Seth Godin and I are on the same wave-length today. People who always prefer validation that their ideas and opinions are flawless have chosen to live in an echo chamber. They thrive on hearing their messages emanating from their vocal chords to proselytizing their wisdom to their indentured followers . . . and take tremendous GLEE hearing that message again and again and again as it echoes around the chamber they have created. In their world, there is but one voice . . . theirs and only theirs. There are no other valid opinions or ideas. They are egotists! The only feedback they hear is the feedback that validates their rhetoric. Amazingly, many of these egotists find their way to the TOP . . . High volume 1%ers who have gained POWER over others who are not “wired” to stand up to thes... 03/20/2019

To what degree does your company personify you? For some folks, this might be a company that you conceived, attracted and built with your own blood, sweat, and many tears through the years. Presumptively, most of the rest of us consciously made a choice to join the company where and with whom they do their work. Sadly, there are likely a whole slew of people who joined their company “by default” without giving it much thought because they were not aware that the environment might be radically different elsewhere . . . or because they “settled” into “good enough” (It pays the bills) . . . OR . . . maybe they’re caught in a web of self-depravation: “I’m not good enough to be there, so I must stick it out in this misery.” However you got wherever you are with these people journeying, toili... 03/19/2019

Originally posted on rhondaburgess.com/moving-to-nashville-why-you-should-not-use-zillow Why You Should Not Use Zillow to find a house in NashvilleIn this video, I’m going to talk about why you should not be using Zillow to look for a house in Nashville.Hey, I’m Rhonda Burgess, Nashville real estate broker here in Nashville with Southern Living Realty and I’m a native Nashvillian.Now I’ve been doing a series for “Moving to Nashville” because we’re getting people here all over the place.And even if you’re not moving into Nashville, for people who are here already here in Nashville who are looking for a house, let me explain to you why why you don’t want to use Zillow to look for a house.First of all, our multiple listing service here in Nashville, it’s called Realtracs. Realtracs stopped... 03/18/2019

Because we consider ourselves to be “in Service to others”, sometimes we forget to tend to our own needs. We let our busyness take control of our lives . . . and we say that we are “too busy” to attend to Spiritual, Emotional, Physical, Social, and Mental well being. Don’t do this! Schedule your “me time” before you schedule ANYTHING else. Every day, block time on your calendar – a firm and very important “daily appointment with yourself.” Tell everyone you know, that you are not available to take calls or respond to texts or emails during that block of time. No apologies necessary! No need to call it something else . . . Just tell’m what it is (Me Time), and do it. WE need you to do this, so you can serve us better. Published by Barry OwenStrategist-CEO of Pareto Realty Real estate sal... 03/18/2019

The Title of the event hit a resonant chord with me at first glance. I was SO excited to be able to participate in the learning and sharing about this very important issue. THANK YOU SO MUCH for organizing this event! Your invitation is so timely and on-point with the significant shift that we are all sensing/experiencing. I’m now registered and am committed to showing up. (Fast forward to the day of the event) I wake up full of energy and excitement that I get to step out of my routine for a few hours to focus on this important issue. I’m certain I will learn a lot. Upon arrival at the event 15 minutes early, all signs direct me to the “Registration Table” where I sign in and receive a name badge and a packet of paper entitled “AGENDA – NOTES”. I stop by the food table and grab a dough... 03/15/2019

How long will you jerry-rig that contraption before you lose patience? It’s that thing that’s not working as it should, and we tolerate the necessary work-arounds under the heading of: “It still works even if not well or consistently.” Some folks take great pride in keeping that thing alive rather then replacing it with another, newer model. The rationalization is that it still “works” . . . and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This is denial, and the cost is real in frustration, anxiety (will it work this time?), lost time and efficiency, distraction . . . yet we’re hell bent on using it til the wheels fall off. For others, jerry-rigging is a hobby. I’m one of those people. I love a good challenge. Knowing that I enjoy this, I decided to entertain that hobby by buying a 30 year old Mer... 03/14/2019

In today’s all pervasive digital environment, it’s common knowledge that if there aren’t any pictures or video, it didn’t happen. We are expected to document each and every experience and publish this “proof” that it happened in all of our myriad social media in real time . . . even better if we do a “Watch Party” or FB LIVE broadcast. We dutifully oblige our peeps by being prepared (Cell phone fully charged and ready to shoot) . . . If we’re really on our game, we’ll pre-announce our to be attendance at said event with a promise to share the experience with anyone and everyone who cares to “be there.” (digitally) At what cost? How much of the the experience do we miss as we scramble to capture that perfect shot. Where, really, is our attention? Are we at this event to entertain ourselv... 03/13/2019

