and reinvest in their business, which slowly begins to bring the recessionary ship around. Of course, in this era of historically low unemployment and historically high energy prices, that could lead to the inflation monster the Fed has been (correctly) tracking for some time.

The Bad: this move is seen as confirmation that there really is a problem and that it is severe, thus causing businesses and homeowners alike to pull in and tighten up. In the short time since this was announced I have spoken with about a dozen people and the recurring theme seems to be: "Wow, I knew things were bad but I did not know they were this bad." Does that sound like the voice of salvation?

The Ugly: Imagine the Fed as a hired gunslinger being paid to protect our town (the economy). They carry a six-shooter armed with the ability to lower the cost of money and they rarely have access to a reload. By shooting this many bullets at once they risk being defenseless when a real bad man shows up. By "real" bad man I mean the upcoming Neg-Am debacle, which is going to make the sub-prime crisis look like the small ripple it really was. Tough to defend a town with no bullets and if the Fed Funds get below 2%, they are basically throwing their empty gun at the bad guy. It may look good in the movies... it may even feel good... but you are a goner just the same.

Blind Men and the Transparency Mortgage Elephant

CQ Financial Group — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:01:25 -0500

I just caught up with a great post over on The XBroker by Jeff Corbett called Transparency in the Mortgage Service Industries. As usual Jeff does an admirable job describing how technology is going to affect the industry, what disintermediation means and why borrowers should care. Jeff has been beating the drum of full transparency loudly and for some time now. In the interest of full disclosure: I too beat on that drum; just not with the rhythm and panache that Jeff has. He even gets a chance to flex his vocabulary with the word "rapine". What caught my eye, however, were the comments following his post.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on the future for mortgage brokers/bankers/advisors or whatever title we give ourselves. (Before anyone comments on the multitude of differences between these various professions: I know. They are differences without distinctions as far as the general public is concerned.) Some have argued that the internet revolution will lead to ‘point and click' lending, thus leading to the demise of our profession. Others argue that clients want the relationship aspect too much and will never leave the loan originator for the cold hard keyboard. These two opinions remind me of the story about the blind men and the elephant. In this case we have two blind men and they are at opposite ends of the Transparency elephant. Those that argue for internet automation have taken a hold of the trunk and are working with the leading edge. On the other hand, those who argue the relationship driven business model are feeling around at the ‘tail' end of the elephant and may need to wash their hands. Both blind men, however, are missing the monstrous middle ground that constitutes the bulk of the elephant.

Let's take a look at the tail end first and get done with the messiest part. If you say that your clients come to you because of the relationships you build and that you will continue to build on those relationships, I applaud you. If, however, you are going to continue rewarding your relationships with inflated rates and hidden rebates, you had better put down your game of Pong and take one giant leap into the 21^st Century. The information is on the web for anyone to see. The public is out there researching day and night. The public's rate of learning far exceeds the industry's rate of change. It is not too difficult to look a short distance into the future and realize that most of our clients will understand how rates, yield spread premiums and commissions work.

That's not to say - trunk holders of the world - that the information age will drive our clients to simple online mortgage origination. It has not worked in the securities field (our most similar sister industry) and it continues to not work in the mortgage field. Why? Because point and click loans only serve two customers well: the cream-puff, 800 score, full doc, 30 year fixed client and the clients that continuously "hit themselves in the head with a hammer" because they know everything. The former group should go online and get the best deal possible (although whether or not you can actually get a good deal online is debatable). These clients are so highly sought after and so easily placed that no real commission remains in their transaction, nor should it. The latter client deserves all the help we can offer but, God bless ‘em, they will not listen and it saves me from having to deal with a client from hell. Everyone between these two extremes, however, will continue to need the advice and consultation of someone who understands the myriad options and purposes of the loans that exist.

Taking care of a client has never been about finding the best rate and fees for whatever loan the client thinks they need. That would be equivalent to Doctors quickly and inexpensively prescribing whatever medicine the client diagnosed themselves as needing. Our job is to look at a client's complete situation: debts, equity, plans, retirement goals, risk aversion and so on. We should advise them on what tools best fit their particular scenario and in the end we should always make sure that the final loan scenario passes the simple sleep test: will the client be able to sleep at night with this loan? The internet has the information, but learning how to use it is another story. When I began in this business an old and successful veteran told me that a new loan officer needs to see 100 deals before he or she has an understanding of mortgages. He was right. Our clients will see a couple to maybe a dozen loans in their lifetime. No amount of surfing the web will give them the expertise they need.

