Steve Hoffacker's HOME SALES INSIGHTS

What a Bold Move!

2008-07-03T18:55:00.002-04:00

Imagine, at this time in 1776, a group of the country’s most intelligent and influential men gathered together in secrecy and planned a departure from an entire way of life as they had known it and the launch of a new nation and government.

These men were British citizens, yet they were making plans to rebel and fight against their own nation and countrymen to advance what they felt they had to do.

Notice how the document we know as the Declaration of Independence begins “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary …” They felt the time had come for action.

They weren’t asking King George politely. They were demanding. They had determined that the status quo could not remain.

What a bold move!

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Market Health Depends on How We Look at It

2008-07-02T23:37:00.003-04:00

Let’s see how many adjectives we can think of to describe what many people feel is a less than robust market – down, horrible, bad, mess, stubborn, critical, crisis, tough, recession, tanked, burst bubble, worst ever, catastrophe, difficult, disaster, calamity, debacle, chaos, and obstinate. There may be others, but let’s not try too hard to think of anymore of them.

Then let’s resolve ourselves to stop using those terms to refer to our local market and national economy and to begin using more positive words, phrases, and adjectives to talk about it.

Even if our local markets have been challenging, they are, or soon will be, improving, getting stronger, and recovering.

It’s a two-part process that begins with us and then extends to others that we have the ability to influence in our actions and attitude.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Ready or Not, It's Time for the Second Half Kickoff

2008-07-01T11:49:00.001-04:00

Pardon the football analogy for any non-football fans, but I think most people understand football well enough to know that each half of the game starts with one team kicking the ball to the other team to start the action – and that the team getting the ball to start the first half kicks off to the other one to start the second half.

That said, today – July 1st – is the kickoff for the second half of 2008.

How’d you finish the first half? Were you able to put points on the board to go into halftime? Did you stick to your game plan or did you have to call a lot of audibles?

How was your two-minute drill? I love watching the last two minutes of each half. Invariably a team – or sometimes even both teams – who were unable to score anything at all or maybe just a field goal can score one or more times in the closing ticks of the clock.

Why is that you ask? Focus. They know what to do the entire game to score. It just isn’t implemented as urgently as it is in the final minute or two of play in each half.

It’s the same with sales. We need to focus.

So are you receiving or kicking off in the second half of 2008? Are you on offense or defense?

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Halftime of 2008

2008-06-30T20:26:00.002-04:00

I like that line in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” when George Clooney’s character is in the general store and remarks that where they are “is 2 weeks from everywhere.”

Today reminds me of that – right in the middle of the year. Actually because of leap year, tomorrow is the exact midpoint in 2008 – day #183 with 183 more to follow. If you were to balance the entire year on a single point, that's we are right now.

Nevertheless, today is the end of June – meaning that the first 6 months of the year are over and that 6 more fresh, unused months lie ahead.

Today is the end of the 2nd quarter of the year (also referred to as “2Q” or “Q2”) – sort of a “halftime” until tomorrow when the 3rd quarter starts.

Think of it as watching a rebroadcast of a football with the halftime removed when as soon as the second quarter ends the next one starts.

No matter how you choose to look at – by month, number of days, or quarter – we’re right smack in the middle of this year 2008. Guess the only thing to do is finish with a flourish!

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Gut-check time

2008-06-29T17:53:00.000-04:00

OK, tomorrow is Monday – a great day for sales to happen. Why not start the week off with a sale? Works for me – I’m sure it does for you, too.

But there’s more.

Tomorrow is significant for at least 3 reasons: it is the last day of June – the end of the month, it is the end of the second quarter (April, May, June), and it is the end of the first half of 2008.

Any goals that you have set for the month or quarter or first half of the year had better be well on their way to completion because there is only one day left to complete them.

Quite a perspective, huh? I know, where did the time go?

Don’t despair, just pull out all of the stops and make at least one of your outstanding goals a reality by the end of tomorrow. There is hope.

On the other hand, if you’ve achieved the goals you set, congratulations. On to the next month and quarter.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Ever Wonder Why Certain Things Are The Way They Are?

2008-06-28T23:22:00.003-04:00

Take the number pad on your computer keyboard or calculator, and then compare it to your cell phone or desk phone. They are not the same.

So who got to decide why the computer would be different? The telephone (OK maybe not the cell phone) was here first.

I know that computers go back in time farther than we might think, but the PC (desktop personal computer and certainly the notebook or laptop) is newer than the touch-tone telephone.

We can’t look to the typewriter for any help because the numbers were on the top row similar to the way they are on the computer keyboard.

So back to the issue and why it makes a difference.