No matter how nice and cute they seem when they’re young, they’re gonna grow up and do harm. Go catch a little bear cub – or a mountain lion – Feed it and give it a great environment to thrive, and inevitably it’ll grow and become a full-fledged adult that could turn on you in a heart-beat and eat you alive. Nonsensical, RIGHT? Well . . . how ’bout Monsters of a different kind that you naively feed day in and day out? Monopolistic organizations who suck you into their complex webs may seem to be convenient and easy, but are they interested in your well being? Probably NOT! Everything has a price even if you “think” you’re getting a great deal. Marketers are great at making the sharp reality invisible. Zillow – Google – Comcast – Home Depot/Lowes – Amazon . . . and the list goes on. Big ... 03/12/2019

Very little (if any) rain is in the forecast this week in Middle TN . . . YAY! Spring has sprung in Owen Hollow – Looks like Imma gonna hafta cut some grass next weekend.In today’s Http://BarrysDriveTime.com, I talked about “deciding to start” . . . That’s my theme for this week. With the seemingly never-ending rain through February and continuing the 1st week of March, we’ve all had plenty of reasons not to do lots of things we know we “should” be doing. That “ToDo List” isn’t going to complete itself, so let’s focus on deciding to start a whole lot of intentional forward motion . . . NOW! Just in the past week, flowers are blooming, grass is GREEN, trees are budding, the toads have emerged (an annual trek from the creek bed to the ridge), seasonal birds are returning from their Southe... 03/11/2019

1010 Rev. Dr. Enoch Jones Blvd, Nashville, TN 37208Listing is offered by EXIT Realty Homes & Land in Shelbyville and is an an amazing opportunity to own property only blocks from Bicentennial Mall, the Farmers Market and the proposed Amazon Business Center in downtown Nashville, TN. The property includes a house that is being sold "AS IS" that could possibly be used as a rental until the new owner is ready to develop the site. The property is located in the DTC/MDHA overlay for mixed use zoned property and may qualify for the TIF program. Priced at $782,000.Call the listing agent - Jeanne Hoechst at 615-542-8044 for more information.     03/10/2019

I had to “FIRE” my favorite lender @ 20 years ago. This loan originator was ON THE BALL! She was uber responsive to the client AND to me (the Client’s REALTOR). At the time, I was working almost exclusive with first time home buyers . . . LOTS of 1st time buyers, so I really needed a lender that I could consistently trust to get loans CLOSED and ON TIME. She was masterful at creating financial scenarios which could get otherwise seemingly impossible loans to the closing table. She “participated” financially in my marketing efforts. She’s still in the business, and I am certain that she’s still working that magic with/for other agents daily. Why, then, would I FIRE her? What could she have done that was SO egregious that I would sever such an important relationship? In search of more kno... 03/08/2019

Originally posted at rhondaburgess.com/what-time-is-it-in-nashville Today in this video, we're going to talk about one simple thing.What time is it in Nashville?Hey, Rhonda Burgess here. Nashville real estate broker and native Nashvillian and I want to cover just one quick topic. What time is it in Nashville?Nashville is on central standard time. Nashville is on central standard time.We are one hour behind the east coast, two hours ahead of the west coast.I go over this because in the past two weeks I've had people who called me from the videos I've been making.And we've been out looking at houses and just getting to know the Nashville area and both clients were coming from the eastern standard time.And so when they say, well, we'll meet at let's say 12 noon, I'm thinking 12 noon our ti... 03/07/2019

There are myriad Real Estate Firms that will “hire” you sight unseen just on the chance that you might sell a house or more. Call me “old fashioned” but this disturbs me a bit. I’m noticing a trend of Real Estate Firms and teams upping their recruiting games with job postings, cold-calling agents, and other “creative” strategies . . . Just about anything to increase the number of agents on their teams. Don’t get me wrong here – I’m a Real Estate Principal Broker and owner who also desires to grow my company (Pareto Realty). I tested boosting a Facebook “Recruiting Post” which reportedly was seen many thousands of times resulting in a small hand full (less than 10) inquiries . . . 0 (ZERO) of those inquiries were from agents who met the “minimum requirements for hiring”, and I don’t thin... 03/07/2019

