Check Out REtech South
March 22, 2008 | 3 Comments
There is a new conference, or un-conference as the case may be, out there for the real estate industry. I’m excited about this one because it was organized from the ground up by a really nice guy that I had the pleasure of meeting at InmanConnect NYC.
His name is Matt Fagioli. I did an interview of Matt at InmanConnect NYC. Unfortunately, the video didn’t download properly, and I lost it. At that time, Matt mentioned to me that he wanted to get an event together in his area for people interested in technology and the real estate industry. Just a few weeks later, REtech South was born.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend, but if you are in the Atlanta area (or even if you’re not), RETech South is something you might want to consider. It is a one-day event, March 27th. The cost for registration is $99. Check out the website for more info. For a video intro to the what REtech South is all about, check it out:
Lunch With NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun
March 18, 2008 | 3 Comments
It might not be lunch with the Queen, but I am nonetheless excited. The Virginia Association of REALTORS has provided myself and some fellow Virginia real estate bloggers an opportunity to have lunch with NAR’s Chief economist, Lawrence Yun.
Yun was recently named one of America’s Top 10 Economic Forecasters by USAToday. There has been some discussion over on VARBuzz about what questions you would ask Mr. Yun, given the chance.
So I’m curious, what would you like to know from NAR’s Chief Economist?
Let Me Share My Nightmare, Learn How to Prevent Yours
March 18, 2008 | 3 Comments
I’ve written about the basketball official’s pre-game conference, and how that lesson applies to real estate. The same is true for the rigorous post-game evaluation that officials do. Post game evaluation is very useful to basketball officials. Every game is filled with calls that could have gone one way or the other, and despite what you might believe, basketball officials don’t get every call right. 
We do strive to get every call right and to be as successful as possible. Post-game evaluations are a critical part of that endeavor. Evaluating decision-making and the actions that lead to those decisions go a long way to putting yourself in a position to succeed.
Let me share with you a VERY personal example of what I mean
The next-to-last game of my season took place during the local High School district tournament. It was a semi-final game. Due to the way in which the seedings worked out, the winner of the game received an automatic birth to the state tournament. The stakes were high. The game was close.
With about 10 seconds left, the home team (white) was inbounding the ball, trailing by 2 points. They inbounded on the side of the court opposite of me, meaning I was all alone on my side. As the play developed, white made a pass to a player in front of me. Officiating mechanics dictate that I should move toward the baseline when this happens to get a good look at the play. I did that. Almost immediately, the player in front of me began to dribble towards the top of the key, away from me. After about two dribbles, the ball bounced off a foot and went out of bounds. From my angle, the ball appeared to have bounced off of white’s foot. I hit the whistle, pointed, and yelled “RED!”
The home crowed went nuts. As did the white team’s bench, since the play was literally a few feet in front of their head coach (who wasn’t very happy). He asked my partners to intervene, but that call was all mine. Mine alone. I made it. The home team ending losing the game a few seconds later, ending their season.
It was gut-wrenching.
I immediately went home to watch the tape of the game on the local news station. Luckily, the cameraman had an angle that was completely opposite of mine, and completely unobstructed. As we say in officiating, “the tape don’t lie.” If the camera was rolling, my call was on that tape, and it would be in the highlights.
It was. I went home and watched that play DOZENS of times. I practically wore out the DVR going forward and backward, slow motion, pausing. Every time, the play was the same. The ball went off a foot, out of bounds, I called “RED!” and everyone reacted.
The funny thing was, as many times as I watched it, I still couldn’t tell if I was right or wrong. I had Kari watch it, she couldn’t tell either. I used every indicator I could think of from reaction of players to the physics of basketball to evaluate that call.
I’ll just have to live with the fact that I’ll never truly know if I got it right or wrong. That is a tough thing for a referee to have to accept. I did, however, find out what the participants thought.
Learning from my nightmare
Luckily, that is not the way my season ended. It actually ended a week later with a very competitive state regional championship. I was very pleased. I will always remember that one play, however.
As a referee, it is my responsibility to learn from it, and I know that I have. I now know that if that situation arises again, I am going to have to be more aware of the ball potentially going out of bounds, and I will work even harder to get on top of that play, or move towards the sideline in an attempt to gain a better angle.
That’s it. One simple change. It will probably require 2-3 physical steps, maximum. Doing that might prevent that nightmare from ever happening again.
Good. Lesson learned. On to the next game.
