Long Island Real Estate Market

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
ALWAYS THINK POSITIVE
  _____ 


You cannot always control your circumstances.
But, you can control your own thoughts.
There is nothing either good or bad,
only your thinking makes it so.

Things turn out best for those people
who can make the best out of the way things turn out.
It's not the situation, it's your reaction to the situation.

The reality in your life may result from many outside factors,
none of which you can control.
Your attitude, however,
reflects the ways in which you deal with what is happening to you.

Life at any time can become difficult.
Life at any time can become easy.
It all depends upon how you adjust yourself to life.

What you see in your mind is what you'll get out of life.

http://www.successway.com/images/copyright.jpg Copyright 2007
www.yourdailymotivation.com
Reproduce freely but maintain Copyright notice.

______________________

I'm a Behavior Therapist as well as a real estate agent (good combo huh).  This daily motivational points out the basis of what we call, Rational Emotive Therapy or RET (developed by Albert Ellis).  Without going into boring details of the history of this magnificant approach to therapy, I will say that what you think molds your entire reality. 

I can speak from a personal standpoint and say that I struggle with instances where all the things I want to accomplish over the next year appear to be ominous and beyond my capabilities.  However, if I approach these feelings and attack them with rational information, they diminish and fade away, leaving me with a stronger sense of direction and control over what I can accomplish.

The reality of life is impacted by outside factors, of course.  Take for instance a declining real estate market.  It's easy to say that the current market is a big outside factor that is impacting our business.  This is perfectly true.  However, some agents are going forward and continuing to make money while others are slumping "because of the market". 

Will a continual positive attitude get you a listing?  I don't know.  I know that making the calls, knocking on the doors, increasing effective advertising, attending seminars and meetings as well as a number of other actions will increase your chances of getting appointments, which have a higher probability of getting you listings, than if you were to think, "this market stinks and I can't get listings". 

RET is about change just like most approaches to therapy.  Rational thought would have you know that in response to changes around you, adapting to those changes is the best course of action.  Movement is the key and is powered by rational information received by the brain.  Stagnation results from feelings running out of control because the thoughts behind the feelings are not rational.   

I thought the following motivational was interesting.  It's funny when you read things like this and you're living what you read.  I can speak for both sides of the coin.  For so many years of my life I read things like this and said to myself, "gee, that doesn't sound too hard. I can do this."  And I just forgot about it. 

Leading a life worth living is contingent on one thing - having a direction for your life.  I had no direction because I had no true commitments.  When I consciously started making decisions to commit to something every single day and made the switch in my mind that I can do just about anything (within reason), I was (and am) amazed how much can be accomplished every day.  I waste no time.  When I want something, I go for it.  When I speak to people, I'm focused.  My life has a direction because I'm leading the way, not waiting around looking for a pat on the back or looking for someone else to shape my reality. 

Now I have to add to this that by the age of 27, I had a Masters degree in counseling.  I bought a home in Charlotte, got married and was making a middle class living.  I'm by no means a slouch.  I never was.  When I talk about not having direction, I'm simply saying that going through the motions of life and boxing yourself into a corner is what I was doing.  I had no true commitments.  I had essentially no self-direction.  My reality was fitting into a place and staying there.  I'm living what this motivational is about.  Hopefully, you are (or will be) as well!

This is a good motivational.  Hope you enjoy it!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

REALITY FORMS AROUND YOUR COMMITMENTS

________________________________

Desire is the starting point of achievement.

Your desires are the precursors of the things which you are capable of doing or having.

These desires can in time externalize themselves into concrete fact.

Your intense anticipation itself will transform your possibilities into reality.

Weak desires will bring you weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.

If you just care enough for any result, you'll almost certainly attain it.

Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.

The achievement of your goal is assured the moment you commit yourself to it.

If you have the will, you'll find a way.

Copyright 2007 www.yourdailymotivation.com   Reproduce freely but maintain Copyright notice.

Have you ever felt that your life is just one gigantic string of events pulling you in all different directions?  Taking control of your life is not as easy as 1-2-3.  It takes time and understanding. However, if you listen closely to the message of this article, you may speed up this learning process. 

Control is a mental state.  The feeling that accompanies a sense of control is not made up or fostered by "positive thoughts" or "positive self-statements."  The core aspects  of control can be summed up with the following statements:  Do not allow the environment to dictate your actions. Be comfortable with the feeling of discomfort!

Let's take each of these statements seperately.  First, not allowing the environment to dictate your actions pretty much sums up everything around you!  People, places and things.  People could be your co-workers, places could be a supermarket, and things could be the television. 

Allowing people to dictate your your actions is a weak excuse for poor behavior as well as outstanding behavior.  What do I mean by this?  It means that it is better for your behavior to be contingent on what you want to do or what you know is right, rather than trying to "put someone in their place" or "do something nice for them because they'll like me more." 

