#1 Thing that it Takes to Be Successful in Real Estate and Life

Tonight I came across this entry to a contest from a year ago and thought is was worthy of an encore, I hope you enjoy it.

Bob

 

 

The #1 Thing that it Takes to Be Successful in Real Estate and Life.

In Melissa Zavala 's challenge she asks us to talk about what it takes to be successful in Real Estate.

Being kind of a success junkie, I looked forward to seeing what I would write for this, and of course I waited until the last night so that I could think about it a bit.

As many will tell you, there are a lot of things required to make a successful real estate agent, broker or just about any type of business person.  Things like:

• Ability to network.
• Ability to fill out excessive paperwork.
• Ability to develop and follow systems
• Ability to manage time
• Ability to manage money, especially during those times between the commission checks.
• And so much more…

 

The number one thing though, starts with a story starting back in the late 80’s.

After graduating from college I traveled around the country, enjoying the different forests in the West and in Michigan working for the USFS and as a Procurement Forester.

In late '88 with 2.5 kids and a desire to start my business, it was time to come back home to family, great forests and to the state with the best schools in the nation, Wisconsin.

During my first year back I made a point of spending at least a week per month working in the county where my grandfather lived, I did not want to miss those last few years and the many stories that he shared.

One day grandpa suggested that I go buy my parents old farm, “it’s up for sale for $30k, less than the house is worth”.

I hastily dismissed this idea, I wanted nothing to do with milking cows, I was busy building a business, and I had just recently purchased a tree farm near Cadott.

Later I regretted this decision, thinking that I probably could have paid for the farm with a thinning of the forest.

About this time I was in Marquette Michigan doing some inventory for a large corporate client when I went to the library to make a few copies and came across a book called The Landlooker of Upper Michigan, a journal of John Longyear’s adventures and his start in upper Michigan.  Longyear went on to work a few timberland purchases into the largest landholding in the Michigan UP, the start of iron mining in Michigan and the start of Iron mining in Minnesota.

These and a few other experiences inspired me to get into real estate investing and reading everything that I could find at the library on the subject, as well as talking to a few people who had ventured here before me.

My biggest obstacle now was where does a guy who is broke get money to buy land?

But I did not let that stop me, I went looking for a few good investments, the first one was with a real estate agent who insisted that I needed 10% earnest money and if I could not find the rest within 30 days I would lose this.  Needless to say, that scared me a bit, so I went and talked to a few different agents who told me that this agent was just trying to take advantage of me.

The next great investment I found I mentioned to a client who I was hoping would invest in the property with me. I really should not have trusted this guy. 

Though he told me he was not interested, he did take the info and go out and promptly buy the land, and never return my calls afterward.

Then with a little more advice from others I learned how to write offers for $100 to $1000 that would secure the property for up to 90 days while I assembled my investors.

With this advice things started going very well with a few of my forestry clients investing some of the money that I had made for them with their timber sales into my early timberlands.

Once we got the details worked out all went well for a few years while timber prices were high and land prices were low.  Eventually land prices got a little too high and timber prices softened, so we moved to other types of investments.

I could go on and on about the enjoyment of investing in forest land but that is probably not the focus of this challenge.

A few years into this whole venture, I was watching an infomercial on investing in real estate with little or nothing down when a friend commented on what a scam that this was, “if it is that great then why is this guy selling books and tapes instead of just doing the investing”.

This comment made me think that chances are that most people who buy this package probably do fail. 

They fail, not because it is a scam but because like most people who are willing to jump into a get rich scheme.  They buy it, set it aside and ignore it.  And then later write a letter to consumer protection agencys about how they got ripped off.

Though I did not purchase the program, I knew that it probably does work, if the person does two things, learn what they need to do, and take ACTION.

To summarize my little story here, The #1 Thing that it Takes to Be Successful in Real Estate and Life, is to TAKE ACTION, learn how to be the best and get of your butt and DO IT.

I have seen far too many agents over the years, sitting around complaining, sitting around playing solitaire, going to unproductive pseudo “networking events” (your kid’s recital is not networking and if you think that it is, people will avoid you) and so many other ways to avoid actually selling real estate.

Instead they should be Taking Action, doing effective things with their time, finding people who need to sell, finding people who need to buy, investing in their own properties, and learning how to be the best in every spare moment. 

Above all Take Positive Action Everyday!

 

 

picture credits

Action Shows Active Motivation Or Proactive by Stuart Miles http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/agree-terms.php?id=100146567

Hand And Gold Medal" by khunaspix http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/agree-terms.php?id=100155752

 

 

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Bob Crane

 Woodland Management Service

 715-204-9663

 2933 Church St

 Stevens Point, WI 54481

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