Let REALITY be your primary REALITY

So I've been on this book reading kick much to my wife's dismay. A lot of this recent increase in a desire to learn comes from my most recent marketing professor and owner of Good Sense Marketing. The most recent book I'm reading is Good to Great by Jim Collins. I've heard from several people, those Seth Godin calls "sneezers" about how good this book is. I'm about half way into the book when I read something that really resonated with me and made me think about my own company and the type of leader I am.

 The quote was on page 72

"The moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, you have a recipe for mediocrity or worse."

Nothing I've read so far in this book has rang more true in my life than this quote. I think about the people I worked for growing up, business partners I've had and even looking at myself in my own business. The minute I've cared too much about the thoughts of others, or a polarizing individual's opinion rather than what the market dictates I've automatically accepted a mediocre outcome. I sometimes wonder what might have been had I paid more attention to what the market was telling me rather than cynical individuals. "You'll never pay your mortgage doing that!" "What makes you think you can take on that big company?"

 I am an entrepreneur at heart. It's who I am. I love learning about new markets, different ways to make money. Creating a blue ocean. I recently figured out an untapped market in Real Estate and after talking it over with my wife (my rational, left brain counterpart), it sounds like a winner, but I have to be able to find time while at the same time providing just in case it doesn't work out. Like Jim Collins says in his book, "Confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith)."

BLUE OCEANS FOR REAL ESTATE

I've been going through the MBA program through the University of La Verne. I'm almost done and have enjoyed my experience there. As most people I've been through some classes that have completely changed the way I conduct business in the day to day scheme of things and my current class is no exception. I'm taking a Strategic Marketing Management class and my professor has recommended some very good books that I feel are worth the time reading. The most recent one is "Blue Ocean Strategy" and to put a brief overview of what the book is about the subtitle does this perfectly "How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant".

I'm almost done with the book and really it's about taking the known parameters and limits of an industry and completely tearing them down. Looking at the industry with no limitations and creating new clientele in order to pursue zero competition. Many companies have done this. If you think of the most innovative and successful companies they have no doubt created a market that once was not there.

While reading the book I have been thinking about my industry of real estate and how I could change what has already been done. I thought about my approach in selling a house and how a little technique of knocking door to door to inform neighbors of an open house has been successful for me. Small approach, I know, but I'm actually closing on a purchase and listing from the same client this week because of my efforts in knocking doors. I created a blue ocean by going back to the basics. What did agents do before technology changed the industry? This brought in a whole flood of ideas that agents were not doing and is helping me penetrate different market groups in order to succeed. While reading the book and thinking about my industry I've thought of a handful of different ideas that I want to test out to try and create another sub-market within the real estate world.

TIMING INTEREST RATES

Interest rates are absurdly low right now, and for those who have been waiting for the right time to purchase something, please do so before the end of the year. I've been hearing about inflation for several years now and the FED keeps doing everything in their power to stop it. From what I can tell, and this happened during the last election, interest rates held steady until after the new administration took over. If you're trying to time the market just right where we hit the bottom, from an interest rates standpoint, sometime this year would be best. If you're trying to time the bottom as it pertains to values, that's another story.

The Department of Real Estate to The Department of Consumer Affairs

Other Real Estate Agents might consider what I'm about to say heresy, but I don't really care and quite frankly I don't think anybody is reading this blog anyway so what does it matter? Earlier this year Governor Brown proposed a new budget for the state of California and in it had what many websites are calling "drastic sweeping changes" "the beginning of the downfall of the Department of Real Estate" or my favorite was "the customer service will decline so rapidly". I was couldn't help but laugh at the majority of what was being written (mind you they were mostly pro real estate websites). Despite my personal political tendencies, I agree completely with Governor Brown and really what is he suppose to do? We need to spend less money, not more. This action would help the state and we should be okay with that. From everything I read we are going to be a bureau under the Department of Consumer Affairs (in all fairness becoming a bureau of anything sounds cooler than a department don't you think?). Sounds like moving the entire department under another category and a little bit of downsizing along the way, which has been happening to everyone else.

Everyone is going to have to tighten their belts during these times and I don't see why so many in the real estate industry think that their world should be the exception. It's interesting how so many agents seem to think that they are entitled to better oversight or are more important than another department. To think that this is the beginning of the downfall of DRE regulation is just plain foolish. Anyone doing something illegal will eventually be caught. If you're one in the crowd saying that the customer service of the DRE will begin to falter, I don't know who you've been dealing with but I welcome a trip to the DMV over getting things situated through the DRE any day of the week. I'm actually hoping that this particular portion of the budget goes through and we can move on to more important issues.

