The Realtor® of the 21st Century

A Personal Transfiguration

Jesus’ Transfiguration

“After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”

Matthew 17:1-3

It was just a few days before Jesus was to undergo the biggest personal test of his lifetime.  For Christians, Jesus’s Transfiguration before his inner circle of disciples was a necessary “proof” of his divinity as well as his superiority over The Law and The Prophets.

As he met with Moses and Elijah on the Mountain, the Bible mentions to us that Jesus’s  very visage changed, his clothes change, and he now has supernatural visitors on a very physical world in the presence of Peter, James, and John.

This undoubtedly terrified the mere mortals.  After all, wouldn’t it to you?  To see someone “go on the mountain” with you, someone you think is pretty smart, has it all together; only to be shocked by the true power displayed by their actual Personhood.

In fact, as the story goes, God the Father speaks from the heavens and says “This is my Son, Listen to Him!”  A more powerful testimonial letter for a Guru has never been heard.

This was necessary to give Jesus the spiritual fortitude for the challenges ahead.  The road to Golgotha would not be an easy one, fraught with choice; and opportunity to back down. To quit.  To Christendom, it doesn’t get much more serious than this moment.

To the Christian, Jesus was both fully human, and fully God.  Capable of the same frailties, and weaknesses as you and I; able to make a choice, to renounce, and walk away from a desperate humanity.  As evidenced in his Forty Days in the Wilderness being tempted by Satan, at any time; Jesus could walk away.

He could “have all the kingdoms of the world” if he would simply “bow down and worship me.”

No matter what your belief in Jesus, the story is a powerful metaphor for us as Agents in a 21st Century World.

Are Agents Obsolete?

I often read with great amusement the articles written on the Internet today about how the “Real Estate Agent” is now obsolete, or soon will be with the advent of newer technologies.  Technologies such as Virtual Reality, advanced Internet Searching, easily accessible sales data, as well as “Opening MLS’s” seem to spell disaster for those agents who rely on outdated methods of attracting business.

It’s even been suggested that the Zillow/Trulia merger will further speed the demise of the Realtor® in your town.

To which I say, bullshit.

It’s Time Someone Said It

Do some agents deserve to have their careers “crucified” and publicly executed like the two criminals alongside Jesus? Absolutely.  Some agents aren’t worth the spit they produce.  However, just like that fateful day; even in death, there is a “faithful remnant”.

As Jesus’s lay dying on the cross, he was surrounded by two condemned men.  One, stuck to traditional ways of thinking taunted Jesus saying “If you are indeed the Messiah, save yourself and us!”

The other, willing to be humble and open said “Have you no fear of God?  This man has done nothing criminal, yet is under the same condemnation as us!” 

Facing an equal fate, the three men looked into the setting sun, awaiting their death.  However, Jesus promised; the KEY Difference would be that the Good Thief would be in Paradise with Jesus THIS day! 

Agents Resurrected

Maybe you’ve been in the “Bad Criminal” category your whole career.  Maybe you’ve said it to yourself.  “If I am such a ‘trusted professional’ with a fancy “R” on my blazer… how come my career is dying?

It’s true, in the past 18 years of my career, I’ve seen a lot of changes. I started from MLS books, and huge pagers to email and text messages.  From carbon paper on a 2 page listing contract, to DocuSigning a 13 page purchase contract with 5 pages of addenda.  This is a significantly different business.

With the addition of Social Media, as well as the yet untapped power of Content Marketing for Realtors®, the Realtors® position in the transaction is in question now more than ever.  What is needed is clarity.

With the market in an upswing in most metropolitan areas across the United States; agents, both new and experienced are getting back into “the Real Estate Game” only to find a landscape that has vastly changed.

Lazarus Effect

Maybe you are one of those “resurrected agents” that are coming back into the market.  It’s important to realize that you are going to need a little “cleaning up” before you go and hit the streets!  If you are going to go back out and live your normal life; listing and selling property as you did before, then you need to certainly “clean up” your skills!  They get rusty!

Haters Gotta Hate!

Just like good old Lazarus,  after you leave your listing appointments; they talk behind your back!

“Behold Lord! He Stinketh!”

You can go back to listing and selling property full time… It’s an honorable way to make a living.  But in the end.. Lazarus still died.  He didn’t get to live a second time… forever.  Neither will your career.  Unless you make a dedicated effort to “clean up your skills” and get good; your real estate career is just as good as dead.

The biggest problem is however, it’s not resurrection.

Living In Paradise… Today.

One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn personally over the past few years is that you are living in paradise… today.  If that’s what you want in your life that is.  You can decide to change everything about you; instantaneously.

You don’t need to wait for permission.  You don’t need to wait until you know more; you can simply believe; and receive the paradise that is rightfully yours.

You see, the “Good Thief” was promised that “today… you shall be with me in Paradise.”  That’s not a “you will get all the free Xbox and Hot Cocoa you want when you do x, y, or z.”  It is done…now.

What caused that instantaneous admission into the “Paradise Club?”  He didn’t know anything about Jesus, didn’t know anything about Heaven, all he knew was that this guy had “Something different” about him.

