A familiar ritual at the dining table as a youngster involved being reminded time and time and again to mind my P's and Q's.  What was commonly referred to as Table Manners were a set a rules that adults felt we needed to know to avoid embarrassing them in polite company.  Thank God their persistence helped to ensure that we didn't become little hellions.

Rules of engagement are a necessary part of social interaction as well as business.  As real estate professionals explore the online world, it is often difficult to clearly understand what the rules are because the context changes so quickly.  It was barely a decade ago that the most progressive agents were those who had a website.  Today, a blog is a pre-requisite for the web savvy practitioner.

Therein lies the confusion.  Do the rules really change just because the context does?  Are there some things that will not change regardless of how drastically technological advancements redefine the business landscape?  I would argue that YES, there are foundational issues which will not change inspite of the shifting sands which continually realign various aspects of the real estate industry.

The first foundation is the Code of Ethics, a standard which defines the rules and practise of professional behavior for real estate practitioners. 

The Code of Ethics stands alongside the laws of each State to support the ethical conduct which should define every real estate transaction.  Although the Code of Ethics is modified from time to time to encompass new arenas such as the Internet, it remains the bedrock solid foundation which defines the conduct of the well mannered agent.

As new agents continue to funnel into the business and more experienced practitioners find themselves working in unfamiliar territory, there are some additional qualities which will continue to provide solid guidance for success.   I refer to these as the Three P's of Priority, Perseverance and Patience.

Proper Priorities

Knowing what your priorities should be is the biggest single factor which determines success or failure for many agents.  There are only a few things that actually make money for a successful agent.  These are: listing or selling a home, prospecting for new business, following up on leads and asking for the appointments necessary build relationships and build our business.  Everything else that we do, including attending closings, is a result of the above activities.  When we loose sight of this and spend little time on these basic activities, our business is bound to suffer.

Perseverance

Persevering involves keeping on, in spite of, not because of.  The old saying 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going' is true.  Many agents give up far too quickly.  This is where it can be helpful to talk to other successful people or read their books.  One will quickly discover that everyone has struggled in one fashion or another.  It's a fact of life.  Persevering is a pre-requisite for success because it proves that you are willing to do what it takes to get the prize...your goal of a successful career.

Patience

Patience develops character.  I'm often amused to hear the term 'overnight' success.  To the individual who supposedly achieves this feat, it most often feels like a very long, long, night!  We tend to refer to the achievement as an overnight success because we are unfamiliar with the journey that enabled someone to gain the status that they now enjoy.  Upon closer examination, it is often revealed to have been a far longer more involved process than a cursory glance would suggest.  Patience is what enables what you are doing to mature to the point where it becomes a fruitful endeavor.

A wise man was once quoted as noting that 'there is nothing new under the sun.'  Knowing HOW to do something is as important as having a clear understanding of WHAT one should actually be doing.  Regardless of how quickly technology shifts our business, the solid foundations of a business built on Right Priorities, Perseverance and Patience are the tools that a determined professional will need to cultivate in order to thrive and succeed.

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

Most of us emerge on planet earth with all the stridency that our 8 to 9 pounds of flesh can muster.  So much so that the infant who emerges without a lusty yell is promptly  spanked on the rump to produce one.  After all...one has arrived.  Say so!

Sideline living is against the grain of human ego.  A newborn baby in a household quickly demands just about everyones' waking and non-waking moments. 

Babies need to be fed at regular intervals, burped, changed, bathed, soothed, entertained...in short, paid attention to at all times. 

While we relish the joy of observing the expansion of new life in a newborn, this quickly becomes old by the time the child hits the terrible twos.  Who can blame the toddler?  Relinquishing prime real estate territory at 'the center of a universe of ONE' cannot be easy.

But, I suspect that the inclinations of the toddler do not fully disappear.  In most of us, they simply retreat underground; temporarily masked by the need to adhere to social norms but always eager to assume center stage if and when the opportunity arises.  A silent witness to the most debilitating form of human suffering...the deep yearning to be given permission to live life with gusto.

