Blog
Endless Checklist
August 17, 2010 by Esi · 14 Comments
It’s been a fun, busy, challenging last few weeks. I feel like I have an endless checklist of things to do and just when I think I’m almost done, I add 10 more. I have accomplished a lot I set out to do, but still have lots to do, so I would like to update you guys on what I’ve been up to.
My 2 year old daughter is finally potty trained after lots of cupcakes and fruit candies … Yeaaa! We’ve been shopping for a pre-school for about a year now and finally decided on one that she loved and was almost dragged out of because she enjoyed the visit so much. The Principal was going to have her start at the 2.5-3yr old class but after some tests, they realized she was smarter than the kids in that class, so they suggested she starts at the 3-4 year old class. I was very proud of how well she did on the questions. She knew her shapes, colors, numbers, letters and counting. As part of the exercise, she was told to draw a head with eyes, nose, mouth and hair and she did all that and added arms, body and legs. I was of course grinning from ear to ear the whole time, but I’ll give most of the credit to her dad, Shhh! I’m not looking forward to her going to school, and still struggling with the decision. I’ve never left her in the care of anyone but my husband and I, but she is going to start with the bare minimum of 2 half days a week and we will see how that goes.
As if I didn’t already have too much on my plate, I doubled down on my marketing to both sellers and buyers. On Thursday last week, we sent out another set of letters to buyers in our market, and I decided to do a facelift/makeover to our buyer’s website. Part of what we did was add aweber as an autoresponder tool for sending email notifications of new houses for sale and newletters to subscribed buyers. I got it for $1 for the first month, so I’ll try it out and see how I like it. So far, it’s cool and I’ve had people subscribe and a few unsubscribe. If I can get at least 10 solid buyers and not tire kickers that will make all the work worth it. I am still keeping up with the momentum of sending out postcards to sellers every 2 weeks (not the same groups of course). I have got some quality calls and some hang ups, and I’ll have to follow up on a good number of them.
The (4 houses) package deal I blogged about here, got a lot of interest and I finally found a buyer who gave me $2000 EMD, but she won’t be ready to close for another 2 weeks, so if all goes well with funding and inspection, it should be my largest wholesale check so far. I need all the positive energy I can get on this one. The other house the buyer backed out of the day of closing (runaway buyer) is also getting some interest, but no EMD yet. Right now I’m working on a JV with another wholesaler who has a very interested buyer, but until I get an EMD it’s still up for sale. Ya know how that works.
My husband took the girls out for a few hours today, so I spent the whole time making phone calls. I had so many calls to make, but ended up spending a whole hour talking to just 2 people who had a lot to say. I like to think I have mastered the act of getting off the phone when I have a time crunch, but I just got caught up with the deals and all the story telling, I didn’t even realize the time. I did finish making all the calls I planned to make and feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. I will never market to sellers and buyers on the same week again, I feel my eyes are rolling backwards from dealing with all kinds of people including a buyer who threathened me because she thought I was trying to sell her house back to her. How she came to that conclusion after reading my letter is a mystery to me. It’s quite funny, listen here and here. I called her back and explained the letter to her and she kinda felt embarrassed and asked me where my houses for sale were…well after that conversation, what do you think I told her? … Not a chance.
For months I’ve been flirting with the idea of expanding my business by partnering up with other companies that could add value to my business, so I decided it was time to start working on that. I’m partnering up with a Property Management Company as a service to my buyers looking for a company to manage their rental properties for them after buying from me. I’ll also be partnering up with a local contractor for estimates and repairs, etc. So far I’m getting recommendations and interviewing different companies. This should be interesting.
What have you guys been up to?
“The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without first taking some form of positive action toward its attainment.” ~ Anthony Robbins
“One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” ~ Michael Korda
I am CRACKING UP! Those voicemail messages are soo hilarious….I mean seriously…LOL!
Regarding preschool…I did the same thing with my oldest daughter. I started her off with 3 half days during the week and once I felt more comfortable with the whole thing (which took about 4 or 5 months I think…that was a long time ago) I put her in full time.
GREAT news on the 4 package deal…I knew somebody would want it
By the way….Aweber is great and worth every penny. Also you can use that same account for unlimited mailing lists. I have 7 mailing lists that I use between my real estate business, my blog (newsletter & ebook giveaway plus the “subscribe to posts”), and my enriched coffee business. There are other companies and I’m sure many of them are good as well. Mailchimp actually allows for 500 subscribers for free so it could be worth taking a look at.
Shae´s last blog ..Now we’re cookin’
Yes that was funny. I can’t for the life of me figure out how she managed to make things and yeah, her “real estate lady”… classic.
It’s going to take me a while to adjust to her school situation, but i’m sure i’ll be fine. I need to start learning to wake up early too
The 4 package deal is definitely a great deal that comes by once in a while, I have my fingers crossed for that one.
I’m still learning the ropes with aweber. I was surprised to get a call from them today asking if I have any questions.
Hi Esi…Long time. Great post as usual. Those calls are hilarious.
She is an animated character.
Hey Ka,where have you been? It’s been a while, hope all is well. The caller is animated for sure, that’s what makes it funny.
Miss Contest Winner, I like that title – LOL! Well, I listened to your interview – great job! I love the thing you said about not having to be an expert to move forward and do deals. I think I was definitely stuck in that rut for a while…feeling like I needed “one more course” before I got started! Great job!
Steph
Hey Esi, I like your hustle. Keep pushing out that marketing and consistently build momentum. I’m sending out some of that wholesale energy on that 4 house package to get those close.
Congrats on your daughters accomplishments. One of the best part of that is NO MORE DIAPERS!!!!! That’s something to celebrate.:) Keep pushing it!!!!!! Talk to you soon.
Hey Erby, in order for the dough to keep rolling in, I have to keep up with marketing. Thanks for the well wishes. Yeah one down with the daipers and the other still has a year to go, lol. Hope to get some updates soon with your new marketing strategies.
Hi Esi,
Congrats on potty training…yes!! That’s awesome. Sounds like she’s doing great. I’m sure she’ll do well in school, even if you will miss her like crazy!
I just downloaded your interview with Kendall Matthews on my iPod – can’t wait to listen!
Steph
AnotherSteph´s last blog ..Winner- Winner Chicken Dinner!
Thanks Steph. Thanks for the heads up, I didn’t know the interview was up, I’ll go check it out and oh, be sure to let me know what you think Miss contest winner, lol.
Miss Contest Winner, I like that title – LOL! Well, I listened to your interview – great job! I love the thing you said about not having to be an expert to move forward and do deals. I think I was definitely stuck in that rut for a while…feeling like I needed “one more course” before I got started! Great job!
Steph
AnotherSteph´s last blog ..Winner- Winner Chicken Dinner!
Thanks Steph for the feedback. I notice that a lot of people hold back because they feel they don’t know enough even after months and years of learning. The truth is you can’t know everything, I’m still learning and I hope I don’t stop learning. Most of what I know is from actually doing and never read it in books. Enjoy your weekend.
Look at you working it girl! Awesome ideas about expanding your business relationships with different companies that will help your end buyer.
Very, very smart. You’re going to go farther than far with that thinking Esi! (or is it further than far? lol you know what I mean anyway!)
Carey_PA´s last blog ..So- is it a deal or not What would YOU do
I have tried several businesses in the past and I’m constanting thinking ot how to stand out from the rest and give my customers the best service. Partnering up with other companies that will be of great value to my buyers especially out of state buyers is one i’m serious working hard on. Thanks for the complement, means a lot to me coming from Miss ATM herself, lol. By the way, how come you and anothersteph keep winning all the contest? Time to step up my game.