IEP - Individualized Education Program Part II

You have to realize that I'm writing this post based on my view and the perception that I have regarding IEPs. Call it biased, but in my experience perception is reality and I am the parent of a daughter who has special needs. Though no one involved in an IEP will admit it, the district's job is to save money; and when your child requires additional services, say for speech or occupational therapy the district has to pay for it. In order to have your child assessed you need to submit something to the district in writing. You can't just tell the teacher that you want an evaluation done, it has to be written out and delivered to the school. I've seen them addressed to the principal, special education director, special education program specialist, etc. I would just send the letter to all of them so they know you're serious. There are several different websites to get an IEP sample letter and I'll include them here in this link (File should open in another window and you can download them from there).

In the letter you have to state concerns that you have and what you want specifically assessed. For example, you can't just say, "I want my child assessed because they are slower than everyone else." It doesn't have to be long, but it does have to be precise. If it were me and I was concerned about my child's progression, I would ask for them to be assessed by the speech therapist, occupational therapist, ABA therapist, physical therapist and have a psych evaluation on top of all that. They do have 30 days to set a meeting up, excluding larger holidays, but if you're asking for more than just one aspect to be evaluated, they do have no longer than 60 days to make sure it happens. After your child is assessed and the meeting is set the showdown begins.

For the actual meeting there will be everyone there; all the people that assessed your child, along with the principal, their teacher and someone from the district is allowed at the meeting but in my experience usually doesn't show. It can be rather intimidating and as long as you know what to expect, don't be shy or back down in anyway. As I stated earlier in the post, the district's job is to save money. I think that everyone there wants your child to progress, but their hands are tied because of their budget and the less they have to pay the better it looks on them. You have to pick and choose your battles. I remember the first IEP my daughter had and she wasn't really speaking at 4 years old, they offered us 20 min of speech therapy per week... Let me let that sink in for a second... 20 min per week and she isn't even formulating sentences at 4 years old... Really? We were new to this so we thought that would be great, but looking back it's like giving someone a cup of water to put out a forest fire. It was really something that they offered so they could say, "See, we helped them out" and essentially wash their hands hoping we would go away. The second time around, we wanted ABA therapy so rather than say the speech wasn't working, we decided to pick a different battle and ended up getting ABA therapy (which is wonderful btw).

At the end of the meeting their biggest goal is to get your signature saying that you are satisfied with what the school is offering your child and if you're not happy, don't sign the paper! Let's recap:

Desires from the school district- Save money and get your signature.
Desires from the parents- Getting services for your child.

If the district says they don't have the money, that's not your problem. They have a responsibility to make sure your child has a plan to learn, grow and progress. Remember, your child will eventually (if not already) be inserted into a classroom where children are already reading, speaking and playing with no limitations. You are your child's advocate and quite honestly, if you don't do it no one will. I'm not a big fan of politicking, those who know me best know that I hate it, but for the most part that's what school districts will do. There is give and take on both sides, just like a negotiation, so if they want your signature saying you are satisfied with the plan they've laid out for you, you owe it to your child to make sure it's the best plan for their development.

IEP - Individualized Education Program Part I

I actually sat down to write about something else today, but keep going back to my post yesterday about Autism. My intention was to write about what we're going through as parents and help people understand and not judge families that are going through similar situations. Not judging is the wrong way to say what I'm feeling... more like helping people gain empathy for others around them. It seems like the more I involve myself in other people's lives and focus on them and their needs, the more my problems disappear. So for those parents who think there might be something wrong with their child's development here are some things that need to be done to help get them the help they need.

They're called IEPs or Individualized Education Programs. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and really to get any extra services paid for by school districts or insurance an IEP is required. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, the schools have a responsibility to assess and make goals for the child to progress enough to be incorporated into a classroom with other children without disabilities. A major realization to me over the past couple of months is that the school will eventually put my daughter in a classroom with children that have no disabilities. Maybe it's a lack of faith on my end, but that scares me in thinking that she'll be slower than other kids her age; and in her classroom her peers think that she's not like them. My biggest fear is the lack of understanding these young children have and she will eventually be ostracized or made fun of even though there is nothing she did to deserve a label like that. I was young once and I look back at my sheltered upbringing. I didn't have people close to me to give me a reality check of how diverse this world really is. Sorry back to the IEP...

