Real Estate Survival Guide

Summary: 

On today’s episode, I talk about an exercise I did recently with my friend Ken Carfagno. Ken is a great friend and mentor of mine and part of the Total Life Freedom community. When I asked him to take me through the exercise, I found it to be something that could be helpful for you as well as you try to create success in your real estate business.

This episode takes you through the process of writing out your nine things and then paring them down to three. I believe you will find that while many of us focus on business, when we pare down our list to what is really important, we will find the key to success in all areas of our life.

When we are trying so hard to grow our business, we are neglecting the things that make us successful—like our rest and health. I hope you can think about this in your business. I hope that you realize that the priority is not business—the priority is taking care of yourself. You will not only be a more successful Realtor and a more successful businessperson, but you'll be more successful in your life.

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

A marketing professional and 11 year veteran of Nike, Parker Nash grew their lines of business to more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue. He makes the claim that any business can grow if they use the principles he teaches. Now he’s here to help us, too.

• How to get great clarity
• Who your most profitable clients are
• What the foundation of effective marketing is
• Why Nike, Peloton, Apple, and other big brands are so successful
• What the “me monster syndrome” is
• Why it’s so important to speak like your clients talk
• Whether it’s better to work with buyers or sellers

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of succes to the listener. 

Summary:

In this episode, I talk about the lessons I’ve learned as I’ve built my business and how I’ve learned to do things differently. I want to talk to you about the value of your time and what your time is worth.

When I started building my business, I felt that I should do everything myself and not outsource anything. As I learned the value of my time, it made sense to pay someone else to do tasks that I didn’t enjoy so that my time was freed up to work on my business or spend time with my family. This is something that you really need to think about in your real estate business.

Sometimes when I think about the value and worth of my time, it’s worth it to me to choose something for convenience. Convenience doesn’t mean cheap. It means something that saves me time so that I can focus on what is important to me. That might look like ordering food from Uber Eats or paying someone to mow my lawn. It’s worth it to me to have food delivered to avoid driving the 30 minutes to pay $10 for a fast-food meal I bring home, only to be distracted with other things, and have to refocus on my task.

I want you to think about this in your real estate business. What are the areas where you are doing everything and stressing yourself out when you can pay someone instead? Yes, it means less money in your pocket, but it also means more convenience and an easier, more manageable workload. I encourage you to really think about this.

Are there things that might cost some money to delegate, but would bring you more peace, convenience, and a lot less stress?

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

I came back from Podcast Movement, where I learned a lot of lessons I may apply to the podcast. They joke that if you're slow as a Realtor, you go on vacation. And so that's kind of what it felt like last week when I came home. Several buyers reached out, interested in houses. I shared with you guys last month on the business update how it had been kind of slow since the end of June. I had nothing under contract. A buddy asked me, when does enjoying the peace and quiet go to worry?

I said I'd have to not sell houses for three to six months, maybe more, to feel concerned, but I have been writing offers for a handful of clients. Even though the market shifted a little bit, it's still a seller's market, still hard to get houses. Nothing’s under contract right now, but there’s a lot of moving and shaking, and some stuff will be going on very soon for sure.

The podcast continues to grow. August was my biggest month. The listens and downloads were pretty high. I'm talking thousands of downloads higher than previous months. So again, I appreciate you guys. Thank you for finding the show and getting involved.

I’m officially announcing the membership and going public with it. I wanted to create a membership that was very helpful for Realtors but also low budget. The price is $50/mo, and that includes at least 2 calls a month and Q&A time with me. It's going to include access to the private Facebook group as well. What I continue to find as I talk to Realtors is they don't have accountability and community. I've wanted to create that. If the membership is something that you think you'd be interested in, please reach out to me. You can email me, text, call me. You can just shoot an email to [email protected] or Ttext me 610-568-4651. I really have tried to build something over these couple months that is helpful to Realtors.

I'm excited to continue growing and expanding with the Realtors there and the Realtors that continue to find it. And it's so funny. I've got actually a couple people in there that are not Realtors because they've just found my advice helpful. If you think that could be a fit, I'm happy to connect. If you refer people to the membership, I'm going to pay you 20% of their membership for as long as they're in there.

