Flip This Wholesaler

Greetings guys and gals!

Hope you all are having a splendid weekend so far….

It’s time again for another Flip This Book Club review by the lovely and talented Mrs. Shae Bynes.  I know I’m a little late getting it posted, but hopefully it gave everyone some extra time to read it.

This month’s book pick was Rework, by Jason Fried and David Hansson.  For those who read it, I hope you enjoyed it!

Take it away, Shae….

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I first heard about the book Rework on Twitter. One of my favorite bloggers Pat Flynn tweeted about it and mentioned that it was his new favorite book. Considering that I’m always looking for a good book to read, I went to Amazon.com and looked it up and found a very compelling review from Seth Godin. I won’t repeat his entire review, but this is what caught my attention:

This book is short, fast, sharp and ready to make a difference. It takes no prisoners, spares no quarter, and gives you no place to hide, all at the same time.

Sounded like a winner to me…and it really was. Rework is not your ordinary business book. It’s very straightforward playbook for success that challenges the status quo in a number of areas. The principles in Rework are the foundation which authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson built their successful (and still growing) business 37Signals.

I thought I’d share 15 of the principles for success that you may find very relevant with your real estate business or any other business you may have (or aspire to have).

1. SMALL IS GOOD: Don’t make assumptions about how big you should be ahead of time. Grow slow and see what feels right. Small is not just a stepping-stone. Small is a great destination in itself.

2. WORKAHOLICS AREN’T HEROES: They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.

3. SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEM: The easiest, most straightforward way to create a great product or service is to make something you want to use. If you’re solving someone else’s problem, you’re constantly stabbing in the dark. When you solve your own problem, the light comes on. You know exactly what the answer is.

4. JUST DO IT: What you do is what matters, not what you think or say or plan.

5. STAND FOR SOMETHING: When you don’t know what you believe, everything becomes an argument. Everything is debatable. But when you stand for something, decisions are obvious.

6. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS: Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.

7. MAKE A DECISION: Whenever you can, swap “Let’s think about it.” for “Let’s decide on it.” Commit to making decisions. Don’t wait for the perfect solution. You can’t build on top of “We’ll decide later” but you can build on top of “Done.”

8. LAUNCH NOW: If you had to launch your business in two weeks, what would you cut out? When you impose a deadline, you gain clarity.

9. BREAK IT DOWN: Start making smaller to-do lists. Long lists collect dust. Long lists are guilt trips. The longer the list of unfinished items, the worse you feel about it. Break long lists into a bunch of smaller lists and look at the small picture and gain quick victories.

10. BE YOU: Competitors can never copy the YOU in your product. Inject what’s unique about the way you think into what you sell.

11. LET CUSTOMERS OUTGROW YOU: When you let customers outgrow you, you’ll most likely wind up with a product that’s basic — and that’s fine. Small, simple, basic needs are constant. There’s an endless supply of customers who need exactly that.

12. DON’T CONFUSE ENTHUSIASM WITH PRIORITY: The enthusiasm you have for a new idea is not an accurate indicator of its true worth. Let your latest grand ideas cool off for a few days before acting on them.

13. OUT-TEACH: Instead of trying to outspend, outsell, or outsponsor competitors, try to out-teach them. Teaching probably isn’t something your competition is even thinking about. Teaching forms bonds that traditional marketing doesn’t.

14. KEEP IT REAL: Don’t be afraid to show your flaws. Imperfections are real and people respond to real.

15. FORGET RULES AND COMMUNICATE!: Sound like you. Who says writing needs to be formal? You don’t have to strip away your personality when you write. When writing don’t think about all the people who will be reading…just write for one person.

I’d love to hear from those who also read Rework. What points resonated most with you?

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Thanks for another awesome review, Shae!

Have a great rest of your weekend, everybody!

P.S.
Next month’s book is going to be Tribes by Seth Godin.  We’ll meet here on December 13th (ish) to discuss!

P.P.S.
Does  anyone know what a “Talking Broker Monkey” is?  Someone found my blog yesterday by Googling that phrase, and I’ve been cracking up all day saying it to myself.

Talking Broker Monkey.

Hehe.

