A Decidedly Low-Tech Philosophy for Real Estate Success

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

When it comes to Real Estate I am, I imagine, like many of you. I strive to stay ahead of the curve and learn everything I can.  In its purest form, I agree with Greg Swann’s philosophy: I want to be so much better than the competition that listings are mine for the choosing.  I want to steamroll over mediocre agents and drive to extinction those that dabble in my profession.  The art, the skill and the passion of a great agent – an agent that is advising clients on the biggest investment of their lives – those are the attributes I seek: for myself and my fellow agents.  If someone is not up to that standard they should be removed from the business; but not by fiat.  They should be driven out on their last breath, gasping and choking on great, heaping spoonfuls of my dust.

Toward that end I am an avid reader, especially of BloodhoundBlog.  Technology is the great equalizer and the great slayer within our industry.  On BHB we are exposed to the best of the best and I am trying to wrap my non-tech brain around the fire hydrant of information that flows here.  I think I am doing alright: I understand how to Twitter people in the Facebook, Share my Mind with Google and constantly talk on miPhone while admiring the Street View out my Zillow window.  Last night I even had a tall glass of milk with my Obeo.   The Soft Infusion of most of these high-tech ideas has occurred in just the past week alone at BHB.  A fire hydrant indeed.

Sometimes though, it relaxes my weary head to go a little Low-Tech.  Here’s why: most people – my clients included – think it their hobby if not their outright job to put off till tomorrow almost anything they can. That desire to delay holds true even when what they put off benefits them.  Life is busy and the demands are great.

You can see this in almost all walks of life, but it is especially acute in women.  My sister is a prime example. I ask her what her plans are for the day. “Kids up and fed, load of laundry started, carpool to school, 8 hours of work, house to keep, husband to keep happy, plays, sports, recitals…”  You get the picture.  I ask her: “When do you do something for yourself and your sanity?”  “On the list of Top Ten Priorities,” she answers “that is number twenty-seven.”

First of all, if you are reading this and thinking to yourself: “hey, that sounds a lot like me”… Stop It!  And stop accepting it in your clients.  From a business viewpoint, allowing people to exercise their natural tendency to put things off only leads to lost contacts, lost clients and lost business.  Realize the tremendous opportunity we have to help others; to contribute to their success in a very meaningful way. Then understand the responsibility that comes with it.

Here is my Decidedly Low-Tech Philosophy for Real Estate Success: every morning I wake up and remind myself that my job is to do EVERYTHING I possibly can to make people take that first step to fitness: physical or financial.  Remember, a stress on either one impacts the health of the other.  The skill and dedication of being a passionate agent gives you an awesome, joyful power to reduce that stress.

It is said you can take a horse to water but you can’t make ‘em drink.  What a defeatist attitude. Take your clients to the water and find a way to make them do what you and they already know is in their best interest.  That is your responsibility.  That is your key to success.  That is your job. (Don’t delay!)