This week 12 years ago, February 2008, I woke up on a Tuesday morning to the heavy weight and realization that I was in for the financial fight of my life. Tears on the pillow, adrenaline pumping through my body, I rolled over to check the time. It was 3:30 a.m. I couldn’t be anymore awake. I tried to force myself to go back to sleep until my alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. but there was no chance of that happening. I gave up. It felt worse lying there, so I quietly got up, went downstairs, and started to ponder “the new normal.” This market was not getting better anytime soon and I knew it. The denial was over. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just had my “real estate heart attack.”
The news kept getting worse. After the credit markets seized in August of 2007, home sales plummeted. My business was 90% new construction and the banks started pulling the construction loans and credit lines of my developers. They went into "CYA mode" and were forced to start working with the banks to take drastic measures to unload product, many defaulting on their loans. In January of that year, sales had dropped to a 10 year low and the Fed was doing anything it could to drive liquidity into the system hoping to lower the conforming, 30-year fixed to below the 6.00% rate is was priced at the time. They hoped to revive the real estate market, but it was too late. Many homeowners were stuck in adjustable rate, interest-only mortgages that were starting to adjust. They couldn’t sell their homes because they owed more than the home than it was worth. Banks started to fail. The public narrative was “circle the wagons,” stop spending money, stay in, walk away. Buyers did not want to buy, sellers were in denial, and the housing market was in a free fall. Real estate agents were the least popular people at any cocktail party.
I was, like many, in an extremely difficult situation. The 17 projects I had slated to deliver for 2008 to 2010 stalled. I saw $1.5M in commissions evaporate in 90 days in the fall of 2007. I was involved in an 8-unit project personally. My partners stopped paying their portion of the load.
That sleepless morning, once downstairs, I prepared myself a pot of coffee and I started to think. I was in Defcon 5, self-evaluation mode. Do I get out of the business? Do I look for another career? 2.6M jobs were lost in 2008, so I knew that moving into a different career was not happening. I knew I had to make my real estate career work for me and for my family. I was out of options and the options were not easy. I was married with two little girls under the age of 6 and I was standing in a home that we didn’t need with a tuition bill on the counter. I had dug a massive hole for myself and it was going to take extreme measures to climb out of the mess.
That morning of my “real estate heart attack,” I realized that the only person that was going to get me out of this mess was me. It was “Me vs. Me.” I had always been a problem-solver, but this problem was way different. I was way out of my league.
My decision was made, but my comeback plan had one massive hurdle: I didn’t know the “how.” Later that morning, I scheduled a lunch with a good friend – a successful broker and someone I respected in a big way. I had one simple question... or maybe it was closer to throwing out a lifeline. “What should I be doing with my business right now? The market is tanking. What should I do?”
“Jim, you need to work your SOI. Your clients need you.”
With that one phrase the journey began. I was given one simple clue. Leaving that meeting, not knowing was SOI meant, I rushed home, logged in, clicked on my new best friend, Google, and typed in “SOI Real Estate” and pages and pages of content came up. I learned quickly that SOI meant Sphere of Influence. In those hours following, it became clearer and clearer that as a real estate broker, I was a neophyte.
I was angry, disappointed, bitter and disgusted with myself that I hadn’t done this work previously. Database? Really? That simple? 33 touch? Over the previous 7 years having sold over $200M in new construction, I have never logged a name, email address, or cell phone number. Who does that?
I became obsessed. I started consuming content, trying new things. I developed an archaic database, tickler filing system. I started with 11 people that “knew me, liked me, and trusted me.” Reach out, Jim! Reconnect.
It was “Me vs Me.”
I started doing open houses and did any rental I could do to develop relationships. The database started to grow. I started having some success. I became obsessed, working 14 to 15 hours a day learning my craft and building my business. I started to show up with intention.
It was “Me vs. Me.”
The blinders were on. I turned off the news. I didn’t worry what other brokers were doing. The negativity was palpable. I had my own problems.
It was “Me vs. Me.”
I discovered in December of 2009 the concept of #mindset and The Law of Attraction, and I created my own mantra to keep my mental game intact. I said to myself multiple times throughout the day, “I am so happy and grateful that money, success, and introductions flow to me in ever increasing quantities from a myriad of different sources for the betterment of all those involved. My life is perfect. Every day, every way, I’m getting better and better.” Saying that to myself was like self-medicating. I’ve said it to myself thousands of times over the years. I knew I had to keep my frequency as high as possible if I had any chance of climbing out.
It was “Me vs. Me.”
My results increased as a result of my obsession with getting better. By 2011, I was #3 at Jameson and was asked by Chris Feurer to share my thoughts and ideas with other brokers. I taught my first “class” in September of 2011. With iPad in hand, I covered my notes. Agents were patient with me as I stood on a stage I had never been on. Those who attended started to see their own results. I taught another class two months later, and another and then another. I found another obsession: Helping others dig out or avoid their own pit.
It was “Me vs Me.”
In 2013, my business had doubled 4 times in 5 years to $37M. My success put me in a position where I was forced to make another decision. Do I continue my trajectory as a broker or do I join our executive team? What was the stronger pull? Where was I most skilled? Am a better broker or a better manager/coach? Where can I have the most impact? Having never been mentored, being 100% self-taught, I saw a huge need for leadership in our industry. I jumped on the chance and joined Chris and Mike after their multiple attempts to get me on board.
My “Me vs Me” added another element - “You vs You.”
I was pulled to help others find their real motivation to be the best version of themselves and avoid their own “real estate heart attack.”
So, my question for you today is do you have your blinders on? Is your competition yourself or are you focused more on your surroundings? Are you surrounded by the right people?
Is it “You vs You?” or are you wallowing in what others are doing, wondering why you "didn’t get the same breaks?” Are you looking in the mirror every morning at your competition or are you unwilling to take yourself on?
The battle is not the “market.” The battle is with you and it starts between your ears. Have you committed to a better, higher version of yourself? Once you commit to “You vs You,” your business and life will start to change magically before your eyes. It’s not a question of “IF,” but “When.” Let me warn you, you are in for the battle of your life. We’re talking years and decades, not days and weeks.
I am committed to providing “The How.” You need to commit to making YOU the competition. If you don’t, you will most likely be faced with your own real estate heart attack at some point. It happens to the best of us and, if we are not prepared to weather a storm, it will occur at some point in your life and career, maybe multiple times. I never thought it would happen to me, but don’t we all think we are immune?
The universal law of cause and effect states that for every effect there is a definite cause, likewise for every cause, there is a definite effect. Your thoughts, behaviors, and actions create specific effects that manifest and create your life as you know it.
What do you wake up thinking about every morning? Start there. Take on that goal. Take on that problem. There are simple clues out there pinging you every day. Are you listening?
In the end, it is your efforts that lead to your success. You have to commit to the consistent, hard work when no one else is watching. You know what I am talking about. Some of you have been avoiding yourself and when you see yourself in the mirror, you "cross the street” to avoid yourself and you know it.
The battle is “You vs You.”
That house I was standing in that February morning in 2008, I had built for my family just a few years earlier. Looking back, I feel blessed for the experience. I would not be who I am today without 2007 to 2010. In the end, that house actually built me.