At the root of behavior, decisions are made instantaneously.  If you catch yourself leaning toward acting a certain way, ask yourself this question, "What am I doing this for?"  Ask yourself, "How am I doing this?"  Continue by asking yourself, "How do I usually get to decisions like this?  What do I do in my mind and body that get me to do this?"

These may sound like corny questions, but asking them and answering them are the first building blocks to taking control of your life.  If you're a type of person who avoids conflict completely (passive personality), then you've definitely had your share of feeling "walked on".  

In anything you want to do, if you are the type of person to avoid conflict with people - you're allowing them to dictate your actions.  Sure you're making the decision to not say something or dive right into an uncomfortable situation, but that choice is not really yours.  That choice has been made by you, but based on the relationship you share with your environment, in this case, the people have ultimately made your decision. 

Now, take the second part of the core aspects of control, being comfortable with the feeling of discomfort.  Since we're talking about people as the environmental element, let's imagine the following scenario:  You're in the supermarket and standing online, when someone walks in front of you in a very casual manner and cuts you in line.  Calmly, you tap the person on the shoulder without hesitating for a split second and say, "Excuse me, I noticed you just walked in front of me.  Maybe you didn't see me standing here online, but I am next. You can stand here behind me." 

Then the person replies, "Oh I was here before, an item I had was damaged so the clerk said it was okay if I went to replace the damaged item. Sorry.  Do you mind?"  Now here is where the test of control occurs.  The first core aspect of control was demonstrated easily, without hesitating, you asserted yourself confidently.  Then with the person's polite and rational reply, you start to feel like "an idiot".  Here is where the loss of control occurs.  Being comfortable with discomfort of being "wrong" or making a mistake is a vital building block to success.

You must become comfortable with making mistakes.  Of course try and avoid them, but when they occur, it is important to realize the meaning of the mistake.  To think of it differently, trying to avoid mistakes may cause you to not try something due to a fear of failure or rejection.  Wil Schroter, founder and CEO of GO BIG Network comments on this with clarity, "As far as I'm concerned, if you're not getting turned down, you're not really trying.  And the only thing you should ever be ashamed of is not trying." 

Being in control means overcoming the fear of your environment and being comfortable with uncomfortable situations. If you've ever seen the movie, Fight Club, with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, you might remember the "homework" assignments they were given.  One homework assignment was to start a fight with a stranger, but not for the purpose of beating them but to simply test their comfortability with doing so.  In the movie, grown men square off and beat each other.  The two main characters live in an abandoned house. 

While I'm certainly not recommending you go out and join a fight club, beat other people, start fights and live in an abandoned home, the point is, look at your life and see how much you cling to the comforts of life.  Do you rank comfort over pain?  I think most, if not all would say yes.  But if you never allow yourself to take the risk of pain, how will you ever know how far you can go?

(To finish this article, visit www.noobdogs.com/take-control-of-your-life/)

©2007 noobdogs.com

By Thomas McGiveron

This was a post on www.biggerpockets.com that i wrote in response to someone who was struggling with managing two duplexes that they own:

investors correct me if i'm wrong here -

i would say first - do whatever you think is best for you. weigh the options and act - do not second guess what you decide to do.

again, i want to reiterate:

do not second guess what you decide to do.

if you decide to hold onto them - CORRECT THE PROBLEMS.

write them down and be proactive in CORRECTING THE PROBLEMS.

if the problem is YOU, meaning your lack of effort in managing the properties, then CORRECT IT - possible sell, OR find the time and effort to manage your business more effectively.

how so?
visit the properties more.
collect the rents in person.

but before that - increase your reference checks, maybe lower the rents in order to attract a young couple or single person with a decent job who needs a place to stay. talk to you SPHERE OF INFLUENCE.

let everyone you know you have a place to rent. a friend of a friend maybe a better tenant than some schlub from the street.

you have to be able to think through your business challenges and CORRECT THE PROBLEMS.

there is so much information missing from this thread that i hope you do not make a hasty decision.

you've found yourself in a somewhat of a dilemna in that you're middle-aged and find yourself with very little nest egg. you made a good choice in choosing real estate investing as a way to increase your passive income. the unfortunate piece of this, it seems, is that you have not taken it TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

train your mind to FIGURE IT OUT. any business owner (of any business, not just real estate/landlording) will tell you that you MUST be able to expand your mind, look at things with your eyes WIDE OPEN. figure out the problems and CORRECT THEM.

you can definitely do this. you're a therapist. think of:

1. the problem
2. your resources
3. how to access your resources
4. identify INTERNAL RESOURCES
5. using them, build on them
6. focusing on your strengths, build them up.

THEN ACT!

"You are creative. You can solve any problem."

