Most real estate agents only feature a photograph. I'd rather give you a more complete picture. Here is a collection of thoughts, a sort of "What I've learned" both in real estate and in life. It will give you a better idea of who I am and ultimately, help you decide if you'd like me to work for you.
The best advertisements show. They don't tell.
Never allow a real estate agent who can't market themselves to market your home.
A home and an investment are fundamentally different things. There are improvements you will make to your home that you would never consider making on an investment property. You probably wouldn't put expensive appliances in your rental. You probably want the ultra quiet, stainless steel dishwasher in your home. You could install $10 a yard Home Depot sale carpet in your home, but then you'd have to walk on it.
I've seen good agents save their clients tens of thousands of dollars. I've seen bad agents do little or nothing. But I've also seen doctors work miracles and I've seen some make terrible mistakes. No matter how much you read on brain surgery you wouldn't operate on someone in your family, would you?
If art makes you think, it is good.
I have always found that to accomplish something spectacular, you have to work with one or two visionaries--- large groups of people who have been told they are empowered are deadly. David Ogilvy, an advertising great once said, "Search the park in all your cities, you'll find no statues of committees."
Politics has an uncanny way of making great people appear mediocre and mediocre people appear great.
My mother went to work every day, without exception, for the first 24 years of my life. She worked for virtually nothing but managed to provide a good home, food, and nice clothes for her three children. My father died when I was three, she was heartbroken but still rose to the occasion. I never heard her say she was not fulfilled. People back then didn't wonder if there was more to life. They worked. They scrimped. They raised their families. The usual holidays seemed to be enough for them.
Going through her papers after her death I found a check my father had sent her while he was serving abroad in the military. It was still in the card he included telling her to buy herself a dress for her birthday. At that moment, all the new clothes she had ever bought me became even more special. She never cashed the check.
My older sister, who took care of me while my mother worked, is my best friend.
I hate it when someone says "To be honest with you...?" It makes me think everything he or she said earlier was a lie.
I went to work on the cooking line in a restaurant in order to learn to be a better cook. Although better educated than my co-workers, I wore cooks whites like everyone else. We were all equal in appearance but the food some of them created was amazing. The good ones work made them stand out.
Trivia: The white coats chefs wear have buttons down both front sides of the chest and a large flap that buttons underneath. This way, if chefs spill on their coat they can simply re-button the coat on the other side and appear spotless. This allows them to better present themselves to guests.
We all want a bedroom for each child but my best friend since high school grew up differently. He and his seven brothers and sisters grew up in a one-bedroom, 900-square-foot home in central Salt Lake City. Each child rolled out a sleeping bag in their living room at night. They didn't have a TV. The oldest sister is the second youngest graduate of the University of Utah Law School. The second oldest sister was one semester behind. The next sister was denied admittance to the University's medical school three times because she was too young. They admitted her when she was 20. My friend attended architecture school and got his MBA. His younger siblings are all musicians, have produced acclaimed works of art, music, books and a movie. The youngest is a college professor in North Carolina. I'm not sure there is a moral to this story but they are a hell of a family.
I am certain I will have additions to this bio and as real estate agents are added to the Live in Art program, I'll include theirs here too.
- Biography
- Born: Salt Lake City, Utah
- Made my first real estate investment at age 19, forming WE V Inc. a real estate investment trust.
- At age 22 became managing editor of the Intermountain Real Estate Review.
- Founder and president of Howard Communications and Special Events, a full service advertising agency and special event production company.
- Promoted to General Manager of PDS Real Estate only two years after becoming a licensed agent.
- Negotiated over 250 transactions in first four years as an agent.
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