Inspired Real Estate For Today

Lola,

This is a totlly wonderful post!  I can not tell you how much I enjoyed reading it and say yep to my self the whole time!  Thank you.

I love that you stress hard work and that there is so much more then money.  I also like the educational part and can not agree with you more!

I will be keeping this post in mind for some time.

Lola,  Your customers will surely appreciate your knowledge. I'm sure your company will not be one of those bitting the dust!

Hope you get lots of folks at the blogging seminar!

Hi Lola,

My sentiments exactly.You hit the nail...right on the head. Good article.

 

David Kelso

Yep.  To maintain the same level of income now takes twice as much hard work. 

Work harder and work smarter.  That's all it takes today.

I concur totally! The lure of anything EASYis irresistible to many.

I have never enjoyed the luxury of easy money but I must admit that I work harder now than several years ago! One thing is for sure, the new market has turned a few agents into "ex".

Lola,

I have an interesting take on this. I started in Real Estate during the slowing down period and went full time in the midst of the mortgage problems this year. I'm not worried though. I work hard for my clients and they love me for it. I have gained a bit of a following and the referrals are keeping me busy. I totally concur with your post. Hard work will be rewarded. Thanks.

Sounds like "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".

Hi Shane,  Thank you so much for stopping by to read and comment.  I'm glad you enjoyed the post!  Sometimes...you just have to say it like it is.  There is no such thing as an easy buck and never will be until there's a return to paradise. :)  I think that will be about the same proverbial time that "hell freezes over."

Hi Gary, Thanks so much for your comment and your good wishes.  Appreciate it.

Thanks for stopping by to read and comment David.

Yes, Lenn...The secret is hard work!  A lot of it...certainly more than before.  The combination of smarter AND harder work is what will prove daunting to many.  But it's the new reality nevertheless.

Hi Rosario, You're right!  That's why the lottery continues to impoverish multitudes more than it enriches.

Hi Gary, Thanks for your comment.  It was easy to operate under the delusion that this was an easy job several years ago.  I suspect that those who will survive and thrive are those who determined to cultivate the discipline of hard work while it was a little easier to do so.

Lola - There is another nasty side to "easy money". Should it fall in your lap, you may become convinced that the same stroke of luck will occur again, only in larger denominations. Even those that enjoy receiving the "easy money" soon learn that, it may have seemed easy, but it will not occur often. Even the gravy train has a final stop.

AMEN LOLA!!!  I could NOT have said it any better!!  I have a writing on my wall that reads.... "You do not get to the top by reaching for what's on top..... you get to the top by taking care of what's on the bottom!!"   I interviewed a young lady over the phone who wants to place her license with us.... the first question i asked was WHY? Is it Because you think you're going to make money fast??   People sure have the incorrect understanding! 

Well written and a deserved gold star.... as usual!  Keep saying it!

Lola, I LOVE this post!!! I started work when I was 12 and have NEVER been between jobs. I have kicked and clawed my way to success and now that I have some success I kick and claw to maintain it. If I didn't work every day I truly don't know what I would do. What I do know ....is how to work. You could plant me anywhere in the country and I will find a way to make money. And it will be money earned.

Well done Lola.

Andrew, Thanks for your comment.  You are living proof that real money not Easy Money can still be made by those who are willing to truly work for it.  In some ways, you are "lucky" to be coming into this business at a time when the rules of engagement and success will once more return to the basic laws of success in life...honesty, hard work & integrity.

Hi Lisa...Interesting take on that verse.  Thanks for stopping by to comment.

Oh John..."Even the gravy train has a final stop."  Very true...An African Proverb says it this way "No Condition is permanent in this world."  On the reverse side...the knowledge that even though things may be really difficult in spite of a lot of hard work...eventually it pays off by God's grace.  I think the American Version of this truth is "What goes around comes around." :)

Thanks for stopping by Diane.  I liken taking care of the bottom to making sure our foundations are strong and solid.  So often we build on shaky foundations which lack the integrity to stand up under stress.  Hard work and integrity build the muscle structure which can handle the "weight" of true success.  Appreciate your thoughts.