Wednesday, January 10th, 2007

The difference between motivation and drive is the amount of time it lasts.  Motivation is short-lived.  Motivation comes and goes.  Drive on the other hand is an entirely different realm.  When someone is driven to do something, the feeling they get is a direct result from their actions. 

Drive doesn't exist in a vacuum; it exists and is compounded by the persons actions.  What this means for you as a person aspiring to be a successful real estate investor or business owner is that your actions will directly effect your drive.  Drive only exists in as much as the individual works at it.

The point of this article is to discuss some techniques for you to develop behaviors that will help you turn your motivation into drive!  Before we go over some of the specific techniques for turning your motivation into drive, it is absolutely important to begin with one thing, your outlook on life!

If you are a pessimist (someone who complains about things and looks at challenges as painful) you must work to change that pessimism into optimism!  We have many articles (and will be writing more) on learning how to improve your higher mind.  Read them first before continuing with this article! 

So assuming you've read this material or you are an optimist already (excellent!), we can begin talking about some specific techniques to turn your motivation into drive.  First, we will begin with a day planner.  This is extremely important especially if you work a full-time job currently because a day planner will help you to separate your time in a disciplined manner.  I should make a note here of the importance of tracking all expenses.  A day planner costs money - make sure you document and track all start up costs.  These start up costs are for the business you will create, which will also work to turn your motivation into drive.

As you begin developing the habits of a business owner, rather than an employee of a business, your motivation will begin to turn into drive.  As an example, this website generated just over $70 in revenue last month (December 2006).  For the entire month, our business earned (from this website) $70.  So for the 94 documented hours that I put into this business, I earned about .75 cents an hour. 

For the record, at my full-time job, where I am an employee, I earn $190 a day and even though I enjoy my job, the feeling I get from earning just .75 cents an hour from noobdogs.com, gives me so much more satisfaction.  That's drive!  So get a day planner.  I use mine every day by reviewing it, writing in it, putting stickies in it and it helps to remind me to mind my business, constanctly. 

The next thing you will need is a simple business plan.  As a noob investor, it's important to keep it simple.  The more you develop your real estate/business intellect, the better you will be prepared to actually write a meaningful business plan.  Business ratios, growth outlooks, and investment options become a reality rather than a guessing game.  Remember that every business plan, no matter how much data input and preparation go into it, they are still "a best guess" on what may happen as a result of planning.  However, the more effort you put into it, the more you will understand the process of investing and business.  

Third, you will need a method for tracking your expenses, mileage, phone conversations, emails and any other contacts you make through the course of the day.  Some day planners offer great areas to track time, expenses, appointments, and plans (to do lists).  For tracking mileage see our article, Real Estate Investing: Mileage Tracking.    

Part of turning motivation into drive is changing what you do.  This does not mean changing how you think.  You can think about things all day.  Things change only when your body follows what your mind tells it to do.  If you don't move your body, your mind will have a hard time getting things done!  So get up, go out into the world and turn your motivation into drive.  Be driven and be successful!

©2007 noobdogs.com

By Thomas McGiveron

I was recently at a Coldwell Banker training and the instructor asked, "what do you plan to do with your first commission check?"  I knew immediately because I had already made a conscious decision on how to invest it wisely.  I know that investing it in my company was the way to go - advertising!

I can't say that I was surprised by the answers from the rest of the agents in the room.  "Pay off bills" and "go out to dinner" were the most popular.

To me, if I do something, I want to do it better than everyone else.  People are somehow shocked at how others succeed and they wonder why, after they've paid off their bills and gone out for a nice steak, they're broke and that being a real estate agent isn't for them. 

The sad truth is, they were never really a real estate agent because they lacked the very thing you must have in order to be successful - an entrepreneurial and business-like approach!

Now I can say that I have the luxury of being financially able to spend my first commission check (which I should be getting soon already!) on advertising, but even if I didn't, it would be divided up, using a spreadsheet and no matter what, at least 35% of it would go toward increasing my advertising.  Furthermore, I would pay myself a salary and be sure to make the check, and all subsequent checks, business related! 

I wish my "competition" all the best.  I like to see everyone succeed (and that's the truth).  However, I must say, deep down, I feel pretty darn good about my chances of completely crushing a large portion of my "competition". 

By Thomas McGiveron

The importance of information cannot be understated.  Most people live their entire lives without getting enough information.  How crazy is it for the average home buyer to make an offer on a home without knowing why the seller is selling, or what they liked most about the home, or how they came up with the price?  That's crazy!  Real estate investors must learn to probe for information.

The average person will make one or two attempts at gathering information and then give up with less than a tenth of the information necessary to make an informed decision.  This is clearly not an option for the real estate investor or any entrepreneur, if they expect to be successful.  It all starts with information.

