realtor: Vendors - 10/31/17 09:52 AM
TEAM Hughes Real Estate School is in its third week of a Real Estate Broker Course and to make the course as convenient as possible, we asked vendors to sponsor a dinner each night and to give a short presentation about their products and/or business.  Vendors are the bomb!  Without these vendors, TEAM Hughes could not accomplish such a successful broker course.  Historically, the school has presented this course only once a year and preparations for it are time-consuming at best.  To rely on vendors to help take the edge off can be a risk.
 
After the course is finished, TEAM Hughes … (3 comments)

realtor: Your Worth - 10/23/17 06:24 AM
For years I doubted myself, and I could never see myself as others saw me.  Even though I excelled in jobs and careers, even though people gave me “atta-girls” for the good job I was doing, and even though my paychecks continued to increase, I could not see the value in me.  If you can relate to that, your worth is being underestimated.
 
So often I talk with students who devalue themselves just as I did a good part of my adult life.  I explain to them that your worth is formulated by the value you place in yourself.  If you’ve been … (2 comments)

realtor: Become an Avenger - 08/11/17 06:06 AM
It seems a bit strange to me that I love the Avengers.  If I were 9 years old, my imagination would run rampant and I would become an Avenger.  Avengers are the coolest superheroes ever!  I would become an Avenger, and if I couldn’t do that, then I would become an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  
 
I know there are many superheroes in the comic fantasy world, but for some reason, I want to become an Avenger.  Of course, I speak metaphorically about this.  After all, I am female, 68 years old, and hardly a candidate to become an Avenger!  My heart, however, … (1 comments)

realtor: It’s the Little Things - 08/03/17 10:58 AM
One of our grandsons is visiting from Maine and his time here has been wonderful for me.  I don’t normally get to have grandchildren visit because they all live far away.  Having our 10-year old grandson has been educational, comforting and joyous and I am continually reminded that it’s the little things in life that are the most important.  Having a 10-year old caress my face or hug me and tell me he loves me is at times overwhelming.  I really like having him here.
 
It’s the little things that count in a solid real estate career as well.  I remember clients … (1 comments)

realtor: Why I Do What I Do - 07/11/17 04:43 AM
Allow me to explain why I do what I do.  My real estate career began in 1983 (I tell people I was only 10 at the time).  I was a single mother receiving zero child support.  Although my background had been as a legal assistant and paralegal, I quickly found I could not continue in that profession and raise my daughters without being catapulted into poverty!  My real estate rental agent gave me a job lead with a real estate broker and it didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted to be on the other side of the desk!  … (1 comments)

realtor: Raising Your Bar - 06/28/17 07:29 AM
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, there were 1,255,619 active members as of June 1st.  This figure does not include licensees, like myself, who are not members of NAR, but who hold active licenses.  I cannot imagine how many more that represents, but suffice it to say we have lots of real estate licensees in this country!  So, you might agree that raising your bar is necessary to stand out from the myriad of other agents in your area.
 
Our country grew out of visions of entrepreneurial spirits.  Back in the earliest days of this nation, men dreamed of owning a … (1 comments)

realtor: Daily Practices - 05/23/17 03:13 AM
If you are a person of faith, you most likely make prayer a matter of one of your daily practices.  If you are a person with high control issues, one of your daily practices may be to check your credit cards and banking balances to make sure you are in control of them.  If you are a parent with children still at home, you may make a daily practice of telling your children you love them.  If you are a REALTOR® or a real estate agent, one of your daily practices should be to contact someone.  After all, this is a … (1 comments)

realtor: Joy Comes - 05/21/17 08:56 AM
The other day I blogged about disappointments and how they sometimes infiltrate our lives.  In the particular instance I used about my grandson, Oliver, not being able to visit, we had a twist of fate the very next day.  My daughter was able to procure a direct flight from Boston to New Orleans, and Oliver can visit after all, which turned my disappointment into joy.  Joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:1-5) has always been true in my life, and even when the disappointments remained, there were always other things to replace them with joy.  In this case, it is Oliver, … (1 comments)

