Author: Sean Purcell (page 6 of 11)

Real Estate Renaissance Man

March 17, 2009

I’ve always enjoyed well written television comedy and I’ve wondered lately why I’m not seeing as much. What happened to the writers? Believe it or not, they all moved to DC and are writing for our Congressmen! Oh sure, there’s a dark edge to the lines they write, but it’s classic television comedy just the same. The congressional outrage reported in this AP story on the AIG bonus debacle is a perfect example.

AIG notified all involved, over a year ago, that these bonuses were contractually due and payable this quarter. Former President Bush knew, current President Obama knew, the various financial players in the administration knew and Congress knew. But that doesn’t prevent Senator Chuck Schumer, D-NY, from issuing this power-drunk one liner: “If you don’t return it on your own, we’ll do it for you.” (If I had written the scene Sen. Schumer would have exited the room directly after delivering this tour de farce but before going through the door he’d stop, turn and say “I’ll be baaaack.”

Turns out Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner did meet with AIG CEO Edward Liddy in hopes of discovering ways Mr. Liddy could renegotiate the contracts and all these bonuses, but Mr. Geithner “recognized that you can’t just abrogate contracts willy-nilly” according to President Obama’s chief economic advisor Lawrence Summers. (Apparently, you can only do the old willy-nilly abrogation of contracts on mortgage lenders using BK judges. Don’t you just love this juicy sub-plot on the importance of consistency running throughout the program tonight?)

At this point enters Representative Barney Frank, D-Mass, quite possibly the most culpable legislator in the current mortgage crisis. A less confident person, living in such a LARGE glass house, would probably keep a lower profile but not our crazy Uncle Barney. “The time has come to exercise our ownership rights. We own most of the company.” What?? I thought the administration was taking shares in the companies only to ensure that taxpayers are paid back. Do you mean to tell me they are going to start running these companies too? I’m shocked, shocked to find (this) going on here. Rep. Read more

March 6, 2009

Epiphany Marketing and Rocky Road ice cream…

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

I have talked about and written on Mayoral Marketing before. The basic premise of marketing, according to this theory, is to build a community of people who would elect you mayor. This concept leads to some useful details on how we should go about marketing in order to accomplish this election. (Hint: it’s a campaign) The problem though, is that Mayoral Marketing explains the how of marketing, but not the why. I know, the “why” seems obvious: the goal of marketing is to generate potential clients and closed transactions, right? Wrong. That’s the objective; that’s the end result to be gained. But the question of “why” is a question of purpose. Does everything that makes up the how lead to the objective. In other words: what is the actual GOAL of our marketing?

The Epiphany Moment

The goal of marketing is to place us with the potential client at the moment of epiphany. Let’s call this Epiphany Marketing. What am I talking about? Most people don’t just suddenly decide to buy or sell a house. Usually, something else happens; they’re walking along when all of a sudden:

They hear that cousin Bernard just bought a house. BAM! (moment of epiphany) “If my dopey cousin Bernard can buy a house, I certainly can.” At which point the good marketer wants to figuratively (if not literally) be standing right there in front of them.
They meet with their CPA and find out how big their tax liability is for the year. BAM! (moment of epiphany) “I need to buy a property and get some deductions… right now.” Again, a good marketing campaign puts you there in their mind even as they have the epiphany.
They’re walking along and the beautiful, young wife says, “honey, you know I love you. That’s why I’m so excited to be pregnant” … (wait for it) … BAM!! “I need a bigger house!” The goal of any good marketer, when that tender and touching moment arrives, is to be standing right there between the both of them.

This is alternatively known as Mind Share as well as Top of Mind Status – but I like Epiphany Read more

March 2, 2009

Not Ideology… Terminology

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Do you still wonder whether banks will be nationalized? Does the idea of an auto manufacturer declaring bankruptcy scare you even just a little? Tell me you’re not still engaged in any discussions on whether or not the response to our economic crisis has been a step toward “socialism!” Please, come down off your soap box. This discussion of competing ideologies is so 20th century. Disco is dead baby and it’s time you adopted a new framework of thinking. What’s probably confusing you is that the ideology has already been settled. Once you see all of this to be purely matters of terminology, you’ll also gain an insight into what happens next.

