Inspired Real Estate For Today

Just about every kid loves a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They were certainly my favorite .  In fact, I don't remember ever tasting a peanut butter sandwich and not thinking it was good.  Even when the bread was not fresh...something about the combo of buttery tasting peanut spread and the sweet strawberry jam or jelly made everything go down easy.

It was also really, really sticky...  Invariably, the jelly would slide over the slippery peanut butter and ooze onto my fingers, sometimes drizzling down my chin.  So, there was always the doubly delicious task of cleaning off my fingers after polishing off the sandwich.  You just gotta love being a kid don't you?  Grown-ups tend to miss out on so many simple pleasures.

Just yesterday, I had a simple pleasure of meeting Mary Bigelow, a lender with VanDyk Mortgage Company and a Building Supply Contractor.  Mary is also a blogger.  Mary had attended my first blogging seminar last year in April when we had the fluke snow storm that brought in almost a foot of snow just as the seminar began.  She had come because the individual from her company who had bought a ticket was sick.

I didn't really have the opportunity to talk with Mary during the seminar, but over the past year I started reading her blog posts.  Mary developed an interest in green building and along with janeAnne Narrin gently helped me understand and learn about their sweet spot and passion for environmentally sustainable construction.  Mary has spent the past year learning about green building, meeting all sorts of new people, making a number of great contacts and sharing it on her blog. 

It was a nice and easy way of getting to know Mary even though we'd never met.  From time to time, there'd be an e-mail but that was about it.  Until, we met yesterday for the first time.  But it didn't seem like the first time.  The conversation was easy and engaging; moving through a number of areas of mutual interest.

We talked about an exciting new phase which Mary is currently exploring in her life.  As a result of contacts through blogging on Active Rain, Mary has made connections throughout Grand Rapids and in other parts of the country.  In fact, she is travelling to explore a business opportunity in another state today!  And all because she attended a blogging seminar about 13 months ago!

Like our conversation, which was sweet and easy, Mary's business has been greatly aided by blogging consistently over the past year.  Her life and business have been transformed.  Much in the same way that mine has been. 

This past 18 months has been incredible.  I've met agents from across the country and come to know in a more meaningful way many who practise in my backyard.  My knowledge level professionally has expanded and has enabled me to serve my clients through being able to network and engage with experts from around the country. Blogging has also brought me numerous contacts and clients who found me through my writing or through others referring their friends to these blogs.

It's been a delicous journey; sometimes odd and slippery, but always enlightening.  Blogging and real estate is not a combination I would have thought of.  My objections would have been too numerous...What would I write about?  Where would I find the time?  Who would read? 

But thank God, it wasn't the adult in me that pushed me 'wide-eyed' into this brave new world.  I think perhaps a little credit might accure to the girl who loves peanut butter sandwiches.  Yes, they are messy, slippery and sticky, but this odd combination binds together totally disparate food items and creates a yumilicous concoction which is a universal favorite for kids of all shapes and sizes. 

And it's a trait which is shared by the young at heart who intuitively understand that sometimes the most unexpected opportunities come bundled together in an unconventional way. Update:  So, here's to the post that topped the 200,000 Points mark for me.  That's a whole lot of peanut butter & jelly right there. :)

photo is courtesy of trekkyandy's photostream on flickr

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

I'm watching the news tonight.  The last segment is a lifestyle story about the fact that more and more people are now able to fit 31 hours into a 24 hour day!  Wow!  Fascinated, I rewind to make sure I heard right...What's the secret?  Well, you may have guessed.  It's multi-tasking. 

Today, Americans have become so efficient that we can have several conversations online while talking to people 'live'.  Vacation hotspots must be equipped with wireless access or we may avoid them because we can't stand being 'disconnected.' 

If a page download on our computer takes more than a couple of seconds...we actually hold our breaths in exasperation.  Tonight's broadcast sited a study by an elevator company which indicated that our impatience level while waiting for an elevator to arrive is now 30 seconds!

