David's Thoughts, Tirades, Rants & Blogs!

I’ve heard agents buying “big boy toys” for fun and write them off through their business as promotion or marketing. One AR member here bought a beautiful Harley, had his team name engraved on the gas tank and paid for it from his business.  Oddly enough, he actually gets business from meeting wi...

Having lived through several hurricanes each of the past few hurricane seasons, one realizes the necessity for disaster plans for your business.  This would also apply to those facing earthquakes and other natural (or potentially unnatural) disasters.  Here’s my disaster plan as it relates to my ...

Back in 1997 or so, my former brokerage (one of the biggest) brought in their new “regime”.  Our company was no longer the happy family group that kept everyone in high spirits (and committed to the brand).  We used to have the “Chairman’s Advisory Council”(CAC) which consisted of the top 1 perce...

I remember from a Mike Ferry course that you should play “happy music” before and even during prospecting.  It’s supposed to make you feel “powerful”!   Songs like Simply the Best, you’re typical Tony Robbins or football game stuff!  I tried this by loading these songs on my iPod.  It didn’t work...

There is actually a “system” to presenting an offer.  This system is important to follow or adopt as it usually brings better results then the alternative.  We follow it every time.    First it’s important to always present your offer directly to the Seller weather you present your offer in perso...

What's with Florida teachers!? Last night I watched the Dateline story about Debra Lafave, the teacher charged/convicted of having sex with her 14 year old student. Most of the guys first thoughts are "where was this hot teacher when I was in school?" Many of the people discussing this (also acco...

We closed a transaction last month. I represented the seller. My listing called for a commission of 6.5% with 3% going to the selling agent and 3.5% going to me (along with my processing fee).  We sent the title company our closing instruction letter (kind of like an estoppel letter), letting the...

I recently attended a Howard Brinton StarPower convention in New York City.  The big "buzz" was blogging.  The virtues were made clear by an awesome presentation showing how the presenter was able to get to the top of Google using his blog filled with key words.With enthusiasm, I approached the f...

What defines the "quality" of service you provide? Do you have a written operations manual that defines the level of service you provide to your clients? What about the vendors you work with (ie: mortgage brokers, title companies, etc)? How clear are you on the level of service you expect from th...

For those of you that have buyer's agents, have you ever really calculated the costs associated with having them and keeping them?  If you sit down and calculate the complete costs of running your business, you'll discover that it costs you somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of your income to op...