Rules for CORE Agents #31: Never Talk to Another Real Estate Agent For More Than Five Minutes
I love real estate agents. I work with them every day. I am even married to one. You probably like real estate agents, too. They’re your colleagues, your co-workers, your friends, and the people you spend most of your time with every day. But you should stop talking to them so much. Why? Very simple:…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #30: Better a Holiday Than a "Hollow Day"
You ever come to the end of the day, exhausted in that satisfying way that reassures you that you’ve had a good, productive day? And then when you review what you accomplished, you realize that you spent the whole day getting a whole lot of nothing done? I mean, you were AT work. You were…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #29: Wednesday is the Enemy of All Diets
You ever go on a diet? I’ve been on lots and lots of them, and they all go kind of the same way. I wake up Monday morning, full of enthusiasm to start the new diet. I have that all-important first meal of the day, something with lots of fiber and all that. I eat…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #28: Any Plan is Better Than No Plan
All diets work, even the gimmicky ones. You want to spend the next six weeks eathing nothing but cabbage soup? You’ll lose weight. Nothing but carbs? You’ll lose weight. No carbs, just protein? You’ll lose weight. Grapefruit, nothing but luscious grapefruit? You’ll lose weight. And of course, if you actually do something smart like simply…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #27: Important Things Go On a Schedule, Not a "To Do" List
I love making “to do” lists. Take out a piece of paper, write a bunch of tasks on them, and then feel that ecstasy of accomplishment when I get to cross something off. So satisfying! Bu to do lists should only be used for small things, not big things. They’re great for keeping tack of…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #26: Buildings Built Without Blueprints Fall Down a Lot
You wouldn’t want to hire a surgeon who was just “winging it” when he performed your operation. You wouldn’t feel safe with a pilot who chucked his flight plan out the window and literally decided to fly your plane by the seat of his pants. You wouldn’t be comfortable moving into an apartment building whose…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #25: All the Stuff You Don't Like to Do is Why People Pay You
I used to live on the fourth floor of a walkup brownstone on the upper west side of Manhattan. Lots of stairs. I hated walking up those stairs every day, and I particularly hated carrying heavy things up the stairs. So when we bought stuff like furniture or groceries, we would usually get them delivered.…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #24: When Someone Asks You How You're Doing, Say "I'm GREAT!"
When you become an entrepreneur, you can’t afford to be in a bad mood. Bad moods bring bad results. It’s tough to get hard things done when you’re walking around like a mope all day. And it’s also tough to generate new business, since people don’t want to talk to someone with a permanent scowl…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #23: Don't be Afraid to be Called "Pushy," at Least Once
Most of the great real estate agents I’ve worked with have one thing in common: they’re a little, sometimes a lot, pushy. They’re not afraid to ask tough questions, or make aggressive demands, or put people on the spot. Simply put, they’re comfortable making other people uncomfortable. Most of us aren’t built that way. We…
Read MoreRules for CORE Agents #22: When You're Afraid of the Answer to a Question, Ask it!
We all know people whose lives would be immensely better if they would just ask a tough question. Maybe you know a woman who is eager to get married and start a family, but she’s in a long-term relationship with a guy whom you suspect is just stringing her along with no long-term intentions. And…
Read More