For a short while, President Obama’s critics tried to frame the discussion in terms of Socialism. This is a non-starter. I think if you were to poll this president and this congress – a few far-left nuts not withstanding – you’d find each of them expressing a love for this country and not a one expressing a desire to become a Socialist State – even passing polygraphs. You’re using the wrong terminology! Accusing this administration of moving us toward Socialism may have the support of a technical definition, but it drips of ideological connotations where none belong. Think of it this way: the nuns in a convent live in a technically defined communist system (from each according to her ability, to each according to her need). But would you call them communists? Not only is the connotation unjust, the ideology is not accurate. This is what still causes those trepidations mentioned in the opening paragraph.

Listen to me and find some peace. The new ideology has actually been in place and growing for some time. The recent election was only the crowning of its leader. We must move away from Democrats vs. Republicans (too often these days, a distinction without a difference) and understand the new dimension, which is Progressive vs. Self-Reliant. The progressives have been in power in Congress for some time now. The first $350 billion to banks, the AIG bail-out, the “loans” to GM & Chrysler and so Read more

February 25, 2009

Getting Paid to be Motivated

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love marketing. I love figuring out a theme and creating the copy and running a campaign. What I have a lot more difficulty with is prospecting. The daily grind of converting people who haven’t met me into people who want to elect me mayor. I read posts by Jeff Brown and Chris Johnson and I get all fired up like when I was a stock broker: 200 calls a day and all the throat lozengers you can swallow. Then I’ll read something by Greg Swann or Brian Brady and I’m speeding down the 2.0 path toward Social Media Marketing Mecca. But at the end of the day (actually the beginning of the day for me), I still need to do the basics: phone calls, emails, letters and so on. I’ve got HEAP running some of that for me and I use Facebook and I’m usually bleeding somewhere from all my efforts to skin cats! It’s a whole lot to digest on the salary we’re paid… Oh yeah, we’re not paid a salary. We’ve got to keep all those balls in the air AND wait for the big pay days when an escrow finally does close. Come on… admit it: sometimes a little daily motivation would help.

Lately, I’ve been monetizing my efforts. Nothing ground breaking here; just some good old fashioned methods for spicing up the day. If you’re looking for a little more excitement, give this a try. (Warning: involves a little bit of math. If you don’t DO math, or you’re already sufficiently motivated by the repo guy outside the door… skip this post now and save yourself the headache.)

One for the Money
Know your dollar figures. There are two dollar figures I care about: What is my average Gross Commission Income (GCI) per transaction? and What monthly income do I expect? (This can be found in the business plan you create and update each year… right?) I live in San Diego and work with lots of investors, so my expected GCI is $7500 per transaction. I live in San Diego Read more

February 20, 2009

Bankrupt Ideas for Changing Bankruptcy

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Two excerpts from a local article: Bankruptcy reform could help hard-up homeowners

Overwhelmed by debt from credit cards, a $536-a-month truck payment, $8000 in overdue property taxes and two mortgages, the single homeowner is hoping (San Diego bankruptcy attorney) Colwell can remove the $84,000 second loan on his home, which is now worth about $100,000 less than what he originally paid. (emphasis mine)

———————————

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (says) Congress is prepared to act on the (bankruptcy) legislation so “responsible homeowners can stay in their homes.” (emphasis mine)

The obvious question here is: Does House Speaker Nancy Pelosi know she’s a caricature?

But let’s go beyond the obvious for a moment and take a rational, economically based look at President Obama and Congress’ plan to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. Why? Because the effect of this legislation will impact not only home buyers, real estate agents and lenders but pretty much anyone who plans on using a mortgage to purchase or refinance a home in the foreseeable future.

