Archive for September, 2008

Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | September 28th, 2008 0 Comments

Those who “give?? get and those who “take?? get taken away.

Good Morning MOJO,

There are two types of people in the world.  There are the “Givers”…those people who are always going out of their way to help others…lend a hand…give a positive comment…make you feel good…encourage you.  Then there are the “Takers”…those people always trying to work the angles to benefit themselves…are in it for Numero Uno…have their hand out looking for someone to give them something…giving a sarcastic comment…tearing you down…sucking the energy from you.  Which one are you?

Here is the interesting thing.  Those who “give” get and those who “take” get taken away.  It is a universal law of life that we all need to understand if we ever want to accomplish our goals personally or professionally.  On the surface it is so hard to get our heads around and comprehend.  It is like saying if you want to go faster, take your foot off the gas.  However, everything in life works that way.  If we want to accomplish our goals, we have to help others accomplish theirs, but don’t do it for selfish reasons…don’t do it because it is going to help us accomplish our goals.  We have to be genuinely connected with them and their goal and helping them accomplish it.  If you want to get fit and healthy, help others get fit and healthy…if you want to become closer to God, help others get closer to God…if you want to make more money, help other make more money…you want to improve your business, help others improve their business. 

So, why is that?  I think it subconsciously helps us have integrity and accountability with what we need to do to accomplish our goals.  We can’t genuinely advise and help someone to do one thing, then do something completely different.  The best way to help someone is to show them how, not tell them…that’s called Leadership…it is called Servant Leadership.  Someone once told me that if you want to know what your kids are going to be like when they grow up, it is not going to be what you say…look in the mirror and stare into the eyes of the person you see.  That is what your kids are going to be like.  You can’t ask someone whether it is your kids, your friends, your colleagues, etc. to get up early…workout…eat right…spend quality time with your family…invest…be focused, accountable and discipline at work.  Then go about your day getting up late…never working out…eat like crap, never spending quality time with your family…spend every penny you make and be a lazy ass at work. 

It is like writing Monday Morning MOJO.  People are always telling me how much they love getting it every Monday morning.  I have thousands of people signed up from coast to coast who receive it every Monday morning…and by the time it gets forwarded on to other peoples distribution lists, who knows it may be reaching ten of thousands.  The interesting thing is that the person who gets the most out of MOJO is me…because I have to take the time and write it…it burns it into me.  Then I have to have integrity with what I write.  I can’t say go for it and have a great life, then sit on my ass and watch life pass me by. 

Make it a week of MOJO!!!!!


Going Green

By Intero Real Estate | September 25th, 2008 0 Comments

Magazine offers eco-friendly tips, ideas

This month’s issue of “California Real Estate,” the magazine published by the California Association of Realtors®, suggests ways consumers and agents can follow green principles.

“More consumers are becoming aware of green practices and are trying to reduce their carbon footprints, especially through their homes,” said C.A.R. President William E. Brown. “As REALTORS®, it is important that we also are educated on green practices so we can better serve our clients, who often seek eco-friendly and energy efficient designs during their home searches.”

One article in the magazine offers tips about how to create an eco-friendly office. Among the suggestions: Shut off your computer at night or allow it to enter into energy-saving mode, open the blinds and turn off the lights, and recycle ink cartridges.

“California Real Estate” readers also will learn how to define a green home and how to find green financing. And, they’ll pick up general tips on living green, such as bringing cloth bags to the grocery store or going meatless on Mondays.

Intero is a leader in green initiatives. The company has more than 100 EcoBroker Certified® agents. In 2006, EcoBroker International and the Association of Energy and Environmental Real Estate Professionals awarded Intero President and CEO Gino Blefari the EcoBroker Community Service Award.

Intero also has come up with a new concept in office designs that has a smaller, more eco-friendly footprint.

See Also


Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | September 21st, 2008 0 Comments

It is so interesting to me that for most people, the pain of work, discipline and accountability…the pain of doing what needs to be done is worse than the pain of regret and the pain of living a so so life…a just getting by life.