So how do we acquire this information?  Let's take a look at how most people approach conversations.  What we call "one-word-answer questions" are probably the most common questions asked by people.  Let's take a look at a one-word-answer question.  "Do you like this house?"  This question can be answered with a simple yes or no.  A simple technique for gaining more information is the "open-ended question".

An example of an open-ended question might be, "What do you like about this house?"  The difference is the "what" in the question.  Whenever you communicate with people, try very hard to ask "what" or "how" questions.  These words automatcially place the receiver (person you're speaking to) in a place where he/she will actually think about your question, rather than focusing on something else. 

This is such a simple tool, yet most people do not use it.  Let's look at some other  examples.  "Do you like the neighborhood?" - replace this with, "What are your feelings about the neighborhood?"  "Did you like living here?" - replace this with, "What were some of the things that you liked most about living here?"

Another great use for open-ended questions is to find out the financial status of a home.  If you're dealing directly with a seller, rather than ask them, "what do you owe on this home currently?", you might ask, "This is a beautiful home, how did you manage to finance it?"  This question is complimentary and may spur the seller to offer information gladly, in order to express how proud they are about their finances.  This type of question does require some rapport with the seller and should be offered up when the timing is right. 

Never lie about your thoughts on a given property.  If the house is in poor condition, just switch the question around, "I see the house is in need of some repairs, what types of refinancing have you considered?"  Again, your questions must be honest and timed appropriately.

You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much open-ended questions can bring out of someone.  Most people are proud of where they live and actually do like being asked questions, not just about their homes either.  Of course people do like keeping to themselves, but when the time is right, they're primed to express themselves and simple open-ended questions help!

©2007 noobdogs.com

By Thomas McGiveron

I'm going to make this one short.  So many people in my real estate sales associate class talked about the "advantages" of working for a local broker.  Now I'm not going to make this an article about what's better.  What I am going to do is simply state that being apart of a major player, definitely has its advantages!

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage NRT is an amazing organization.  I know I'm new to being a real estate agent, but I'm not new to real estate.  So having said that, here's my list of why I think Coldwell Banker is awesome.

First, the contacts I've been able to make in just a few months is incredible. The network of agents and contacts is overwhelming.  The amount of resources available for me is simply astounding.  When you are a part of a national company that spends in excess of 5 million dollars...just for search engine rankings...for just one major website, you're in pretty good hands.

From the national website, a user can navigate to my local office in under 5 clicks.  From www.realtor.com a user can see our listings and navigate to our local site within about 5 clicks.  All this and I haven't even gotten to the part where I, as an agent, get a website for free.

Now I know all this doesn't matter much, because for any agent to be successful, it boils down to the individual.  But wait, we receive incredible training at our corporate facility, with all the latest technology and the presenters are nothing short of people who command a room by the way the speak and present themselves and the information.  Clearly, there are no slouches when it comes to this.  The professionalism is unbelievable.

So in closing, I'm feeling very good about my decision to join Coldwell Banker.  I look forward to doing business with you!

Written by Thomas McGiveron

This was posted by ME on another website forum.

Martin

where are you located?

you have to realize a few things.

buyers bank on your self-imposed deadlines, for instance, "having to sell".

the last thing you really should do is place a deadline on yourself. however, life happens and i'm not saying that it is always unavoidable. that being said, lets say it is inevitable and you find yourself, as you have, with "having to sell" by the end of june.

using an agent should help you. however, most sellers don't look at the market the same way real estate agents do. agents are business people. owners/sellers are emotional (and rightfully so) beings trying to live their lives and GET TOP DOLLAR for their wonderful home that they "love so much". owners/sellers are emotionally attached to the deal. agents are not.

a GOOD agent will never ever put a house on the market and "hope" people come to see it. a GOOD agent will never ever rely on hunches about the market.

a GOOD agent knows the market and the business of real estate, period. they DRIVE traffic to your home. they list it for a price that will SELL IT. for instance, i will NOT take listings knowing the property is ridiculously overpriced. there are MANY agents out there that will, either knowingly or unknowingly.

MARKETING is a key principle in any business. it's a proven fact that strategic marketing for any product can drive sales up. with real estate, it's no different.

as a real estate agent - and i'm a new agent - i've taken my background in business and brought it to real estate agency. it consists of CONTROL. as a business owner, the most important part for me and my business was to know that i was in CONTROL of my business. period. the more control i have over my transactions, the better i will be at plotting out a plan of ACTION.

SOOOOOOOOO MANY real estate agents do not have this quality. they're like owners, HOPING for this or that. in this market, you better have a GOOD agent, or your house will not sell by JUNE...2008!

i wish you all the best in selling your homes! [this is not a solicitation for business. i am in no way interested in interfering with any sellers who have their property listed with an agent currently].