Rules for Handshakes

I hate shaking people's hands. It's not that I don't want to greet them nicely and professionally, but being a woman, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to shake hands.

Many women do the dainty, limp fish hand shake, which is why I'm sure men don't always know how to shake women's hands.

For example, I'll gage the gentleman and think about his personality, and I'll think he's going to have a hardy grip. I go in with a firm grip, and he's barely touching my hand... oops.

If I think he's a less aggressive person, I'll go in with a less firm grip, and then he's squeezing the life out of my hand... oops again.

Women are the worse! I have this client who is very loud, very stern, very knows-what-she-wants-and-she's-going-to-get-it, and she was buying a house site-unseen. When I finally meet her in person, she's definitely not what I would call a fragile person. I go in to shake her hand with a very aggressive grip from knowing her for the past 4 months, and I get the limp, dead fish... I was shocked. My hand was glued to hers and I couldn't release the grip. I felt so bad. I thought she would be coming in with the same grip.

And then there are those women that are dainty and very feminine and as I approach with my non-threatening grip, they're giving the firm grip, and I feel like an idiot.

What are the rules for a handshake??

Real Estate is like Learning Golf from the Pros

My husband, Mike, has decided to take up Golf again. He used to play, but got frustrated with it, but now he’s falling apart (38 years old) so he gets more frustrated with the Wakeboarding (knee, wrist, ankle, shoulder, and back injuries) and has decided Golf would be good again. So, he’s gotten new clubs (several times over so he could find ones he likes), new clothes, new bag, and he’s probably going to ask for new golf shoes for the Holidays.

TiVo has been very busy recording Golf. Each infomercial says you must have this or you must have that to be successful. Hmmm, each seminar I go to about real estate does the same thing.

The thing that really hit home was when Mike was watching the Pro Lessons last night. He’s been watching a lot of the professionals give lessons so he can take bits and pieces and see what works for him. All of a sudden he says, “Each Pro does something completely different than the other and I’m more confused than ever!”

With that comment, I related it to Real Estate. Take a new agent, for example. A new agent comes into your office and asks to pick your brain. If you’re online reading this, you’re probably telling this new agent about all the online presence you have and how you are going to concentrate your efforts on marketing and advertising online since you know the latest reports show that over 80% of buyers are looking online for properties before contacting an agent. You’re telling them about creating their website and SEO and how to drive traffic to their own site in order to pick up leads.

However, that new agent, trying to gather as much information as possible, then sits down with an agent who has been in the business 30+ years, because we all know that agent should know how to get business in his/her sleep. Well, that agent then tells the new agent about his/her experience with door knocking and cold calling (even with the Do Not Call rules, eliminating those not to call) and farming a particular neighborhood for the same 30+ years.

As our new agent finds another agent to talk with, this other agent just talks about taking as many phone-duty shifts at the office as possible and holding Open Houses every weekend in the hopes of getting new buyers to walk through the doors.

Which agent do you want to be like? I know which one I am, and I know which ones need to get into the 21st century. However, different things work for different agents. Is there a wrong way to do real estate if you’re successful with it? I would only say you’re way is wrong if you can’t show any production.

As a new agent in a weird market, you need to look at all the information given and try each way and see what will work for you. Maybe you like sitting inside a house by yourself and a good book for a few hours on the weekend while you wait for buyers to approach you. Maybe you’ve been in your neighborhood for years, and knocking on doors makes sense for you for the face to face contact. Maybe you like to make contact with as many people as possible within a short amount of time, so you find the internet is the way to go for you. Whatever you chose, make it your own.

Back to Golf, my husband has tried to take tips from several different pros to see what will work for him. However, a friend of his is a golf pro himself and he doesn’t know how to teach anyone how to swing a club who doesn’t swing it the way he wants. So, Mike is left with the dilemma with learning how to swing a swing that is productive and works well for him, or with learning a swing that works well for someone else, and not feeling comfortable with the swing himself.

Which way should he go?? I’m sure more advice will only help him!!

NAR Heading South of the Border

NAR has headed south of the border into Mexico, and as of January 2007, all Mexicans that are members of AMPI (La Asociacion Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios) will be considered REALTORS®.

This is the first joint relationship that NAR as formally signed with a foreign real estate organization. The have been ongoing liaisons over the years, but this is a much larger step in bringing REALTORS® together.

NAR announced at the convention in New Orleans that they will launch a 4-hour course called "Doing Business In Mexico" with an online version available later in 2007.

Is this a start of NAR actually becoming a "National" Association of Realtors and not just considered National as in Nationwide over America?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this relationship? Do you see yourself or your investors buying properties in Mexico and this being an important relationship? How do you see this relationship being of benefit for your business? Being in Texas, I would like to hear other's thoughts.