Good Morning MOJO,

Last week I was talking with, Scott Chase, a VP of our mortgage company, about what it takes to be successful.  In our jobs it is our responsibility to push people…to inspire people…to get people to do more than they are comfortable with so they can achieve supreme success.  It is our jobs to be the example of how to work…of how to live.  And many times it can be a very frustrating thing when you see a talented person who has all the gifts…the smarts…the God given talents, but does not have the X factor.  And so the story goes….do you know this guy below?  Hopefully not too well.

He’s a 9 to 5er but for some crazy reason actually expects to make the same kind of money as the guy in the cube next to him that works 7am to 7pm.  He has all the excuses in the world for the reason he is not as successful as he wants to be…it’s the market, it’s my company, it’s my spouse, it’s my kids, its my….  Plug in whatever you want for the excuse, but the bottom line is its MY WORK ETHIC plain and simple.  Most people are not willing to put in the hours and they are not willing to do those things the 7 to 7ers are doing.  They show up, play grab ass, surf the web, hang at the water cooler, ping their friends jokes, talk about how great they are and do whatever they can to get through the day without actually sucking it up and doing what they need to do to be successful.  Then they look for someone to blame.  LOOK IN THE MIRROR…yell at that guy…he is the one stopping you.  Nothing else, period!!!!!  We all can keep busy during the day doing stuff, but those who are successful do the tough stuff…the stuff others are not willing to do.   The bottom line is those who are tremendously successful put in the extra hours, work their ass off, are incredibly discipline and are willing to do whatever needs to be done to be successful period…not just what they want to do…not just the bare minimum.  Typically the harder it is to do something the greater the reward…the more money you will make doing it…the more healthy you will be…the better your relationships will be…the more successful you will be at whatever it is you are doing.

It is so interesting to me that for most people, the pain of work, discipline and accountability…the pain of doing what needs to be done is worse than the pain of regret and the pain of living a so so life…a just getting by life.  Don’t take the path of least resistance…there is nothing there that you want.  Roll up your sleeves and attack your job…attack your health…attack your life and you will be successful.  We have to out work them and do those things most are not willing to do to be successful.  When we do that we will kick some ass and be a Rockstar at whatever it is we do…student, teacher, parent, ditch digger, athlete, sales person, executive…  It does not matter what it is….work harder, work longer and do what others are not willing to do in life and reap the rewards.  Success is hiding in those couple of hours no one else is willing to work…success is hiding in that last phone call when you don’t want to make it and everyone has turned off the lights and gone home….it is in the last rep when you cannot do one more.  That is where all of the success is…everything up until that point is simply maintenance.  It is that difficult and it is that simple.

Go BIG and make it a POWERFUL week!!!!!


August Sales

By Intero Real Estate | September 18th, 2008 0 Comments

Sales of homes in California increases from a year ago

California home sales were up last month from a year ago.

The Associated Press reports that last month’s sales of new and preowned homes increased 13.6 percent from August 2007. Nearly half of the homes sold last month, 46.9 percent, were foreclosed properties, the wire service said MDA DataQuick reported this week. 

Overall, 37,988 new and preowned homes were sold in August, MDA DataQuick said.

Meanwhile, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steven Preston says in a story in the Christian Science Monitor that it will probably be the middle of next year or well into next year before “we begin to see more consistency in buyers coming back into the marketplace.”

He cautioned, however, that it will be “some time” before recovery comes to certain areas of California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, the newspaper reported.

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Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | September 14th, 2008 0 Comments

Could you imagine a jet taking off on a runway that is full of junk? There is no way in the world you would ever step foot on a jet attempting to do that, yet that is the way most of us run our lives everyday.

Good Morning MOJO,

Could you imagine a jet taking off on a runway that is full of junk?  There is no way in the world you would ever step foot on a jet attempting to do that, yet that is the way most of us run our lives everyday.  Like a jet trying to take off on a runway full of garbage, our runway to success is the environment we live and work in every day.  Everyday you go to work, look at your work space, your inbox, your voice mail box and you’re brain as your runway.  Would you take off using those things as your runway…no way!!!!!   If your desk if full of crap…if your inbox has hundreds or thousands of messages you have not dealt with…if you have crap running through your mind, you are destine for disaster. 