As a broker, involved in training agents and teaching about various topics related to real estate, including blogging, I do have some legitimate concerns about the misuse of this medium. Social Networking combines the most engaging qualities of interaction online with the unsettling reality of it's ability to be a major time stealer.

The benefits of the Internet are undeniable.  From a business perspective, the lead volume and contacts from our online marketing have been profitable. Years of print advertising have not yielded the equivalent results that ratcheting up our efforts through blogging and online marketing have. 

In addition, sites like Active Rain have provided the opportunity to interact and learn from individuals across my community and nation in a way which I have never experienced.  It's intoxicating & refreshing.

But, there is a downside which I think that we ignore at our peril.  Drinking too much of this blogging elixir can be unhealthy.  Sally Cheeseman wrote a fascinating series earlier this year about the physical challenges which she experienced as a result of blogging...These injuries are well documented for people who spend excessive amounts of time on the computer.

My concerns are professional and personal.  When I started my career 13 years ago, there were fewer outside opportunities to distract my attention.  Yet, I will always remember a wise veteran who gave me some solid advise. She said, "Lola, make sure your build your business first before you get involved in all the other stuff."  She was talking about involvment with my local Real Estate Board.

Today...I know she was right.  If I had not invested my time and attention in building my business by prospecting for clients, listing homes, showing and selling homes and successfully negotiating transactions...I wouldn't have been of any assistance to my profession.  I would have compromised my ability to secure a solid business.

TLW's recent post about the fact that agents who are blogging and not working on the basic core elements of the real estate profession may not be helping themselves or their employers is on target.  This past year and a half has shown me by personal experience and observation of others that it is nearly impossible for most people to be involved in trying to sell real estate and keeping appropriate track of their transactions and also be continually connected to their Blackberry's through responding to comments and instant messaging.

There does need to be a balance.  Brokers cannot afford to ignore or marginalize the Internet.  It is incumbent on real estate professionals to understand how to engage people who are seeking information and services online.  But the standards for professionalism for our industry must also be set by us.  WE must resist the temptation to be blind followers of technology rather than innovative, intelligent users.

So, how effective has this new 31 hour day really been?  Well, studies are showing that we're paying for our 'productivity' by increased levels of tension and stress.  Even our downtime and vacation is increasingly polluted by our connectedness to an electronic tether.

Think about this...While I would love to be in e-mail contact with my physician if I had a question, I think I'd wonder a little if he was always available online.  After awhile, I'd be curious about when he had time to see his patients...

Then, I might start wondering about when he had time to see his wife & kids...

You might also enjoy reading Pam Winterbauers' excellent Featured Post...The Art of Monotasking

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

It's a strange experience to be having.  I've lived in 2 continents across the Atlantic, yet this is a first.  There's a home in my neighborhood which has gone into foreclosure.  This is a beautiful community of manicured lawns and carefully cultivated landscapes.  Neighbors walk their dogs and wave politely. 

Yet, no one seems to know quite what to do with...the home.  The dwelling where the weeds seem to be flourishing in a spritely manner.  The once beautiful home which has become neglected even as it's former elegance still holds a grand sway across an acre of prime property.

The community observes curious onlookers coming and going.  Everyone wonders. Will they buy the place? Yesterday, one of my neighbors stopped by.  In the course of conversation as happens amongst acquaintences, the talk drifts towards...the home.  He bemoans the fact that we all have to look at that grass.  We both wish someone would just buy it and make things OK again.

Then he asks who owns it?  Meaning which bank...  Would they mind if someone cut the grass?  I think about it for a moment...  I daresay not, they're in New York and don't care much about mowed grass.  In fact, my son is out there right now although it's dusk.  He's mowing the lawn to get in his service hours.  I'm sure the neighbors are watching quietly...I wonder what they're thinking.