The internet has made our jobs easier because our clients are more educated to the options that exist. The internet has also decreased the gross (and at times disgusting would be more apt) profits in our jobs for the same reason. The information out there educates our clients and makes it easier to work with them on an appropriate liability plan. At the same time, this education makes it a lot more difficult to "take" them for 2, 3, 4 and 5 points on a loan. I have no doubt that every lender reading this believes they are worth whatever it is they charge. The key is to make sure your client agrees...

Cross posted on Mortgage Leaders

Do You Get Dollars or Donuts?

CQ Financial Group — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 09:30:58 -0600

Success in Real Estate is often proportional to your reputation as the expert in your community. An integral part of your expertise flows from the team of affiliates you "partner" with on your transactions. A key partner is your mortgage originator. What should you look for and, more importantly, expect from him or her? The answer may depend on which side of the transaction you represent. Let's take a look at the general services you should expect and then the specific services that your originator should provide to listing and selling agents:

GENERAL SERVICES

These are the basic skills and services that your originator should provide in an ongoing manner:

News and information on new programs and how these new programs can assist you in building your business
Economic updates that summarize the movement of interest rates and the economy. If your originator is handing you rate sheets but cannot tell you what the economy is doing on a macro scale and explain in one or two sentences what is driving those interest rates, find someone new immediately. You can look rates up anywhere; the contribution of your originator is to give context and meaning to economic numbers so that you can present an informed opinion to your buyer or seller.
Marketing assistance. RESPA laws limit the financial contribution and good health limits the "donut" contribution, but all of your affiliates should share marketing ideas with you and your loan originator is no different.

LISTING AGENT

What's that, you don't think the L/A has much interaction with the mortgage originator? Think again; a listing agent has a vested interest in the originator. Here is the minimum you should expect from the Loan Officer qualifying the buyer on your client's home:

Approval Letter - the approval letter should be just that: an approval. There are 3 basic types of loans: A-paper, alt-A and sub-prime. A-paper should be run through DO or DU. Alt-A and sub-prime lenders almost universally have online Underwriting programs and sub-prime lenders will often review the actual documentation and issue an approval prior to the property being found. You should receive a copy of the appropriate approval with the purchase offer or soon thereafter. (Just remember, when it comes to online approval engines: "garbage in, garbage out".)
Good Faith Estimate - many lenders will not release the particulars of the loan to the seller, but they should be willing to release the GFE. Run it through the "smell test": if it looks too good (or too bad), odds are the buyer will come to the same conclusion and your closing will, at the very least, be delayed.
Loan Parameters - get the particulars on the buyer (credit score, stated vs. full doc, assets) and run them by your own loan originator. Make sure the proposed transaction sounds reasonable.

SELLING AGENT - you have the greatest stake in the expertise and service of your originator. When you send your client to someone, you want it to lead to referrals, not finger pointing.

Approval Letter - no different here than for the L/A. Your originator should provide you with one before you ever begin to show properties to your clients. A pre-qual letter and to a lesser extent a pre-approval letter are worth little more than the paper they are written on.
Good Faith Estimate - here your expectations should differ a little from the L/A; you should expect more. Your originator should provide a GFE that not only passes the smell test, but that they GUARANTEE. The lender should know their own fees to within a couple of hundred dollars and they should guarantee that they will pay the difference if they are wrong. For that matter they should be able to guarantee third party fees to within a 5% margin. If they cannot, you are working with someone that does not do their homework and this will come back to bite you eventually.
Rate Lock - you should ask for and see a copy of the rate lock guaranteeing the rate they are promising. If they do not have the rate locked there may be a legitimate reason, but you AND your buyer should be able to articulate that reason. That is to say, the reason should be client driven and not because the originator is gambling on the market (with your client's home and your income).
Full Disclosure - your originator should disclose exactly how much they are making on the front end and the back end. The back end is commonly called rebate or YSP. This is defined when the rate is locked (another good reason to see that rate lock) and is in direct relation to the rate your client is being charged. If you want referrals from your client, start with assisting them in knowing the truth about the cost of their loan.

