Unfortunately, there is a very common practice of amateur real estate agents: chipping in money to get a deal together.

Chipping in money to get a deal together is a subset of discounting your fee. You either charge a full fee or you do not. Therefore, if you charge a full fee but then give it...

This market is much harder than it seems. We are in spring, and spring is typically very active. Yet, for many agents in many markets, it feels like the bottom has fallen out.

Consider that when overall market activity is slower, agents blame their lack of production on the market. But when the...

What most people seem to miss about Warren Buffett's success is that he has played one game for a very long time. Sure he's smart and knows what he's doing. But most importantly he was never in a hurry, and he was in it for the long run - like, his whole life.

"$81.5 billion of Warren Buffett's...

If you have been a realtor for a while, you know that every real estate transaction is fraught with obstacles. Even the "simplest" deals have hiccups. The more experienced you are, the better you are at communicating and navigating your clients through the transaction. Then those...

Do you know your own phone number?

What about your spouse's number?  Your kids?

Chances are you may know your number, but not too many other peoples.  You do not know those numbers because a) you don't need to anymore - they are already stored in your phone; b) your brain isn't designed...

Have you ever sat around and said, "Wow! That's a good idea!" 

Probably not quite like that. Maybe it's more like when something doesn't work, or you have a bad customer service experience, or you need a service that doesn't currently exist, you might say, "Hey, it would be a good idea...

Real estate is a lonely business.

I know some people will argue about that statement. Maybe you are one of them. However, when I say 'lonely' I mean solitude, or isolating - I don't mean being affected by depression or being lonesome. My experience is that real estate agents (including me) are...

New Year's Day - a holiday, a time for family, friends, reflection, celebration.

January 1, 2022, fell on a Saturday. That day, an agent put a house on the MLS for sale, with showings to start Sunday. The copy in the MLS implied that they were hoping to have offers either Sunday afternoon or...

“In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measure.”

—Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19

As...

What would a summer letter be without another road trip?

This year Evan wisely stayed up in Bozeman for the summer, so our journey began with Zach, Sydney and I driving up to see him at the end of June. After three and half days in beautiful days in Montana and some fun family time, Sydney flew...