Your Real Estate Ace

So, after an exciting vote, Your Real Estate Ace is now my official slogan, and my logo has been update accordingly. :) Seriously, I sent out an e-mail to my contact database, and got nearly a 20% response ratio, which is pretty phenomenal for the business. "A Realtor You Can Bet Your House On" came in second, but also received the most negative comments (a lot of people didn't like the connection between "betting" and the most important asset of their lives). A distant third with 7 votes was "The Ace Up Your Sleeve In Real Estate," but that also got some negative votes.

Meanwhile, as promised, a discussion of taekwondo... Ah, taekwondo. Things you should learn to do when you are a kid for $1,000. Nothing like some old, smiling Asian black belt telling you to rotate your hips, tilt your head back, rotate your front foot to the left, and keep your leg straight all at the same time... Right. Walking and chewing gum at the same time is an occasional challenge for me. It all gets even better when my wife, a brown belt, does exactly those things with relative ease. :) In all seriousness, taekwondo's been a fun addition to life. Relationally, it's allowed Sara and me to get some very valuable time together and improved our marriage and, overall, it's gotten some more balance back into my life, as, aside from playing soccer goalie once a week, I wasn't getting enough exercise.

Well, guess that's really it for this post. Business continues to pick up as we continue to near Spring. Sara has Spring break in 3 weeks. My poker bankroll was robbed when someone broke into our house but, all in all, if that's the worst thing that's happened to me in a while, I guess I'm running pretty good in life (and, honestly, I've told the story too many times to tell it again). :)

Thanks for reading!

Peace,
Greg

flipping burgers averted

Man, when people told me that this business was feast or famine, I just pushed the comments away.  I was a rookie doing 2-3 transactions/month and it was coming pretty easy.  My referral base was growing, my ability to retain potential business was improving, and my market share was giving me the first taste of a steady stream of leads.  Then, as my blogging indicated, late fall/early winter hit and, despite some very promising signs for this year, my wife and I were forced to use some time last week in looking at the writing on the wall...we were destined to be very broke before I was due to get paid again.

 

So, it's one of those things about God that I used to relish in, but now admittedly just find kind of irritating...He'll let you hang out there until you start looking "up" again.  I used to sing along with a song that said, "if I'm going away, break my legs so I stay near to You."  I guess God is answering this prayer a couple of years later...pretty much despite myself.  Deep-down, I am glad I got to know the famine-side of this business a little bit more.  Years from now, I will look back on the last 4 days I just had and have a testimony of how God made sure that this business ("my" business) was built on His terms, so that only He can get the credit.  Yes, I did everything I was supposed to do to grow my business, but why did that not mean anything until I looked up to God and said, "HELP!!"?  Exactly.

 

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you." - Paul  Silly me remembering the former, but forgetting the latter.  What happened in the last 4 days that leaves me writing this entry as I am?  Well, Friday morning I get an e-mail about a buyer lead, a referral from a past client.  Friday afternoon, I get an e-mail from a buyer, a woman who is paying a good amount of rent and who wants to buy this summer.  Sunday, I get a call from the husband of one of Sara's classmates, with whom I am writing a contract to purchase a condo this evening.  Sunday evening, I get an e-mail from another woman who wants to buy a house with her boyfriend.  There are more little things here and there with other clients and leads, but this is the "big four" that seems to me to enough for me to say right now.

 

Okay...I'd love to wax on more about this topic and whatnot, but the bathroom is calling, and then I have 3 hours to do 5 hours of stuff before heading off to taekwondo with my wife (yeah, taekwondo is material for a future post...).

 

Peace,
Greg