We bought our house out of hock today. All it took was a tiny little pawn ticket and a great big check. Our small feat of redemption was actually paid for by June’s receipts, but I got myself into this mess by surfing the payables, and I got myself out the same way. We retired the outstanding debt eleven days early, and it’s been a while since we’ve been that early on anything.
That notwithstanding, we are very far from being out of debt. But June was great, July is good, and August and September promise to be two of our best months ever. If the fourth quarter lives up to its promise, 2009 could end up being our best year so far. By this time next year, we could owe nothing but the mortgage — which is good, because our credit will take a while to recover from these past three years.
There is none of this that is anybody’s business, actually — except that people choose to affect to make my business their own because of who I am and how I behave. That’s fine, even if it sometimes seems to me to be simultaneously voyeuristic and masturbatory. I have a job that pays pretty well when it pays anything at all. When we got slow three years ago, we made a very big bet on internet marketing, which we were already pretty good at back then. By now we kill, and we’re getting better by leaps and bounds every single day. If you think our financial troubles prove our marketing ideas wrong — you just keep thinking that way. By the time you understand what it is we’re doing, we will have leapt into a completely different orbit.
Meanwhile: For all the good-hearted folks who wished us well in all of this: Thank you. I’d rather not have done this in public, but I couldn’t have picked a nicer bunch of people to do it with.
Now switch off this insipid soap opera and go do something productive with your life!
Dan Connolly says:
Having looked into the abyss myself more than once without falling in, I understand what you are going through. (Internet marketing was what saved my ass as well.) Thanks for having the courage to share your journey, I am sure your unvarnished honesty has more than a little to do with your success. Cheers!
July 16, 2009 — 10:05 pm
David Losh says:
Very nice post.
What no one looks at is we are here to facilitate the purchase and sale of Real Estate. There are agents who have done well in this market.
One agent is representing builders. He was honest and up front. If you want to sell you need to lower the price. He also worked with the bank to get special financing. One agent has simply taken only good solid properties in good locations at reasonable prices. There was plenty of inventory to choose from this year. many old expireds have sold.
Now it’s time to concentrate on buyers. If we are in a buyer’s market then by all means it’s time to ramp up Open Houses, Buyer Classes, Round Table Buyer Discussion, and present the shadow inventory of off market foreclosures, REOs, and those expireds that needed a little more time.
There is no shame at this stage of the game of writing low offers.
This will be a good year. Have fun.
July 16, 2009 — 11:36 pm
Brad Coy says:
Good on ya! It’s nice to here this positive turn in your journey. You all have been in my thoughts often since the “first” part of the story. I’m happy to say that I have been seeing similar results this going into summer here.
July 17, 2009 — 12:15 am
Teri Lussier says:
Nice to hear!
But your title promised “lurid”. Um… I’m waiting… 😉
July 17, 2009 — 4:02 am
Barry Bevis says:
Congrats- you overcame with the with the fruits of your labor.
That is proof enough!
July 17, 2009 — 4:41 am
Genuine Chris Johnson says:
Greg-
Congrats. And, I think it becomes people’s business by “who you are/how you act.” And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. People wanna know if this stuff works. And I hope that you continue to prove that it does.
If you can be a “crude dude in a rude mood” and have marketing so good that it overcomes it, maybe, just maybe, we should be listening to you ;-).
CJ
July 17, 2009 — 6:08 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Hey Greg;
Congrats, my friend.
**refills glass after toasting Glenn and toasts Greg as well**
@Chris- “This stuff works..” Hmmm…I think people still are confusing the model with the man.
One defeat or success of one man does not prove or disprove a business model IMO. Am I missing something here?
Eric
July 17, 2009 — 6:38 am
Scott Cowan says:
Greg-
I am so very happy for both of you. Many of us have been having a difficult time making ends meet and when we hear one of the truly nice (and yes Greg you ARE a nice guy) ones can turn things around it inspires all of us to keep on working on the things we know are the right things to work on.
Best wishes on continued success.
Scott
July 17, 2009 — 6:59 am
Dylan Darling says:
Internet marketing is where its at. Without it I wouldn’t have survived the winter. If only I had 2 brains and 4 arms to keep up to speed on the internet and still sell real estate! Great work.
July 17, 2009 — 8:42 am
Don Reedy says:
Greg/Cathleen,
Okay, old stuff, but I remind you and the readers again of my favorite saying:
“A single raindrop seldoms thinks itself to be the cause of the flood.”
