REAL ESTATE AGENTS MUST READ THIS!

A Book Review

The Golden Handoff

How to Buy and Sell a Real Estate Agent’s Business

Written by: Nick Krautter

Reviewed by:  Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown January 26, 2019

I have written a lot of book reviews and I typically ask and answer 4 Questions at the end of each review.  I believe it is important to ask and answer the first of these four questions BEFORE I review the book.

Who should read this book?  This one is easy to answer and it is difficult to answer.  As per the sub-title the book is written with real estate agents in mind yet as I read the book, I could see a great many businesses that the principles laid out in the book could and would apply to.  For example, independent insurance agents, doctors, dentists, just about anyone in sales could benefit from this book.  Therefore let me answer the question again for just real estate agents.

Who should read this book?  EVERY LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENT AND ANYONE THININK OF BECOMING LICENSED – PERIOD!  No exceptions.  The book was written looking more towards the experienced successful agents who want to leave the business for any reason and those experienced successful agents that would benefit both agents by accepting the departing agent’s business and sill receive referrals.  Still as I read this book and based upon my 33 years in the real estate business most as a Broker/Team Leader/Teacher I was struck at how valuable this book would be for the brand new licensed agent.  In book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber, Gerber asks the question “what will your business look like when it is finished?”  That is a great question and for brand new real estate agents I would suggest you read The E-Myth Revisited and more importantly as you read The Golden Handoff you hopefully will understand Rule #1. You begin from Day One to set up your business with the end in mind – The Golden Handoff.  If you wait until you are ready to leave the business and you have not done due diligence in maintaining records and your database, it will be almost impossible to reconstruct your years in the business sufficiently to demonstrate to an agent considering picking up your business that it has value.  So my advice would be START WITH THE END IN MIND BY READING AND TAKING ACTION TO PROPERLY SET UP YOUR BUSINESS RECORDS NOW TO TAKE FULL ADVANGE OF THE GOLDEN HANDOFF!

This is a very interesting book.  A real estate agent’s business “should” have value and if the agent can prove that it has value there is no reason that the agent could not give that business to another agent to work and then receive referral income for years to come.  Krautter provides you with a plan to make that happen.  It is a wonderful and thoughtful book that every real estate agent should read; no exceptions.  There is no reason to just walk away from the business you have created over the years and benefitted from.  Still, if you are going to “handoff” your business to another agent who you hand select, you need to make sure the business you are “handingoff” is well organized and documented so that you both WIN!

SPECIFIC NOTES ON THE BOOK: 

·       CONTRACT LANGUAGE: In the “contract” you and the receiving agent sign and you refer to “commissions” it should read “net commissions after any broker/agent split” to avoid any misconceptions about on what number the referral fee is calculated.

· VERIFICATION: I would recommend establishing an email procedure whereby you send to the retiring/departing agent an email stating that you have closed or are about to close a sale and that you need confirmation that they remain in compliance with their home state’s real estate commission’s policy about receiving  real estate referral commissions.  Most states require the agent have an active real estate license.  This will provide you with written verification in the event it becomes a legal issue.

·  TRANSPARENCY: Recommend that you get permission from the parties to a real estate transaction that you represent that you intend to pay the retiring/departing agent a referral fee.  Transparency is always a good thing.

·  100% COMMISSION: Recommend selecting an agent to handoff your business to who is on a 100% commission plan.  If you do the math you will quickly appreciate that you will significantly benefit by higher referral dollar amounts.  While this could be financially important, it is still MORE important to handoff your business to someone who shares your beliefs and values and who will do what they say they are going to do as per the contract you both sign.

·   DATABASE vs WEALTH BUILDERS:  Words mean things.  You can refer to your list of probable buyers and sellers as a “database” like everyone does.  Mentally when you refer to your database as your “Wealth Builders” you are providing your conscious and more importantly your subconscious mind with the probability that a great many people on your Wealth Builder List will eventually provide you and the agent you are handing your business off to with future incomes.

