Yesterday’s Model. Today’s Market.
We Did a Thing By now, the word is on the street –– and yes, it’s true, we did a thing. A month (or so)…
October 12, 2022Management by Cliche
The large majority of my formative years were spent playing sports. I was fortunate in that I got to play with and against some…
August 1, 2022Click Here for Fear
No news program, blogger, or Twitterer ever got rich by issuing the following statement, ‘Everything is perfectly normal and you don’t need to really…
March 22, 2022Stop Trying to Time the Market
(A quick note – This piece was originally written in response to an individual who kept telling me only idiots were buying houses at…
February 12, 2022This Wasn’t on the Exam
I got my real estate license in 1993 –– well before online MLS, cell phones, ShowingTime, and laser printers. I’m old. The real estate exam…
January 14, 20222022 HOUSING MARKET FORECAST IN RICHMOND VA
At the beginning of each year, we do a report for not just our agents, but our clients and the general public about what…
December 2, 2021It’s Still a Train Wreck
In February, we published a piece called, ‘The Train Wreck that is Housing’ –– it was one of our most widely read and shared articles…
March 21, 2021How to Win a Bidding War
The feeling is familiar enough by now –– the perfect listing comes out and your clients want to buy it. They know the market is…
March 2, 2021Thoughts on Scaling a Business
I’m not sure why, but for whatever reason, I have been in a lot of conversations about ‘scaling’ lately. Scaling, in the business context,…
February 15, 2021The Train Wreck That is Housing
In case you hadn’t heard, we have an inventory problem. Right now, in a region of 1.3M people, we have +/- 500 homes for…
January 15, 2021Problems, and Why We Suck at Solving Them
Lately, we have been spending a lot of time at One South thinking about thinking. More specifically, we have been spending a lot of…
November 1, 2020Imperfect Information and Decision Making
The score was 1-0. It was the top of the 6th inning and Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was working on…
September 30, 2020The Overconfidence Bias
The year was 2008. The CEO on stage was the epitome of confidence –– wearing his favorite custom-tailored suit, starched shirt with sparkling cufflinks, a…
September 22, 2020The Lure of Two Commas
Take your pick this evening when you are channel surfing –– would you rather binge-watch ‘Million Dollar Beach House’ or ‘Million Dollar Agent’? Or…
September 10, 2020The Smallest Viable Audience
Seth Godin For those of you who do not follow Seth Godin, you should. Several years ago, I attended a conference where he was…
August 7, 2020Routine or System?
We all have routines. We set our wallet and glasses in the same place when we get home. We drink coffee when we wake…
July 24, 2020Houston, We Have a Problem
‘Houston, we have a problem.’ Who can forget the memorable line uttered by Jim Lovell, played so ably by Tom Hanks in Apollo 13,…
June 15, 2020Change
A few weeks ago, we pushed out the blog ‘Why are We Selling so Many Houses Right Now?’ that explored housing market resilience in…
May 27, 2020The Corona Hangover
‘Hey Boss, I don’t think I can make it in to work today?’ ‘Really? I’m sorry to hear that. Not feeling well?’ ‘Uh, ya.…
May 22, 2020Why Are We Selling So Many Houses Right Now?!?
COVID has wiped out so many industries: Our restaurants are decimated. Air travel has essentially ceased. Public transportation is basically empty. The hotels are…
May 16, 2020Subscribe to Tribe
When you hear the word ‘tribe,’ what comes to mind? If you’re like most of us, you think of a group of people from…
May 5, 2020Quantifying Overpricing
I love MLS. Say what you want to about the somewhat clunky interface and the occasional fine for a nit-picky rule violation, but MLS…
April 19, 2020When Disruptors are Disrupted
In case you haven’t heard the news: OpenDoor quit buying houses and laid off 30% of its staff OfferPad also shut down iBuying, as…
April 3, 2020COVID Doesn’t Care About Your Schedule
The mortgage is due on the first of each month –– and so is the rent, the car payment, and the AMEX bill. Sales…
March 28, 2020Our Random Musings About Team
On the whiteboard in our office right now is a bunch of scribbling about ‘Team.’ For most agents, the move from individual to ‘team’…
March 28, 2020From “Practice” to “Business”
Are You a Business Owner? Many real estate agents think of themselves as business owners, but most are not. How so? In the same…
March 28, 2020Oh no, I’m Disrupted Again.
Disruption, Redistribution, or Reallocation? If you Google “disruptions to the real estate industry,” you’re presented with anywhere from 5 to 10 million search results…
March 28, 2020What Band Are You?
Sounds like a BuzzFeed quiz, doesn’t it? The question was asked the other day in our office (this is what we do all day…
March 28, 2020How Are You Sized?
What is your bandwidth right now? How about your capacity? What is your current workload? All of these terms refer to our ability to…
March 28, 2020The Modular Agent
The class was Business and Technology and the year was 1994. The professor was rather arrogant, but behind his disinterested persona was a pretty…
March 28, 2020The Art of Niche
Ok, so you say you do have a niche — please explain. What is your niche? Is it a neighborhood? Or a type of…
March 28, 2020Steak Knives and MLS
Question: What would you offer someone trying to eat a porterhouse steak with his/her bare hands? Another steak A sharp knife and fork Obviously,…
March 28, 2020Facebook, Ideas, and Growth
Did you hear that a college dropout gave Harvard’s commencement speech this year? Mark Zuckerberg, who dropped out of Harvard after his sophomore year…
March 28, 2020RealtorBall
My Obsession with Moneyball If there were ever a book written for me, Moneyball is that book. I grew up not only a fan…
March 28, 2020Thinking, Clearly or Not at All
One of the most transformative books I have ever read is the instant classic, Thinking –– Fast and Slow. The masterpiece, by cognitive psychologists,…
March 28, 2020Why do you get paid?
Seriously, why? Do you think about it? Do you get paid because you have access to MLS? Do you get paid because you have…
March 28, 20200% Mortgage Sounds Awesome!
In light of the Fed’s recent move to drop the Federal Funds rate to 0%, a lot of questions have arisen from both agents…
March 28, 2020A Brand is Not a Company
Register the URL at GoDaddy — $10 A really groovy WordPress theme — maybe $29 Get someone on Fiverr to design you a pretty…
January 21, 2020Now’s the time to make those calls! Up your lead gen by 10x, Use your scripts!
I have spent much of my newfound extra time on quite a few webinars toting lead generation tactics, offering “free” coaching, working to inspire…
August 29, 2019The Certainty Tax
I am extremely lucky. When I look back, I can see many places where fortune shined on me and provided me with a lucky…