My “Open Space Friend” Paul Levy is brilliant. He said the title of this post. With great efficiency, his stream of consciousness thoughts go places most other minds cannot conceive. He says cool stuff like: “Noticing all the versions of me.” I feel refreshed after every conversation with Paul because he pretty much shreds the concept that everything must be ordered and intricately planned to be of use. My Father Harrison Owen often chimes in with “The reality is that nothing of significant value happens according to the plan”, yet we all plan because we’ve been programmed to be planners. Some folks make it their life pursuit to plan and seldom get around to actually DOING anything. These are VERY smart people! Their presentations are mesmerizing with their elaborately displayed bullet ... 03/06/2019

As I was walking out of the office to fetch something from the car this morning, I had a frightening thought. The second I heard the office door latch behind me, I remembered that my keys were on my desk. I had departed from the usual routine because I’ve started doing 30 minutes of light exercise (calisthenics) to wake my body up each morning, and I had removed my keys from my pocket. The frightening thought was: “What if when I return, the electronic lock fails to open?” I know this may sound a bit OCD, but the truth is that the electronic lock DID malfunction last week (batteries), and I had my keys with me, so it wasn’t a problem. TODAY; though, the back up keys were on the other side of the door. I fetched that which I needed from the car, and the electronic WORKED. To what degree ... 03/05/2019

The Real Estate Market in the past several years has lulled us into a comfortable state of complacency. We REALTORS could pretty much have our way (and let our home Sellers have THEIR way) when it came to pricing homes . . . It was pretty easy . . . Do a cursory Comparative Market Analysis mostly because that’s what we’re s’posed to do so as to be able “justify our price to the market” in the event some pesky Buyers and their agents dared challenge it with the question: “Where did you get THAT price?” Home sale values were climbing quickly enough that we could pull 3 months of “Historical” (CLOSED) data and identify the highest Price/Square Foot number and increase that by 3-5% and let that be the price. We could then sit back and collect multiple offers, many of which were higher than ... 03/04/2019

Let’s start with a dictionary definition from         USLegal.com: ‘Imputed knowledge means the knowledge attributed to a party because of his/her position, or his/her relationship with or responsibility for another party. Such knowledge is attributed for the reason that the facts in issue were open to discovery and it was that person’s duty to apprise him/her of such facts. For instance, if the stairway leading to a rental house is defective and if any person is injured on the stairway, the house owner cannot evade liability for such person’s injury by denying knowledge of the defect. Reason being that the house owner is subject to a duty to discover and rectify the defect in an area known to be used by the public. Hence, knowledge of the defect is imputed to the house owner.” Real Est... 03/01/2019

“When you’re marketing change, you’re offering a new emotional state, a step closer to the dreams and desires of your customers, not a widget.”(From This Is Marketing by Seth Godin page 78) 4 pages later, he offers some sage advice to REALTORS entitled: “No one is happy to call a real estate broker”. I’m not going to type the 4 pages . . . You’re gonna have to get yourself a copy of the book to get the full text – and no – Seth is not paying me to promote his book. I will, though, offer some very sound bytes of knowledge: “It’s our job to watch people, figure out what they dream of, and then create a transaction that can deliver that feeling.” “people confuse wants and needs. What we need is air, water, and a roof over our heads. Pretty much everything else is a want.” “people are intim... 02/28/2019

It happens to all of us. Funk sneaks up on ya, and you just don’t want to do “it” anymore. The pile is getting deeper . . . The bills aren’t paying themselves . . . You’re not doing the good-for-you things you know you need to do . . . You feel like you’re spinning your wheels – treading water – marking time . . . You know what you “should” be doing, but you’d rather just not do anything. Don’t let this be you for any longer than necessary! It’s time to take ACTION! What was the thing that triggered this apathy? At a minimum, I believe it’s time for a break. Take a walk in the park, meet a friend for coffee, go for a work-out in the gym . . . What NOT to do is beat yourself up for being so “stupid” as to allow yourself to be derailed. BREATHE! and then just be the wonderful human being ... 02/27/2019

Oh my! Why do some people have make things SO difficult? Just when we start getting used to THIS way of doing things, someone feels compelled to CHANGE something. Why can’t we just leave things well enough alone? What we are doing now works . . . It does what it’s s’posed to do and has been doing its job reliably for all this time. What’s up with these rebels who are all about “out with the old and in with the new” attitudes? They’re not happy unless they are stirring the pot. Yeah . . . That’s it . . . They’re trying to drive us bonkers. These “innovators” – “Early adopters” are trying their best to force all of us to become “adapters”, and we don’t like that because it’s not comfortable. We dislike this change so much that, when we hear it’s coming, we become ostriches – stick our hea... 02/26/2019