You ARE that single raindrop.
July 17, 2009 — 9:04 am
Michael Cook says:
Great work Greg. Keep the updates coming.
July 17, 2009 — 9:42 am
Jonathan Washburn says:
Greg,
Congrats on getting caught up. I missed your first post about this, but would have told you to keep your head up. The financial ups and downs comes with the territory of being in business for yourself. Every good business has a “dip” moment, and even when the business is growing and everything seems to be going well, cash flow can be a problem. Actually its usually when business is growing fastest that cash flow can be a problem!
July 17, 2009 — 10:29 am
Sean Purcell says:
Glad to hear it Greg. Don’t forget how many silent readers are helped when they see this stuff can happen to anyone and – more importantly – there can be a positive outcome. Your “lurid” details serve many.
July 17, 2009 — 10:35 am
Mark Madsen says:
>>”f you think our financial troubles prove our marketing ideas wrong — you just keep thinking that way. By the time you understand what it is we’re doing, we will have leapt into a completely different orbit.”
I’d rather people keep thinking that the Internet stuff doesn’t work. Well, at least my local competitors. 🙂
While everyone is rushing to hear the next social networking guru talk about how to make money through FB, LI, and Twitter, I’m paying close attention to the the 10 spots that are becoming more and more competitive in the SERPs.
It all boils down to writing valuable content on your own blog, and then developing strong relationships with the few in the industry who understand that concept.
BHB has history, value, and a ton of strength.
Greg, whatever price you had to pay over the past few years to build this foundation, I sincerely believe that it was worth it. I’ve made similar sacrifices for a fraction of the power that you have online, and I’m confident and at peace with the path I’ve chosen – regardless of the scars.
mm
July 17, 2009 — 11:03 am
Eric Blackwell says:
Well said Mark….Well said.
Eric
July 17, 2009 — 11:07 am
Brandon Green says:
Congrats Greg!
July 17, 2009 — 12:45 pm
Brian Brady says:
Celebrate success! Next?
July 17, 2009 — 1:31 pm
Dave Shafer says:
Congratulations.
Here is one of my favorite quotes:
“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned
usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”
“It sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.”
“It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.”
Eric Hoffer
July 17, 2009 — 2:07 pm
Doug Quance says:
With so many agents losing their homes, it is truly refreshing to hear this good news.
Let’s hope you don’t have to go down this road, anymore.
July 17, 2009 — 3:59 pm
Greg Swann says:
Thanks to everyone for your sweet remarks!
> With so many agents losing their homes, it is truly refreshing to hear this good news.
Not to be too compunctionless, but we’re only down about $20,000 from where we bought the house in early 2005, very easy to win back and then some. If we were down $200,000, our morals might have been put to the test.
July 17, 2009 — 5:42 pm
Cheryl Johnson says:
Good on you! I particularly like the metaphor of leaping into a higher orbit…
July 17, 2009 — 6:24 pm
Greg Swann says:
> I particularly like the metaphor of leaping into a higher orbit…
Quantum physics. The universe itself is the most breathtaking of all works of art.
July 18, 2009 — 7:05 am
Louis Cammarosano says:
Congratulations Greg. I was unaware of your personal financial situation -I missed your may post.
I am foreever baffled by people who equate financial weath with intelligence or “success”(if they equated it with criminality I might have more sypathy for the point of view)
Keep up the fight!
July 17, 2009 — 8:02 pm
Geno Petro says:
Along those quantum lines… we all strive for that critical mass point in our businesses when we can burn our personal mortgage notes and let our freak flags fly…again—so to speak.
Hey, it’s only cash. Just as easy to make as blow as far as Im concerned.
Love to you, C, and the animals,
G.
July 18, 2009 — 9:10 am
Jay Thompson says:
Good to hear, happy for you, Cathleen and the beasts.
But really, lay off the whole internet marketing / prospecting thing. Sooner or later people are going to start believing it actually works, and they may try some of this stuff.
It doesn’t work people. It’s all just a passing fad. 😉
July 19, 2009 — 9:23 am
Carolyn G Tu says:
It’s great that your business is succeeding where many others are not – it is something I hear over and over when people have the internet as part of their marketing strategy. Best of luck in continuing to grow your business. It is a tough financial time for a lot of people.
July 21, 2009 — 11:17 pm