The computer number pads and the calculators start with the number “1” in the lower left hand corner and progress in rows of three from left to right until the number “9” is in the top right corner – while cell phones (and touch-tone phones) do it in reverse order with the number “1” in the upper left corner and the number “9” is in the lower right?

I have misdialed so many numbers and entered them into my cell phone incorrectly so many times – switching the “8” and “2” or the “1” and “7” or “3” and 9.” It really would be nice if the number pads were consistent.

And since the touch-tone keypads have been around longer than calculators and non-main frame computers, maybe it’s time the cell phone number pad becomes the standard.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

How Glamorous Does Your Phone Bill Need To Be?

2008-06-27T23:29:00.002-04:00

I just opened my new, reformatted, improved, larger-than-ever, phone bill from AT&T. Since taking over from Bell South, I think this is the 3rd reformatting of the bill.

This is not retail. This is not marketing. I fail to see how a larger bill format – at who knows how much staff time and expense to produce – is going to endear them to me, cause me use their services more, or forget about all of the mistakes they have made.

This might be someone’s idea of a necessary expenditure and activity at AT&T – maybe they even got a promotion or an employee-of-the-year nomination as a result. It just doesn’t work for me.

How many other unnecessary activities are accomplished by businesses in the name of progress that neither aid the consumer or save them money?

By the way, aren't our phone bills big enough already in what we pay without calling attention to that fact by making them physically larger as well?

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Giving Credit Where It’s Due

2008-06-26T23:31:00.000-04:00

Take any for-profit organization or company – large or small. Who or what part of that company or business is the most important? The president or CEO? After all, it’s up to them to guide the company through the uncertain waters that stand between where they are today and where they want to go.

The marketing person or department? They must create the awareness of the company and its product or service and generate a customer base. Quite true, very important.

Maybe it’s the office staff – payroll, accounting, data processing, purchasing, secretarial? They are the ones who keep the company going.

Order fulfillment, installation, construction, delivery? Without them the customers do not receive what they ordered or paid for.

Well, as important as each of these positions and people are to any organization, nothing is as important as the salesperson or sales staff.

Without sales, there is no business. It’s that simple.

You can try to argue that the sales function or salespeople are important – but not any more important than any other part of the company. You can even try to assert that they are given too much credit for what they do.

Now, I’m not talking about order taking or order processing. I’m talking about producing business. I’m talking about professional sales.

The fact is that a good salesperson is invaluable to their company. Without them, no one else in the company will have a job.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

We Must Be Doing Something Right

2008-06-25T21:09:00.002-04:00

I know that a lot of people like to use Google to find information. Some people even Google their own name to see what turns up. You mean you’ve never Goggled your own name? Try it – if you haven’t already done so.

Interesting isn’t is? Not about your name or mine, I mean the Google name.

Here’s the name of a company, Google, that provides a platform for a range of internet services and is therefore a noun as a part of speech. Yet, it also has become a verb. There are other words that have this distinction, but not many come to mind.

So for today’s story. If you need the services of a consultant to help you with your new home sales, you might turn to Google and enter the phrase "home builder sales consultant." In fact, I hope you do because we are shown in the number one position for this search.

That’s right, stevehoffacker.com comes up number one, and if you can't tell, that's me. Not a bad position to be in. It didn't come overnight, but I'm glad to have achieved this.

Don't know how long it will last, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Type in "home builder sales and marketing consultant" and we're number two.

Thanks for your support of my website and of this blog here at Steve Hoffacker’s Home Sales Insights as well as my other blog: Steve Hoffacker’s Active Rain Blog.

By the way, tell your colleagues – or better yet, show them.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

The Age-Old Argument Between Construction and Sales

2008-06-24T11:33:00.002-04:00

Why can’t we all just be on the same page?

If it’s the same company, why can’t everyone be pulling in the same direction?

Today, I became personally too acquainted with this argument of sales and construction/installation being adversarial rather than complementary when something that I was promised as a solution to an inadequate initial installation was disavowed by the installers. Rationale: “sales doesn’t know anything about installation and should never have said this.”

Of course, the salesperson had told me that it was improperly installed and that the company should redo it.

Now, I’m expected to resolve their internal disagreement by paying for a job that was not done properly – but no one, including the owner, will take responsibility for it.

Oh now I get it, it’s my fault.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Selling Is Relational

2008-06-23T23:09:00.000-04:00

Buying may not require a relationship, but selling does.

We go into a retail store knowing what we want or just browsing as we push the cart up and down the aisles. We put an item in the cart here and there as we meander though the store and arrive at the checkout. Probably no one helped us – may be no one who worked in the store even acknowledged our presence.