Bryant, Yes, I understand your upbringing...Now how did our parents have the same idea even though they lived oceans apart?? Perhaps, it's because these truths are universal. :)  I started work around about the same age!  Thanks for stopping by to read and comment.  And...you're right, this type of experience gives you a deeply embedded sense of true self confidence...not pride based but firmly rooted in healthy self esteem.  For this I remain eternally grateful.

Lola, couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, I believe it was the greedy agents who wanted even more that began the rumor that Real Estate was easy and to join their team to bring in More and more and more. We often don't realize how we hurt ourselves in the process. There is no easy road. There are rewarding roads at the end of the traveled and toiled ones. It sounds as though your parents taught you well.

You are an incredible writer....  I am thinking AR needs to hire you on a paid basis.....  Easy come...Easy Go.   Truer words you can't speak....  You've got to put the time in and the pay will come.  Thanks for another great blog!

Sage words that needed to be said. This is so on target, Lola.  But so many feel they are entitled, or simply expect they will be handed what they want without the effort. Unfortunately so much of that philosophy seems to have been learned at home, just as the right attitude about work and making money is learned. Thanks for sharing your thoughts - a wonderful post to read.

Jeff

Lola, I'm with you.  When other agents say, gee Marie you are so lucky.

I respond, yes I am, and I've noticed that the harder I work the luckier I get!

And that's why the good ones keep getting client's. Hard work and effort are what's needed in this market...or the one before where it was "easy" money. In any case, in the best interests of the client works for me....everything else follows.

Lola, I was told early in my real estate career that real estate is the best paid hard work, and the worst paid easy work that you can find...

Yes, the days of sticking a sign in the yard is gone. Now we work for every penny, and many are quiting because it is not what they bargained for. But, the strong will survive. My flowers are beautiful, didn't lose a one.

I know I would prefer to earn my money through my own efforts, rather than have it handed to me. I agree with the feeling of accomplishment it provides.

Gena, I love this part of your comment, "There are rewarding roads at the end of the traveled and toiled ones." Thank you for sharing this truth.

Desiree, Thanks for your comment and kind compliment.  The message about putting in the time is a hard one for some people to hear.  There is no such thing as an overnight success.  What we're looking at when we think we see an overnight success is a very small part of a much larger story. 

Hi Jeff, Thanks for stopping by.  You're right about the impact of the home environment.  It's so easy to become confused about what helps children grow up to be productive adults.  In some ways, it is counter-intuitive to some of the messages we hear.  Feelings of entitlement do not by default create the right have anything.  In some ways, they to are an...illusion.

AMEN Marie!!  You're nicer about it than I am.  Although I usually don't express it...that sort of comment is  irritating to me.  I try to remind myself that it is well intentioned because those who express these sentiments would be very bored by hearing the truth.

Sally, Thanks for sharing your thoughts.  Taking care of the best interests of others is often not easy...sometimes it seems to take everything you've got and then some.  But the reward is that your conscience can rest Easy...which makes it all worth it. :)

Brian, I love that saying....LOL...It's so true. :)

AMEN Missy!  So enjoyed our time together yesterday & I'm so glad that the flowers are holding up beautifully.  I still can't believe I forgot MY camera in the car!! :)

Lola, obviously your parents instilled a great work ethic in you as did my parents and hopefully I'm passing it on to my kids.  Like Lenn said, we've have to work hard and work smart.

You can tell the agents who come into the business and are not interested in the hard work part.

Lola, thank you so much for this post.   I read a post within the last few days in which an "agent" wanted to fire all his sellers.  That shocked me -- isn't this when our seller clients need us the most?  I've worked harder this year than in the previous 9 years, and I've learned so much!  What a challenging AND educational market it is for us. 

Lola - As usual excellent writing and a very timely topic.  There is nothing like hard work, at the end of which there is a feeling of accomplishment.  I have seen too many who tried the easy money root only to harm themselves as well as others.

