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It's Up to You Where You Spend Your Time

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Capital Properties DC AB15253

I guess I am building on my last post - Why I Don't Do White Whales Anymore - with this post.  I found this quote recently and I just love it.  

We are responsible for how we conduct our business and with whom we work.  We are responsible for how we spend our energy, our money, and our time. How often do you hear an agent complaining about a client? How tiresome is that?  Whose fault is it that they are working with a toxic client or one who just chooses not to understand how real estate works and what the Realtor's responsibilities are.  

If you know that that client relationship is going to be a bed of weeds rather than a garden filled with money plants, stop watering it!  Move on.  If you can see how it is going, why keep going?  Ultimately, no one is going to swoop in and save you from a toxic client or a bad experience but yourself.  

If you have picked a business plan for the year and it isn't working, move on.  Recalibrate.  Change what you are doing.   You don't have to keep pouring into a bad plan or a bad situation.  Chances are that if you pivot a little bit, you will find a fertile field to tend and water - and it will turn into a garden for you. 

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.  You aren't going to fix them and you don't have to try.  It is okay to walk away.  Stop trying to turn an emotional desert into a garden.  Do you really want that person in your life? Do you want to spend all that energy trying to fix them? 

When your bed is hard, turn over often.  (This is one from my Lynchburg VA grandmother)  - If you don't like where you are, move. Don't stay put and complain.  Get out of it.  

Just remember that there are plots of ground (and people) all around you waiting for you to pour into them.  Just go find them.  Life will be so much better when your talents are valued. 

Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Kathy Schowe - as you might guess I was writing this from the heart  or at least a severely traumatized psyche - I hope you get past your difficult client too 

Sep 30, 2024 08:36 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Nick Vandekar, 610-203-4543 - ah yes.... those sunk costs - it is hard to look past those and realize that if you keep going, you are just going to lose more time, more money, more energy

Sep 30, 2024 08:36 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Leanne Smith - Sometimes you are so eager to be the one that gets the client to the finish line when no one else could that you ignore all the messages and that time is long gone by the time you figure it out.

Sep 30, 2024 08:38 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Patricia Feager, ABR,CRS,GRI,MRP - another tip is when the client tells you about all the other real estate agents that have gone before you who didn't measure up, who lied or cheated or otherwise failed....

Sep 30, 2024 08:39 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Joan Cox - I feel sorry for the new agents who either don't have perspective or a pipeline of clients and they think this toxic client is the gravy train

Sep 30, 2024 08:40 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Lew Corcoran Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the kind words.  I always enjoy reading your posts - particularly because I love reading about Boston

Sep 30, 2024 08:42 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Dorie Dillard Austin TX - experience is great and so is a pipeline so that we are not tied to crazies

Sep 30, 2024 08:43 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Kathy Streib - I agree - never explain, never complain - but definitely don't waste your time with the crazies - they only mature into full blown nutzo  with time. 

Sep 30, 2024 08:44 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Michael Jacobs - a well tended garden makes you so much happier and it is so much more productive

Sep 30, 2024 08:46 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Lawrence "Larry" & Sheila Agranoff. Cell: 631-805-4400  Thanks for your support - It is hard for us to look the toxic clients in the eye and see them for what they are and act on it.  I remember one client who gave me stomach aches 

Sep 30, 2024 08:50 AM
Ginger Harper
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage~ Ginger Harper Real Estate Team - Southport, NC
Your Southport~Oak Island Agent~Brunswick County!

I Love this post.  Yes, I did a garden and I have had to water a lot. 

Same with our farming.  If you don't want the business...Don't Farm

Sep 30, 2024 09:10 AM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Lise Howe,

It is so good to see you, and congrats on your well-deserved feature! 

You have some great quotes. "Don't water a garden you don't want to grow.'

 

Sep 30, 2024 02:23 PM
Michael Elliott
Fathom Realty - Burlington Township, NJ
Burlington, New Jersey Residential Sales

Great post, sounds like me.  I move on, I don't do drama and I hate hearing myself complain.  

Oct 01, 2024 01:45 AM
Brenda Mayette
Miranda Real Estate Group, Inc. - Glenville, NY
Getting results w/ knowledge & know-how!

Love this!! 

Oct 01, 2024 04:30 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

I feel exactly the same way you do - 

I move on, I don't do drama and I hate hearing myself complain.  

Oct 01, 2024 05:25 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 - it is always good to "see" you here in the Rain.

Oct 01, 2024 05:25 AM
Pat Starnes-Front Gate Realty
Front Gate Real Estate - Brandon, MS
601-991-2900 Office; 601-278-4513 Cell

I remember the old adage: "Keep doing what you're doing and you'll keep getting the same results". I completely agree with you; sometimes it is time to move on, or find more fertile ground.

 

Oct 01, 2024 05:51 PM
John Juarez
The Medford Real Estate Team - Fremont, CA
ePRO, SRES, GRI, PMN

Or, as the song says (sings)...You've to to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. And know when to run."

Oct 02, 2024 05:52 PM
Wanda Kubat-Nerdin - Wanda Can!
Red Rock Real Estate (435) 632-9374 - St. George, UT
The best agent in Southern Utah!

What you focus on grows for sure, Lise! Wish more people realized that.

 

Oct 03, 2024 11:44 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Hi Lise:

Congratulations on your featured post and the powerful message and advice that you shared. A good life lesson.

Jeff

Oct 03, 2024 08:00 PM