This definitely is not relational, and we didn’t buy anything that wasn’t on our list (or should have been) – unless it was a total impulse purchase that we might regret once we get home.

Now, contrast this with selling – the kind of selling that you and I do. We identify needs, explain features, elaborate on benefits, answer questions, help the customer discern which product or service is right for them, and conclude the transaction.

Unless we relate to our customers in a way that allows them to like and trust us, there are other places – including online – where they can shop for what we offer.

Buying is one thing, but selling, true selling – that takes a personal connection.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

What’s Going To Be Different About This Monday?

2008-06-22T23:10:00.002-04:00

OK, so it’s almost Monday morning – maybe it is actually Monday morning as you are reading this. Some people dislike Mondays because it signals an end to their weekend. I love Mondays. You should, too.

Here’s why. The whole week is ahead of us. No mistakes yet. No challenges yet – unless we have a presentation or appointment that we’re not ready for, a deadline to meet this week, or something carried over from last week – but even that can be exciting.

It's like the beginning of the game: 0-0. Let's play the game and next week at this time we can look back to see how we did.

For the most part, we should have pretty much of a blank slate on which to write our own action plan for success.

If we look ahead at the upcoming week from our Monday vantage point and see too many activities or meetings already scheduled, or we feel ourselves being pulled in many directions, we might need to do a better job of taking control of our time. Next week can be better. The view from next Monday can be better.

Let’s make this a great Monday. If that means making it different from past Mondays – in a more positive, assertive sense – then let’s do it.

We need to plan and manage our calendar, and not have it the other way.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Say Hello to a New Season

2008-06-21T14:10:00.000-04:00

Seasons come, and seasons go. Today we get to welcome summer.

While most of us have been enjoying longer daylight hours, cookouts, ballgames, swimming, other outdoor activities, and hot temperatures for several weeks now, today is actually the official first day of summer – the summer solstice.

Not far off, however, is the start of NFL training camps and then football. We think of football as a fall activity – which it is – but it starts in the heat of summer.

Enjoy your summer and help people find a new home to live it or get started on building before the new school term starts.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Are We Smarter Than Our Customers?

2008-06-20T23:24:00.003-04:00

There’s a game show on television called “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” and it made me wonder if we are smarter than – or at least as smart as – our customers.

The internet has made it fairly easier for our customers to research the marketplace, determine who is offering what, examine various financing programs, and even know about energy ratings and what various products are designed to do.

They can even find out about the differences in the design, performance, and pricing of various brands, styles, and models of appliances, fixtures, roofing, flooring, insulation, and other building materials.

So if our customers can do this to educate themselves, we need to know as much as they do – and even more to be able to answer their concerns and questions.

It isn’t always easy, but it’s important to be the expert in our market. It’s up to us to help educate our customers about their choices – and not the other way around.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

It’s Not Always How Much You Know

2008-06-19T22:16:00.002-04:00

There’s an old saying that goes “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

In sales, it might seem that product knowledge is the most important content of a presentation – that it’s very hard to make a sale with someone if you can’t convey all of the features and specifications about what is being offered, and how well designed or conceived it is.

Actually, it’s not as important as it might appear.

In fact, the two most important parts of a sales presentation are asking questions (often called “discovery” or “qualifying”) and listening.

This doesn’t mean that detailed product knowledge is not useful or that you won’t use it to make a sale.

However, if I knew nothing about your product or service, I could go a long way in building the sale just by communicating with your customer about their needs and desires.

By skillfully asking questions and establishing a relationship with a customer, it’s possible to make a sale without a lot of detailed facts and figures, demonstrations, examples, and technical information.

Some people will require the detail, while others will be more interested in relating to you.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

It's About Time (Again)

2008-06-18T21:17:00.003-04:00

Last Wednesday (a week ago today) I wrote a post about saving time – rather the fact that we can’t really save it.

We can manage time more efficiently and be more effective in some of the things we do to free up some of the time that we have be en allotted each day for other pursuits. This could be personal, business, or family oriented activities.

Today’s post is also about time – I don’t know yet if next Wednesday’s will be or not. Right now it’s just coincidental (I think) that two Wednesdays in a row have been about time.

Here’s today’s time story episode.

Last night I broke a tooth or filling (I’m not a dentist). Suddenly today’s schedule didn’t matter as much as getting my tooth fixed. Then I found out the soonest I can see the dentist is tomorrow. That meant that today’s schedule, while still doable, was secondary to making sure that I didn’t do anything that would cause my tooth to start hurting.

Tomorrow, whatever appointments I have scheduled will take a backseat to getting my tooth fixed.