Finally and maybe most importantly is attitude. Your originator should view you as a client too. They should be willing to work at least as hard as you do to get the deal done while maintaining an almost brutal honesty. It goes without saying that you should not have to wait for return phone calls but this is still the #1 complaint I hear when holding training classes for agents. In a very real sense, the loan originator has your commission in their hands... do they understand that?

This list is by no means exhaustive and I hope others will add to it. Receiving donuts, magnets and other gifts might be nice, but the information and expertise your originator provides is what should clarify their value.

Planning Over Instinct

CQ Financial Group — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:38:43 -0600

I was talking to a fellow athlete this morning after our workouts. She commented on how different my training has been lately. I told her I was in a building phase right now so I could endure more intensity later. She said she never follows a detailed plan because it would take a lot of the fun out of it. She told me she listens to her body and makes workout decisions based on her "gut".

Later I got to thinking about this conversation and how universal her message. I have met a great many people in the Real Estate business who follow the same "I listen to my instincts" plan. Likewise, I have coached a great many clients for whom a mortgage was a "gut" decision rather than an integral part of their long term financial health. Like her - she is a top competitive athlete in her own right - these agents and clients have achieved some success due to hard work, natural ability and, lately, low rates. But just how far can one go without a solid, logical plan in place?

Building a career is no different than building your finances; you need a plan with at least the basic steps if you wish to attain a lofty goal. First and foremost is having the goal itself. Once that is selected and made S.M.A.R.T. you must create a plan that builds toward the goal. The first step is always to build your base. That base should be strong enough to support the project you are going to build on it. Once you have built your base you can work on closely related strength building exercises that extend your reach and solidify your upward movement. Finally, you "peak" with a few short, specific steps designed to put you over the top. If you try working on the related strength steps before you have a base, you are likely to injure yourself or your business. Without the base and strength in place it is almost impossible to line yourself up for the final, high intensity steps that put you over the top.

Whether you are striving to make the Olympic team, becoming a champion Real Estate agent or working on a gold medal in your own financial games, you need to make sure you have a plan in place. Otherwise, you may enjoy the spontaneity of listening to your instinct but you are likely to enjoy the championship from the sidelines.

Brave New World?

CQ Financial Group — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:45:24 -0600

In Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, a dismal future is foreshadowed by the loss of individuality deemed imminent by the Industrial Revolution underway at the time. Seventy years later and we are in the midst of another revolution, this one brought on by the computer age. In the spirit of all things Hollywood, maybe it is time for Brave New World II - Even Braver.

There is little doubt that the coming revolution in communication and marketing will greatly increase our ability to put products and services in front of more targeted and (one hopes) more appreciative audiences. With the advent of blogging, pod casting, interlinking and viral marketing (my personal new favorite) we will all share our message in a much more profound way. The question I ask is: will the messages vary much? In Aldous Huxley's time it was thought that the low cost of communication and travel would create an undesirable homogenization of people. Are we now entering the industrial revolution on steroids? If we remove the uniqueness and individuality of meeting one another face to face do we lose the essence of what it means to be human?

Please do not confuse my being a neophyte with being a Luddite. I am embracing new technology as quickly as my late 20^th Century brain can manage. I will preach my message of loan transparency and fiduciary responsibility to a much larger audience. But as I learn these new methods of communication I continue to wonder at how I will communicate the spirit that is me. How will my clients and co-workers know who I really am? It is a brave new world out there and I hope I don't get lost in the noise.

Drowning in ActiveRain

CQ Financial Group — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 08:51:33 -0600

As a relative newbie to ActiveRain, I am amazed, excited and overwhelmed by the amount of information available to me. When I was younger I was told that getting an education at Princeton was like getting a drink of water from a fire hydrant. I felt the truth of that statement then and I am feeling it anew with ActiveRain.

I have been reading about blogging, viral marketing, web site construction, RSS feeds, pod casts (I don't even know what that is) and localism. I get caught up in everything from Randy L. Prothero's innovative use of his "Pretty Face" to Mary McKnight's RSS Pieces. Just yesterday I learned what Point2 was and signed up in order to put my own home on the market. It's a brave new world out there.