While you guys are listening to this, I'm taking the day off. Today is my son's third birthday. I love him very much and am super thankful for him. I've learned so much as a dad in these three years. Things are really good in my family. Taking some time today and this weekend to be together, celebrate him, and just spend some family time.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or anything I can help you guys with. I'd be honored to speak with you. Thanks for listening to the show and helping it to continue to grow. And we'll see you guys on our next episode.

A Realtor and former professional skier (who learned to ski at age two), Athena Brownson is the daughter of a real estate developer and an interior designer. She suffered an injury while skiing and was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease and autoimmune diseases, and still is a successful agent. Her passion for interior design led Athena to get her real estate license. Her amazing eye for aesthetics gave her the ability to help her clients sell their homes and build a reputation for success. Despite her hardships, Athena never gave up and today is an amazing Realtor in the Denver area who has recently embarked on flipping construction and real estate investment.

"I had the good fortune of having two ski bums as parents. And when I say ski bums, I say that loosely. They were very successful, very driven human beings. As you mentioned, my dad was a developer building primarily residential in Breckenridge. And my mom did the interior design for his properties, but the reason that they were in Breckenridge was because they loved to ski."

“No story goes the way that we think it's gonna go, and our ability to pivot and have the discipline and accountability to really push ourselves to the next level is required.”

“It’s a lot of breaking through barriers in your own mind that you can keep doing and that you are capable of completing and succeeding at so much more than you think you are.”

"I've been in multiple coaching programs. I fully believe that in order to be the best version of yourself as a human and in business, you need someone looking over everything that you're doing, and saying, “I think this is your blind spot. This is something you're missing.”

"I think as a real estate agent, you have to have a little bit of a psychosis in you. Yeah. You have to have that addictive personality that need for competition in order to really thrive and be successful."

• What life was like as a professional skier
• How skiing made her unstoppable as an agent
• How, despite health challenges, her business has grown year after year
• What she did during those moments of depression we all deal with
• The best question to ask potential mentors
• What one of the most formative pieces of her success was
• Which spot in town will help you find the best clients
• How dining out or going to happy hour grows your business
• Why getting a coach is so important for your business
• The best piece of advise she ever received

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Instagram: Athena Brownson Realtor

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener.

Summary: 

In this episode, I use football as an analogy to talk about creating success in your real estate business. I talk about Paul, who is a coach at a real estate company. He does an amazing job teaching and coaching Realtors on how to have success in the real estate business. Paul also sees Realtors struggling with the follow up and the follow through—they either close a deal and never talk to that person again, or they don't have good communication.

What does real estate have to do with football? How does Tom Brady consistently make all those touchdowns? How does that translate into success in the real estate business?

Tom Brady doesn’t make those touchdowns and win the game by throwing an 80 yard “Hail Mary” pass every time. It's called a Hail Mary pass for a reason—because it's basically impossible and you're praying that you can score. Tom Brady doesn’t do that. He hands off the ball a few yards, runs, passes the ball a few more yards, and runs again for as many times as it takes to reach the end of the field to score. That’s what we need to do with our clients!

A pass, a run, a pass, a run…each of those is a touchpoint with your client. Each one of those plays is a time you reach out to your clients, your sphere of influence, and the people you've worked with. Wish them a happy birthday, happy anniversary, or congratulate them on being in their house for a year—share a post about it on social media. It's all about touchpoints. Realtors are not having success because we are not making enough touch points. We post on social media about our business and hope that people see it, but five years down the road when a client is ready to sell their house, they haven’t heard from us once during that time. The relationship with a client begins at the closing table. Touchpoints shouldn’t be something that you just check off a list, they should come from a heart that wants to help and serve people. Be a friend.

I talk about a client who found themselves without anyone to help them move at the last minute. I stepped up, showed up, and helped them. That client will always remember how I went out of my way to help and serve them without wanting anything in return. What creates success in the real estate market are touchpoints. But Realtors are missing the mark here. Check in on your clients multiple times a year, find out what they like—a favorite candy, coffee shop—things that show your client you’re thinking of them. Multiple plays, multiple interactions, multiple touchpoints with your clients will score touchdowns and build great relationships!

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

Summary:

In this episode, I tell the story of a Realtor who left a real estate team because the team leader over promised, but under delivered. He would promise his team leads, websites, and more, but never follow through. He would schedule meetings to coach and train his team members but cancel at the last minute. The Realtor believed that every team was the same with a leader who over promised and under delivered. I pointed out that no, that is not the norm.