This link gives the government's description of what an IEP is for and what can be done for the child once it's completed. This doesn't have to be solely for those with major intellectual delays, I have people close to me whose children are slower at reading and they ordered an IEP just to see if there was something wrong. It's not a label in anyway! So many parents are afraid or in denial about their children's progression that they don't get any testing or assessing done because they don't want to know what is really going on. Studies have shown that the earlier the detection and intervention the more progress the children will make later on. Their brain is like a sponge and the younger the therapy starts the more progress they are likely to make. I don't know a parent in the world who wouldn't put their child through 6 months of therapy to make sure they catch up with their peers in any area of progression. If your child is slow at reading, speach, processing or anything that might hinder their progress, find out what's going on. It's like a salesman's way of thinking; open your mouth to get the sale and the worst thing they can say is no. If the worst thing that happens is you find out nothing is wrong with your child... where do you lose in that scenario? You don't! I will write more about the actual process of an IEP tomorrow and what to expect both on your end and the end of the people across the table from you. It can get dicey, but knowledge is power and the more you know the more results you will get.

AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH

April is Autism Awareness Month. It seems like people only get involved in an issue if it directly affects their lives and I don't see how this particular post refutes that hypothesis. I have a daughter who was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). From what I can gather the diagnosis is similar to when someone says their baby is colic. From having a colicie baby myself, the cause could be from a number of different reasons; stomach aches, acid reflux, etc. The only problem is that babies don't talk and can't let us know what's bothering them. PDD-NOS works in a similar way. My child has different symptoms of Autism, Asperger syndrom and other diagnosis that would fall under the Autism spectrum. The only problem is that this particular diagnosis is so complicated that not one case is the same. There are too few children that would fall under the exact same category as my daughter with the same tendencies, communication fall backs, sensory issues, etc. that it is impossible for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to give an exact diagnosis for her. So rather than throwing their hands up and saying "We don't know" they instead came up with PDD-NOS.

As a parent the only desires you have are to help your children grow up, learn, become self sufficient and functioning members of society. I can't say that I know for a fact that my daughter will ever get that chance. I hope and pray that she does, but this experience has helped me grow as a man and look at every situation in my life differently. My wife and I have grown so much since learning of our daughter's obstacles and there are so many different ways that I can take this post (I'm starting to realize that it's going to take more than just writing about it now to really say what I want to say). I remember helping a client purchase a home a few years back and she had a son with Autism. I met him a couple of times, nice kid, high functioning, but I will never forget something she told me. Mind you this is right around the time when we were starting to see different signs of my daughter's delays, but I remember her saying that her son was really into animals and that's what made him tick. Being with animals made him calm and he could progress differently when animals/pets were involved in his life, so she made it a part of hers. Upon meeting with her more often, looking for the perfect house to buy, she had mentioned that her son was her life. She had given up so much to make sure that her son had every chance possible to grow and function in society. That is a true sacrifice!

I'm not looking for an award or any recognition, if anything I want to let parents with children who have special needs know that they're not the only ones going through it. Over the past couple of months, my wife's parents (more so my wife's mother) have been taking more of an interest in our daughter and trying to understand what it is that we are going through. She wrote a beautiful letter to the family. In the letter she wrote out our schedule and how busy we are in getting our daughter to school, speech and occupational therapy, ABA therapy, training, etc. I was tired after reading it. I guess I didn't realize just how much we had committed our lives to our child in order to give her the best chance of progressing. This is also something that we are going to live with for the rest of our lives, but I wouldn't have it any other way. She is teaching our family so much! Her younger and older brothers are better people, learning to not judge others and treat everyone the same. She was brought to this earth to make our lives better and is accomplishing that goal. She may never read this, but I just want to say that I love you Elle!

SHORT SALES SELL FOR MORE THAN REOS

Imagine that... short sales sell for more than actual REOs! For those of you who know me, I've been saying this for years and the banks are just now starting to catch on. This shouldn't come as a big surprise, though the numbers may be a little skewed because, let's face it, there are some beater REOs that the banks are selling as-is. The above article talks about the amount of short sales on the rise. In California they were up to 23% of all closed residential sales. Any BPOs that I do, I try to steer clear of using any short sale comps unless I absolutely have to. Ultimately though, it's not easy to find 3 solid active and 3 solid sold comparables to use in the report.

What I've noticed in my own personal business is that banks are starting to catch on. They recognize that the foreclosure process can get pricey and the longer it goes through the process the more values fall and in the end, the banks are losing a good 10% just in value depreciation because of time. Add on the fact that the fees of a locksmith, preservation company, attorney, etc. aren't getting any lower, it makes sense to sell the short sale and get the asset off their books. One short sale I have took 2 weeks to get approval (once we had an offer of course), we're in escrow now and should close by the end of the month. Short sales are doable and banks are getting quicker at approving and moving forward with the sales than ever before.