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Tag Archives: Education

Wisdom…at any age

It takes a lot of effort to squeeze out all this wisdom. But at least I have my weird hair to fall back on.

So, Lee and I are both approaching major decade birthdays. Some folks are hesitant to admit it when they arrive at “late middle age,” like we are. But not me. I am pretty proud to have made it to my 60th year in really good health and with my brain intact. And I would not want to be younger! Sure, fewer things hurt, but wow, did I do some dumb things. I was full of the book learning, but lacked the experience it takes to have real “wisdom.”

Of course, I’m still learning, but now that I am old and wearing purple (hair and glasses, that is), I’m no longer thinking about things in terms of absolutes, I am way less judgmental of people of different backgrounds or ideologies, and challenges I’d avoid at all costs are now just interesting things to try. (Note: I am still not going sky diving.)

My younger readers may be saying to themselves, “Shoot, is getting older the only way to gain wisdom? Do I just have to sit here and marinate for a while?” And if you are a real estate investor, I’m sure you want to be getting deals and building your wealth NOW, if at all possible.

Jump starting wisdom

Whew, it’s okay. Hey, you may be one of those lucky individuals who are just born wise beyond their years. Maybe your deity just handed out wisdom to you, or you learned a LOT in that past life.

Granted, that’s probably not the case with most of us. How can you work to become not just smart, but also wise, starting early? Here are my ideas, from the top of my purple head:

Continue reading →

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Free Training for Would-Be Contractors

Want to learn how to level a house? We could use you!

Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2013 was MOOC – Massively Open Online Course.  There are LOTS of MOOC platforms out there.  For a while, I was maintaining a list of ones I found and trying to review.  The list spanned 3 pages.

One that has a very interesting variety of courses is Alison.com.  Because I had taken courses there before, I received a message the other day, informing me of a series they now have for “Skilled Trades.”

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a contractor or specialist, try to look both at your own interests and ability as well as the need out there in the economy. It’s a big need! And if you already do a lot of your own work on your rehabs, these could be good refreshers

Here’s information on what they offer. The link below takes you to the site. Continue reading →

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Pardon My French…

I’m writing this because 1) Victor Hugo sort of looks like Lee, and 2) it feels somewhat fitting in the context of Lee’s last post about the proposed tax plan.

Victor Hugo’s first mature work of fiction was first published in February 1829 and reflected the acute social conscience that would infuse his later work, and would have a profound influence on later writers such as Albert Camus, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Claude Gueux, a documentary short story about a real-life murderer who had been executed in France. A lengthy epilogue follows the story, in which Hugo criticizes the lack of proportionality between education and criminal punishment. The last part of his speech, directly meant for French legislators, was considered by Hugo himself to be a precursor to his great work on social injustice, Les Misérables. Continue reading →

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Are You a Salesperson? Am I?

salesman

I just didn’t want to be this guy.

I’ve always adamantly believed I am NOT a salesperson. I didn’t want to be one of those people who pressure others and get them to do things they don’t want to do. I didn’t want to try to get people to buy or do things just to make myself a commission. It made me really uncomfortable to think about. When I thought about those poor folks at the large bank who pressured people to start savings accounts because they had a quota they MUST fill, I felt so sad.

People have gently pointed out to me that when I think something is great, I can be really persuasive. I am the home sales person’s best friend. Just let me get going about my love of the Pampered Chef ground beef breaker-upper, for example, or about the essential oil product I use for sore muscles. I’ve sold a lot of items for my friends with these kinds of businesses. I think Longaberger Basket stayed in business because of me for a decade or so. And WOW was I persuasive on the benefits of feeding your baby without buying products to do so (a career I used to have, in which I even won awards).

But no, I would not start one of those businesses. Nope. Not a salesperson.

So how did I end up doing this real estate stuff and blogging my little fingers off about what a good thing it is? How do I feel about promoting our business model hither and yon, if I don’t want to be a “sleazy salesperson”?

Well, I’ve figured something out. Sales can be OK if you are actually trying to meet the needs of other people. If you are offering a service that can benefit both yourself AND the other party, sales (and those sales techniques I found so annoying in car dealerships in the past) can be an honorable and ethical practice.

In the past I’d never taken a sales course (just a lot of writing and philosophy courses!), nor did I officially study marketing other than talking to my marketing coworkers a lot. But, since I’m committed to doing my very best to connect my team with people who are the right fit for what we do, I’ve decided to take the plunge and learn about sales and negotiation. I’m in an 8-week online class, along with Russell on our team, which will culminate with some in-person training with two amazing practitioners of sales and negotiation. I feel good about it, because they stress ethics and respect for the people you are selling to or negotiating with. I want to set high standards for myself and maintain them.

I also want to be able to tell when someone I’m working with is using the techniques against me in an unethical way. Hmm.

Real estate is one constant negotiation process. Our coworker Carol is even certified in it! Are you comfortable selling or negotiating? I’m getting better. Practice makes perfect, I hope. Of course, in the class I hope to have plenty of time to make mistakes and learn from them in a safe environment. That’s important as well. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions on this?

 

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Investing in Education

sunahermitIt’s important to us that we keep updated on all aspects of the business we are working on, and of course, to keep our marketing efforts going wherever we are!

So, here’s Suna in sunny La Jolla, California, where our whole team will be gathered to learn about real estate wholesaling for the next few days.

Yesterday, Lee and Suna spent the day learning from some really cool guys about “mindset,” which is your attitude toward your work and your life. It had many great reminders of things we already knew (we’re just fine the way we are! Treat people well and they will treat you well!), along with some brand-new things.

We also met many interesting and knowledgeable folks in the rehabbing and investing community. It always pays to invest in education about whatever means a lot to you. We are happy for the opportunity to do so this week, and to get a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

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