This is not the venue to bore you with arcane language and minutiae on how mortgage back securities work. Suffice to say that, as with all investments, investors in mortgage backs (upon which all mortgage rates are based) are happiest when they feel safest. The more comfortable they are in their expectation of future redemption rates, the less profit they expect in return for purchasing mortgage backs. Translation: a safe & happy mortgage back investor equals a low mortgage rate.

But, when you give a bankruptcy court the power to modify a loan at their own prerogative, you introduce the unknown and unstable into the world of our happy little mortgage back investors – you introduce risk. Confronted with an increase in risk, investors naturally want an increase in reward. That means higher rates across the board. This is not rocket science.

Says Dustin Hobbs, spokesman for the California Mortgage Bankers Association,

“If there’s the fear that judges can at any time modify mortgages, it’s no long the safe investment it was, and investors will charge mortgage bankers more to buy the loans – costs that will be passed on to Read more

February 20, 2009

Marketing to the Music

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

It has been over two years since the Washington Post decided to have a little fun with people going to work. In January of 2007, they asked Joshua Bell, an internationally acclaimed virtuoso, to play his violin at an entrance to the D.C. metro during rush hour. It was conceived as a social experiment regarding the appreciation of art. You can read the full story here. I bring this up, not as a lover of classical music (I am woefully ignorant), but as a lover of people. What we do and how we do it – the way we interact with actual life – this I find incredibly interesting. I also find a great deal of practical use. Take this story for instance:

Joshua Bell is considered one of the greatest musical artists living today. His violin, hand made by Antonio Stradivari himself in 1713, is a musical masterpiece worth over $3 million. For his “subway” performance he chooses Bach’s Chaconne, said by those who should know to be one of the greatest pieces ever written: emotionally powerful and structurally perfect… it is also considered one of the most difficult pieces anyone can play. So there’s Joshua Bell, who a few nights before had sold out Boston’s Symphony Hall (where tickets in the parking lot start at $100), playing possibly the most difficult and most powerful piece of violin music ever written on one of the rarest and most perfect violins ever made. What do you think happened? He made less than $100 in tips, a couple of people slowed down to listen, one gentleman stopped for almost 3 full minutes and over a thousand people rushed by without a glance or a moment to listen.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Some listened… some listened intently. But they could not stop. They were pulled along against their will even as they craned their little necks. Children “heard” the music. Children “saw” the man. Children “knew” they were in the presence of something. They knew this because Read more

February 17, 2009

Marketing Advice from the Grave

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

San Diego lost a local icon last Friday. George “King” Stahlman was a bail bondsman known throughout the county and I suspect, thanks to this once being simply a “Navy town,” parts well beyond the county. His passing, while important to many, is not really the stuff of a national real estate blog. But he was a master marketer. I doubt you could find a dozen people living in San Diego who can’t sing his latest commercial jingle: “It’s better to know me and not need me, than to need me and not know me.”

Even in death, King Stahlman still has something to teach. This, his motto, as reported in an article in the local paper announcing his death: “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”

Vaya con Dios “King” Stahlman…

February 16, 2009

Honoring Great Leaders for President’s Day

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Did you ever have the feeling something very bad just happened? You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you sense something is wrong. Or worse, there’s that feeling you sometimes get that not only is something bad happening, but someone, somewhere is orchestrating it. Very eerie: the hint of impending doom, the frustration, the uneasy awareness something dreadful has been laid out for you and there’s nothing you can do.

As painful as those feelings may be, they’re not normally accompanied by anger – not unless there’s also a sense of outrage. To be really and truly angry, you must not only sense something very bad is happening and someone else is causing it to happen – but the added insult that they enjoyed doing it.

As if maybe they were laughing at you…

Democratic House members, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (second from left) and Rep. Charles Rangel of New York (right), laughed at a news conference Thursday after the House had approved the stimulus bill.