Well said!  Those of us who have weathered recessions know how hard real estate can be.  When I moved here from CA in 2005 I realized I was starting over as a newbie so I called the three top agents from my old Pasadena area that had become insanely successful to find out how they did it.  My favorite was from a young agent with a masters from Yale who started by farming a neighborhood walking door-to-door giving out tiny basil plants from her red wagon.  She grew each plant from a seed because she had no money when she started.  She said it was a huge amount of work...but now she is one of the top agents in the area!

Lola,

EASY MONEY!!!  I hear that so much, and it is so far from the truth.  Our industry is very difficult and competitive.  This is a great post as usual.

Lisa, Thanks for your comment.  Passing on a good work ethic to our children is a wonderful gift.

You're right about your observation Bob & Carolin!

So true... What a great article, I enjoyed reading it.  Keep up the hard work.

Jay

www.RealEstateSticker.com

 

I would say making a lot of money in Real Estate will again happen in the future, as it always cycles, but it will be quite a while before it happens for many!

  Deb

Lola, steady work and smart work doesn't need to be hard work, but it pays off. I eschew EASY MONEY. I believe that if it is worth having it is worth working for. But again, it doesn't need to be HARD.

It is all about attitude. With the proper work ethic good productive work is a joy. I believe that you (Lola) get joy out of your good productive work. And it is obvious that you are a productive worker.

Bill Roberts

Lola,   Wonderful post and so true...the lucky thing is...if you truly enjoy what you are doing the "hard work" gives you a feeling of great reward.

WOW>>>>> I really like your post... I believe that if you want something you have to work really hard for it... and in the end it will pay off..... If it comes EASY it will leave EASY.....I know that if you work and put your heart into it you'll be REWARDED .

Thanks for setting us straight.....

Lola,  Great post! As with anything effort and hard work will always be rewarded. But our society seems to push the concept of EASY MONEY, from the Gov't Lottery all the way to our TV shows promising to possibly become the next millionaire.  But in the end hard work is the where you receive the true reward...

Great inspirational  post. You have summed it up well. I love the last paragraph.

I so appreciate your perspective!  Any money that's 'easy' isn't worth having. 

Tough business makes for tough agents, and I'm glad to be one of them

Kris...perhaps, the agent who wrote the post was just expressing his frustration. :)  This is not an easy market...but without inventory and home owners who ask us to help them navigate through increasingly tough territory, we don't have a business.  I wonder if the agent who wrote the post realised that all his sellers can see what he wrote if they want to....then again, perhaps he does not care.   Thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for your comment.  Unfortunately, there can be some unfortunate consequences of ignoring this truth.

Diane, Wow!  Great story, thanks for sharing it.  I'm struck by how this young lady from one of the best universities in the world understood what was necessary to succeed.  We would all do well to learn from her example.

Thanks for stopping by to read and comment, Ray.

Hi Jay, Thanks for your comment.

Debra, Thanks for stopping by.  There is still a lot of money to be made in real estate...it's just going to be made in ways that are perhaps very different than what our industry has become accustomed to.  Those who are willing to work hard and adapt appropriately will have no shortage of work to do. 

Hi Bill, Thanks for your comment.  What I am seeking to convey in this post, is that considerable effort will need to be expended to respond to the rapid changes that are affecting our industry.  Although, it will not be primarily "physical" labor, it will require an investment of time, energy and resources to acquire the skills which will be needed to compete effectively in the future.  You're right...I do enjoy what I do...but it sure ain't easy. :)

Absolutely Therese!  Thanks for your comment.

Yes, Renee....in a way, this message is definitely in opposition to what is "preached" by the certain facets of the popular media.  I think this is detrimental particularly to young people.

Gita...Thanks :)

Dana...Not only will you make it...you're set to thrive. You Go Girl!! :)

I love this post. Every single word is true! I also remember an investor telling me that money was "cheap" and proceeded to borrow and buy...and now is in deep doo doo. Although I subscribe to the "work smarter, not harder" plan, sometimes I find that working smarter is sometimes harder in the beginning, but get's easier as time goes on (like setting up systems). Does that make sense? I'm still drinking the first cup of coffee! :)