I just read a great post about how sellers want to be lied to - you should check it out. But it reminded me of something I learned years ago that really helped me when I was getting started in this business and might help some of you too.

There are lots of things to P & M about in this business.

• Your work your butt off for a listing only to lose it to somebody who 'buys' the listing by inflating the price to what the seller thinks it was worth on it's best day 2 years ago.
• The seller asks you to be 'brutally honest' about what they should do to the house to get top dollar. You're only moderately honest but they still get their feeling hurt, do the repairs anyway and list with somebody else who schmoozed them about how 'gorgeous' the dump was.
• You work with a buyer for weeks only to get that call - 'hey, you'll be so happy for us. We were just driving around and saw this FSBO and just loved it. We made the guy an offer on the spot and ...' You know that call - don't pretend I'm the only one that got one.
• 'We know you're the best agent but my cousin Frankie just got his license and so we're gonna list with him. Please bring in a buyer, though.'
• Sorry we can't close because the buyer went out and bought a new truck last week to help move - but it screwed their credit rating and now they don't qualify.
• And on and on and on...

You can rant and rave, you can worry yourself sick, you can loose sleep, pull your hair, gnash your teeth but it won't change reality.

I've had a business card on my desk for years where somebody - maybe a Floyd Wickman guy, or Tommy Hopkins or one of them wrote the word NEXT! on the back. It's a simple reminder of what our business is all about.

Back in the day when cold calling was more popular, a friend of mine was a master of the art. He broke down how many calls to get an appointment, how many appointments to get a listing, how many listings to get a sale and what each listing translated to in income. Thus he determined that every phone call was worth $37.50 so each no he got brought him closer to a yes, which was worth $684.00, and every yes brought him that much closer to a payday, which was worth maybe $5,000 at the time (this is California, after all). Rather than get bummed about each no, he only got more excited because the NEXT call might be the jackpot, or if not that one, then the NEXT one. 

So keep that in mind the next time you get a rejection. Keep your pipeline full and work the basics because it takes several no's to get to a yes but you gotta keep working through the no's to get there. Maybe it'll be the NEXT one. 

Write that on a card and keep it over your desk. Work each deal as hard as you can but don't get bogged down in what happened last - it's what happens NEXT that counts. 

Gene Wunderlich - Selling SouthwestCaliforniaHomes, including Temecula, Murrieta and the Southern California Wine Country.

Don't wait to buy real estate - buy real estate and wait.