I wonder if anyone could help the newcomers like me with a simplified plan; an overview of the technology or possibly a roadmap. What should a Real Estate agent (or in my case lender) with only rudimentary knowledge of 2.0 anything focus on first, second and third? Do we build a website, then learn to blog, then learn what viral marketing is? Or should we create pod casts first, join YouTube and then practice localism? I believe I am not alone when I say I want to join the coming revolution and I would find it invaluable to have a simple, systematic approach for getting up to speed. ActiveRain is a tremendous resource and my appreciation grows daily.

Lies, Damn Lies and Affordability Indexes

CQ Financial Group — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:59:28 -0600

My apologies to Mark Twain. There has been a lot of comment today about the dreadful numbers that come out with each affordability index report and I would like to take the opportunity to play devil's advocate. Sometimes, when I look at a new report or statistical anylysis, I run the report's conclusion through my "common sense meter" before I even begin to read the data. The same way they used to teach us in math class: guestimate the answer so you can readily see if your calculations are severly flawed when you are finished. In the case of housing affordability here in Southern California, the reality seems to differ from the reports. We can't build enough homes to satisfy the demand. The CAR leadership council recently released these projections: by 2008-2010 California is expected to be 15,000,000 homes short of demand! In an earlier post I reported that The US Census bureau projects massive influxes of people to the sun belt and California will remain the most populous state by a landslide. It is difficult to see how this continues to happen when only 1% - 24% (depending on the report you read) can afford to live here.

More probable, the reports themselves are flawed. Most of these studies are done using very outdated lender paradigms (e.g. housing can not exceed 28% of gross income) which will certainly skew the results as well as the free market. After all, if a buyer is willing to pass up a new car or eating out in order to pay 50% of their gross income to live in San Diego, should we be judging that? Many people would make sacrifices to live someplace they find especially appealing, whether it be the weather of San Diego or the historic roots of Boston. How about the amazing arts & culture of New York City? Many people give up their cars altogether to live in Manhattan - another area with a terrible affordability index.

I am not, by the way, advocating the use of the many exotic loans out there that allow people on wieners and beans income to buy champange and caviar homes. I have never in over twenty years put a client into a "neg-am" for ethical reasons alone. And I am not discounting the fact that an affordability gap exists in many major cities as a whole; I am only discounting the severity of the problem. A fluid and open market place will hurt some of the people some of the time. But in the end it provides the most good to the most people by virtue of its self-correcting mechanism. If specific areas were truly unaffordable, people would stop buying homes there and prices would stablize or come down. On the other hand, if the demand far outstrips the supply... you may incur many problems, but a lack of affordability, by definition, is not one of them.

How to hire new agents/officers

CQ Financial Group — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 10:19:34 -0600

Earlier, Bob Prevelige posted a question on hiring new LOs. I am throwing in my 2 cents worth as a lender. I assume that the main issues hold true for Real Estate offices as well. I am curious as to other experiences in lender or Real Estate offices.

Bob, you are facing a tough situation on a number of fronts. It sounds great to bring more loan officers on board, but the reality can be difficult. When I began to expand I had two conflicting opinions from two sources I trusted implicitly. One, Brian Peart at Nexus Financial, is a great trainer and mentor whose info and materials I use religiously. The other, Brian Brady, is already well known to readers of AR. He is a personal friend and advisor and his experience crosses many spectrums of our industry.

First, you must decide who you are going to recruit. Experienced LOs can come in and make a difference right away, but they are extremely hard to attain and when one does come with you, you have to wonder why they left where they were. If you are "buying" top producers with greater splits, they are simply mercenaries that will leave you too. On the other hand, you can advertise for and hire "newbies" and train them yourself. This also affords you the opportunity to make sure they don't have any bad habits and are working within your mold. This is the direction I took, as I find it too difficult to untrain bad habits in experienced LOs and I was not interested in paying 80-90% out of the gate to top producers.

Whether you hire the best or train them yourself, the big question once they are producing is how to retain them. This is where the opinions of the two Brians differed. Brian Peart said he rarely loses anyone and when he does it is because he did not share his vision with them and keep them passionate. He said he keeps all his top producers and his splits are conservative (you would be hard pressed to find anyone he is paying even 60%). Brian Brady told me plain and simple: "Don't fall in love with your LOs, they will all leave you." He did not believe in putting a lot of money and time into them for this reason and was willing to raise their splits once they had produced, effectively making money on their first 5-15 transactions and then making next to nothing. A high turnover model, if you will.