We’ve probably all had similar situations with teeth or other medical issues involving ourselves or family members when suddenly time became more important in taking care of the issues at hand than in sticking to our business routine or scheduled appointments.

The same thing happens when we miss a flight, or have a flat time or dead battery, or get into a traffic accident. Time stops momentarily then reorders itself for us to take care of the most pressing business.

Suddenly all of the important business obligations don’t seem so impending.

We only have so much time each day, and normally we allocate it among work obligations, personal time, and family. However, when a minor emergency intervenes, schedules get set aside and we do what we need to at the moment.

This isn’t something we can plan for, but when unplanned events happen – as they most probably will – we can focus on the most important priority at the moment and then resume what we had scheduled when the emergency has passed.

This is an excellent lesson in time management. We actually do have the time to take care of emergencies when they arise even thought we not think so at the time – and our normal workload doesn’t seem to suffer. Somehow, it all gets done – eventually – or someone else helps out or it falls by the wayside because it was not as important as we originally thought.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

The “Qwerty” Keyboard Is Quirky

2008-06-17T20:50:00.002-04:00

I never took typing class in high school (yes, that was an actual class that many people took) or learned touch-typing. Consequently, I look at the keys when I type and use more-or-less 2 fingers to type – but not always the same 2.

I have gotten pretty good and picked up speed along the way to where I can hold my own in creating books, articles, and posts.

Here’s my question: whose idea was it to put the comma right next to the period?

Take what may be the two most commonly used punctuation marks – the comma and the period – and put them right next to each other? You’re just asking for trouble.

Why can’t there be some space between them so you can intentionally choose the one you want and not accidentally type the wrong one because you were typing fast or not looking that closely at the keyboard?

I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I have typed a comma for a period. I hope I haven’t done it this post.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

First Time Buyers Now Account for 50% of the Market

2008-06-16T11:56:00.003-04:00

Excellent Opportunities for Sales and Referrals

The most recently released survey for the first quarter of 2008 indicates that first time homebuyers now account for nearly 50% of all U.S. home sales, up from 36% in 2007.

Several factors have contributed to the increased sales activity for first time homebuyers.

Over the last several years, many first time home buyers were priced out of the market which has caused a three year pent up demand. Accelerating prices have kept buyers on the sidelines. Affordability has returned to many markets which has encouraged first time homebuyers to re-enter the market and purchase.

Seller’s incentives and lower prices have contributed in creating additional value for the buyers to buy now.

The benefit in working with first time home buyers is they are either renting or living at home and they do not have to sell in order to purchase.

During this time many have either started families or had an increase in family size and want to buy now.

First time buyers are taking advantage of both FHA and VA mortgage programs which are more flexible than conventional financing. Don’t overlook the veterans who qualify for a 100% financing.

Patience and attention to buyers needs are a must with first time homebuyers.

Your patience will be rewarded with referrals and the satisfaction of helping someone full fill the American dream of homeownership.

Father’s Day Has Lessons for Many of Us

2008-06-15T22:39:00.000-04:00

Today is celebrated as Father’s Day – a time to honor and reflect on those men who have parented children. From one father to all of the others reading this, I trust that you had a great day with your families.

One of the great attributes of fatherhood is providing. As employers, entrepreneurs, and mangers, many of us – men and women – are charged with those responsibilities on a daily basis in the businesses that we run, the employment that we offer to others, or the products and services we offer to the public and our clients and customers.

Providing for our families, employees, and consumers of what we offer and serving our marketplace, community, and industry are serious responsibilities, and we are reminded of that as we celebrate Father’s Day.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Your Data Base Can Hold Some Real Nuggets

2008-06-14T23:29:00.002-04:00

One of the best places to look for a potential sale is in your data base among those people you’ve already talked with about your product or service.

They already have some familiarity with you and what you can do for them, and you already have some relationship with them.

However, only a few potential sales are going to be hidden there, so you have to be strategic about locating them.

Just as you wouldn't go panning for gold in a stream where no gold has ever been found, contacting people in your data base who expressed no interest in your product at your first meeting or any subsequent contacts with them is not going to be effective.

Therefore, calling everyone in your Rolodex or card box or Outlook, Top Producer, Maximizer, Gold Mine, ACT!, or other CRM (contact manager) is not going to be a good use of your time.

First of all, there is little likelihood that you can reach and talk to everyone in your data base - even if this was your goal, and second, you aren't going to be that influential in changing someone's mind who didn't feel that your product or service was something they wanted or was not particularly serious about making a buying decision.

