It's amazing how the dots connect in real estate transactions.  Two of my most unusual transactions involved improbable situations.  Chris, a young man barely turned 18 approached me because he had heard I sold real estate.  No one wanted to take the kid seriously, and I could tell that he was bracing himself for the same brush off from me.  When, I told him that I was willing to work with him, his face lit up with excitement!  A couple of months later, he bought his first home and a couple of years later sold it for $24,000 in profit! 

It was Chris' mom, Sue who told me about Willie.  She worked with Willie in an Automobile Used Car Sales Lot.  Willie was one of the salespersons on the team.  She indicated that she had told the folks at work about her son's experience & Willie wanted to see if I could assist him with the purchase of a new home.  She also wanted me to know one more thing...Willie was legally blind.  Hold on...Rewind...A Blind Used Car Saleman???

We met Willie at the lot.  We waited until he had finished with a customer & then he greeted us warmly.  Not a hint of self-pity in his voice.  I peered at this man with the thick spectacles.  Was he really blind?  How in the world do you sell cars when you can't see them? 

Willie began to tell us his story.  His successful career with the Grand Rapids Parks & Recreational Department had been cut short when he began to loose his eyesite.  Doctors were never able to pinpoint what caused the degeneration of his optic nerve, but over a short period of time, Willie became legally blind & unable to continue his job.

Now, for most people, that would be the end of a sad story.  But not for Willie.  Willie decided that this was the chance to pursue his lifelong dream of selling cars.  He persuaded the owner of the Roberts Auto Shop to hire him & give him a chance.  Willie proceeded to memorize every car on the lot, using his hands to feel out the features.  A special computer which he demonstrated to us allowed letters to be enlarged 6-8 inches so he could painstakingly make out certain items.  While he did not complete contracts, I did actually witness him use that computer  & was amazed!

Willie found his dream home and became one of my most grateful & loyal clients.   He was grateful for the fact that we respected him & looked out for his interests.  He was grateful that we took the time to locate a home which he could walk to from work. He was grateful that his ranch style home was on one level.  He was grateful that he would be able to fix up his home.  Another double-take for me.  I asked this question to myself, "Willie, How are you going to handle tools to fix up your home"?  But he did!  And when he had finished painting, creating a Nascar Room & building a deck, he invited us over for a Celebration; pointing out all the things he had done himself with help from his wife & friends.

Since the sale of his home, Willie has called every Christmas or New Year to wish us well.  Recently, he called with some sad news.  His old boss had died, and Willie was being forced out of his job.  He sounded so folorn.  I was taken with the distress in his voice...so unlike Willie.  But, by the end of the conversation, the old Willie began to emerge as he talked about his dream of opening up his own garage.  This time, I knew better.  Nothing is impossible with God...and Willie's life has certainly proved that.  A few months passed and I received another call.  This time he said, "Lola, I'm doing it, I'm getting my own shop!" 

A few days ago, I stopped by to see Willie at his new shop on 7364 S. Division in Grand Rapids, Michgan.  Assistance from the Association of th Blind had enabled Willie to make his dream a reality!  The Grand Rapids Press & several syndicated news outlets picked up on the story & featured Willie & his family.  Willie's wife Betsy is deaf & they work together as a team.  She is his eyes & he is her ears.  Their daughter Delores is the delight of their lives.  Willie was so pleased to greet me.  I took  a picture of him in his office and said "You look like you should have been doing this all your life!  We both laughed.

My experiences with Chris & Willie have taught me a few important things.  First, never underestimate anyone, ever!  Chris remains the youngest individual I've ever worked with.  But he achieved his goal because someone was willing to come alongside & believe with him.  Secondly, a blind man taught me how to look beyond limitations and truly see the power of faith & potential.  Willie rarely indulged in self-pity or blame, even when he was fired on a pretext from a salesperson job that he had held for several years as a legally blind man for...get this...loosing his sight.  He used this experience as a stepping stone to acheive his goals.  In Willie's words, he sees it like this.."Any day that we're above ground is a good day!"

So, what are your limitations?  Why are they stopping you? 

*Related Article in the Grand Rapids, Press:  Gallery of Photos of Willie & his family

*Original Grand Rapids Press article by Pat Shellenberger

*Related Article in Lansing  State Journal, "Use Car Dealer says Wife's the Eyes, He's the Ears."

Why Shifting Into Neutral Can Fast Forward Your Advancement!

 There's an oft repeated tale about how certain hunters in Africa catch monkeys.  It can be very difficult to corral these intelligent creatures, so hunters have used a more inventive method...trapping a monkey by enticing him.  A small jar is placed at the base of a tree with nuts or other items which may attract the monkey's curiosity. 

The opening of the jar allows the monkey to place his hand in, but when he tries to withdraw it, he is unable to do so without letting go of the contents of the jar.  Believe it or not, some monkeys will stay there with their hand in the jar until the hunter comes back to trap them!  They are trapped because they are unwilling to let go of something they are doing which is working against them.

It's not just monkeys who get trapped by what we are unwilling to release.  While, most of us would not be tempted by peanuts or sweets in a jar, it's amazing the things we will hang onto rather than release them so we can move on.  As a Realtor, I witness this phenomenon all the time.  The peanuts are quite conventional; I've got to obtain this Price for my house...irregardless of the market or I must have this home even though I can't really afford the payments. There may be variations on these themes, but in the end they're still peanuts...unrealistic expectations held on to at the expense of moving forward and achieving our goals & desires.

The real estate process often involves the 3 main components of this story; the Hunter, the Monkey & the Jar of Peanuts.  Buyers & Sellers are the significant players in the real estate process.  Sometimes, there is a tendency to behave like the monkey with the hand stuck in the jar for a few peanuts.  Instead of drawing back, taking the hand out of the jar to reconsider options and listen to sound counsel, so many get trapped by the peanuts. 

Peanuts are the misguided rewards that we think we desperately need.  Peanuts are symbolized by the Price that the Property must be worth because so much has been put into improvements.  Peanuts talk to the monkey even though they have no audible voice.  They convince the monkey that if you hold on to this for long enough, you will get what you want.  Peanuts lie!  Letting go of false assumptions is what will bring fulfillment to the desire & this can only be done by stopping the action of holding on to those peanuts. 

Holding on to an Artificially Inflated Price which the current market cannot support is listening to the Peanuts Lie.  Refusing to let go of clutter that serves no useful purpose and is hindering the sale of your home traps the hand in the peanut jar.  Looking for the , perfect home, in the perfect neighborhood, with  the perfect neighbors at the perfect price etc. ad nauseum ensures that your dream will never become a reality because...I tell you truth...Those peanuts will lie to you & then trap you! Once you move into the perfect neighborhood, you can rest assured, it will no longer be perfect.

The Hunter represents market forces.  The market needs players so it offers attractive opportunities. The number of financing vehicles, housing choices & selling tools  available to home buyers and home sellers has created many options &  provided a diverse variety of peanut jars. The market doesn't really care which monkey is snared by the contents of the jar.  It knows that some monkeys will pass by it's offers & simply decide that peanuts just aren't' an attractive choice on the menu at the moment. 

The Hunter also figures that a certain percentage of monkeys will recognize a trap when they see one & won't fall for the ruse.  But, it gambles that enough monkeys will not figure out a very simply solution to the dilemma.  Simply, let go of the peanuts, release your hand from the trap, turn the jar upside down & then you can have your peanuts & not get trapped!  The monkeys who have their Freedom & Eat Their Peanuts as well are those who realize that sometimes you have to let go of an outdated or incorrect assumption or ideals in order to move forward.  Sometimes, the action you take to STOP doing the wrong thing is the most important action you take because it allows you to see more clearly the best solution & option available to you.

Instead of demanding the highest price, simply stop being unrealistic.  Instead of taking several jobs to support a lifestyle we cannot afford, simply stop spending more money than you make or sell your house & move to something more affordable. We would be so much further ahead. if we concentrated on simply stopping doing a few of the things that we are doing which impede our progress  Instead of thinking like the monkey who is committed to getting a few peanuts out of a jar at the expense of his life & freedom, we can stop and  let go of the peanuts  & choose intelligent solutions.  This technique works for real estate & for life!

© 2007 Audu Real Estate  All rights reserved

Living Outside the box!  Part 2

Read Part 1 of Living Outside the Box

I entered the Grand Rapids, Michigan real estate market just before the markets began its remarkable upswing.  In 1995, faxes and e-mail scans were not the primary means of delivering an offer.  Face to face negotiations required patience, persistance, and a thick skin.  If it was NOT a particularly attractive offer...well, let's put it this way, the dining room table in the home of a disgruntled seller could easily become hostile territory.

I tried to heed the advice of my trainer who urged us "Rookies" not to take things personally.  The challenge for me was this:  How do you NOT take it personally when you are embarrased and/or humiliated during an offer presentation?  How do you NOT take it personally when another Realtor's rudeness or incompetence turns an otherwise uncomplicated transaction into a nightmare?   How do you NOT take it personally when the appraiser walks up the steps of the house you have listed to conduct an impartial appraisal and BEFORE even entering it announces that he has decided he does NOT like this house and won't pass it? (Yes, this actually happened to me.)

Overtime, as I have been involved in more transactions, I have dealt with  a number of challenging and unfair situations.  I realized that if I allowed bitterness and resentment to color the lens through which I viewed my transactions, I would soon find myself living in a very small box. It is not uncommon during conversations to hear others refer to an agent with whom they had a difficult transaction in disparaging terms. This grudge bearing is not limited to agents...buyers and sellers sometimes offer to regale me with tales aboutf horrible transactions.  At first I listened, but eventually came to understand that I can just as easily become the subject of their next story. I soon learned that the best response was to say " I appreciate your concerns, but we must know focus our attention on the task at hand."

 Initially, I misunderstood how to implement my trainers advice.  "Don't take it personally."  I thought that if I didn't think about these incidents, the pain of perceived slights and insults would simply fade away.  They didn't.  Overtime, I noticed that I began to recoil at the thought of calling to show certain homes or meeting certain people as I harbored disspointment and resentment.  These choices simply relegated my distress to a deeper level of my subconscious. This was definitely short on positive results; my mental, emotional and physical well-being all being adversely affected.

A more mature understanding of the prinicples emobdied in the Greek Definition of the Word for Love, reveals its immense practical relevance.  Agape love is powerful when directed towards a friend, but it goes into stratospheric levels when focused on those by whom you have been mistreated.  For starters, they can no longer place you in a box!  Whenever, I make the decision to release someone who has wounded me, my healing starts...I am no longer on their timetable. 

I am learning to engage and practise a Few Simple Transformational  Business Principles. Here some suggestions I am using to  Keep My Heart's Love Account Balanced.  Perhaps they can be of assistance to you as well.

Keep Short Accounts

• It is a form of Irrational Emotional Accounting to alienate professional & personal relationships because of a perceived slight or insult. Remember that someone else, somewhere on this planet,  is probably seeking therapeutic assistance for some of your misdeeds to them!.   Sometimes, I wish we were able to get a look at the ledger which revealed how much we had forfeited because we refused to release another's debt of offense. We would see that there are transactions which we missed because we did not have the creative energy reserves for them, opportunites which we were blind to, all because we carried excessively long accounts. So let it go, no one is perfect.

Keep focused on the task at hand.

• Will this really matter in 1 year? I honestly cannot remember what irritated me a year ago, can you?  If what is being done is unethical or unjust...yes, it will matter in a year.  In a year, the individuals impacted will have suffered needlessly. If the answer is YES, then no commission is worth the compromise.  If the answer is NO, then let it go.  The price of losing focus is a luxury we cannot afford.  Remember that another's well-being is ultimately somehow inter-related to your own.  We are all connected!

Keep It Polite...Mind Your Manners.

• Practice being polite before you find yourself in a difficult situation.  Practise saying thank you for the little things, particularly with members of your family.  Practise simple acts of respectful kindness like holding the door open for someone else.  Practise honoring people by calling them "Sir" & M'am...it has a way of getting you into the habit of acknowledging and reinforcing in your subconscious mind the importance of others. 

Keep Your Love Channel Clear...This Really is What You Need!

This is not easy, but living in a rapidly clustraphobic box because you choose to nurse a hurt is infinitely more difficult.  Sometimes we ignore the indicators which signal a blockage in our love channel. When you find yourself wincing at the mention of someone's name...there is an interruption of the flow of love.  When you avoid showing a certain person's listing...there is an interruption of the flow of love.  When you wince at the prospect of meeting someone...there is an interruption in the flow of love.  Learn to honor this message.  You can't always change the other person or the situation...but we can all make a choice to move forward with our lives rather than stagnate on life's stage because we choose to hold on to that which we must release.

Click to Read Part 1 of "Living Outside the Box"

© 2007 Audu Real Estate  All rights reserved