My experience? Brian Brady was right all the way on this one. Every one of my LOs that was worth anyting came to me as soon as they were closing loans (and I am not talking about anyone lighting the world on fire here - 5 loans/month was enough to do it) and requested higher splits. They don't understand the cost of running a business and their split requests effectively put me at break even. Why in the world would I run a business with all the costs and risks for no money? Needless to say, they all left over time.

The bottom line is this: to make REAL money in this business, you either stay small and take your own production through the roof with the use of 3-4 licensed assistants... or you go very big. And by very big I am estimating that you need to havemore than 40 LOs. Anything in between and you are taking a lot more risk than the reward justifies. When I traded options we had a saying for people doing that: "Picking up nickles in front of freight trains."

I have gone the way of personal production and my income is now more than twice what it was when I was running an office. I hope you don't find this too disappointing, but it has been my experience and you should here it from the horse's mouth. I am curious to hear what other's experience has been. Whatever your decision, don't ever give up your basic production. It is often the only thing that sustains you. I wish you the best of luck and however you decide to go, remember the words of John Burnham: "Make no small plans."

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell

Fathers and Sons (thanks Brian)

CQ Financial Group — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:50:08 -0600

Brian Brady wrote a great blog this morning about his father and how Brian is still learning from him. I know Brian personally and his father did a helluva job.

Reading it I couldn't help but think about the way learning comes full circle. As much as I have learned from my father, I find myself learning more now AS a father. I posted the following on my blog recently for my Realtor clients. The lesson is courtesy of my four year old son:

As you begin the New Year, take a moment to reflect on your goals and your expectations. Those first days following the holiday celebrations are a great time to review your plan for the coming year and make any final adjustments. Pay particular attention, as you fine-tune your objectives and your strategies, to that little voice in your head. You know the one: the voice that pops up and tells you some of your goals may be a little too lofty. That slight feeling of negativity that creeps up and quietly suggests you should perhaps... think about... maybe considering... possibly... revising that weight loss target - or that promotion. It is the voice of doubt that tells you a promotion would be a better goal for next year; after all, this year is going to be a tough year. As a matter of fact, this voice inside suggests, just getting through the next twelve months without weight gain will be accomplishment enough. Spend more time with family? Earn a promotion? Lose weight? "Why don't we save the truly aggressive goals for next year, when we are more prepared" is the very logical compromise often proffered by the little ‘helper' inside us all.

The thing to remember as you review your plan is this: the little voice is not real and the only limitation you have is the limitation you put on yourself. Earlier this year the imaginary nature of limitation was laid bare for me by my 4 year old son. I was taking him to school on a fine, crisp morning and it was too beautiful to drive. As we walked along, holding hands, we watched a large, black bird make lazy circles in the sky. My son looked up at me and asked: "Wouldn't it be fun to fly Daddy?" I told him that I thought it would be great fun to soar high above the houses and all the people. Then he asked me if we could fly. Here it is I thought to myself: the beginning of the end of childhood. With a twinge of melancholy I looked once more at his innocent face, let go his hand and set in to explain that we can not always do the things we would most like in this life. I struggled to put into words the limitations that we all face as individuals and how we should endeavor to accept them while not losing sight of our goals. I looked down to gauge his reaction and was surprised to discover I had been talking to myself. You see, he was already half way down the street; arms stretched to their limit as mighty wings, legs turning over at breakneck speed, wind hitting him in the face and the wonderful giggling sounds of a four year old trailing behind him. He was flying. And as I began to sprint after him, arms stretched wide, the wind in my face and laughter erupting from somewhere deep inside, I realized how wrong I had been. We can fly... we can do anything we put our minds and our imaginations to if only we mix in a little belief and a lot of persistence.

This year, as you review your goals and take those first, tentative steps toward their achievement, remember that you can indeed fly. You can achieve more than you think possible if only you heed the wisdom of these great words from Jonathon Livingston Seagull: "They can, because they think they can."

I wish you happiness and prosperity this year, but most of all I wish for you to soar.

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell

Grim Future for Wells Fargo?

CQ Financial Group — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:14:20 -0600

In my position as liability coach, I meet with a great many Real Estate agents as well as clients. Because of this I am privileged to hear a broad spectrum of opinions and perceptions on the housing market. Lately the topic of conversation has been the short sale. I have listened to seasoned veterans - those that have been through the entire real estate cycle at least once and have seen this before - discuss tactics for helping their clients: everything from the honest assessment required to creative marketing solutions. I have also heard from a great many newer agents - those that have been in the business less than five years - for whom the short sale is a trickier pony to saddle and ride. A common thread throughout, however, has been the short sighted response to a short sale market by residential lender Wells Fargo.

I am hearing from more and more agents about the absolute stonewalling and lack of urgency by anyone they talk to at Wells, whether the agent be on the listing or selling side. If you have not had the misfortune of dealing with Wells Fargo on one of these, one example should suffice: I spoke with a buyer's agent that has represented an offer on a short sale property with minimal loss to the lender. Her buyer is solid (20% down, lender approved and so on) and the seller has agreed to all terms. It has been in front of a loss mitigation "specialist" at Wells Fargo for SIXTEEN WEEKS! The only thing more surprising than Wells Fargo's negligent response is the dedication of the buyer to purchase this particular property. I spoke with a listing agent whom I hold in especially high regard that can not even get the loss mitigation "specialist" at Wells Fargo to return his calls. He has added this lesson to his client screening process. If the listing looks like a short sale, he now makes a point of ascertaining who the owners' current lender is and if the answer is Wells Fargo, he walks away.

In my examples above I put the title of specialist in quotes in relation to Wells Fargo because it seems to me the only thing they are specializing in is the portfolio risk to Wells Fargo. My background is in Securities: I was a Series 7 licensed broker and Equity Options trader on the floor of the CBOE in Chicago. My first thought when I hear these stories is to start short selling Wells Fargo stock. If their actions are making the short sale of property practically impossible, their REOs are going to climb and their books are going to reflect some very real losses. Not to mention the federal banking regulations regarding what percentage of REOs a bank can keep on the books as a percentage of their deposits. All that aside, the real danger to Wells Fargo is the virtual "freezing" of their position in regards to their ability to negotiate with the professionals in the field (that is to say: the Real Estate agents). If agents begin to walk away from anyone with a Wells Fargo loan the damage is threefold: first, Wells Fargo ends up foreclosing on all of their properties which is a cost nightmare that trickles down to all of us; second, homeowners that are upside down will not only lose access to the experienced agents they so badly need while navigating the winding trails of a short sale, but worse yet will find themselves relegated to using agents too new and/or uninformed to know better than take on a Wells Fargo situation; and last but certainly not least, when no agents are willing to waste time showing a short sale home with a Wells Fargo loan, prices are depressed and buyers view a skewed segment of the housing stock.

Has the experience of others out there been similar to the stories I am hearing? I must admit as a matter of full disclosure that while my lending knowledge and experience extends from shore to shore, my interactions with Real Estate agents is primarily parochial in nature. Are there other lenders acting with such short sightedness that your fellow Real Estate agents should beware?

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell

The Most Basic Law of Economics

CQ Financial Group — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:17:05 -0600

We have all read the headlines predicting doom and gloom. We have all encountered clients that are holding off on their largest (and safest) investment due to the fears these headlines create. Wouldn't it be nice if the people who wrote the headlines understood even a little economics? Copy writers notwithstanding, lets help ourselves and take a quick refresher course in the law of supply and demand.

The population of the United States has reached 300 million and is still growing 1% per year. That makes us the fastest growing industrialized nation in the world and the only developed country in the top ten for annual population growth. By 2030 that number is expected to be almost 365 million.

Where, you might ask yourself, are all these people going to live? If you guessed the sun belt you win the prize. Nevada and Arizona are expected to lead the way with over 80% growth. How will California do? The country's most populated state - with half again as many people as Texas, the next closest - is projected to see almost 30% population growth between now and 2030. California will retain the title of "the most popular State"

What does all of this mean for our homeowners and investors? Despite the best efforst of the doomsayers and newspaper sellers, it means that the most basic of all Real Estate laws should be well heeded: Prices are dependent on supply & demand... and God isn't making any more land.

To see the report on US Census Bureau projections, go to the link below.

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell

Aspire to Greatness

CQ Financial Group — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:43:55 -0600

We have all heard many times that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But how many of us really make use of this powerful concept? More importantly, how many of us realize that while the sum may be greater than the parts, the quality of that sum is only as good as the quality of the parts. Think of this another way: a cake is better tasting than any of its individual ingredients - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Yet the final taste of that cake is directly related to the quality of the ingredients that went into it - the better the ingredients, the better will be the cake.