Rather than spending a significant amount of time trying to recontact everyone in your data base - just so that you can say that you did - consider how much more strategic and efficient it would be to contact just those people who showed an initial interest in what you offer and indicated that they would be happy owning your product or having your service at some point.

How are you going to know who these people are that you should be contacting and looking for? By reviewing the notes that you make after each contact. Not making notes or not making them consistently? It's times just as these when the importance of good notes becomes apparent.

Spend time evaluating your contact notes to determine which people have the potential of buying your product or service and then contact them.

Not only will you have a better chance of making a sale or moving the sales process forward, you will be using your time more wisely and not risk irritating people who clearly are not - and possibly never were - good candidates for what you offer.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Today Is Special

2008-06-13T23:25:00.002-04:00

Today is Friday the 13th, and there are several superstitions and stories about the number “13” as well as specifically Friday the 13th.

However, today is special for another reason. This is the only time all year – out of 366 days – when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday.

Usually a Friday the 13th happens twice a year – this year is different because of the leap year. Any month beginning on a Sunday (the 1st) will have a Friday the 13th in it.

Next year, to make up for this year, Friday the 13th will happen 3 times – in February and March and then again in November.

Just as today is the "one-of a kind" day for the 2008 calendar, remember to look for that "one-of-a-kind" solution or opportunity for your customers in building your sale.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Excellent Time for International Buyers to Buy New Homes

2008-06-12T21:31:00.005-04:00

In speaking with a number of international buyer’s and builders there are two major factors regarding their decisions in purchasing properties in the United States. First, they see the value of U.S. property and second, the currency exchange rate makes this an excellent time for international buyers to buy new homes.

Demand for U. S. properties continues to grow as a result of both.

At the time this blog is being written the currency exchange rate for the Euro is 1.57 against the U. S. dollar and the Pound Sterling is now trading at 1.97 against the U.S. dollar.

To get up to date currency exchange information go to http://www.xe.com/.

International buyers of U.S. properties are getting discounts as high as 50% based on the currency exchange rate plus the additional builder’s incentives.

As the builder’s inventory diminishes, the incentives will be eliminated making this an opportune time for the international buyer to buy a U.S. property.

Did You Save any Time Today?

2008-06-11T22:01:00.000-04:00

All of us have the same amount of time each day – 24 hours of 60 minutes each, or a total of 1,440 minutes of 86,400 seconds. It doesn’t matter how old we are, where we live, or anything else – we all get the same allotment each day.

The issue of course is how we use our time. But what if we don’t use all of it? What if we employ some time management skills and save time?

What if we are able to save an extra 10 or 15 minutes each day and keep it under the mattress for an emergency when we need some more time?

Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. We can be more efficient, but we can’t really save time.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.

Your Thoughts Control Your Life

2008-06-10T16:34:00.001-04:00

What you think about will determine how you view your life and your world.

Your thoughts will either become the fuel that will power your mind on a lifetime journey of achievement, or an anchor that will keep you in the harbor and never allow you to sail in the open waters of life’s richness.

Thoughts originate in your sub-conscious mind based on your life experiences. In other words, you have conditioned your mind to think the way it does.

If you want to change your life you have to change your thoughts.

Your Thoughts Control Your Life- 4 Essential Steps

#1 Your thoughts control your attitude. A positive winning attitude opens doors to success and achievement.

# 2 The actions you elect to take daily are based on your thoughts and attitude.

#3 Reaching the desired outcome in your business and in your life is a combination of your thoughts and positive actions.

#4 Create the dominate thought in your mind of exactly what you want to achieve. Put your thoughts into writing, focusing on how you will achieve your objectives, look at it every day, and make it your dominant thought.

What you think about is a choice and it’s your choice!

Be Careful What You Wish For

2008-06-09T18:25:00.001-04:00

As the market has slowed in many parts of the country – not all of it has been affected and even some of the areas which noticed it the most are seeing signs of recovery – many salespeople are pleading for more traffic. They say they will take anything as long as it is someone to talk to who at least has some interest in buying or selling a home.

All I can say to that is be careful what you wish for – you may get it.

You want more traffic, but even if the people are unreasonable? Or rude? Or clueless? Or those with unrealistic expectations?

How about people who want to list their current homes at peak prices? Those who want deep discounts or want you to cut your profit or commission? People pretending to be buyers who will beat you up for a deal and then come back tomorrow and do it again without ever buying?

There are legitimate buyers and sellers out there. You may just have to be a little more patient.

* For more information about my consulting and coaching services visit my website stevehoffacker.com. I also maintain a blog on the real estate network Active Rain, and you can join this site and begin participating in the fun and networking opportunities by clicking here.