February 4, 2009

You’re Gonna Need a Shovel

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

When I was young, my father taught me a very simple story:

A man walks by a big room and sees that it’s chest high in manure. “Quick,” he says “someone get me a shovel. There must be one helluva horse in here somewhere!”

Now the message was always clear: don’t be afraid of hard work and look upon every situation with an optimistic eye. Lately though, reading the paper has been a lot like running into that room; only I’ve begun to realize there’s no horse in there. Just a whole lot of shovelin’.

The latest pile can be found in a column by Dean Calbreath, a well-respected staff writer for the Business section of our local paper: The San Diego Union Tribune. You can read the full story here: Government Spending is Tool to Revive the Economy, although the title itself is about as subtle as a sledge hammer to the head. (I wonder if he was being ironic with the word “tool”?) In the column itself, Mr. Calbreath expects politicians debating the “stimulus package” will take heart in a new study by UCSD economist Valerie Ramey which concluded that for every $1 the government spends, it generates $1.40 in economic growth. Uh… yes, you read that right. The government is generating 40% growth on its spending programs. Wow! We really can spend our way out of a problem. I mean Mister, at 40% growth we’ll be out of this recession in a quarter or two if the government will just get it through their thick heads to spend enough. (When I read utter nonsense like this I am reminded, as I so often am, of the wit and wisdom of Homer Simpson. Upon realizing he and a few other characters were literally trapped at the bottom of a hole they themselves had dug, Homer hit upon an elegant solution: “We’ll dig our way out!” As the screen fades we can here Chief Wiggum say, “No, dig up, stupid…”)

“Raising spending stimulates the economy,” Ramey said. “On average, government spending raises gross domestic product and raises employment, although it sometimes leads to Read more

January 23, 2009

The Agents are the Heroes

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

How many remember the movie Back to the Future? I always liked the play on words in that title and I am liking it even more lately. Why? Because as agents that is exactly what we are doing: going back to the future. I believe the marketing theme for 2009 is going to be “old school.” Going back to the “old school” ways of marketing… done with the tools of the future: back to the future. (Caveat: the future for me has a very Mr. Magoo aspect to it. I appreciate the high-tech agents among us keeping the laughter down to a mild snicker.) Chris Johnson understands “old school”, he was bleeding it here and here. Jeff Brown understands old school – actually, Jeff probably learned this stuff when it was just “school”…

Touching your sphere of influence on a consistent basis is “old school” – using emails, webinars and blogging to do it is the future.
Tracking your marketing, your prospecting and your ROI from both is “old school” – using powerful software to do so is the future.
Picking up the phone and calling past clients or mailing something personal every day is “old school” – knowing there is no substitute for getting belly-to-belly is the future.

And WE are the future. Those of us still here. Our profession lost a lot of people last year. Our profession needed to… Many of us suffered just to make it this far and some of us are suffering still (although some flourished… think about that). But the point is, we are here. We stuck it out because this “real estate thing” isn’t something we do on the side or because it’s easy money. We are her because this is our profession. We now reap all the opportunities of 2009… AND the responsibilities. It is our charge to bring integrity and passion to everything we do. You, all of you, are the heroes and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You help people find their way, now more so than ever before, through a giant minefield of potentially devastating mistakes on their way to buying or Read more

January 1, 2009

Happy New… ah, to hell with it.

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Please, allow me to be the very first to wish you a Happy New Year! What’s that? Not the first huh; the second? The tenth? Well just forget it then. Truth be told “Happy New Year” is kind of silly isn’t it? I mean, it’s just an imaginary line drawn in a calendar. The time of year we just know we’re going to write the wrong date on our checks and when we do we’re still surprised by it: “Look what I did here Mac, I was writing out a check and I wrote ’08 instead of ’09! Can you believe it! Golly, I wonder how many more times I’ll make that mistake.” (Note of explanation for the younger readers out there: we used to carry around these little pads called checkbooks. They were nicely encased in a faux leather little cover and you would write on one of the sheets in this pad a kind of IOU that your bank would pay out of your account. It had the benefit, especially right after the holidays, of creating a little time between when you paid something and when you necessarily had to have the actual cash. You could not use them for online purchases, which was OK because the world was offline at the time.)

