lake homes realty: Gotta Brag a Moment on My Team and Agents
- 08/15/18 07:56 AM
Okay, I admit it. I just need to brag on our team of staff and agents at Lake Homes Realty across the country.
Today, Inc. magazine today released their 37th annual Inc. 5000 list. If you are not familiar with this list, it is widely considered as the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
Why does this excite us? Lake Homes Realty was ranked number 1582 in the country, amount companies in all industries.
Even better, this is the second year in a row for our company to be featured on the list.
When looking at the rankings by industry, Lake Homes Realty was ranked #1 in … (2 comments)
|
lake homes realty: New Approach to Lake Real Estate (explained in 76 seconds)
- 06/14/14 04:03 AM
Lake real estate brings challenges, often different from typical urban or rural homes.
Some companies focus on websites to drive traffic to agents who will pay for membership (or ads). Meanwhile most general real estate brokerages lack specialization (at least at the brokerage level).
We have a unique approach.
At first glance, we may look like the listing syndication websites but we are not. There are no agent ads, no lead sales. Lake Homes Realty (powered by LakeHomes.com) is a multi-state brokerage focused on just lake real estate. And we are growing fast, finding consumers were looking for this type of brokerage.
We are the same, yet very different.
Love … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: If You Could Improve Your Life, Would You?
- 03/29/14 04:51 AM
Recently, I was visiting lake real estate agents across Georgia and traveling on I-20 toward Atlanta I saw a billboard that read,
"If You Could Improve Your Life, Would You?"
I don't know what it was advertising but WOW. As I drove, and since, I've really been really thinking about that question.
Now, I bet most people would quickly say, "Of Course I'd improve my life! What a stupid question."
But I submit that most people are telling a lie, not just to others but to themselves.
Think about home buyers that have found the home that is as perfect as possible (since … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Observations From Georgia (That May Only Interest Me)
- 02/26/14 12:18 AM
While most real estate professionals know their local market and peers, I have a unique opportunity to see how things work across multiple markets.
As we grow our brokerage operations into and across Georgia, it has been very interesting meeting lake expert real estate agents on each major lake across the state.
Here are a few things may only be of interest to me, but I found of note:
1) As we've seen in other states, and no surprise, the most successful real estate agents are organized.
Their systems vary from agent-to-agent, but they have a system and they follow it. As I said, this is … (7 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Motivated Incompetence
- 02/19/14 04:10 AM
“Go Team!”
“You are a Winner!”
“Just Believe!”
I’ve often heard that real estate agents (and brokers too) just need better motivation to be successful. As if poor performance is just a communication problem.
“Oh the poor people, we just didn’t tell them the inspiring words that would bring them success.”
However, motivation alone, without proper training, attitude, and experience, just leads to motivated incompetence.
Great. Once “fired up,” the motivated incompetent people can do their job wrong even faster!
Granted, inspiration can be beneficial to most people. We’re human. Emotions do impact our behavior. However, the extent of the impact, good or bad, … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Just Answer The Phone
- 11/23/13 03:32 AM
Due to the nature of our focus on lake real estate over a wide geographic area, we interact with real estate agents from many parts of the country. It is not uncommon to have an interested buyer for a property where we don't have an agent.
In these cases, we often start out by contacting the listing agent. After all, it would seem logical they would be the most motivated to promptly work with an interested potential buyer.
Let me correct that. We often start by TRYING to contact the listing agent. While we find some super responsive, very professional listing agents, it amazes … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: You Should Create A Little Friction
- 07/31/13 03:16 AM
My natural tendency is to what's called, "conflict avoidance." That is, I tend to avoid conflict, at least to a point, and in my past I let this tendency be in control of way too much of my life.
I had to learn that creating a little friction does not have to mean causing a problem, a fight, or a disagreement. It means avoiding false comfort. Just like in physics, friction can only occur when there is movement. With no movement, there is no progress.
Now I'm not talking about looking for fights, not at all. Let me explain.
Years … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: There Are Many Right Answers (Sort Of)
- 07/16/13 05:14 AM
In real estate and life, there are usually many right answers. Most answers, right or wrong, have trade-offs, making each answer less clear than it may first appear.
This gets more complicated when you learn that getting stuck on a single answer often leads to mental blindness of other possibilities.
For example, when discussing marketing a property, construction, or even growing our brokerage, we often find ourselves in a discussion of the three possible considerations: Fast, Right, and/or Cheap.
While we all want all three, you can really only pick two. Picking a third will negate at least one of … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Living on The Water's Edge
- 07/16/13 04:58 AM
We were delighted to be included in this article in B-Metro Magazine about lake real estate, the lifestyle and interests of lake home owners and LakeHomes.com! - Glenn
The Water’s Edge Escape to the lake.
