Living in Contra Costa County

Has Brad Andersohn Put the Squeeze on You Yet?

I was going to start out by saying for those that don't know him Brad Andersohn used to be with ActiveRain. But I guess he still is, but his paying gig is now with Zillow.

(Speaking of Gigs I remember Brad Andersohn and his family rocking us out at Rain Camp in San Francisco a few years ago. Maybe there is a future in show biz for him.)

Anyway for those of you that know me sometimes I am less than tactful and have taken my shots a Zillow and even ActiveRain/Market Leader on occasion. But I also will give praise when it is due. (btw Zillow bought my IDX Provider – Diverse Solutions and I guess that makes me a client.)

Last week I went to a Webinar Brad gave as part of the Zillow training classes on Squeeze Pages (now you get the joke in the title). The Webinar blew my mind. I left with more questions than answers, not because it lacked info, but there was so much info my mind is exploding with ideas. (Oh and I am not going to share them here – You are just going to have to talk to Brad suck up a little and get his schedule for the next Webinar.)

Better yet – he offers a different Webinar everyday. Some deal with Zillow, but honestly most of them are just class that any of us could and should use. Zillow is now right up there with ActiveRain as a company that I have respect for when it comes to training.

Now just to make it clear - no one asked me to write this, or knows that I am.  No bribery or consideration was offered - although I am not above it (but would disclose it).

What Makes a Good Coach?

There are lots of types of coaches; probably as many types as there are personalities in people.  Often what I see is those that are very successful at what they do are not good coaches.  In sports I see this at the proffesional level, college level, and even at the youth level.  

I have 6 boys and the four oldest have and do all compete competively on some level and at some sport, the younger two will.

For a person to be incredibly good at something they have to be driven - very driven.  We might say that drive comes from a need to succeed or win.  But I think that is too easy.  Often driven people are driven in different ways towards the same goal and each can be very successful being driven in different ways.

What I see with very driven people that have been very successful when they go to coach is they try to motivate everyone in the same way that they are motivated.  They try to drive them in the same way.  They want to mold those that they coach in their image.  (In my opinion a good example of this is Mike Singletary at the San Francisco 49ers.)  This approach can actually destroy the competitor and the team.  A similar problem is a coach that coaches for the team (and talent) he would like to have rather than the team (and talent) he does have.

Those that compete are individuals.  A good coach finds out how to drive and motivate the individual and how to work that individuals personality towards success.  He takes the talent he has on his team and designs a game plan to maximize the talent and compensate for the weakness.  Most good coaches struggled at what they coach (at least at some point) and had to become real students of the sport and the people around them to have any success; they did not dominate - the hung on with cunning and determination.    (Tony LaRussa was a marginal player before becoming a great manager.)  

I have coached some for my kids.  I was not a good coach, but a lot of this has more to do with me lacking basic skills and an ability to teach them in some of these sports.  I think I have been a good Royal Rangers Commander; but I had to learn I could not help all the kids.  I had to find the ones that wanted to be there or that I could show them the value of being there. 

However, as a father I am my sons coach.  I understand them (or at least try) and need to learn to motivate each one based on who he is as an individual.  If there is one thing I have learned with 6 boys is that they are all different.  Each one needs help in different areas.  As a father I need to figure out to reach each one and get them to do the best they can do.  In many ways this is more important than the ability to teach the actual skill.  There are lots of people that can teach the actual skills, but it is really hard to find a way to motivate them to take the skills and be the best they can be.  

I think this is true of coaches in Real Estate and Life in general too, be it a boss, mentor, or a coach. 

My sons are in Royal Rangers.  This morning I was going over Communications with my son Corbin.  As part of the Communications Badge you need to examine careers in Communications.

Now the requirements for the Communications badge were probably written 10 years or so ago.  The Badge Requirements are a little dated.  I don't mean this as a criticism of Rangers, it is a fine program - but things are changing fast in this world. 

Our New National Commander Doug Marsh is revamping the program.  Change is hard and finding the right balance is challenging.  One of the slogans is "Taking Rangers to the iPod Generation."  I find this to be a reality if we like it or not.  Computers and Smart Phones are here to stay - kids use them.  When I ask kids questions older boys with Smart Phones head on line to get the information.  I suspect the iPod will shortly be as dated as pong.  The latest trend is Smart Phones (which can replace the iPod) and tablets. 

I was on a camp-out and was trying to teach Map and Compass.  I only had two compasses and asked if anyone else had a compass.  Several dads handed me phones with Compass Apps on them.  Of course if you have a smart phone all you need is GPS, not the Compass.  The Compass Apps work fine for the exercise, but what I want kids to know is what to do when the batteries die, the phone gets wet, or dad takes it away for getting bad grades.

But back to the Communications Badge.  In the book there were a list of careers in Communications.  Not one was real estate.  The closest there was was Marketing.  Well I just put SEO right in the book and we discussed that as a career. 

But is SEO a career?  We had to talk about education and training for the job!  Well this is the 21st Century, I don't think there is a degree in SEO (but if there is let me know).  I explained to my son I learned everything on the job and picking up bits an pieces here and there, and just doing it - trial and error.

But then you can tell people stuff all day - Communications these day is about demonstration. It is hands on.  It is showing people.  I had my son go to Google and I told him to do a search as if he wanted to do something with Real Estate in Brentwood, Ca.  He did several searches with terms he came up with - What did he Find?

He found dad on the first page of every search he did in at least two spots.  I think what amazed him most is I was right up there with many big companies.

Kids have a lot of e-smarts - but at the same time I don't think they have a clue about the implications of many of the things they play with or how to use them to the fullest extent.

Maybe there should be a degree in SEO, but by the time someone completed the program the rules would have changed.  Perhaps the term SEO would be as dead as the iPod or Pong.  Learning to Communicate and how to reach people never ends.  It is a dynamic and constantly changing Paradigm. 

In California there is a Law - Civil Code Section 1695 that was designed to protect homeowners equity when they were in foreclosure from Vultures trying to by up the property on the cheap.

As I read the law there is no need for there to be equity in the home for the home to be considered an Equity Purchase.

There are a number of exceptions to the law, people buying the home to live in are not Considered Equity Purchasers and the law would not apply.  There are some other exceptions too.

For an agent to be involved in almost any capacity they have to be heavily bonded (to at least twice the value of the property). 

The are a number of loop holes to help sellers and penalize buyers. 

The biggest problem I see with it is I believe it would apply to any investor trying to buy a Short Sale.  There is no equity, but it is still an equity purchase.  I do not know any agent with that kind of bond.  What is really sad is the sellers want to sell and quickly; some of the Investor Buyers are actually angels for the homeowners and plan to rent it back to them.

Am I missing something here!  Please put your 2 cents in.