realtor: Disappointments - 05/19/17 11:07 AM
We all face disappointments sooner or later, and some of us face greater disappointments than others.  For instance, I have a 10-year old grandson in Maine.  His name is Oliver and he’s a great kid.  His older brother, Sullivan, is awesome too, but Sully has reached puberty and has lost his “baby boy” edge.  Sully wants to work over the summer, and I get that.  Oliver, on the other hand, is the perfect candidate for, “Come to Nana and let her spoil you this summer!”  Therein lies the disappointment of the week.  Oliver was willing, but after all the unaccompanied minor … (2 comments)

realtor: Facing Challenges - 04/22/17 05:39 AM
For TEAM Hughes Real Estate School, April was a month of rollercoaster emotions.  We were facing challenges at every turn.  It was our first month in a new Pensacola campus, and anything and everything that could go wrong literally did!  We started out with using a secondary classroom that could fit 9 students comfortably, and we had 11.  Needless to say, we were happy to move into our new classroom on Tuesday.
 
This was a month where students came into the class and our registration procedures experienced a glitch.  It forced us to overnight a book to a student who managed to … (0 comments)

realtor: My Time is Your Time - 04/16/17 06:10 AM
In 1970 I was married to a young sailor, and worked for a law firm in Norfolk, VA.  One of the attorneys encouraged us to buy a house and put us in touch with a REALTOR®.  When I called him, I remember him telling me, “My time is your time.”   He ended up selling us our first home.
Back in 1970, I had no idea that his statement, “My time is your time” would later have such a profound effect on me. 
 
Fast-forward ahead to 1983, the marriage died, there were two children, and I was back in Florida on my own … (2 comments)

realtor: It’s Already April! - 04/01/17 04:06 AM
Wasn’t Christmas just a few weeks ago?  I’m pretty sure the holidays zipped by so quickly that January came out of nowhere.  Valentine’s Day passed us by and then March blew in and out.  Now, it’s already April!  Why is the time passing by so quickly?  Did someone shorten the number of hours in a day?
 
We were concentrating on goals a few weeks ago, and it’s already April.  The first quarter has closed out, and there are only three quarters left.  Only 39 weeks remain until we see the year change.  That means we have roughly 9 months left to do … (3 comments)

realtor: What it Takes - 02/06/17 04:02 AM
TEAM Hughes teaches to students in different settings, e.g. pre license, post license, broker’s license.  We see students from all walks of life, with different personalities, all wanting to reach different goals.  Many times, I wonder if a certain student will have what it takes to make it as a real estate agent or REALTOR®.  Some seem to be struggling constantly while others appear to be gliding along nicely, heading for the goal.
 
I know what it takes to achieve real estate success.  I can often pinpoint a successful real estate agent, as well as an agent who isn’t going to make … (3 comments)

realtor: I’d Love You to Meet Some of Your Fellow REALTORS® - 09/26/16 09:55 PM
I'd love you to meet some of  your fellow REALTORS®.  First off, Laura has been a REALTOR® for about two years.  Her first career is at a local bank and she is a people person.  Through her many contacts from her first career, Laura has been able to make as a high an income in her second career of real estate, as most other agents who profess to be “full time” agents.  We don’t call Laura a part time agent because the proof is in her production.  Laura has no children, but does have a partner, so there are some family … (2 comments)

realtor: REAL ESTATE ISN'T JUST ABOUT SELLING ANYMORE - 08/20/15 09:51 PM
Real Estate isn't just about selling anymore.  Back in my day, when I first got licensed in 1983, there was no such thing as a computer, much less the Internet.  MLS books were thick and were published once a month.  Every other week, we got a thinner book that supplemented the MLS book with newer listings and pending sales.  To send out listings to a prospect, we had to cut them out of the book and photocopy them onto a sheet of paper to send out.
It's great that Real Estate isn't just about selling anymore.  We need technology!  My fear, however, … (1 comments)