Where was I? Oh yeah: saying Happy New Year on this day is a bit arbitrary. When you think about it, we begin a new year every single day of our lives. As a matter of fact, we begin a new life every single day of our lives. Why don’t we wish each other Happy New Life each day instead of Good Morning? Wouldn’t that put a much finer point on the power of today? Oh I know what you’re thinking: “arbitrary or not, this is the time for Resolutions.” Have you read the statistics on New Year’s resolutions? Do you know how many are broken within hours of their creation? (If so, please go ahead and post them in the comments because I didn’t bother to look them up – one of my resolutions is to Read more

December 29, 2008

Net Happiness is Not Based on Net Worth

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

As 2008 comes to a close it’s important to remember… well, it’s important to remember what’s important. Ben Stein does a pretty good job of that in this article. He is ostensibly talking about the fallout from Bernard Madofff’s Ponzi scheme, but he says a whole lot more:

We are more than our investments. We are more than the year-to-year or day-by-day changes in our net worth. We are what we do for charity. We are how we treat our family and friends. We are how we treat our dogs and cats. We are what we do for our community and our nation. If you had $100 million or $100,000 a year ago and now you have a lot less, you’re still the same person. You’re not a balance sheet, at least not one denominated in money…

It’s a tough thing to remember in a business measured by commissions. Our lives are surrounded by miracles and drowned out by laughter. Having money may improve our lifestyle, but it does not improve us. Losing money may cause us hardship, but it does not lessen us. Our happiness is a function of how happy we see ourselves at our core. It is a choice of awareness. Ben Stein gets that. Choose to be happy – it’s more fun.

December 26, 2008

Do You Know How to Iron?

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

I attended a Christmas dinner party earlier this week. It followed the script of most such dinner parties, which is to say: it was remarkable – the same way almost all social gatherings turn out to be remarkable. They start slow: a few people in various corners of the living room, their conversations hushed and directed at the same person who accompanied them through the door not ten minutes earlier. Then the wine is opened, some appetizers are laid out and enough people show up that a tipping point occurs. As if by design the conversation hubs begin to move, some groups grow in size while others diminish, strangers are pulled in and couples become less dependent upon each other. Eventually, the dinner is served and new friends engage in cross conversations around the table. It is a predictable, if not awkward transformation leading to a unique treasure each and every time.

This party was no different. I sat down on the couch and was soon engaged in a wonderful conversation. Forced to guess her age I would say sixty, but she could have been seventy and she could have been fifty. She was well traveled and she was observant. It was easy to sense a certain wisdom in her person and I was fascinated. She had recently returned from a trip to Europe and exuded a confident happiness that intrigued me. “What’s the secret?” I asked. She looked at me for a moment, trying to gauge whether I would understand her answer I supposed, then replied, “I iron my clothes now.” She could see in my face that I was confused and I could see in hers that she had gauged correctly. “Over in Europe, people still care,” and she went on to explain how Europeans were more considered in the clothes they wore and how they looked. This appealed to her in comparison with the casualness prevalent in America. So… now she irons her clothes every morning. It requires a little extra time and a little extra effort but it makes her day special.

I thought about that conversation all the Read more

December 23, 2008

Learning to Appreciate the Arts

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Not everyone appreciates the entertainment value of watching the body politic. But I do. I stand hands on hips, amazed by the intricate movements each player contributes to their tap dance around the truth. I listen to their spin, enthralled by the rhythm and stunned by their ability to stand upon the dais and look us in the eyes. For all its pleasures though, most dedicated fans recognize the elements of tragedy that underlie every production. There may be action and there will most certainly be humor; but the end is always the same: hubris and self-importance combine to bring about tragedy. In the audience we may see it coming, but our recognition is too late to avert the inevitable.