Here is the easiest and most difficult thing we all need to do achieve success both personally and professionally…clean up our runways.

  1. Make sure your desk is spotless when you go home every night…you can throw away 80% to 90% of the crap on your desk.  Think about it…you haven’t touched it in weeks or months.  If you do end up needing it later, just go to Google, Yahoo or ask the packrat in the desk next to you for it.

  2. Make sure your inbox is empty every day when you go home…either reply, delete, or save it in a subfolder…deal with it and get it out of your inbox.  Quit the procrastination!!!!

  3. Get it out of your head and write it down on a list.  Our brains are made for creating ideas, not storing them.

The same things apply at home.  Here we talked about our work runways, but we also have our personal/home runways.  Make sure the strip is clean or you will crash there as well. 

Clean it up so we can build speed, take off and achieve our dreams!!!

Make it a great week!!!!!


Safety Week

By Intero Real Estate | September 10th, 2008 0 Comments

Sept. 14-20 is National Association of Realtors® Safety Week

How safe are you on the job?

The National Association of Realtors has designated Sept. 14-20 as its sixth annual Realtor® Safety Week.

NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., says that Realtors® put themselves at risk everyday by welcoming strangers into a home or by getting into a car with someone they just met.

“These everyday occurrences have the potential to turn into a personal nightmare if our members don’t understand and follow the basic tenets of personal, professional and client safety,” Gaylord said.

Realtors® can attend trainings to learn ways to avoid risky situations as part of Safety Week. Plus, the association is offering a 3-D online safety course through Realtor® University and it has safety CDs and DVDs that can be shown during office meetings, safety training seminars and educational programs.

In this month’s issue of REALTOR® Magazine, Christine Vyborny, a broker with Century 21 Country North in Roscoe, Ill., shares some safety tips she learned at a safety course for real estate professionals.

Here are a few:

  • Meet potential clients in the office first, rather than at a property.
  • Always use your own car when showing a property. If your client insists on driving, then have him or her follow behind you.
  • Create a code that you can use to tip off coworkers, family or friends when you feel threatened.

You can find more tips in the full story in the magazine.

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Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | September 8th, 2008 0 Comments

When you need someone you can depend on to get the job done ask the busiest person…the one who on the surface appears to have no more time.

Good Morning MOJO,

You ever notice when you really need someone you can depend on…someone who you know will come through no matter what, it is the busiest person.  The person who on the surface seems like there is no way in the world they can handle one more thing.  You know why?  Because the idle ones have too many excuses…to many substitutes…too many shortcuts.  Almost everything in life is that way. Unfortunately most of us will never know our true capacity for achievement because we never challenge ourselves to perform at our best every day. 

This is most obvious when we are presented with an opportunity that really interests us.  No matter how busy we are, when there is something we want to do…something we like to do, somehow we will find the time to pursue it…right?  On the other hand, those things that we don’t like or those things we don’t want to do are easily postponed and eventually forgotten.  Successful people are not procrastinators…the most successful and effective people have a sense of urgency.  They just grab a hold of it and get it done!!!!  They set deadlines and force themselves to establish priorities by what is most important and not by what they like to do the most.  Deadlines….that is the magic word.  Unfortunately, way too many people never set a deadline to accomplish those things which are most important.  They put it on the proverbial “list”.  You know “the list” I am talking about.  The one you write shit down on that you never have any intention on doing.  Because those things we don’t put on “the list”, we usually just dive in and get done…usually before the deadline…right?

