I have a saying that is permanently written on one of the white boards in my office. As the projects come and go, the one saying stays as an overarching reminder.
“What have you done to change the world today?”
I remember I had a professor in college that would ask that simple question of the students as he roamed the campus. I’m not sure how many students over the years were impacted by it. But the first day I ran into him and he launched his signature question, He changed me - forever. That question lives with me, no, it haunts me.
So every day, I attempt to answer the question that stares at me. How have I changed the world today? Most days it in small ways, some days I hit a home run. But every day I attempt to leave my mark on the world around me by sowing into the lives God has chosen to place in my life.
In real estate, we have an incredible honor to deeply touch those we work with. We see people in the depths of despair, stress and worry. We see them in the heights of elation as long held dreams are realized. The one common thing in both circumstances is that we have an opportunity to leave our mark, good or bad, forever. Be purposed in what you do and why you do it - you leave a legacy whether you realize it or not.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Good Morning,
We like what’s familiar and today is practice for tomorrow.
If you practice worry, fear and anxiety, you’ll get better at them.
Sadly, practicing these rob the present moment of peace and happiness; instead, practice being happy, prosperous and free.
What you focus on increases, so become aware of what you’re thinking. If you should happen to think frightening thoughts, change them for something positive.
An excellent thing to change is gratitude.
When you focus on what you are grateful for, your sense of the fullness and abundance of life will increase. If you catch yourself indulging in worry, fear or anxiety… STOP! And practice gratitude instead.
On Your Team,
Milt
We like what’s familiar and today is practice for tomorrow.
If you practice worry, fear and anxiety, you’ll get better at them.
Sadly, practicing these rob the present moment of peace and happiness; instead, practice being happy, prosperous and free.
What you focus on increases, so become aware of what you’re thinking. If you should happen to think frightening thoughts, change them for something positive.
An excellent thing to change is gratitude.
When you focus on what you are grateful for, your sense of the fullness and abundance of life will increase. If you catch yourself indulging in worry, fear or anxiety… STOP! And practice gratitude instead.
On Your Team,
Milt
Happy
Good Morning.
Did I figure it out?
I don't have to be unhappy to change. I can be happy and still change. The only reason I am ever unhappy is because I think I should be.
Today I encourage you to notice that whatever you do when you are unhappy you will do better when you are happy.
I have heard it said that, "Success is not the key to happiness but happiness is the key to success."
What happens when you imagine feeling happy today for no reason at all?
Milt
Did I figure it out?
I don't have to be unhappy to change. I can be happy and still change. The only reason I am ever unhappy is because I think I should be.
Today I encourage you to notice that whatever you do when you are unhappy you will do better when you are happy.
I have heard it said that, "Success is not the key to happiness but happiness is the key to success."
What happens when you imagine feeling happy today for no reason at all?
Milt
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thoughts Worth Pondering
Know how you measure success-
Start living your life by design.
Abandon perfectionism-
Replace perfectionism with pride.
Accept, then perfect, what isn’t perfect-
Acceptance is the first step toward perfection.
Enjoy an absence of personal problems-
Life’s too short for problems of any kind-become a problem-free zone.
Automate the business of your life-
Don’t you have better things to do?
Upgrade your personal and professional network-
People bring you the best opportunities in life.
Seriously invest in a special skill set-
The more you can deliver, the more you can earn.
Have whims worth following-
Perfection occurs as you respond to what tugs at you.
Perfect your self-care-
A perfect life isn’t sustainable without advanced self-care.
Lighten your footprint-
Need less-be more.
Evolve your sources of energy-
Design advanced sources of motivation.
Raise your standards-reduce your expectations-
This raises you above the muck of life into the realm of the perfect.
Start living your life by design.
Abandon perfectionism-
Replace perfectionism with pride.
Accept, then perfect, what isn’t perfect-
Acceptance is the first step toward perfection.
