Hackney's Houses

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have qualified for and participated in the 1/2 Ironman triathlon World Championships.  Held in Clearwater, Florida the event consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run.  Many might recognize the full Ironman triathlon as the one they show on NBC each year from Kona, Hawaii.  This is half the distance and the counterpart to those World Championships.

I sent out an email earlier today to new agents that I train in an attempt to draw a few parallels between my experience there and our business.  Maybe you too can pull a full golden nuggets in your pursuit of the Good Life. 

• A year ago I honestly wouldn’t have thought I’d be racing in the World Championships of anything. I was putting in the time and training, but that seemed like an extremely lofty goal to consider.
• When I arrived in Florida, it became quickly apparent that I was amongst some of the fastest talent in the world. I will admit that I felt like a child amongst extreme greatness.
• It was easy to let the self talk start questioning myself and letting the nerves get to me.
• I felt slow. I felt embarrassed being there. I felt like I snuck in the back door. Who was I to be there?

Then, I reeled in some of my thoughts, took a deep breath, and here’s what I walked away with...

• Our goals are meant to be lofty and it is really only the thoughts between our ears that hold us back from whatever we truly want to achieve
• I stepped out of my comfort zone racing with some of the greatest athletes around the world and as a result was pushed to my fastest ½ Ironman triathlon time ever.
• Having surrounded myself with greatness, but it still boiled down to me, the water, and the pavement. The distances were the same, my bike was the same, my shoes were the same….all I had to do was go out there and go for it.
• Success doesn’t always feel like success when you’re in the midst of it. During the race, my “success” hurt and wasn’t always the pleasant Colgate smiles of the infomercials.
• On “feeling” slow. (personal record by over 16 minutes); On “feeling” embarrassed being there (I was in the top 50% of my age group at the World Championships); On feeling like I snuck in (top third overall out of 2000 athletes)---take away is that our “feelings” can sometimes be deceptive. Success doesn’t always “feel” like success until afterwards.
• Don’t measure your success (however you choose to define it) by how you feel during the process. Measure your success by something other than how you feel.
• As much as I hurt coming down the final stretch I took a few looks around at all the people cheering and just took it all in. I kept repeating to myself “I’m racing in the World Championships…how cool is this?”

I was asked several times by people on the airplane home if I won. Did I win? One person in the entire world crossed the finish line first that day, but we all won.

It really was a celebration of a great deal of hard work and I’m glad I had enough people pound that into my head so that I would take the time to soak it all in.

Hopefully you can take a nugget or two from this experience and apply it to your life/business. I’m looking forward to the rest of our class and seeing you on Monday

Cheers to finishing the year strong and setting the tone for an exciting 2008!

Let's get real for a moment...

The media loves drama, sex, and negativity...not always in that order and sometimes not mutually exclusively of one another, but those elements seem to sell. 

Real estate case in point...yesterday huge headlines about the down turn in the market...three days prior a one paragraph blurb buried on the last page about the record low interest rates. 

Has the market slowed?  Absolutely....to healthy and normal levels.

Three years ago we complained there was not enough inventory.  Now we've got plenty of inventory and people don't like that.

As a buyer, this market is ripe with opportunity.  Large selection, low rates, and a generally squeamish public opinion.  Can you say CHA CHING?! 

I've always joked that if you want to get rich in America, do the exact opposite of what most of America is doing.  When you stop to think about it though, it holds a great deal of truth.

When asked whether now is a good time to buy.  My answer..."It Depends."  (No I am not running for public office).  What I mean is that if you are buying for personal or investment and plan to hold it for more than 3 years, I say ABSOLUTELY!!!  If you are looking to flip something, then I can't answer it with any more knowledge than the next guy on the street. 

If you are selling a home then you do have an interesting scenerio.  Several factors now come into the picture.

1.  Price the home correctly and competitively.  It doesn't matter what sold 3+ months ago or what your neighbor's house is currently listed at.

2.  A Strategic Marketing plan.  Some things plain don't work, yet most agents are unwilling to think outside the box and get creative with their approach. 

3.  A Real Estate Professional.  Notice I did not say a real estate licensee.  This is a true professionals market.  You want the best going to bat for you and you want an agent that other agents respect.

I think this is an exciting time in real estate for both me as an professional and for my clients.  Not because of what we'll see instantaneously next week, but for what will happen 3, 4, 5+ years from now when the things we did TODAY blossom!

Don't follow the masses...go the road less traveled!

It's A Good Life

Sean

Not real estate related, but important to each of our daily lives.  Yesterday I had a driver on I-5 come aggressively up from behind me and swerved around me, giving me the universal sign of discontent, and got everyone in the area into a dangerous situation.  My initial reaction was one of anger, but after a few deep breathes and a few words to the ceiling of my car, I realized it just wasn't worth it.  Getting to work on time was apparently of grave importance to this individual.

So,

Take note, drive safe...getting somewhere in a hurry isn't as important as a healthy life.

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New driving fines for the State of Washington. These fines went
into effect on October 1st, 2007

* HOV Lane - 1st time offense $1068.50 (note: the sign posted on
the HOV lanes that says $271 is now wrong and DOT is in the
process of changing them)
-2nd offense fine is doubled
-3rd it is tripled
-4th your license is suspended for a year! (they are not playing around!)

* Incorrect Lane Change - $380.00 (not using turn signal or "cutting" someone)

* Block Intersection - $485.00

* Driving on Shoulder - $450.00

* Cell Phone Usage While Driving - $285.00 (cell phone usage (until January 1, 2008, you can use a hand held cell phone while driving, but if a police officer observes a driving infraction, he can stop you and cite you for both.  After January 1, they can stop you for cell phone usage w/o any other cause.) must now be done with "hands free" device.) Law Enforcement has been told to really start cracking down on this, as the accident rate is increasing due to cell phone use.

* Cell Phone Usage in a Construction Zone - $570.00 (this fine is doubled from the regular $285.00)

* Passengers over the age of 18 not in a seat belt - Both the passenger AND driver with get tickets of $101.00

* DUI - Instant ARREST! (the court s are now placing DUI's on your driving record for a period of 10 years!)

* Last but not least - You know that there was a thought that you could go at least 5 MPH over the posted speed limit, well according to the WA. State Patrol, you are now allowed 3 MPH over!


So, watch your speed my friends.