Residents of California have been blessed with a double header as of late; two shows for the price of one. True aficionados of this delicate art form will not only revel in the production value both shows offer, but the clever juxtaposition between them – the contrasting views of power they represent.

On the main stage we find the Federal Players and their prime-time rendition of The King and I. The legislative branch of democracy writes a blank check and hands it to King Henry (Paulson) and his trusty side-kick President Bush. They spend it on assorted items, many never contemplated when the check was written. The legislature must be commended, however, for its heartfelt portrayal of the country bumpkins who did not see any of this coming. In the final act, a chagrined upper house – the Senate – reasserts itself. They choose not to spend money they don’t have on an industry that does not deserve it. (This decision aligns with the wishes of the audience, but we assume the relationship to be coincidental more than causal.) At the last moment: a twist! We see the King spending the money anyway! He usurps the Legislature’s constitutional and historical role as the means of appropriation. It is a dramatic twist, shocking in its brazen contempt for law. As the curtain comes down the audience is too dazzled by it all to recognize Read more

December 18, 2008

A Poke (in the eye) from Facebook

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

You know, they say it isn’t wise – when you visit the Wizard of Oz – to look too closely behind the curtain. Might not like what you see. In Australia we were recently treated to a quick look behind Facebook’s curtain and I have to tell you: the king ain’t wearing any clothes!

Seems a nice young couple had bought a house, got upside down, stopped paying their mortgage and were doing everything they could to avoid the process servers and foreclosure coming their way. Not altogether different from the unfortunate antics of a great many folks over in our neck of the woods. I doubt many of us condone their behavior, but I find it difficult to root for the mortgage company either. Sort of like watching a tether ball game between your ex-wife and her attorney: I don’t really care who wins just so long as both sides take one or two in the kisser. Aaaaanyway, the mortgage company finally won the game. Want to know how? They looked this couple up and served them legal documents on Facebook! (Read the full story here.)

Better yet, the local Supreme Court in Australia ruled that this was an acceptable use of the social networking platform. Are you surprised? Shocked? Maybe even a little outraged? I should say so. I’ll bet Facebook was none too happy either. Imagine the chilling affect this development may have on their social network site. Let’s listen in:

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt praised the ruling.

“We’re pleased to see the Australian court validate Facebook as a reliable, secure and private medium for communication,” he said.

“The ruling is also an interesting indication of the increasing role that Facebook is playing in people’s lives,” Schnitt added. The company said it believed this was the first time it has been used to serve a foreclosure notice.

I can only guess at the pride they’ll feel when the first paternity suit is served. Are you kidding me? I read this and the first thing I did was look up hubris in the dictionary, just to make sure I was using that word correctly in Read more

Author: Sean Purcell (page 6 of 11)

Who Needs Sit-coms?

by Sean Purcell

Epiphany Marketing and Rocky Road ice cream…

by Sean Purcell

Not Ideology… Terminology

by Sean Purcell

Getting Paid to be Motivated

by Sean Purcell

Bankrupt Ideas for Changing Bankruptcy

by Sean Purcell

Marketing to the Music

by Sean Purcell

Marketing Advice from the Grave

by Sean Purcell

Honoring Great Leaders for President’s Day

by Sean Purcell

You’re Gonna Need a Shovel

by Sean Purcell

The Agents are the Heroes

by Sean Purcell

Happy New… ah, to hell with it.

by Sean Purcell

Net Happiness is Not Based on Net Worth

by Sean Purcell

Do You Know How to Iron?

by Sean Purcell

Learning to Appreciate the Arts

by Sean Purcell

A Poke (in the eye) from Facebook

by Sean Purcell

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