Written by Tom Wofford, Photography by Beau Gustafson
According to American poetry’s most famous lake enthusiast, these placid bodies of water are “the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature.”
Henry David Thoreau was, of course, describing his beloved Walden “pond” 17 years before Birmingham was founded, but there can be no doubt the residents of the Magic City have long agreed with the writer who first glorified … (2 comments)
|
lake homes realty: The Trouble with Bulimic Learning
- 07/08/13 07:52 AM
In visiting with agents and brokers with long lists of initials after their name, it is far too common to find people that still don't seem to understand how to do a great job for their clients.
Amazing. But it brings to mind something I heard when I recently served on a state-wide education commission. In a meeting, a speaker mentioned that one big problem with a primary focus on standardized testing alone was that it led to "bulimic learning."
While a bit graphic, I think it was a great point not just for educational institutions but for real estate professionals too. … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Listing Videos - Dull or Inspiring?
- 06/07/13 11:23 PM
With technology, it is easier and easier to create a video of a home for sale. But just because it is easy does not mean everyone can do a great job.
1. Is the video engaging to home buyers?
2. If they start watching, will they want to continue?
3. Does the sound add value or detract? (Professional editors will tell you sound can often be more important than images.)
4. Will the sellers be impressed?
5. Will people share the video (this is a tough one)?
Here is an example, compliments of our agent Michael Langston, of a quick video that does … (3 comments)
|
lake homes realty: I Got Out-Coached
- 06/07/13 06:53 AM
Years ago I coached youth basketball. Interestingly, I learned that coaching children also taught me a lot about business.
Like any real estate negotiation or business deal, when the game clock is ticking, there is no opportunity to go back and better prepare. Verbal directions must be swift, clear, and understood. Game plans may be great but adapting is a skill that is just as important as defensive schemes and in-bound plays.
My first three years of coaching were rough. Rough on me and rough on the teams. Like many agents, leaders, and brokers, I had much to learn about coaching.
… (1 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Stop Trying to Win
- 06/01/13 01:04 AM
I often tell our agents and support team, as well as agents we are recruiting, "Don’t win. Succeed. There is a difference."
I had (yes, past tense) a client “Bob" who HAD to win everything. To do business with him, he HAD to have a better price, he HAD to have more service, and he HAD to be right. I bet you've dealt with homeowners, buyers, and other agents like Bob.
Now, you may think that sounds like a secret to success, a motivated and driven business person. In some very unique personalities, that can be accurate. For most people, they are … (0 comments)
|
lake homes realty: 6 Ways to Learn (Again)
- 05/30/13 11:50 AM
Having made my share, okay maybe more than my share, of mistakes in business, real estate deals, and even life, I've come to a stark realization. The more I accept that I don't know, the more I seem to learn.
And I have to accept that there are so many things I used to know, but don't really know now (like calculus).
There is basic training that we may not need to repeat. For instance, none of us is likely inclined to repeat first grade, nor should we. However, repeating most training can be a great opportunity to learn … (2 comments)
|
lake homes realty: Fear Is Not Respect
- 05/11/13 10:04 PM
Well, it happened again. Someone I know just through business networking events, we'll call her "Jane Doe," was going on and on about how much her agents and employees needed to respect her more.
"I've earned it!" she exclaimed. Jane was quite insistent on how she "demanded respect" with the many ways she forced her staff to do her bidding. This included a long list of personal tasks and pointless chores.
I thought much of her bragging should have been embarrassing to her. You may be the broker and employer, but demeaning staff who fear for their jobs is not … (25 comments)
|
lake homes realty: We Need to Make Sure
- 01/15/13 07:55 PM
“We need to make sure.”
I heard this comment repeatedly from a prospective home buyer. Yet she didn’t explain how to make sure. Who was responsible? When would others be accountable? What is the time-frame? Even when asked what she meant, she just repeated the comment.
What I believe she really meant was that she was too uncertain to make a decision and had decided to postpone the decision until she emotionally felt better, not until she could methodically evaluate the situation.
She also failed, as many do, to realize that a decision to postpone is a decision too, one that … (1 comments)
|
lake homes realty: It's Going To Take A Failure Or Two
- 06/13/12 11:54 PM
“It’s going to take a failure or two.” ~ Joe Acker
In my work through the years, one thing I’ve learned is that everyone’s business is harder than it looks. This includes real estate, where buyers and sellers think selling property is easy, until they try to do it on their own.
Similarly, I’ve also learned that most deals and projects are more involved than they first appear. This is typically for one of two reasons. Either someone has (1) not taken the time to appropriately consider the obstacles or (2) they don’t know enough to even consider the … (1 comments)
|
|
|
|
Okay, I admit it. I just need to brag on our team of staff and agents at Lake Homes Realty across the country. 
;)
;)
;)
