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If You Can't Tend To A Garden, Please Don't Get In To Real Estate

By
Real Estate Agent with Cherimie Crane & Associates

Maybe it is the rain? But today while checking in on all of my prospects, suddenly I was transformed back to being a 9 year old little girl with a huge bucket following my dad row by row. Oh I how I hated that darn bucket and those horrible squeaky boots he made me wear to avoid being bitten by anything hiding in the greens. What seemed like football fields of tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and corn turned in to my nemesis each harvest season.

My dad had two other perfectly capable daughters how I ended up being the preferred bucket holder I suppose I will never know. Maybe it was because I was the short one, my center of gravity made me easier to reach.

Anyway, I did my best to be on good behavior and that generally lasted the first two rows then my moms side of the family became quite apparent in my disposition. After all there were 567 things I would have rather been doing than picking vegetables. Even sweeping the porch would have been a good alternative.

 

Sorry Dad.

He must have worked so hard to get those vegetables each and every year. The time he spent preparing the soil alone was phenomenal.

 

So many of our neighbors, friends, and people at church got baskets of the freshest vegetables around from my dad, mostly delievered before anyone else was up. Anyone but me and dad that is.

 

 I didn't realize it then, but I do now. Boy do I realize it now. He was so proud of that garden.

Possibly a strange analogy, but I realized today how many years and how much effort I have put into building my real estate garden. There is nothing more heart breaking than realizing a referral falls on deaf ears, sort of like the tomatoes that, if not picked on time, fell ruined to the ground.

If only I could carry my own bucket, pick my own tomatoes, and prepare the soil all at the same time. I just can't.

Good leads take years to acquire and only minutes to lose. Realtors must have patience, determination, and somewhat of a green thumb in order to harvest them.

 

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Whether you are buying or selling Real Estate in Beaufort South Carolina, We know Beaufort. Our little coastal town has something for everyone.

 

843-812-2090

 

Comments (36)

Christa Ross
RE/MAX Select Realty - REALTOR and Green Homes Specialist - Pittsburgh, PA
Helping you buy and sell Pittsburgh's Best Homes
Such a sweet story and a nice way to explain the work of real estate.
Jul 02, 2010 12:36 AM
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Good morning Cherimie,

Your dad showed you what patience and determination can do for you. Lovely story and very good analogy in explaining the work of a Realtor. Congratulations on the featured post!

Jul 02, 2010 12:43 AM
Scott Godzyk
Godzyk Real Estate Services - Manchester, NH
One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents

That was extremely well written. It brought back memories and oh how so true.

Jul 02, 2010 12:50 AM
Christine Bohn
RE/MAX Professionals - Gainesville, FL
The Bohn Team, Gainesville FL

Great post and good analogy of how we must work hard to cultivate our business. Congrats on the Feature!

Jul 02, 2010 01:20 AM
Cherimie Crane
Cherimie Crane & Associates - Beaufort, SC

Christa,

Thank you. I guess it is a sweet story, wasn't very sweet as I was lugging that bucket up and down and up and down:)

Dorie

My dad had to have a whole lot of patience!!!! There are three of us:)

Scott,

Thank you very much!

Christine,

It is very hardwork it is just sad that many wait for it to just fall into their lap!

Jul 02, 2010 01:27 AM
Michael Setunsky
Woodbridge, VA
Your Commercial Real Estate Link to Northern VA

Cherimie, strange not at all. This is a great analogy. Poor preparation makes for poor results. Thanks.

Jul 02, 2010 01:44 AM
Wendy McSteen
Spring Realty Inc. - Channahon, IL

Hi Cherimie:  Love this post.  As I am headed out to water my garden this morning, I will be reminded of this.  Thanks for the great post.

Jul 02, 2010 02:01 AM
Irene Kennedy Realtor® in Northwestern NJ
Weichert - Lopatcong, NJ

Cherimie,

What a wonderful analogy. Like you, I love to get my hands dirty cultivating my real estate garden!

Jul 02, 2010 02:22 AM
Speed Equity® Mortgage Acceleration System
Speed Equity® - Olympia, WA
We help your clients Own Their Homes Years Sooner

OUTSTANDING analogy Cherimie.

