Realtors: Do your peers trust you?

There are very few professions where you character and integrity are called into question on a daily basis. A Realtor is one of them. Its funny almost. You have this love hate relationship with the general public. Your very existence relies on people trusting you enough that you will help them get what they want. Your every action, words and decisions are scrutinized. It can be uncomfortable. Most of this stems from the average person not knowing the real estate process. That's your job, to educate customers so they know exactly what to expect and reduce your risk.

There is risk you understand. Selling real estate, negotiating contracts, puts us in a very liable position. If we screw up, it can cost us a lot of money. If the customer screws up, it can still cost us a lot of money in lost fees. But the one thing that you can always control is you. How you come across, what you say, how you treat people. All of this is under your control. In most cases, we can earn a customers trust very quickly and never have a problem, and the customer will come back over and over again.

But I am seeing a trend in the real estate business. Realtors deliberately causing problems for other Realtors. I don't know about you, but there are enough things in this business to worry about and having to watch my back isn't one I care to endure. Sure, this is a competitive business, but it's also one that occasionally calls for us to be friends and help each other out. I can't even count how many times I've helped a fellow Realtor out. As long as it doesn't put my client in a bad position, then why wouldn't we want to help each other.

Another thing to remember is reputations precede us all. Think about the agents in your area. Are there ones you enjoy working with and ones you don't? Why don't you want to work with these people? Were they verbally abusive? Did they try and undercut or undermine you? Were they incompetent? There could be many reasons, but the simple fact is you can't stand to work with them. Don't be this person. Be the one we all want to work with.

Take my advice, we all have to get along. We all need to help each other to get what we want. And karma is always in play. You will reap what you sew, and always get whats coming to you.

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USB thumb drives, the good and the bad

I blogged the other day about Must Have Gadgets. Reading LifeHacker today I ran across this article. The good news is that almost every PC has a USB port these days. The bad news is that not every computer has the software necessary to open your data or documents. But there is hope.

I found this great site, portableapps.com. The reason this is such a great site is you can download just about any kind of software that will run right off a USB Thumb Drive. So, here is what I have on mine:

1. PortableFirefox #1 must application (web browser, with my book marks imported)
2. PrtableOpenOffice (word processor, spread sheet)
3. PortableGaim (Instant Messaging for MSN, AOL, Yahoo!)
4. PortableFilezilla (FTP Client)
5. EssentialPIM Portable (Contact Manager)

I have PortableThunderbird loaded (email client) but since I use Gmail as my primary mail client, all I need is an Internet connection and I have email.

There are a few things to consider when using a USB drive, and the biggest is security. Don't forget, if you lose it all of your documents are vulnerable. There are a couple of products out there that will lock your drive and I would suggest investing in one if you are going to use your USB drive a lot or use it while on vacation. You can also purchase drives that have Biometric access (use your thumb print) to gain access. So, check these out, and do as the article says, go on vacation and leave the laptop at home.

Good luck.

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Realtors: 5 must have gadgets

Everyone has their favorite techno gadgets. After years of field research, here is what I think every Realtor should have.

GPS
This goes out to all those who are map illiterate. No really, I mean it. Being a Realtor frequently requires you to find a home address, an office or a vacant piece of land. Do you know every street in your city? Every office building? I doubt it. Even if you're familiar with the terrain, a good GPS system will get you there faster.

A portable device is a better value than a permanent one mounted in your car. Why, because you can use it for more than just finding an address. You can take it camping, or biking or hiking. These are real safety items.

Most of the GPS systems on the market today not only help you find locations, but can help you get to locations faster by give you driving directions, and if linked into commuter systems can help you avoid traffic jams and road construction.

Laptop
There are finally enough entries in this market to make having a laptop a must. This versatile machine will be your best friend. It will become the most valued member of your Real Estate team. Everything from Intel based small portable laptops, to large monitor desktop replacements, to Apple iBooks. And lets not forget the biggest mover, the Tablet PC.

A Tablet PC has a lot of advantages, especially for Realtors. For one, you can use it in presentations because most have swivel monitors allowing more people to look at the screen, and two, it acts as a portable writing device. This is important because there is software that I will talk about in another article that allows you to have clients sign documents right on the Tablet, bypassing the need to print, sign and fax. Do it all from your Tablet. It's some of the most exciting technology to come along in quite some time.

Smart Cellphone
The reason I didn't include a PDA as a must have gadget is because I think the Smart Phone technology has matured enough that theres no need for a phone AND a PDA. Client list, email, appointments, notes and maybe some music, your set. You have a small mobile office that will serve you well. Take the time to evaluate several models. The leaders at the moment are the Palm based phones such as Treo, the Windows Mobile based phones and the BlackBerry based devices. I prefer the Windows Mobile devices because they are the most compatible with desktop and laptop PC's.

Thumbdrive Media
This very small but powerful device can come in handy especially if you don't take my advice and use a laptop. Even if you do have a laptop, it's important to have a mobile storage device with a connection that almost every computer in the world has, USB. Putting important documents on a USB drive does a couple of things; it allows yo take documents into environments where you can't use your own laptop, like the library, title company, clients office or a printer.

You can also use the USB device as a backup. Put all your sensitive documents in it and put it away for safe keeping. Blank CD's are good for storage too, but most of the time you can't reuse a CD.

Voice Recorder
Now, you wonder why in the world a voice recorder is a must have. Tell me this. How much time do you spend on the go, in the car, meeting with clients, open houses, closings, shopping? Most of your working time I imagine is spent somewhere other than the office. You want to minimize the amount of time you spend in the office. That's not where buyers and sellers are. Anyway, back to the voice recorder.

If you're like me, my mind is going a million miles an hour and thoughts, ideas, information pass by me all the time. I don't always have the luxury of stopping and writing things down, but you can always press record and start talking. Then, when you get back to the office or during your appointed review time you can transcribe your voice notes.

Being able to capture your thoughts, ideas, actions, or tasks gives you more time to focus on what you need to be doing and less time trying to remember everything. Try it, it's cheap and easy, especially if your Smart Phone has voice recording built in.

Agree or disagree? What do you think. Let me know.

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Giving everything you have in life

My Brother-in-law sent this to me today, Author is unknown. But if it was you who wrote it, I'd totally give you credit.

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow, what a ride!'"

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My Jazz Podcasts

I started hosting The Jazz Show on The Podcast Network. I'll be posting all my Jazz shows there. Come on over and take a listen, and try a few of the other podcasts, like:

The Jazz Show
The Rock Show
The PSP Show
The Digital Photography Show
The Personal Productivity Show

Many many more. See you there.

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