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- I believe in being professional. - I am a real estate expert. - I tell the truth. - I will not work with dishonest people. - If I don’t think I can provide the service or expertise you need, I will not work with you. - Buying and selling is an emotional process for my clients. - I know more about real estate then your parents, unless possibly they are real estate agents, in Atlanta, in the neighborhoods I work in. Otherwise, again, I know more your parents (but I’ll always listen to their concerns and advice). - I will make you feel comfortable in the real estate process. - Our thoughts create our reality (you may also want to read: Free to All Clients: Positive Thinking). - My goal is to educate you on the market. I know you don’t always want this. I will do it anyway. - I do not have a crystal ball. - My educated, professional opinions are very insightful, highly valuable, and generally on the money. My Best, Laura
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Wow. It took being 3 years into this real estate gig to have the right answer to The Question in Atlanta: “What Do You Do For A Living?”. Think about The Question for a moment, and, let’s be honest here. It’s Atlanta, and the way many Atlantans get to know people, and the way we Atlantans tend to measure people, is indeed within the first TWO minutes of meeting, by getting the response to The Question: “what do you do?”… In the pre-real estate days my answer was SOLID: (insert fluttering eye lashes here)… “Well, I’m on the core management team, and acting co-strategist for a successful internet company founded by entrepreneur and 40 times over mr. dot-com millionaire guy….. and by the way, I moved to Atlanta to obtain my MBA, did the big 5 consulting gig, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. This all translated very well into: I’m obviously a Very Important Completely Together Smart Chick that can pay my way and yours!). All in all, it was a fairly good response to The Question. But GASP! I gave that up. I left Very Important Laura behind; I chose instead Very Happy. I chose ruling my days over knowing my income. I chose smiling on Sunday nights over that horrible dread on the cusp of Monday mornings… But, with all that goodness also came a new answer to The Question: “What Do You Do For A Living?” and this is where the problems began… My new answer was: I’m a real estate agent. No more, I’m Very Important. No more Smart Girl Credentials. I instead shrank into my new response: I’m a real estate agent, laced with false confidence and unsurity… Accordingly, many times in response to my real estate agent response, I received a less than intrigued ‘oh’. Although once I did get an enthusiastic “Really, that’s so ironic!… you know my sister, the one that sleeps on my couch and is always stumbling in life, she’s a real estate agent!” . Luckily, at this point, a friend of mine would generally toss me what felt like a life jacket, responding with something akin to “Hell yes she’s an agent, one of the smartest darn one in the bunch. Has her MBA and ALL!! “ So, alas, Dear Reader, Do you see my mistake here…? How could I have denied my new found nobleness? It’s very simple. My new found happiness in real estate and sense of self came with a nagging sense of guilt for leaving my dear pal Security, mixed in with a dash of shame, and a large can of irresponsibility for ditching my ‘I-spent-a lot-of-money-and-education-to-get-here” style job. I denied myself and full feeling of being proud. I inherently denied myself the full sense of happiness from my decision by allowing shame and guilt to stick around even after I made the decision. Shame, eh? Here’s a thought, what if I could have just Allowed myself to trust myself.... what if I would have fully ditched any attachment to perceptions from the outside? AND, what if I would have simply embraced my decision to be in real estate fully, as opposed to keeping one foot in the guilt door? Possibly I would have relished in my first couple of years of real estate more… possibly I would have therefore been more successful than I was…? My challenge to you: Be nice to yourself, always. Trust your decisions, you’ve earned that. Question all negative thoughts. Whether you like it or not: You’re an adult and you get to chose how good you feel in this moment! You chose how deeply you enjoy life at all times. You get to be accountable for your sense of happiness, including those coming from really fabulous decisions you make!! To quote Marianne Williamson: We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be…? >> My best, Laura p.s. My answer to The Question now? I’m real estate agent (insert large smile here).