Every team should have a leader who helps their team grow their business. A good team leader wants to help their Realtors be successful, because when a Realtor is successful, the team leader looks good—the entire team or company looks good.

The Realtor above left that team because she didn’t have a team leader willing to follow through on their promises. For those who lead a team or are a part of leading a team, this is a huge lesson.

It is also a lesson for agents who interact with clients. Are you doing what you say you’ll do, or are you over promising and under delivering? If you want to be successful in your business, you must keep your word and always follow through—otherwise, no one will want to work with you. If anything, you want to go above and beyond, doing even more than they expected, so that they will write a good review and recommend you to others. When you follow through on what you promise, you build a good reputation that will make people want to work with you. This will give you the success you desire in your real estate business.

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

I connected with Mike Forrester through the Total Life Freedom Community. Mike is a Men's Transformation Coach. He's the founder of the Living Fearless coaching programs and he hosts the amazing Living Fearless Today podcast. He has decades of experience overcoming setbacks and failures and he uses that experience to help others not let excuses derail them. His podcast focuses on helping men overcome fear, anxiety, and depression by highlighting success stories of those who have lived through it.

Quotations     

“This is bigger than my discomfort.”         

“It doesn't determine what's going to go on tomorrow—in six months or in two years—but it's a matter of just persisting and looking at what am I doing, right? Who am I, what, what do I uniquely offer and who do I attract?”

“Having a community helps to keep us stronger, to keep our focus in a lifted-up way.”     

“I would say be careful who you listen to. Just because somebody has something to say, doesn't mean it's an accurate opinion, nor is it true.”

Learn all of this and more: 

• What Mike's parents told him, that he had to overcome
• How being a chameleon worked for him until it didn't
• What Mike noticed about successful people
• Practices he began to put into place that you can use as well
• How Mike took inventory and made changes     

Realtors sometimes doubt themselves and their abilities. Mike uses his experience to encourage and coach Realtors to be the best they can be. He advises Realtors to be confident in their skills—if you don’t advocate for yourself to your clients, why should they choose you to list with? You’ve got to be a “bulldog” and fight to earn their trust and their business. Everyone has something to work on. Taking an honest look in the mirror and realizing that the responsibility for your business is all yours is the first step to success. Ask for feedback like Mike did and apply it to your business. Apply it to your business and your personal life.

Join us for an interview you'll enjoy and benefit from.

Resources:

Mike Forrester’s Website

Mike Forrester’s Podcast: Living Fearless Today

Contact: hicoachmike.com

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener.

Summary:

On today’s episode, I talk about my irrational fear of flying. I’ve done the research and know flying is the safest form of transportation, but still, the worry is there. The hardest part is to get on the plane and take off. It can be the same for Realtors—the hardest part is that first step and the anticipation of that step.

What irrational fear is holding you back in your real estate business? Think about the irrational, or even rational fears that might be keeping you from having the best business possible.

I want to help you overcome that fear and take that first step. Get that post out there on social media—once you reach out to that client, once you take those first steps and take off, there’s nothing left to worry about.

Having a hard time with that first step? I want to help you. I’m launching a membership for Realtors in September to talk about those irrational fears and taking those first steps. Share your fears with me and then take that first step—get on that plane and fly.

Podcast is edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of successto the listener. 

Summary:

So many Realtors are not getting out of their house. Many ask me how I’ve created success. We talk all about what I do from social media to the way I build relationships, and we've often talked about Vincent Pugliese’s book, The Wealth of Connection, and just doing business backward. It's all about relationships. It's all about caring about people.

When I speak to Realtors that are struggling, I will kind of ask them what their routine looks like, what they do on a daily basis. If it's on a phone call, it's normally awkward silence. If it's on Zoom, it is a blank stare on their face. Sort of like, “What do you mean, what do I do every day? I sit here at my computer and I try to get business.”

And I'm all about sitting at your computer trying to get business, but you need to be getting out of your house. You might be sitting in your house, listening to this. And you're gonna sit in your house all day today and all day tomorrow and all day, the next day, wondering why you don't have any business. That’s what this episode is about. Today, I’m going to talk to you about how to get out and make those connections you need to build your business.

Podcast is edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails.com

John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener.