The Realtor Success Series

Ninja Genius & the Enemy Line

Posted on July 29, 2008 by Russell Shaw

Okay, this is really, Enemy Line, part 2. Part 1 was here. The reason for the delay: I was in Orlando for Starpower and this is the first chance I’ve had since I got back to town. This post was prompted by the various questions I received in the comments section of that first post. Please forgive me for this: most of those questions (I received some in person as well) were prompted by people reading the first post and then NOT actually doing what that post said to do. This would be sort of like reading about an exercise

The Enemy Line

Posted on July 20, 2008 by Russell Shaw

Achieving success is primarily a mental thing. One can observe the physical actions and results but sitting behind those actions and results are thoughts. "Correct" thoughts. The right kind of thinking leads to the right kind of actions. In any meaningful and desirable activity there is an infinity of incorrect ways to attempt to accomplish the intended result. There are but a few "correct" methods. Correct is being defined in this context to mean it works. That kind of thinking will produce the intended result. Usually, even in what could be classified as a purely "physical activity" the difference between

Listers Last

Posted on July 16, 2008 by Russell Shaw

This post started as a comment in response to some of the comments to this post on Agent Genius. Russell, in a matter of a few minutes, can give you the names of dozens of listing teams across the nation doing equal or far more business than he does. He can’t, however, do the same for buyer agent teams. Correct. I am in the top 200 agents in the U.S. again this year. But I am not "the" top. Last year (2006 stats) I was number 25 in the team "sides" category. There were a number of people who beat

Which is Better: a Home Buyer or a Home Seller?

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Russell Shaw

It probably depends on your point of view. Are you looking for a quick nickel or a slow dollar? Do you want a job or a business? How about in "this market"? Isn’t it better to have a buyer than a listing now? I’ve written before that my expertise is in getting and getting rid of listings. In some of those posts I’ve seen comments to the effect that I forgot to mention working buyers. I didn’t forget. To sell a house you need a buyer. Each time and without exception. It just goes with the territory. But if your

How High and How Low Can Your Commission Go?

Posted on July 7, 2008 by Russell Shaw

What is your time worth per hour? Your fee structure would reflect that amount. Just how does a working Realtor get their income up? Charge more? Get more people to pay them? Both? Some other answer? A few years ago (late 2004 and through 2005) there was more downward pressure on real estate commissions than I’ve seen seen in the past thirty years. There were a lot of lower commission companies that started and there was a tremendous amount of media coverage about real estate commissions needing to go down. The "news articles" and that viewpoint are still being worked

Is it Possible That Only 7% of All Realtors Do Over 90% of the Business?

Posted on July 6, 2008 by Russell Shaw

Jonathan correctly pointed out that a third of of the members of NAR sold nothing last year. Amazingly, that isn’t new – that has been true for as long as such stats have been kept on how much is being sold. In a solicitation email I received from Dirk Zeller he talked about the Pareto Principle – better known as the 80-20 rule. This would suggest that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business and that 80% of the agents do the remaining 20%. Dirk did some research for his area (Bend, Oregon) and concluded that Bend

Quantity – Quality – Viability

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Russell Shaw

“Miracles are great, but. they are so damned unpredictable.” – Peter Drucker Quantity, then quality, then viability. That is the correct sequence with regard to leads, listings and leverage. Leads always comes first. In this business if one can not generate sufficient leads nothing else will matter. It will make no difference how smart you are or how much you know – if you don’t have any customers to talk to. Lead conversion is obviously the action sitting between having sufficient leads to wind up with a sufficient amount of listings. But just having enough leads is the very first

The iRuss – a Look From the Other Side

Posted on June 12, 2008 by Russell Shaw

This post is in response to my last one. I had no idea it would be so well received. Having surveyed only myself, to me it was a post I tossed off. This post consists of the responses to the questions and points raised. I want an iRuss also! A mini iPod crammed full of Russell Shaw podcasts and videos… You know, there could be some $$ that idea… Go to this page and load yours up. Scroll down to the lower half for the audio and video content. sometimes as we are at the appointment, we learn about things

How To Get The Listing Every Time!

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Russell Shaw

With this post, I am introducing the new iRuss. Here is another email from Raymond: Hi Russell, I’m trying to get some realistic perspective on the fall out rate of listings as experienced by successful listing specialists. It’s not my intention to invade your privacy so I will understand should you ignore my request. Anyway here is what I’d like to know: How many listing appointments/presentations did your team make in the past year? How many listings did your team take in the past year? Of those how many sold? And, how many expired or were canceled or withdrawn?

The 100 Days Trick

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Russell Shaw

I have seen the future and it is a lot like the past, only longer. There is a "trick" that time plays on people. For most working Realtors the trick that time plays is about 100 days. In this business, it takes about 100 days from the time you do the things that matter until you get paid. What you did or didn’t do (Dollar Productive Activities) in March will determine how much income you receive in June. This lag in time contributes to many agents failure to realize that they personally control their income. But there is a

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