·   KELLER WILLIAMS AGENTS:  This book should definitely be required reading as already stated.  Keller Williams’ agents have the luxury and privilege of participating in the company’s Profit Sharing System.  Therefore it would be my recommendation that when you are looking for an agent to hand your business off to that you use the opportunity to also recruit a top/good producing agent to your Market Center and then that agent would be part of your profit sharing down line.  Why is this important?  Not only will you receive referrals from your handoff agent, you will also participate in the Market Center’s future profit sharing income.  You win TWICE! Plus Profit Sharing goes on for years and years whereas your referrals will eventually lesson or even stop. That means I would hesitate in finding an agent to accept your business who is already with Keller Williams Realty.  If you can convince a producing agent to join your Keller Williams Realty Market Center your Market Center wins, you win, and the new agent wins primarily because now you also know the new Keller Williams agent will be on a 100% commission plan meaning more money for you through the referrals you receive.

Would I recommend it to a friend?  ABSOLUTELY! 

Will I read it again?  I am oftentimes called by agents to discuss leaving the business and what would I do if it were me.  I would now suggest that they follow the principles in The Golden Handoff. I would certainly use the book as guide in any counseling I provide to agents wanting to leave the business for any reason, not just retiring.

Would I buy it as a gift?  ABSOLUTELY and probably will!

Book Review of Fake News by Mark Dice

A Book Review

The True Story of Fake News:

How Mainstream Media Manipulates Millions

Written by: Mark Dice

Reviewed by:  Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown January 23,2019

So you think the stations/networks you get your news from are above board and are NOT playing games with the truth.  Think again!

Some may choose NOT to read this book because they do not want to know what the real truth is about the news media and social media actually is.  They want what they believe to be true to actually be true.  To those folks, I am suggesting that you have your heads firmly buried in the sand.  Some will read the book and still criticize it as not being truthful about the news media and social media sights.  Still others and I am in this category, will find the book shocking beyond belief.

Let’s take the argument that only 25% of what Dice writes about is true.  Just 25% is enough to scare the Hell out of you!  What if 100% is true?  What then?  For me I just shook my head in total disgust and then began to check how I can better insulate myself from what I see, read and hear.  Is there a solution to the problems identified?  Read the book and you decide.

I knew there was bias amongst the major news and social media organizations but that was more of an opinion than a factual statement.  No amount of denials by the owners of these companies who have testified before Congress regarding published falsehoods (fancy word for lies) and organizational non-biases made any sense at least to me.

EVERYONE should read this book!  No exceptions!  If you read it and still deny that there are organized biases amongst the main stream media, you simply refuse to believe the obvious.  I was shocked to realize my ignorance of how severe the problem of “fake news” has actually gotten.  When you read the book you realize that the news media and even social media sites are being manipulated by “editors” behind the scenes of whom we do not know, who are putting forth on their programs and Internet sites ONLY the news and information THEY want US to know.  Even when you do a Google search the resulting suggested links have been scrubbed so that ONLY those links these “editors” want you to see appear on the first and second pages of your search.  They know that few if anyone ever goes beyond the second page of their search.

As a result, we are all being manipulated either by fake news stories, news stories carefully edited to eliminate important facts to advance someone’s agenda and/or even outright lies.  But since they appear on the Internet or on our news programs, we therefore believe they must be true and accurate and we all would be wrong if that is what we all believe. 

My advice would be to test it yourself.  Enter a search using Google on any subject you wish.  Then carefully review the list of suggested sites that Google generates.  Here is one I have repeatedly tried.  I entered “The First Family” and was shocked that photographs of President Obama’s family appeared and you have to search for any links to current President Trump’s family.  I also did a search using the words/phrases suggested by the author like “What if…” and “Christianity” and “Islam” to see what the suggested links would be. The one for Christianity was probably the worse when the first thing that appeared suggested that Christianity was a religion of racists and for Islam, a religion of peace.  Do you own search and watch what happens.

Who should read this book?  EVERYONE, NO EXCEPTIONS, at least know who, what, and how the news and social media posts are being manipulated to help you to develop your opinions and beliefs even though the information provided is probably tainted if not outright deceptions!

Would I recommend it to a friend?  ABSOLUTELY!

Will I read it again?  Not sure.  Some sections, definitely but you get the idea rather quickly just how corrupt the members and leaders of the various organizations have been and most likely continue to be.

Would I buy it as a gift?  ABSOLUTELY!