When I started out in commercial real estate about 26 years ago, I had very little going for me.  I had no business skills whatsoever.  I had basically cruised through life taking the path of least resistance all along the way.  I had an undergraduate degree in physical education and a graduate degree in secondary education.  That’s hardly a resume for success in any business field, but I somehow made it ... and with very little help. 

During my later years in commercial real estate, working as a "one man shop", I was making around $300,000 per year, which certainly wasn’t bad for back then.   But I wasn't happy.  I left the commercial side not because I wasn’t making good money, I was just burned out.   If you have ever worked in that discipline, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

I started out in residential real estate exactly like I started my commercial career.  As we say in Texas "I didn't know come here from sic 'em"  Literally, all I knew about residential real estate was what I read on flyers sitting in front of homes for sale.  I remember taking the flyers out of the boxes and wondering "This is it?  On a $600,000 home?  This is how they are marketing this beautiful property?"  I thought "If that is my competition, I might be able to make it in residential after all." 

I had never read a residential contract nor did I even know where to find them.  I had never been on the Multiple Listing Service.  I didn't have the foggiest idea how to price a home.  How was I ever going to convince anyone to trust a rookie unknown to sell their most valuable possession ... their home?  I had no-one to help me.  You could say my chances of survival were very, very slim.  But again, I somehow survived the tough early years and just as with my  commercial career, my residential career took off.

No-one was more surprised than I how much money I have earned in residential real estate.   To be specific, my yearly income during my worst years in residential were $100,000 better than my best years as a commercial broker.  And I as much as doubled my best commercial year in some years. 

This is all proof positive you don’t have to have the pedigree or a business background to make an excellent good living in residential real estate.  If you work hard and work smart you can be very successful.  There is a big difference between the two, and I will address that later in the book.  Doing one or the other might get you half way there, but you have to do both to really get to the highest level.

Although this is a little hard to believe, it is the truth ... on average, we decline about three listing opportunities for every listing we accept.  Our business model is absolutely predicated on our doing this, and I’ll explain why.  Although we have burned bridges along the way by standing by this policy, it has also made us into the company we are.  We could easily triple our listed inventory (from $20-$30 million during the summer) and triple the agents if we took every listing opportunity which came our way.  So why wouldn’t we?  I’ll explain why in great detail within the book.

We'll talk about client relationships.  How do you handle difficult clients?  How do you handle tenuous divorce situations?  How do we keep your clients updated so they don't become impatient when their home sits on the market without selling? 

I will talk about lead generation, FSBO's, and expired listings.  How do we handle them?  Do we ever chase after them and if not, why not?  What kind of homes do we go after?  How do we market our listings?

In the book, you will read about agents I have known who were not terribly impressive on the surface but made it big.  How did they do it when others around them failed?  There are others, born with a silver spoon in their mouths you would think were can’t miss prospects.  And they washed out.  Why didn’t they make it? 

I’ll share with you the mistakes I made bringing agents into our company.  This is a particularly painful topic, but one which might save you the same frustrations that I experienced.  You’ll see how adding the wrong agents can not only hurt your revenue, but also your reputation.  I’ll tell you what I think the perfect business model is to protect your company and client relationships. 

I’m talking about building a self sustaining, lead generating machine of a company.  Once you have established yourself, I promise, you will never have to make another cold call for the rest of your life.  As long as you keep up your commitment to the quality services you provide, buyers and sellers alike will seek you out because they have the confidence you are the very best at what you do.

You are going to learn what it takes to be a complete Realtor.  That includes teaching yourself to be detail oriented and working off check lists so things don’t fall between the cracks.  I’ll show you why it is so important to be prepared.  These things will not only make you a better Realtor, they will keep you out of trouble. 

I’ll even share with you what office equipment and software I use and why it is so critical to my business. I have wasted way too much money over the years in this area, but I can now easily and efficiently run a $30MM a year company in sales volume with the equipment and software I have.  Some of my best software is free but I couldn't function well without it.  We'll talk about the importance of a good database and what it should do for you.

We'll discuss company branding and what promotions have worked for us and what haven't.  How do you get people to pick up the phone and call or email you?  Where do you put your advertising dollars?  How do you even know if your advertising is working?  Do postcards work?  How about magazine advertising?  Is email marketing successful.  How about mass broadcasts to other agents about your listings?  Do open houses work and if not, why hold them?  I'll talk about signage and things to consider before you start making an investment in signs.

I’ll tell you why you really don’t need a storefront office, but you do need a good website. You will see why (I believe) a large company of agents can actually hurt you more than help you.  And why I love going up against the "big boys" on my own.  I can tell you this for a fact ... I very rarely lose a listing I go after even if I am competing with the large local or national companies.  There are good reasons for that and I'll share them with you.

You will see why working with relocation companies (on the selling side) is a losing proposition.  It's great for the seller, it's great for the relocation company, it's even good for the buyer agent, but the listing agent gets the shaft. You'll understand why control is so critical.  Without it, you have nothing.

I’ll explain the major differences between commercial and residential real estate.  How commercial brokers feel about Realtors and vice versa.  I'll tell you how the two disciplines are similar and also very different.  I will also tell you why you should consider a residential career over commercial unless you have some real staying power. 

And finally, one of the most important items I will be discussing is whether you should focus on becoming a listing agent or a buyer agent or just doing both.  I’ll lay out the pros and cons of specializing in either side and let you decide.

I have so many true stories which have happened over the past 26 years.  Some were humorous, some embarrassing, some enlightening, and some were just downright depressing (for me anyway).  I’ll talk about the ultimate highs and the ultimate lows I have experienced … and how I handled each.  I'll tell you about the mistakes I have made along the way and what I would have done differently. 

This will not be a “get rich quick” book.  There is no such thing.  What it will do is provide a solid foundation on building your own, small powerhouse real estate company if you desire, or just improving your skills if you decide you want to remain with another company.  I’ll start from day one explaining to you how I built my company.

I am well into the book, but it will be next year before I will have time to finish it and take it to publication.  There is a lot of ground to cover here and a lot of memories.  However, if you would like to be on the mailing list for when the book is ready, please reply to the following email address ...

tom@grisak.com

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Tom Grisak Estate Homes Realtors, Inc - Texas License # 0329533