Enjoy an absence of personal problems-
Life’s too short for problems of any kind-become a problem-free zone.
Automate the business of your life-
Don’t you have better things to do?
Upgrade your personal and professional network-
People bring you the best opportunities in life.
Seriously invest in a special skill set-
The more you can deliver, the more you can earn.
Have whims worth following-
Perfection occurs as you respond to what tugs at you.
Perfect your self-care-
A perfect life isn’t sustainable without advanced self-care.
Lighten your footprint-
Need less-be more.
Evolve your sources of energy-
Design advanced sources of motivation.
Raise your standards-reduce your expectations-
This raises you above the muck of life into the realm of the perfect.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
8145 Hillsdale Drive, Orange CA The original owner is selling this two story, four bedroom, three bath home, located on the "view side" of hillsdale, with endless views of Irvine Park and the mountains, miles from the house. The courtyard entry leads to a formal living room with wood floors and fireplace, a formal dinning room, and gentle winding staircase. The open kitchen features a center island, an eating area which overlooks the backyard, and opens to the family room with a wetbar adn fireplace. One of the bedrooms is located downstairs with a full bath. The laundry room leads to a roomy 3 car garage.
Upper level features a dramatic master suite with soaring ceilings, view balcony, private bath with soaking tub/shower, and dual vanities. Two additional bedrooms lead to a bonus/game/upstairs family room, which is perfect for informal enterainment area. Energy saving dual zoned central air and tile roof. The rear yard has bbq island and open fence to natural rollings hills below. Close to toll roads, parks, trails and shopping.
Upper level features a dramatic master suite with soaring ceilings, view balcony, private bath with soaking tub/shower, and dual vanities. Two additional bedrooms lead to a bonus/game/upstairs family room, which is perfect for informal enterainment area. Energy saving dual zoned central air and tile roof. The rear yard has bbq island and open fence to natural rollings hills below. Close to toll roads, parks, trails and shopping.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
by Unknown Author
No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice.
Harvey MacKay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.
He was standing in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.
He handed me a laminated card and said:
“I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.”
Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:
“Wally’s Mission Statement: ‘To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.’” This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”
I said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”
Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and diet Coke, water, and orange juice.”
Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Coke.”
Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”
As they were pulling away, Wally handed me another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”
And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him alone with his own thoughts.
“Tell me, Wally,” Harvey asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”
Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.
“He had just written a book called ‘You’ll See It When You Believe It.’ Dyer said that ‘if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself.’ He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’”
“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”
“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.
“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”
Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.
Wally the cab driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about us?
Smile, and the whole world smiles with you … The ball is in our hands!
I have posted this article written by an unknown author because I feel it is important for all of you to understand how I conduct my business.
By Referral Only means that I dedicate 100% of my time delivering world class service to you, my clients. I want you to be so satisfied with my services you feel compelled to refer your friends and family to me not by obligation, but because you truly believe they will benefit. You see, your referrals are the heart of my business.
Milt
No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice.
Harvey MacKay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.
He was standing in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.
He handed me a laminated card and said:
“I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.”
Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:
“Wally’s Mission Statement: ‘To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.’” This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”
I said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”
Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and diet Coke, water, and orange juice.”
Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Coke.”
Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”
As they were pulling away, Wally handed me another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”
And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him alone with his own thoughts.
“Tell me, Wally,” Harvey asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”
Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.
“He had just written a book called ‘You’ll See It When You Believe It.’ Dyer said that ‘if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself.’ He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’”
“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”
“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.
“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”
Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.
Wally the cab driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about us?
Smile, and the whole world smiles with you … The ball is in our hands!
I have posted this article written by an unknown author because I feel it is important for all of you to understand how I conduct my business.
By Referral Only means that I dedicate 100% of my time delivering world class service to you, my clients. I want you to be so satisfied with my services you feel compelled to refer your friends and family to me not by obligation, but because you truly believe they will benefit. You see, your referrals are the heart of my business.