One day, several years ago, I arrived early for a meeting.  Now, this is not typical.  I think I thrive on the adrenaline rush of being where I'm supposed to be 'just in time.'  Anyway, on this particular day I was so early that I had about a half an hour to sit in the parking lot.  It was sunny and pleasant.  However, my mind was not enjoying the beauty of the day.  I was deeply immersed in another activity...worrying.

As I rehashed the troublesome scenario, my attention was distracted by a little play that was happening just outside my car.  On the sidewalk, two birds were playing. They were hopping around, flying a little distance and  thoroughly enjoying themselves totally oblivious to Ms. Worry Wort baking in her car.  Or... perhaps, they were sent to get my attention.

Because suddenly, I was jolted by a small thought that entered my mind...I realised that I'd never seen a skinny robin.  I became mesmerized by the play, these birds were so joyful.  They seemed unconcerned about where there next meal was going to come from.  They were enjoying the sunshine and each other's company.  It struck me that if God knew how to feed robins and keep them plump and healthy, perhaps, I could trust Him to take care of my 'little issues' too.

This is one example of the many metaphors in nature that sacred scripture uses to instruct us about human tendencies.  There is the short inspiration about the fact that the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, was not arrayed as gorgeously, in all his splendor, as the lilies of the field.  We are admonished to observe the ant and follow it's example of storing up provisions for hard times even when it works in a manner similar to an Independent Contractor. Time and time again, insight from the world of nature reveals truth to us human beings if we will take the time to listen.

But, there was one story that never seemed to make sense.  It was about Pigs & Pearls.  In fact, Jesus said it this way in Matthew 7:6

"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."  

While I didn't have problems with positive associations in the animal kingdom, this example always seemed sort of harsh.  Was he really talking about human beings and if so what was the appropriate comparison to pigs and dogs?

Well, the context of this verse is surprising.  This passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most famous sermons ever preached.  The specific verses preceding this statement is about Judging other people and being a hypocrite by not dealing with the stuff that is a huge plank in our own eye before wanting to pluck out the speck of distraction in other people's eyes.  Essentially Jesus was saying...'Don't be the blind man trying to lead others."  Deal with your own issues first!

It begins to make sense.  When you think about it...What sort of person in his right mind, takes something sacred and gives it to a dog who will tear it apart.  What sort of fool gives precious pearls to a pig who will gladly receive them only to wallow in the mud?  Dogs and pigs do what dogs and pigs do...this should be obvious to all intelligent people.  But is it?

Apparently not, or this admonition would have been unnecessary.  Perhaps, we need to focus on WHY we fail to see a dog and pig clearly for what they are. Perhaps, we might consider what areas of our own lives are too painful to examine.  In what ways do we pluck out specks in other people's eyes rather than deal with the huge planks in our own? Could blindness from plank sized debris distort vision & right perspective?

Perhaps, this type of internal disorientation is what creates the unlikely scenario in which we begin to give dogs sacred things which should be cherished and then share our treasured pearls with swine who will not only misuse them, but turn around and tear us to pieces. 

As I reflect on this, I think that dogs and pigs are metaphors.   They represent the ways in which we compromise our selves.  It's sometimes easier to give ourselves at any cost and ignore the fact that saving your best self for your clients and people who don't know you is a betrayal of those who love us and hold us dear.  We sometimes downplay the care and service we give as something which can be trampled on by individuals who do not respect our knowledge, time or attention.  It is in these ways that we ultimately give pearls to pigs and watch our treasures be trampled on.

So, what does it mean to take 'Proper Care of Pearls'? 

Well, for starters, it starts with respecting oneself enough to own up to foolishness.  I've noticed that the temptation to judge other people is a good clue about what needs to be examined in my own life. 

Next, Learn to say NO.  Just because you are asked to give something doesn't mean that you should. 

Then determine to give yourself the respect that you deserve.  Why should others respect us when we don't respect ourselves.  Stop doing things that serve the ego and deplete the true core of who you are.  It seems to me that Dogs & Swine are much easier to recognize when your gaze is unobstructed and your eyes are wide open.

Here are some other entries in the what it means series (9)

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved