gary keller: SHIFT: Is My Bulletproof Vest at the Cleaners? / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/28/09 01:06 PM
SHIFT has been great from start to finish.  And I'm not surprised at all with the final tactic of the Twelve Tactics for Tough Times.  It is the one that trips us all up at one time or another.  
Tactic #12 - Bulletproof the Transaction - Issues and Solutions This is where we really earn our commissions.  Keeping all the pieces of the transaction together right to the closing table and beyond.  You are not only doing your job but you are birddogging everyone else involved in consumating the sale.  There isn't any ASSUMING at this stage of the game. … (5 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: Distressed Properties / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/28/09 12:36 PM
These are tough times we live in.  And SHIFT is able to offer Twelve Tactics for Tough Times.  In these tactics, I was very interested to read what Gary Keller had to say regarding distressed property sales. Tactic #11 - Master the Market of the Moment - Short Sales, Foreclosures, and REOs
SHIFT gives a great overview of what is involved in this Market of the Moment.  The Short Sale transaction is broken down into steps on documentation, negotiation and qualification.  And Gary Keller stresses the importance of not playing in an area unless you have studied that area.  
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gary keller: SHIFT: Money Money Money / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/28/09 12:13 PM
Okay, so I'm reading SHIFT.  I'm on my third highlighter.  Notes throughout the book and I come to the next of the Twelve Tactics for Tough Times.  
Tactic #10 - Expand the Options - Creative Financing Screeching halt for me.  I'm not going to say that I haven't thought about the various scenarios in financing for clients.  BUT I do leave the money talk for the experts.  Times are a'changing so much in the world of loans, I don't want to put my client on a highwire without a net.  SHIFT gave me a thorough view of creativity in the … (2 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: Buyers and Houses and Fears - OH MY! / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/28/09 11:40 AM
Advantage.  Buyer.  The SHIFT has created a buyer's market.  And the buyer's market has made the buyers focused on PRICE.  In fact, this focus is so narrow that other reasons, very important other reasons like community, work commute, school district, etc., just seem to vanish before the all powerful PRICE.  Even so, you think this would be an easy choice.  Find the price and buy the house.  NOT.  The buyer is now worried that the low price is really the lowest it is going to go.  And what if next week the house across the street goes even lower.  Or what if … (2 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: The Price is Right Now / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/27/09 04:32 PM
SHIFTing times require your finger on the pulse of the market.  And you have to be able to explain just what the market's condition means to your sellers.  They may have an idea that the price they want for their home isn't going to match what they can truly sell it for but may not be savy to just how important the listing price is to it's positioning in the inventory of homes for sale.  Another of the Twelve Tactics for Tough Times from SHIFT.  Gary Keller's information on this topic is sure to help sellers understand just what they are … (4 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: Website Open for Business / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/27/09 05:24 AM
A SHIFT in our real estate world makes us consider the effectiveness of our business plan.  Do we continue with proven sales techniques?  Or do we adapt & tweak our current model?  Reading SHIFT by Gary Keller has made me realize I am doing a lot of things correctly - just not as consistently as I should be to achieve the level of success I've set for myself & my team. The next topic in SHIFT's Twelve Tactics for Tough Times is:
Tactic #6 - Catch People in Your Web - Internet Lead Conversion This area is such an important one … (3 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: Gathering Leads Isn't Enough / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/27/09 04:43 AM
We can all gather leads.   At at open house.  In line at a store.  At an event.  Easy.  It's what happens next that matters.  We need to convert those leads to solid clients.  Appointments.  And even if it doesn't happen right now, we can't drop the ball.  They need to go in the database, be touched with mailings & phone calls.  Too many times leads are just let got.  These SHIFTing times require tough pursuit of leads.  This brings up another of the Twelve Tactics for Tough Times. Tactic #5 - Get to the Table - Lead Conversion In SHIFT, Gary … (5 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: Less is More / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/26/09 09:27 AM
I've used the saying "less is more" many times in my real estate career.  Usually it is in regards to a seller's home decorating design.  Today however, I'm using it on my own 2010 Business Plan.  When reading SHIFT's Twelve Tactics for Tough Times it appears that one of the tactics involves getting the most out of what you have in place.  Handling more with less.  Making your team the most efficient with the least amount of manpower.  When things SHIFT you have be thinking on your feet.  No slouches allowed!
Tactic #3 - Do More with Less - Leverage Gary … (5 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: The Envelope System / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/26/09 08:52 AM
I think it is interesting to watch others in our business.  When "things" don't seem to be working, a number of real estate agents look to see what is to blame rather than what they can change.  Is it the market? That is easy to blame for everything going downhill.  But like the broker, it isn't what really makes your business world go round.  And you don't have control of this either.  What you do have control of is yourself.  And as SHIFT's Gary Keller says, "It's not about the market...It's about what you do!Some will go on spending money, with … (7 comments)

gary keller: SHIFT: Maneuver, Modify & Change / Susan Brown, Your Texas Connection, Keller Williams Realty - 12/25/09 12:14 PM
Although I've read SHIFT, I hadn't reflected on how I'd integrate Gary Keller's "Twelve Tactics for Tough Times" into my business plan for 2010.  So, although I originally began these posts for the contest on Active Rain, the better payoff for me has been a stronger plan of action for 2010!
Tactic # 1 - Get Real, Get Right - Mindset & Action Or - is the glass half empty, half full or is it just a glass with water & I'm thirsty?  In this shifting market, SHIFT tells us that some agents are doom & gloom and giving up … (6 comments)