In much the same way, the whole of who we are is greater than the individual experiences and learning that goes into us, but the limit of our greatness is in direct relation to the quality of what influences us. If you want to become an award winning, bake-off champion cake you must first look to the ingredients with which you surround yourself. These influential ingredients can be broken into three categories: Body, Mind and surrounding Energy.

What we put into our Body affects every part of our well being and success. You are, after all, what you eat. What are your ingredients: fast food, soda and the ubiquitous poison called High Fructose Corn Syrup? Or do you blend in fresh foods, vegetables and whole grains?
What we allow into our Mind shapes our perception of the world. Do you spend your free time watching television and reading the latest gossip? Do you find yourself discussing things and people instead of ideas? What happens to your critical thinking muscle if it goes unused?
The energy that we choose to surround ourselves with may make up the most important batch of ingredients. In Real Estate we are told that, if we desire appreciation and a strong investment, we should buy the worst house in the best neighborhood, rather than the nicest house in a bad neighborhood. This applies to us as well! Place yourself in a neighborhood of people who have already achieved greater success than you. Who surrounds you and feeds your psyche? Who are your examples and mentors?

Within that third category: the energy in which we surround ourselves, is an often over looked but integral ingredient contributing to our whole. I am talking about those around us whom we teach. Why is this so important? Look at the process for learning: first we see something done, than we do it ourselves and finally we teach it to someone else. As a matter of fact, the greatest learning comes from teaching others. So who are you teaching and what are they learning?

We should eat well and challenge our minds; we know this. The little used, secret weapon to our success, however, may stem from this third category. If we gain our greatest success by surrounding ourselves with success and we gain our greatest understanding by teaching others, then teaching others to be successful will benefit us twice. If you Aspire to Greatness, Inspire Greatness!

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell

Judge Not...

CQ Financial Group — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:43:04 -0600

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet we are given one of the Bard's great lines: "To thine own self be true." It is profound and timeless (originating with Socrates' "Know thyself"). But how do we maintain our self, our goals and our sense of value in such a busy world? To continue with the Shakespeare theme; how do we buffer the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" all the while encountering the negative energy and judgments of others?

It has been said that for each person who stands up and tries there are one hundred to say it can't be done. I would add that there are another two hundred who will judge you for your efforts. I am not talking about someone analyzing your effort or offering a critique (solicited or not). I am talking about those times when people assign a value to us; I am talking about those times when someone judges us in the Biblical sense. Sometimes you will even be surprised by friends and family; they often feel they have earned the right to judge.

We would all like to go through life without being judged by others. I like to think that we all desire to go through life without judging others as well. Neither of these options is likely. One way to handle the judgments of others is called "holding your space". This is a concept practiced in yoga and often seen in accomplished yogis. The basic tenet is to be "present" in the moment and to own your personal space. Take responsibility for and control of what you allow into your private space. It may sound strange, but we must actually practice taking an active role in protecting our own sense of worth and happiness. Too often we passively allow others to invade our space and affect our very estimation of our worth. Too often we allow others' value judgment of us to become our own value judgment of us. When you feel that happening remember:
People who care about me do not judge me and those that judge me, I do not care about.

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell

Here's to Less Success

CQ Financial Group — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:41:30 -0600

Want to be more successful? Start having less success. That is the basic tenet followed by successful people from all walks of life. Michael Jordan said: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot... and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's precisely why I succeed." His success came not from guardedly taking only high percentage shots. His success came from taking the shot when and where it presented itself.In that same vein of thought, we must not be afraid to try, especially when it comes to new ways of doing something. Business is ever changing. The world around us is ever changing. Our very lives are changing in ways both big and small. We must be willing to try new activities, engage new people and fail in new ways. When asked how it felt to have failed in over 10,000 attempts to create the light bulb, Thomas Edison replied, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Edison's great success was not the invention of the light bulb. It was his willingness to try new paths and be open to new possibilities.In the end, success comes to those who are willing to keep trying new avenues; those who are open to new people and ideas. More than anything else, though, success comes to those who are not afraid to keep trying. If you want to improve your success average, you must first be willing to get in the box and take your swings. Wayne Gretzky, the "Great One" of hockey, may have put it best when he said: "You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

To Your Success,

Sean Purcell