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Ok, I believe in Karma. What comes around goes around. The Power of the Universe. Positive thinking and more positive thinking. Life is best drama free. Problems are actually Opportunities. Visualize the great outcome and there’s more likelihood of obtaining it. And more… Make no mistake, I also believe in working too! All this mental goodness is simply in addition to the fabulous process I’ll lead you through. The positive thinking is a free bonus! That said, I suppose you should consider yourself warned: A client of mine received a full price offer on their condo. This was a COMPLETE stretch for the market and the condo! I had that very morning sent out good vibes to the Universe and imagined making a great sale that day… So, in our excitement about the offer I said “wow, the good vibes I sent out really worked!” They gave me a strange look and we proceeded as if I never made the comment. Which is fine! The point is , again, my positive thinking is free J Here’s another general example. A fact of real estate life is that it’s emotional. And, try as you might, particularly when you’re looking for a home, you may get emotionally attached to a house that is not yet yours… And, sometimes, you don’t get that house. Someone else beats you to it, or trumps your offer, or the house is simply unstable once we go through inspection and I let you know the only smart option is to cancel the contract and move on. It’s tough. I will listen and be compassionate about your very real disappointment. BUT, I always say, everything happens for a reason. And, we will absolutely find a better place because of it. And most importantly, I have never been proven wrong in this regard. And lastly, there’s the tough love part of positive thinking… Again, I’ll be compassionate. I’ll be understanding to the very real stress of carrying two mortgages if you buy before you sell. I will warn you of the pending stress and realities of any possible situation. I will prepare you for the worst case scenario. BUT, I will then also try to help you stay focused on everything working out as we move forward. I will of course be doing my best in my work, for example, in selling your property, but I will also be asking you to hold up your side of the deal and stay focused on the original scenarios you felt ok with. I will support you in anxiety, but ask you to be open to focusing on a positive outcome. You see if you don’t, you just may snap, the stress will overtake you, and then we’ll never get your house sold!!! So, again, consider yourself warned! Positive thinking is part of the deal. Ideally, I’ll just sneak it in, versus the above examples, and you will mysteriously feel confident overall about your buying or selling, despite tinges of anxiety. But you’ll feel the positive. And all will be great!! My Best, Laura
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Rule number one: You can ask me anything. That said, many times you don’t ask me what’s on your mind, so I’ll go ahead and ask and answer one of your burning questions : “Laura, how is it you can be motivated to act in my best interest when you’re paid on commission? How could you possibly want me to spend less on a home, versus more?! That means you make less! “ Ok, this is so simple for me. I love this question!! Here’s the deal: I do not let how much money I may or may not make guide what property and advice I give you… If I did, well: A) you’d know that is exactly what I was doing. B) you wouldn’t trust me. and C) you certainly wouldn’t feel Fantastic about our process. You wouldn’t refer me to your friends and colleagues. And, inherently I’d actually make less in the end because I wouldn’t have ended up with your best friend as my client, or your best friend’s colleague, or your best friend’s colleagues boyfriend, etc, etc, etc… So, do you get it? Being driven by each individual commission check is short sighted. .Yes, I am indeed in business to make money. So yes, I am driven by money and intend to make it. Period. That said, as long as I’m working in my clients best interests, I absolutely will make the most money in the long run, and I’m almost guaranteed to continually increase my business year after year thanks to all the referrals from clients (not to mention I get to feel darn fabulous inside!). EXAMPLE: one client was willing to spend up to $180,000. Well, I took him to a condo listed at $145,000. It needed a little easy cosmetic work though, hardwood floors (easy), maybe stainless appliances (easy), a new paint job (easy…). So, my advice to him was instead of putting money down for a downpayment on a condo that could only provide a rate of return only equal to the market as he couldn’t earn equity with light cosmetic work, why not put that down payment money into some small upgrades on the lower priced condo and get some instant guaranteed equity. And he did. He got the condo for $134,000. He didn’t need a down payment for such a low priced condo. He put money into the condo and had instant equity. (And, yes, I made less money). So, who do you think he trusts enough to recommend to his closest friends, not to mention his parents? That’s right: me. AND, is this on my list of favorite client success stories? Yes, it’s in my top ten. I feel great about this transaction, and not once did I think, "hey I’m going to make less money than if my client spends less than $180,000." I love instant equity for clients. I love referrals. My Best, Laura
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