Several years ago, I wrote a devotional which I shared with some staff members at a local church.  The mediation was entitled "Living in the Margins."  At the time, we were attending a church which had gone through a number of significant transitions which had left many feeling somewhat fragmented emotionally and spiritually. It was a feeling of disconnection and disorientation...a struggle to regain ones' footing; to reclaim ones' place.

It was around Easter and I was drawn to the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus from a perspective that I had never considered before.  I began to study the sideline characters in this well known narratives ...the possible stories of individuals  who garnered few eloquent sermons.  These ordinary folks whose contributions remain on the sideline of of the most important titanic drama in human history. 

It was their stories that engaged the imagination of my mind...

I started thinking about what it must have been like to be merely passing through Jerusalem and then suddenly conscripted, without the benefit of hire, to carry the cross of a man who was stumbling to His the death like an ordinary criminal. 

Then there was Pilate's wife, a well to do lady.  She had a nightmare about the man her husband was about to sentence to death.  This nighttime terror haunted her soul's dreams and forced an urgent entreaty to warn Pilate about her apprehension. 

Witness the women who were considered as little more than chattel to be owned by men...following at a distance, and watching the last gasping breath of the Son of God. 

I thought of a rich man who gave up his burial plot for a bruised body to be laid...a body which had been publicly scorned by passersby.

As my thoughts wove around the potential stories of these individuals, I was struck by the remarkable experiences that were only available outside the crowded confines of the scriptural text.  Lives whose contributions emerged within the margins and not on the central stage. 

Women whose minimal status in cultural life was elevated by God to witness this transforming moment in history after all the strong men had bolted in fear. 

A black man who was not paid for his forced labor but allowed to carry the burden of God on earth and be rewarded with eternal glory. 

A  man of immense wealth and privilege who went against the grain of society and gave up his own burial place not knowing that his body would one day occupy the space in which a Resurrection took place.  Wow!

It was their position at the sidelines which afforded them the benefit of these unique and extraordinary moments.  But, why is it that so often we yearn for the extraordinary but strive to find it within the crowded confines of the norm?  The middle place, the popular position, the cursed bane of compromise which robs us our uniqueness while promising us safety in numbers?

It is in this place of false security that we pay with hands outstretched the price required for our soul. Unaware that it is the one thing for which there is no earthly compensation is large enough to ransom. 

In this trade, the devil laughs at our naivete, knowing that we have not outgrown the proclivities of that tempestuous toddler, we have merely traded the newborns scream for a dull, blunted roar. 

A harsh return for an immortal life which entered the world unfettered, knowing that the cry which brought it here was never meant to be imprisoned within the limiting confines of mediocrity and conformity.

And inside, the scream continues unabated...unheard by human ears, reeling with staggered desperation within the human heart.  For it knows that it was sent on a unique mission; one which has now been traded for a pittance of pottage.  The scream bears silent witness to the inner desire to complete our unique mission in life with integrity, knowing that we enter into this life alone...and we we are all destined to leave it in the same fashion.

Picture of baby courtesy of jessicafm's photostream on flickr.com

Mouth picture courtesy of Phineas H's photostream on flickr.com

This entry is part of a larger series entitled..."What it Means..."

The story of the Crucifixion can be found in the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke & John

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

This year has produced some major legislation affecting real estate and mortgage lending practices in the State of Michigan. Earlier in the summer, I wrote about a New Disclosure Law which went into effect on July 1, 2008 for Real Estate Brokers.

This disclosure provides a clear definition of the contract for services in hiring a real estate broker. The New disclosure also requires that a Minimum Service brokerage indicate which services they are/are not providing and reveal these limits to potential clients, thus hopefully clearing some of the confusion surrounding WHAT real estate brokers actually are DOING to provide VALUE to the real estate transaction.

Within the next 6 months, another far reaching piece of Legislation, Public Act 60, will also go into effect. This impacts the lending industry. The legislation has been in process for some time and predates the current lending crisis. Public Act 60 will require that loan originators in Michigan be registered with the State of Michigan to legally conduct business. A continuing education requirement has been added which includes 24 hours of Pre-licensing education and 6 hours of yearly Continuing Education Credit on a yearly basis.

