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Set the Bar Even Higher (Posted August 22, 2016)

Human history is full of examples of people doing something a certain way for hundreds of years, and someone comes along and basically says, “That doesn’t make any sense,” and then showing the world how it really should be done.   With the Olympics on everyone’s mind right now, one especially poignant example is the high jump.  Before 1965, athletes would get a running start and basically “dive”, “roll”, or “hurdle” over the height marker and try to keep from knocking it off.  Then, an American by the name of Dick Fosbury came along with “the move” we see today: run, pivot, and go over the marker with your backside first.  It’s called the Fosbury Flop, and it helped him win a gold medal in the 1968 Olympics. 

In the real estate world, it’s time to introduce another Flop, if you will (that’s sort of an unfortunate way to characterize it given the fact we’re talking about a POSITIVE change, but I can’t go back in time and ask Old Dickey to give his move a different name – sorry).  It’s beaten into every new real estate agent’s head that when they first meet a new client, they are to insist that the client get prequalified for a loan BEFORE the agent takes them out to look at properties.  It’s a piece of advice that enables agents to work with serious buyers and buyers to know that the agent is taking them seriously.  That’s smart, and you’ll get no argument here on the merits of that advice.  However, it’s old advice that needs to be changed. 

What if I told you this new advice would:

•  Produce stronger buyers (increased negotiation power)
•  Provide a cleaner and faster transaction (yes, ESPECIALLY after TRID)
•  Enable agents to work with more clients WITHOUT sacrificing the quality of their interaction WITH EACH AND EVERY client

Do I need to go on?  If this new advice would do ALL OF THOSE THINGS, would you be willing to give it a listen?  I’m absolutely certain that more than the majority of Dick Fosbury’s fellow competitors who were at that now-legendary track meet in 1965 when he introduced the Flop sat there and said, “That’s insane” or “He got lucky”.  Let that sink in for a moment, and let me add two questions: (1) How many high jumpers from that 1965 track meet can you name besides Dick Fosbury?  (2) How many gold-medal high jumpers today DON’T use the Fosbury Flop?

We work with a number of “insane” and “lucky” real estate agents who have vastly increased their production with this advice.  Additionally, we have a long list of clients who looked convention in the face . . . and laughed all the way into their new homes with less stress and the satisfaction that they got the best possible deal on their purchase. 


Are you ready to test your sanity and your luck?  This entire article may have seemed like a big tease, but I’m confident that when you call me and I explain it to you, you’ll understand how truly serious I am about this.  When you implement this advice, and someone says, “That’s not the way you’re supposed to do it,” just smile and say, “Everybody laughed at Dick, too.”  

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