If There are Lines on the Page, Write in the Other Direction

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great article by my mentor, the Legendary Jack Miller

Almost 40 years ago one of my children brought a scrap of paper home from school on which the topic line for this Blog was scratched. I put it on my office bulletin board where it remained until we moved into another house. What does it mean? To me, it means several things:

First and foremost, don’t mindlessly follow rules (lines on paper) made up by people who have no power or dominion over you. This would include professional associations, social clubs, and assorted bureaucrats in banks, title companies, mortgage companies, insurance companies, churches, clerks, etc. When they make up their rules, it’s almost always to concentrate power into the hands of a relatively few people at th top who want to control you. The hallmark of a true entrepreneur is that he or she resists the control of anybody else. Of course, if you choose to give up your own freedom of choice in order to become a member of, or to get the cooperation of any of the foregoing, at least make it your decision, not theirs; then stick to the rules you’ve agreed to be subjected to . . .

The second thing this slogan says to me is don’t just ignore rules; make up your own (write the other way) and stick to them. Many people are unruly (Can you see how that word relates to our subject?) just to prove they can’t be easily controlled, but this isn’t very productive. What early good does it do people to engage in public disorder unless a specific agenda for change has been worked out? How does refusing to go along with the crowd help a person without a plan for alternative action? So, this slogan contains an admonition to do something different.

The third thing I get from this slogan directly relates to my success and longevity in the house business. From my very first day in real estate, I made a real effort not to do what others were doing. Where they attended Realtor luncheons and volunteered for all sorts of civic obligations whose purpose was to enhance the image of Realtors in general, I gauged everything I did in terms of how it would benefit me and my family. I spent my time studying books and taking night school classes on Real Estate Law, Salesmanship, Management, and Finance. Where others wasted half a day riding around in on Realtor Caravans in busses to review new listings, I spent my time walking the neighborhoods soliciting new listings that they could see on their next trip.

Where my competitors refused to spend any money furthering their real estate education, I spent most of my early commissions on formal education which included all the Graduate Realtor Institute courses which lead to the GRI designation, all the Commercial Investment Member Courses which lead to the CCIM designation.

As an aside, in 1974 when I finally completed all my classes and submitted my case work files using single family house investments, I received a letter from the National Association of Realtors turning down my case studies and politely informing me that a house was not an investment. Talk about being a pioneer and doing things differently, now a number of courses on single family house investments are offered by the same people.

When other Brokers were listing properties for Sellers, and offering them for sale in the Multiple Listing Service; often splitting 7% commissions with other Brokers, I was representing Buyers who paid me 10%. Later, instead of representing either Sellers of Buyers, I began entering into Option contracts at prices 20% below fair market value, then selling the property myself. I was making almost seven times as much as I would have if I’d listed the property conventionally.

When everybody was rushing out to buy houses that were highly leveraged with personally guaranteed conventional financing that virtually guaranteed negative cash flow, I was taking title Subject To any existing financing and structuring payments to sellers that guaranteed positive cash flow. Consequently, I was able to buy and hold many more houses, and build equity much faster.

And when the market stalled in the 70s because of high interest rates and lack of mortgage money, I was Optioning houses on terms that I could wrap, and selling them on Lease/Purchase contracts.

That little slogan really opened my eyes to the possibilities of not following the crowd – where all the competitors are – and choosing to go the “road less traveled” where I could continue to work independent of the permission or approval of others. You might find it productive to put this slogan on your own bulletin board too.​

 

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