Applying Post-Game evaluation to Real Estate
Post-game evaluation is drilled into the head of every successful basketball referee. During the upcoming NCAA tournament, EVERY CALL of EVERY OFFICIAL is tracked and evaluated (its a tournament for the refs, too). In the NBA, the league makes a tape of every game and edits together the good the bad and the ugly of the officiating and requires the refs to watch that tape immediately after the game.
You should be just as rigorous in evaluating your own performance. You should evaluate every transaction, every marketing plan implementation, every decision you make that affects your business. Be hard on yourself (but not too hard). Hold yourself accountable.
When things go wrong, don’t wallow. It’s okay to feel bad about things for a moment, but if you want to prevent bad things from happening in the future, you need to learn from whatever mistakes you may have made. If you did things right, you need to take the steps necessary to repeat those decisions.
Better yet, ask your clients what they thought of your performance. Encourage them to be honest and offer suggestions about things that you could do better. Do whatever it takes, ask whatever questions you must, gain all the information you can so that you can continually improve.
Post-game evaluation is a critical process for the success of every basketball official. If you make it part of what you do, your chance to be a successful real estate professional will increase exponentially.
Real Estate Cool (Inspired by Lupe Fiasco)
March 12, 2008 | 2 Comments
I like Lupe Fiasco. In fact, his latest album, “The Cool,” is my current musical favorite. I used a clip from his song, “Superstar” as the intro to my last ZebraTalk episode. It has since become a song I listen to regularly.
One of the tracks on the album that I found interesting is the album intro. It is actually a spoken word track, a poem. It is performed by Ayesha Jaco (I can’t find any link for her). She is apparently a writer/dancer/performer from Chicago. Here she is performing a slightly different version of the album intro at a Lupe Fiasco concert appearance.
I liked what she did with the piece, and I thought I would try to adapt it to the real estate industry. I wanted to touch on a few issues that I think everyone will recognize.
So, take a minute or two, and listen to my version of “Real Estate Cool.”
Vote for the Zebra in Round 2 of the Blog Brawl
March 11, 2008 | 5 Comments
I had a first round bye for the VARBuzz.com Blog Brawl. Now, my first real match-up is at hand, and it is a doosie.
In Round 2, The Zebra goes mono-a-mono with the Wagner iTeam.
Ah a worthy adversary, indeed. Mariana Wagner is one of my fellow real estate twit-wits (@mizzle). She is also part of a team, just like me. She also has a good sense of humor, which she is probably going to need. . .
There are a lot of other great matchups in the VARBuzz BlogBrawl Round 2, so head over to VARBuzz and Vote. I’m in the first matchup of Zone 3, by the way.
Remember– Vote early, vote often, vote Zebra!
Voting ends Wednesday at Midnight.
Twitter Explained
March 6, 2008 | 2 Comments
I love Twitter. I love it for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes, however, I have trouble explaining Twitter to people. Lucky for me, the folks at CommonCraft took care of it:
Of course, Twitter is a lot more than this, and there are plenty of cool ways to use it, but saying “I don’t get it” isn’t an excuse anymore after watching this.
So sign up.
Then follow me. . .
The New Inman Site is Unveiled, and It Has STRIPES!
March 4, 2008 | 10 Comments
The wraps are off the shiny new Inman.com.
Inman has been an industry leader for real estate news and insight for quite some time. Their website was beginning to look a bit outdated.
The new Inman.com aims to deliver the “Same great news. Brand new site!”
You can take a look for yourself, but I think they have delivered on that promise. The changes are more than cosmetic, however. The site not only has a Web 2.0 look, but also has a social media structure to it. You can register, fill out a profile, find other Inman members and add them as friends, join groups, vote on stories or leave comments, etc.
The site has the obligatory “BETA” stamp on it, so it is obviously a work in progress. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
The one feature that I am particularly happy about is the fact that the Inman blog will have a new “community” section featuring content from a few bloggers you may recognize:
Oh yeah, and me, too.
Blogging for Inman should prove to be an interesting experience, and I am looking forward to reaching a new audience.
So check out the new-and-improved Inman.com. Put it through its paces, poke and prod, let them know what you think.
And hey, add me as a friend.
The Blog Brawl in ON!
March 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
The nominations are in. The seeds have been set. The time has come.
The 1st VARBuzz Blog Brawl in ON!
The Zebra earned a #1 seed and a first round bye (along with Jim Duncan, Jay Thompson, and Jeremy Hart).
This is a very cool contest. If you think it is just another stupid popularity contest, you are only half-right. It might be a popularity contest, but it definitely isn’t stupid. If you take the time to research the participants, you are sure to find some great real estate blogs that you never knew about. I know I did.
So, what are you waiting for, get voting!
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