Milt
July pending home sales rise to 2-year high
The National Association of Realtors said pending U.S. home sales rose for the sixth straight month and is now 12 percent above the same month last year.
WASHINGTON - A gauge of future U.S. home sales rose more than expected in July to the highest level in over two years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall.
The report showed the housing market is rebounding faster than expected from its historic bust. Low prices and the looming expiration on Nov. 30 of a first-time homebuyers’ tax credit of up to $8,000 have spurred sales. Prices in much of the country have begun to rise from the depths of the slump.
“The overall trend toward stabilization is undeniable at this point,” wrote Mike Larson, real estate analyst at Weiss Research.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in July for previously occupied homes rose 3.2 percent to 97.6. It was the sixth straight increase, and 12 percent higher the same month last year.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the index to edge up to only 96.5.
The index of pending home sales indicates how sales completed this month and next will turn out. Typically, there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a final deal. But delays in getting mortgages approved and appraisals completed have recently lengthened the time it takes to close a deal in many cases.
Analysts predict sales will drop off when the tax credit expires, or if mortgage rates rise from near-record lows. Foreclosures also continue to rise, and banks are forced to sell those properties at deep discounts, pushing prices down.
A 12 percent jump in sales contracts in the West and a 3 percent increase in the South drove July’s overall increase. Sales fell in the Northeast and Midwest.
The Realtors group projects that around 2 million first-time buyers will take advantage of the credit this year, and says it is spurring 350,000 additional sales that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Nationally, home prices in the second quarter posted their first quarterly increase in three years, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller national index released last week. Prices are growing in some parts of the country, but “beware a rise in supply as frustrated would-be sellers see their chance,” wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
While home prices are still 30 percent below the mid-2006 peak, their new direction should bring relief to lenders, homeowners and buyers alike.
Falling property values have wiped out $4 trillion in homeowners’ equity, and thousands have walked away from homes that are worth far less than their mortgage balance. But now, with prices stabilizing, many buyers who had been staying out of the market are coming off the sidelines.
WASHINGTON - A gauge of future U.S. home sales rose more than expected in July to the highest level in over two years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall.
The report showed the housing market is rebounding faster than expected from its historic bust. Low prices and the looming expiration on Nov. 30 of a first-time homebuyers’ tax credit of up to $8,000 have spurred sales. Prices in much of the country have begun to rise from the depths of the slump.
“The overall trend toward stabilization is undeniable at this point,” wrote Mike Larson, real estate analyst at Weiss Research.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in July for previously occupied homes rose 3.2 percent to 97.6. It was the sixth straight increase, and 12 percent higher the same month last year.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the index to edge up to only 96.5.
The index of pending home sales indicates how sales completed this month and next will turn out. Typically, there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a final deal. But delays in getting mortgages approved and appraisals completed have recently lengthened the time it takes to close a deal in many cases.
Analysts predict sales will drop off when the tax credit expires, or if mortgage rates rise from near-record lows. Foreclosures also continue to rise, and banks are forced to sell those properties at deep discounts, pushing prices down.
A 12 percent jump in sales contracts in the West and a 3 percent increase in the South drove July’s overall increase. Sales fell in the Northeast and Midwest.
The Realtors group projects that around 2 million first-time buyers will take advantage of the credit this year, and says it is spurring 350,000 additional sales that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Nationally, home prices in the second quarter posted their first quarterly increase in three years, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller national index released last week. Prices are growing in some parts of the country, but “beware a rise in supply as frustrated would-be sellers see their chance,” wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
While home prices are still 30 percent below the mid-2006 peak, their new direction should bring relief to lenders, homeowners and buyers alike.
Falling property values have wiped out $4 trillion in homeowners’ equity, and thousands have walked away from homes that are worth far less than their mortgage balance. But now, with prices stabilizing, many buyers who had been staying out of the market are coming off the sidelines.
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