Maybe you’ve been in that situation… maybe you’ve met that one mentor in your business who has had “something about them” that has caused you to look at your business differently.

Rotting Corpses Or Transfigured Bodies?

You have a choice it seems in your real estate business.  You can renew your business, doing the same old things that Lazarus did, using the same old “Stinky” techniques that the public is quickly running out of a need for (comparables, holding open houses, showing property, listing homes on MLS) or you can be transfigured in your business as Jesus was.

Jesus’ way was unique to the time.  A Gospel of forgiveness to a world troubled by hate.  A thought of “being not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind,”.  In our real estate life, we see this by transforming our beliefs.

What beliefs must we change to be relevant in a 21st Century world?  Just like Christianity, we fight for relevance in an increasingly technological society.  The use of smartphones, Google, Zillow, Redfin, OpenDoor, and other companies are all vying to take a piece of the Realtors® business.

12 Dudes and A Powerful Message

Never underestimate the power of a great idea in the hands of committed followers.  If you know anything about me, you know that I began The Red Pill Investor Podcast and the TenMinuteSkill Blog with the intent to “preach the Gospel” of using sales skills to wholesale (assign for profit) real estate.

It is my belief that for the Realtor® of the 21st Century, if you are doing the same old things you used to do in the 20th Century (if you practiced that long, as I have) to get business… like Lazarus… you stink!

As a Transfigured agent, one who is no longer a Realtor®, but a Real Estate Entrepreneur; the world you live in is much different than that of the ordinary Realtor®.

Ordinary Realtors® are happy to get up in the morning, and breeze into the office at 10 am. They are happy to sit around the coffee pot and talk about how the interest rates are going up, or coming down… and the various office gossip.

Ordinary Realtors® meekly take what is given to them.  The obediently follow orders by insistent Sellers who do not know how to sell a house… yet the Realtor® will do it for fear of losing the listing.  They will overprice homes, and then make apologies to their fellow Realtors® for the price.

Ordinary Realtors® turn their phones off at 5pm; turn on their television, and turn off their dreams.  They sit in complacency and complain like modern day Archie Bunker’s.

If Jesus had a bunch of Modern day Realtors® try to sell the idea of life after death in Christianity… it is my belief that we wouldn’t have the religion it is today.

What the Hell Does It Take?

I am often asked “what the hell does it take to get my first deal? I’m dying for it!”  For that, my answer is simple…. you must die.

Not physically die.  But die to your beliefs about the way you think things should be.

If you want heaven on earth, you gotta be willing to go through hell to get it.

A Transfigured Agent… an Entrepreneurial Minded Agent; walks, talks and acts different. There is something much different about them.  They have a purpose. A drive, a “never quit attitude.”

Maybe you’ve seen it in others. A “fire in their eye” that you didn’t quite “get” before.  I know that I’ve been there.  I remember meeting one agent in particular from New Hampshire… he sold hundreds of homes.  I looked at his young face and saw this indescribable passion.  I could not imagine “working the hours it must take” to do what he accomplished.

Passion + Time + Preparedness= Success

I have since come to know that what genuinely makes the Entrepreneur Agent powerful is not their intelligence.. although they many times have a lot of it.   It’s not their “smooth talking” or their “Overpricing homes”.

What separates the Ordinary Agent from the Entrepreneurial Minded agent is one thing…

Transfiguration.

Most agents say they want freedom.  But what ends up happening however, is simply trading one job for another.  Instead of working at the Mall, you now work at your Brokerage with your little desk, your little phone, your little friends, and a big, big, problem.

You’ve traded in one set of chains for another.

If you are passionate about Real Estate, and helping people; then being a Realtor® makes sense.  It’s an honorable career.

If you are passionate about self determination, truly being able to say what you feel, go where you want, and do what you like; the costs are much higher than that of obtaining a Real Estate License..  It takes passion for the business, time to establish connections, as well as the proper training and preparation for success.

What is the True Cost of Transfiguration?

You see, the Entrepreneurial Minded Agent is vastly different than the “Ordinary Agent”.  That’s not to say that he or she is “on the clock” 24/7 … by no means.  In fact, the Entrepreneurial Minded agent is keenly aware of time; as well as it’s value.

The Entrepreneurial Agent understands that they are a Buyer first.  Every deal that they come across is a potential deal that they themselves may be interested in purchasing as an investment or a flip.

The Entrepreneurial Agent knows that the customer of the 21st Century can find their own information via the MLS, but lacks the experience to know how to interpret the data.

The Entrepreneurial Agent believes that their value in the Real Estate transaction is not derived from the information that their predecessors so jealously guarded; but on how to act on the data.

The Entrepreneurial Agent is so highly sought because they know of the best deals available in their town; both on, as well as off the market.

The Entrepreneurial Agent thoroughly trains him or herself to know how to aggressively negotiate; creating deals where previously, there were none.

Old Paradigms Must Change

However, to gain this insight, this requires the Agent of the 21st Century to transform their thinking to that of the Investing Agent.

The old paradigms of the “Listing Agent” and “Buyers Agent” no longer fit the Realtor® of today.

I prefer the term “Change Agent”

Until next time,

Have a Powerful Sales Day!