I took my nephew to the Caldwell Night Rodeo last Saturday night and had a wonderful time. This is one of the top 10 PRCA rodeos on the country.
While there I was fortunate to sit with some great friends from my office and one of my friends had invited some other younger friends that sat with us as well.
I started up a conversation with one young man who happened to be the son of a lady I used to Rodeo with in the 70's. Turns out this young man is a builder in the valley doing business as a corporation.
I asked him what price range he builds in and he responded by saying $200-$300,000 which is the most saturated price range in the valley. So I asked him "Are you having trouble selling your homes in that price range just like all the other builders?"
He responded by saying "No George, I just put my blinders on and cover my years and refuse to participate in the negativity. I don't listen to the radio or the television that just wants to tell me how bad things are. I choose to wake up every morning and just do the best job I know how to do and let the chips fall where they may".
I was amazed when he told me he was selling every home he built in less than 60 days! This is a market where that price range of $200- $300,000 has an average of 120 DOM's and growing!
One of my Realtor friends that sat with us told me this young builder puts a unique personality in each home he builds and puts a lot of "little extras" like stamped concrete and upgrading plumbing/lighting fixtures. He also puts a lot of extra money into wonderful landscaping and has the interiors totally staged.
What a great story! With builders and developers struggling all across our valley and that price range being the toughest price range there is, this builder bucks the trend and just moves ahead putting a lot of pride into every home he builds.
He has been rewarded by refusing to participate in the negativity the press throws at us. KUDOS TO YOU YOUNG MAN! YOU GO DUDE!
I think we would all do much better if we stopped listening to the negative news and negative people. Our world would certainly change for the better!
George,
Thanks for the post. This reminds me of the story about a group of agents that sit in the office eating doughnuts and complaining about how bad business is. the agents that went out to make contacts and drum up business instead of doughnuts were successful. the company you keep can be very influential. So important to surround yourself with like minded people.
I love the blinders analogy...thats better than "keeping your nose to the grindstone"
Kudos to him and all who take this approach!
At the auction school I teach at, Reppert's in Indiana, I try to always teach "It's your attitude, dude". This was taught to me by the president-elect of the National Auctioneers Association, Randy Wells (who is in Post Falls, Idaho - George, you need to meet him). Simply put, you have to put the negativity out of your life by "planning your work and working your plan".
Suggested reading: Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to Find, Build, and Keep a YES! Attitude for a Lifetime of SUCCESS. This book (and his others) help to reinforce positive attitude, providing great customer service, and marketing the right way. I recommend you also read The Sales Bible by him too.
The builder's refusal to submit to the market shows that he has the adaptability to go forward and be successful in the future. People that refuse to adapt and just keep going with what they have been doing are not going to get their houses sold in the future.
The young builder has recognized that he needs to not necessarily do more, but that he needs to be different to succeed. Too many people just want to put the sign up and wait for the customer to find it. He is building the reputation that will allow him to succeed in the long run. His word of mouth will be great and you watch, his business will most likely grow as other begin to slow. Hopefully he can keep the quality control high and avoid the pitfalls that exist as as a business grows.
Thanks for the post.
Good post! Congrats to that builder, sounds like he builds a great house, with all those extra touches! I was in a class yesterday where one of our regional vp's was stressing that there are still FOUR MONTHS LEFT IN THE YEAR! So there is plenty of time left to do fantastic business, if we go out and find it!
Cheers,
Heather
George - this is akin to the glass half full/half empty theory. I prefer to think of it as half full all the time. That way I have more to look forward to.
This young man has all the makings of a very successful businessman. Congratulations to him - and to you for making his acquaintance. You both may prosper from this meeting!
1. Thou shall not watch the News on TV or listen to it on the Radio and 2. Thou shall not Read or believe anything in the Washington Post!
Thanks George for the motivating post!
Great attitudes will win.
And to the negativity I just wrote a letter to the editor abou just that after they ran a story saying that our areas prices were down 2% according to Zillow, there';s the doom and gloom. I did an MLS analysis and found we were up 2% for that same time period.
George....
Take a look at some good news!!
Things are looking up, my friend!!
Have fun out there!
=-)
Alexander - Thanks for the link
Adam - This isn't rocket science. It is all about attitude and belief in yourself
Kaye - Thanks for sharing my friend
Positive people bring positive results! Great post George! I have a Flipper (he calls himself a home renovator) who does these very things in every that home that he touches. We have sold every one in less than 30 days......... says something about when you add a little extra and you get more.
I didn't see this post going the way it did!! I think that tactic could be good or bad honestly. The good is that you don't allow yourself to be driven nuts by all the nay-sayers. The bad is that if you go into it and don't really know what you're doing or what you're talking about...you could get in over your head and not know what to do!
Obviously, this is working for him and I think that is awesome! There is something to a positive attitude!!
What a positive young man. He is so right about reading the paper or watching the news there was again a doom and gloom article in the idaho statesmens yesterday about the market. Its great that his homes are selling with staging. good post!
Andi - Thanks for your input
Janice - Thank you my friend. This young man is awesome!
Jim - Good to hear from you again. I agree 100%
Maria - Yes, he is a very positive young man and I learned from him!
George is a cowboy - who woulda thunk!
Ye - hawwww
ps - I have 13 horses, but no cows.
City slicker all the way here!
Nice, post George. Postive energy attracks postive energy! Put it out there and it will come back. At least that is my theory! Seems to hold true for many though!
I've had the impressions for about the past eight years that mortgage shoppers like car shoppers want to hear what they want to hear irrespective of what the truth is. It has come as no surprise that we are faced with a credit crisis. There to my knowledge were many mortgage shops set up just to exploit the homeowners with language they wanted to hear, irrespective of what the truth was. At the same time a very loose credit market with no controls and it is just a matter of time before cows would have to come home to roost.
P.T. Barnum said it best “There is a sucker born every second”. Our current market conditions reflect such thinking so vividly. It is part of that Free Lunch mentality.
Ntsike - Very true and very well said.
Amy - Thank you and I wish you well.