Oh wait.  Now that I look at it again, it looks like they spelled monkey wrong.  Maybe they meant to type “money” instead?

Although that doesn’t really make any sense either, does it?  Plus it’s nowhere near as funny as a talking broker monkey.

Perhaps I should have another glass of vino…

Later gators.

4/5/09

So, my morbid curiosity got the best of me and I went to check the house out today. I sent the listing agent an email yesterday asking for the lock box code, and he sent an email right back with the code. Then I sent another email right after that saying that I was just curious about the picture in the mls, and asked if that was blood on the carpet.

His silence speaks volumes.

I guess someone decided that it might be easier to sell the house without the remnants of a crime scene present, which, I think was a pretty good idea…

You cant tell from this picture, but there are still stains all over the terrazzo, particularly in the bottom right hand corner.

SPOOKY.

I spent about 3.5 seconds in the house, and then I ran out because the hair was standing up on the back of my neck.

I still made an offer on it, though.

I’ll keep you posted.

I’m off to bed, where I will probably have horrible nightmares and have to sleep with the lights on.

P.S.
I keep wondering why in the world someone would include that photo in the listing. Any agents out there? Would you ever even think of adding a picture like that?

P.P.S.
And, no, Ned, I did not write “help me” on the walls. You sick bastard.

4/3/2009

It’s 11pm on a Friday night, and I’m partying like a rock star… drinking some vino, hanging out with my dog Jim, and scouring the mls for deals…

I just about fell out of my chair when I clicked on the photos of a house that I was about to offer on, and this picture popped up…

WTF?

Is it just me, or does it not look like someone got bludgeoned in this room?

Maybe I’ve had a few too many glasses of red, or seen too many episodes of Forensic Files, but this looks like a murder scene to me.

I’m going to check it out tomorrow. I’ll bring my camera.

1/18/2009

I spent most of yesterday putting signs out in the hood advertising the deal I just got under contract for 16k. Here’s a few pictures of the house, in case you were wondering what kind of digs 16 grand will get you in this market….

Not a bad little house. Well, except for the fact that it’s in the hood, but for 16k, what do you expect?

I put out about 25 signs, and have received probably 10-15 calls yesterday and today. No takers yet, but I did manage to add a few new buyers to my arsenal….. Love those signs!!

I spent the rest of my time this weekend monkeying around with my soon to be new website, and realizing that I don’t have enough time or patience (or skill) to design it the way I want it to look, so I searched around the net looking for a web designer to do it for me. I finally found what I was looking for, but turns out they have a 3 month waiting list for new projects.. Dang. I’m willing to wait, though, as I was really impressed with their portfolio.. So, anywho, I should be rolling out my new site sometime this Spring. I’m very excited..

And, in other news- my wholesaler friend, Dave, sold one of his deals to a pimp on Friday. For real. He came into Dave’s office early in the day with a contract and a grand in cash to put down as a deposit. Dave had never worked with him before, so he asked him for a copy of his bank statement, since he claimed to be a cash buyer. Mr Pimp said he didn’t have the cash in the bank, and that he would be back later with proof of funds. And then he came back a few hours later with a DUFFEL BAG FULL OF CASH. I swear I’m not making this up. And then he explained that he was a pimp, and that’s why he had all of this cash laying around.  WTF?

P.S.
Click here if you have questions about what I write on my signs…

12/12/2008

I really, truly, want to drive up to Destin, and kick someone’s ass.

I’m starting to think I’m on candid camera. Or, MTV’s Boiling Points. No kidding. Because I do not see how it’s even possible for people to fuck things up this badly, unless they are doing it on purpose for the sake of entertainment.

I don’t know- maybe I misunderstood the email I got from the bank’s title company last night that said this:

We are ready to close on our end. We have clear title, and searches are back. We can close whenever you are ready..

So then, I contact my title company to set up the closing for Monday, and then tell my buyer that we are ready to close Monday. And then I get a call this afternoon from one of the “closing coordinators” for the bank who informs me that they just started the title work YESTERDAY.

WTF?

Seriously, W. T. F?

And then when I tried to call the lady who sent me the email last night telling me they were ready to close- she does not answer, and does not respond to emails.

Good times.