Most people today have been brainwashed by the celebrity culture and want everything "now". Gardeners understand that you not only have to understand your land, your crop, but also when to plant and harvest it. Taking this mindset into any profession can only yield bumper crops. Thanks for sharing.

Jul 02, 2010 02:29 AM
Chris Olsen
Olsen Ziegler Realty - Cleveland, OH
Broker Owner Cleveland Ohio Real Estate

Hi Cherimie -- Very good analogy, cultivating prospects, leads and turning them into future clients needs a consistent and thoughtful approach.  Hey...did you ever get that big new development you wrote a post about?

Jul 02, 2010 02:39 AM
Cherimie Crane
Cherimie Crane & Associates - Beaufort, SC

Michael and Michael,

Thank you both!

Wendy,

Enjoy:)

Irene,

That is exactly what it takes:)

Harj,

Thank you very much for the compliment.

Chris,

Yes....I did:)

Jul 02, 2010 02:43 AM
Erik Elsea
Erik Elsea-Jones & Co. Realty - Fort Myers, FL

Keep planting and attending to that garden and you will reap a nice harvest. Thank you for the post.

Jul 02, 2010 04:46 AM
Tiffany Wallace
Camano Island, WA

Very nice.. Work like a farmer think like a hunter

Jul 02, 2010 05:24 AM
Juliet Johnson
Vizzitopia - St Johns, FL
Jacksonville Photography & Digital Marketing

Cherimie, I too was a Bucket Girl.  For my grandfather with potatoes, plums, etc. in Scotland.  But since it wasn't an ongoing thing, day in day out, I enjoyed it.

I love the analogy with real estate.  It is a business that needs to be tended as consistently and meticulously as a garden.  It reminds me of a story someone once told me about a certain kind of bamboo tree.  For 5 years, the farmer waters and nourishes the seed (it must be 3 years, can it really be 5?) and then suddenly, in one year it will grow 60'.  Wouldn't mind at all if my real estate business suddenly grew 60'.  What about you?

Jul 02, 2010 07:28 AM
Patricia Aulson
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOME SERVICES Verani Realty NH Real Estate - Exeter, NH
Realtor - Portsmouth NH Homes-Hampton NH Homes

I liked the post today, thanks for getting it out to us. 

Patricia/Seacoast NH

Jul 02, 2010 03:19 PM
Larry Johnston
Broker, Friends & Neighbors Real Estate and Elkhart County Subdivisions, LLC - Elkhart, IN
Broker,Friends & Neighbors Real Estate, Elkhart,IN

Hi Cherimie, I guess That puts me in the middle of what you are saying. I am the father with the garden.  I have fruit trees and all the vegitables you can imagine on less that 1/2 acre.......and I am a Real Estate Agent. So, if I can tend to my Real Estate Garden with the enthusiasm of my  home garden I should have a bountiful harvest.  Thanks for the push.

Jul 04, 2010 12:06 PM
Kevin J. May
Florida Supreme Realty - Hobe Sound, FL
Serving the Treasure & Paradise Coasts of Florida

Cherimie, I was slightly younger when I first started to pick tomatoes.  A neighbors farm, with the smell of the dirt and pay at the end of each day it couldn't have been sweeter.  Your post is a great analogy thoroughly enjoyed!

Jul 05, 2010 03:35 AM
Shirley Parks
Sands Realty 210-414-0966 - San Antonio, TX
Broker, 210-414-0966, San Antonio TX Real Estate

What a great analogy, Cherimie.  I liked reading your childhood memories which are very similar to mine. :o)

Jul 05, 2010 03:46 AM
Robert Rauf
CMG Home Loans - Toms River, NJ

Featured on the same day!  Congratulations to your Featured post Cherimie! I love the analogy, you have to tend to your business like you tend your garden, you cant expect it to grow with out any effort - yet so many agents do just that!

I hope you had a great 4th of July Weekend!

Jul 06, 2010 04:20 AM
Noah Levy
Coldwell Banker - Highland Park, IL
Coldwell Banker Highland Park IL

Wonderful analogy - love it!! You are right it does take time to cultivate relationships and keeping in touch is also quite important!!!

Jul 19, 2010 01:46 AM