Remember, we are not naturally wound to do all the things we need to do to be successful in life…personally, professionally…health…etc.  Because usually those things required to be successful at any area in life, involve doing something we don’t naturally like to do…at least not in the beginning.  Otherwise everyone one would be getting everything they want in life…right?  Here are a few examples…

  • Exercise versus Watching TV

  • Saving Money versus Spending Money

  • Salad versus Cheeseburger and fries

  • Showing up first and leaving last versus Showing up last and leaving first

  • Getting up early versus waiting until the absolute last minute like the rest of the world

  • Making that tough phone call versus blowing it off until…

Here is the interesting thing though…if you make a commitment to do what is required to be successful, you will eventually become addicted to the success and then the pain of doing what is required will actually become something you thrive on.  I think it takes 90 days to make this happen.  At 90 days, it has been my experience that is the point when you go from feeling good that you accomplished it to the point that you feel like crap if you don’t.  That is the key and that is when you know you have changed that area of your life.  It’s at that point when if you don’t do it, it would be like not brushing your teeth or taking a shower…that just would not happen.  At least I hope!!!!

When you see other people that have what you want…it is not that they are more gifted…it is that they are more disciplined and accountable to doing those things required to be successful.  So, here is what we all need to do…if there is something we need to get done, even if it does not require a deadline, SET ONE!!!!!!  You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time if that is all the time you have.  Remember, work/life expands to meet the time allotted.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day. 

JUST DO IT!!!!!!!

Have a Powerful week!!!!


Intero Andare Offices

By Intero Real Estate | September 3rd, 2008 0 Comments

Intero announces it will offer its eco-friendly offices to Intero Franchisees

The eco-friendly, minimalist and technology-rich Intero Andare (SM) offices will now be available to Intero franchisees.

The offices are suitable for spaces between 1,000 to 3,000 square feet, compared to Intero’s traditional offices of approximately 7,000 square feet for medium-sized offices and 11,000 square feet for large offices. The smaller office means fewer construction materials and waste and it means that less energy is needed to maintain the office.

The Intero Andare office has cutting-edge technology, including keyless entry, Voice Over IP, flat screen plasma TVs, high speed Wi-Fi networks, and tablet PCs.

 “I go to the office as needed to access the network, meet with my team and finalize deals and so this setup is great for me because I have access to the best technology and the space fits my work habits,” said Intero agent Gerald Askew, who works in the Santana Row Intero Andare office. “But what’s really a bonus is the location-an affluent retail area that my clients would come to anyway for the restaurants and shopping.”

The first Intero Andare office opened in a high-end retail/residential development in Silicon Valley known as Santana Row in early 2007. Other Intero Andare offices have opened since then in Carmel, downtown San Jose, Menlo Park, Santa Cruz and Truckee, Calif.

For more information, read the press release.

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Monday Morning MOJO

By Intero Real Estate | September 1st, 2008 0 Comments

There comes a time to put up or shut up.

Good Morning MOJO,

There comes a time to put up or shut up.

A time to risk crawling through the window of opportunity as it cracks open in your life. A time to finally let go of what’s over and put everything you’ve got on the line and move on… knowing that’s the only way you’ll ever win.

Thinking about taking some risks you’ve been putting off?  Here are a few ways to make it easier:

First, whether you want to start your own business (no, it’s not for everyone) or work for someone else (neither’s that), you’ve got to answer three questions:

1) What do you want?

2) How bad you want it? and

3) What price are you willing to pay to get it?

Next, understand the risks involved. Begin by writing down the worst thing that can happen and ask yourself – can I live with it?

Now, describe the best that can happen. Can you handle that? And before you scream "Yes!", realize that’s harder than you’d think since most of us are allergic to prosperity and success. Believe it or not, allowing life to be better than we’ve got it’s very hard for most to actually do.

Finally, get real about what’s required to pull it off. Line up needed support (family, friends, money, professional help, etc.) before you jump. Don’t let your hots for something make you blind, stupid, or impulsive.

Have you finally had enough?

Then create the future you want by taking the calculated risks…and that begins with remembering how very good you are…because that’s what’s true. Remember all those times you took risks and won, and use those memories to strengthen your belief and confidence that you can pull this next one off, too.

And never, ever sell yourself short again.  NO excuses!!!!

Make it a Powerful week!!!!