Michigan now joins a list of 26 other state which require loan originators to be licensed. The Act does not cover banks but only applies to mortgage brokers. There are on going challenges still being resolved with the implementation of Public Act 60 which will be enforced starting January of 2009. Perhaps some of the most significant questions are:

1. What the Registration Process will cost

2. What the educational coursework will contain although broad perimeters have been established

One of the most important aspects of the Act, in my opinion is the requirement for criminal background checks for all loan officers. Readers of my blog may remember a post I wrote last year in which an individual interviewed for a job as an agent in my office. He was a convicted felon and yet was processing loans. The rub was that his conviction was for...fraud and financial theft.

In an article for the Ann Arbor Business Review, Carol Marshall offers a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the new law in addition to some of the cautions in regarding it as a solution to ALL the problems the industry faces. One lender is quoted as saying that just because someone can pass a test and a criminal background check does not mean that they are a good person or an ethical lender.

Well, that's the truth. We've had licensing requirements for agents and brokers for many years in Michigan and there are still bad apples in the lot. However, the process needs to start somewhere. It makes no sense to me that hair dresser and barbers in the State of Michigan still have educational requirements much more stringent than those required for real estate professionals and mortgage lenders.

In a real estate market in which just under 1 out of 2 homes which are actually SOLD are Short Sales or Foreclosures, more home sellers in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area are inquiring about if a Short Sale may be a viable path to consider.

It is no secret that there has been a precipitous slide in home prices over the past year.  This coupled with the sub-prime mortgage mess has placed some home owners into a situation in which the Value of their home is LESS than what they currently owe  on their mortgage payment.  In some cases...way less.  As a result, some home owners are bringing thousands of dollars to the closing table to make up the difference owed to the bank.

But what can you do if you don't have Thousands of Extra Dollars sitting in a bank, savings or retirement account?  Unfortunately, this is a question, many home owners are asking.  Individuals who have to move due to a job loss, illness or divorce.  Individuals who can no longer afford to stay in the home they bought.

Short Sales are complex real estate transactions.  Although banks do not want to 'own' real estate, they are often less than cooperative in situations in which the debt obligation to them will not be fulfilled.  To make the case to the bank about the specifics of your situation and your intention to try to fulfill your obligations to the best of your ability, it is wise to hire a real estate agent who has successfully completed Short Sale negotiations and who understands the intricacies of the process.

There are several stages within a Short Sale Negotiation.  The first determination is to gain a comprehensive understanding of your specific situation.  Questions which need to be answered include your payment history and a complete analysis of your financial resources; including a detailed rendering of any extenuating circumstances which may impact your ability to repay your obligation.

The home in question must also be verified through a market analysis to substantiate the loss in Value.  This will often include not just a real estate broker evaluation but also an independent appraisal or Broker Price Analysis from another source.  Then the home must be marketed aggressively, as NOTHING proceeds forward until you obtain a viable buyer.

Once an offer is tendered, the real 'fun' begins.  In some instances, we have encountered Loss Mitigation Specialists assigned to handle up to several hundred files at a time.  The pressure on them is enormous and they often fail to answer their phones or respond to any attempts of communication.  It is here that hiring the RIGHT agent makes all the difference in the world. 

It is important that your real estate agent/broker possess the following qualities when negotiating a Short Sale.

1.  They must UNDERSTAND the process...knowledge of the different aspects of foreclosure & short sale

2.  They must KNOW how to price your home to actually SELL

3.  They should have a good INTERNET presence to attract the largest pool of buyers

4.  They must be PERSISTENT in their negotiation efforts

5.  They should have an inherent grasp of the DETAILS to ensure that all parties remain informed

6.  Your agent must be DETERMINED to represent your best interest

Successful Negotiation of Short Sales is a mandatory element of the training which the agents of Audu Real Estate receive during their 1-2 year apprenticeship.  Audu Real Estate has successfully short sales on behalf of our clients. 

We strive to conduct our negotiations in a way which honors the dignity of those involved and protects their privacy.  If you'd like additional information or a private consultation regarding your Short Sale options, please contact us at: info@audurealestate.com.

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Additional Real Estate Short Sale Articles by Audu Real Estate