October 8, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Meetings.

As a new Manager, I felt the need to meet with each agent twice a year. The first meeting in the year was to set goals for the coming year and to map out a business plan, and the second meeting was to review how the plan was working. But the meetings were much more valuable than merely business. These were the only meetings in the year when the doors were closed to everyone and I could meet with one agent only and could discuss their real estate career. The meetings were very valuable for me, as I got to know the agents, and the agents figured out how to move ahead with their career. The office grew, then we merged with another smaller office, so we gave the agents the option to meet either Manager. I had some health issues and was unable to continue the meetings, so our routine was to meet agent for the first three years of becoming an agent. Everyone told me that this was no problem, but I disagreed, but could do nothing about it.... until now. We have three Managers, and our systems are running smoothly, so beginning in July, I started meeting with each agent. I started at the beginning of the alphabet, and now I am up to the E's. I figure I can meet each agent twice in the year.

For me, the meetings with the agents are pure pleasure. We pick apart their successes and try to develop new strategies for those agents who want to make their business grow. For some agents, I have started meeting them twenty one years ago, so it is fun for me to have seen their progress over time. But more importantly, I have been able to discover a few gaps in their routines, and to make suggestions for fairly simple changes in strategies, which should lead to higher productivity. One of the problems with success is that you forget to evaluate everything you are doing. In our meetings, that is what we do together. We evaluate what is being done and evaluate the results, in order to plan for the future. So far, the agents are pleased to be returning to our routine. It remains to be seen if the productivity increases.

October 7, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Dinner.

Freddie is sure this country is going to hell in a hand basket. He tends to be a pessimist anyway, but this crisis in the financial sector has left him shaking his head with despair.. What I think is a needed wake up call about the risk of credit in this country he thinks is an unmitigated disaster for everyone. Fred and Phyllis came to dinner here tonight and as usual, our evening was lively and interesting. His general approach is so different from ours that it makes for controversial conversations. They leave in a couple of days to visit their children in California, then they return for a wedding before leaving for Florida the day after Thanksgiving. They will return in April. They have a very nice life style. Fred retired when he was 42 years old. Now he is 71. He laughed when I told him that I would be retiring in 2017, in December, and said that he would be retired 40 years by that time. It seems a waste of talent to me, but he is happy so who am I to impose my work ethic on him.

There are several things about Freddy that we enjoy. Firstly, he is an engineer by training so his approach to everything is different than ours. Secondly, his pessimistic nature is so unusual that we are always being required to defend our position. Of course, I am a real Pollyanna, which he does not understand at all. He pays a lot of attention to his friends and is always sending Ken information about something we talked about months ago. He is a good friend and we enjoy his company but he definitely is not your average American man We will have dinner with them once in November before they drive to Florida. As usual, we rotate houses, so we will dine at their home. They have already told us what they are serving for us. We on the other hand, never think about our menu until just a day or so ahead of the event. That is another charms of Phyllis and Fred. They really go out of their way to cook wonderful food, and we enjoy every bit of it. We can't begin to compete with them in the dinners and never try. Just good basic cooking in our home. Tonight Ken cooked stew and it was delicious. Everyone was happy and that is the only thing that matters.

October 6, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Television

Since I came home from work at 6:30 we have been watching TV. We are like children with a new toy. First we watched a baseball game while eating dinner, and saw Tampa Bay win their series. At 8:00 Antiques Roadshow was up, and now we are watching Boston trying to win their series. The picture is so much clearer than our old TV that it is now worth watching. I wonder if we function better today that we did 21 years ago. This TV we bought is just great. We love it. Here was the drill. Our set was not acting right, so we decided to buy a new one. Ken looked up, on line, the Consumer Report, to check their recommendation. Ken ordered the set he chose on line, from Best Buy. Ken spoke to them once, to confirm that they will take our old set , but the rest of the negotiations and arrangements were on the computer. The time for delivery was given to us over the telephone. Today, promptly at noon, the TV was delivered and installed, and our old set was taken away to the land of old TVs. We are happy. No shopping trips. No fuss and muss. Just one great TV.

Ken commented to me that it reminded him of the olden days, when his Mother would call the grocery store and the food would be delivered. If she was away, they would put the groceries in the refrigerator. Now it is even better, in that you do not even need to talk to anyone. All that needs to be done is to place your order on line, pay for it on line, and then wait until the set is delivered and installed. It is a return to the past, only better. It is a grand time.

October 5, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Singing on the Road.

There is another thing that ends up with sales. The other day I wrote briefly the reason the agents are doing so well, and that was the sharing of information, and the positive attitude towards success. The other factors that make for success is that the agents do their job with competence, verve and joy. There is no sense that failure is just around the corner. Rather everyone expects that great success is just around the corner. Now I don't really know that comes from, but I do know that the agents do their job with great joy. Over the years, we have added the agents who fit our criteria, and when they joined us, they added our spirit to their spirit. I understand that we have problems with our cases, but I know that we work very hard to solve those issues with a pleasant and professional manner, but over every transaction is the overlay of joy. And I am grateful.

The weather at the farm this weekend was wonderful. Blue sky, breeze, 70 degrees. We saw many deer, all in small groups, and two red tailed Hawks, who screamed at us when we went walking. It has been awhile since we walked the nature trail, so Ken and I walked the trail, then walked down to the farm house. I am in the middle of organizing the farm house. Andrew and Christina have moved to Mississippi, so they will come to farm very infrequently, so I am putting the place to rights. I wonder if they read this small web log, because they will hate that I am organizing the closets and the pantry and the chest of drawers. But it will soon be completed and I will be happy. I like order in my space. While they lived in the old farm house I paid no attention, but now that I am in charge, I feel required to get everything in order, so it will be ready for anything. But the weekend was lovely. Everything is so green, with lost of action at the farm. While we were walking the trail, we saw spider webs all across the trail, often five or six lines right across a span of several feet. Now the question we had was how do the spiders get those lines right across, with no down line to anchor them. It is a magical thing, and I do not understand how they do it. I wonder how they do it?

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October 3, 2008. Bethesda, Md. The Market.

It is always interesting to watch the herd mentality at work. The national press is saying that the real estate industry is in dire distress, and in some areas of the country that is true. But in the greater Washington area, most jobs are secure. The job growth continues to increase. Most purchasers we deal with have three things needed in today's mortgage market: they have good credit scores, they have cash for down payment and closing costs and they have jobs to support their mortgage payment. This is the old fashioned way to buy. It is also the new way to buy. The prices have come down. So why are good folks holding back from buying? It is fascinating. Many agents buy into this attitude and decide that no-one is buying a house just now, so they quit working hard. This is yet another example of the herd mentality. Everyone seems to just go along with the flow of activity at the moment.

But not our agents. Our volume for September is 85 Million with almost 200 units. The office volume is over double than any other Long and Foster office. How is this happening? The answer is fairly simple but not easy. Our systems have worked in every market and every crisis. So why don't all other offices figure out what we are doing and then implement the program? I have never understood. The really interesting thing is that no one is even calling us to find out how we are doing so well. But I tell you, it is a wonder to behold to see the productivity of these agents.

Every quarter, the top agents discuss,at our weekly lunch meeting, what is happening in the real estate world here in Washington, and they develop the information to be given to both buyers. Betty, our very competent staff person takes notes and organizes that information and e mails to all the agents this wisdom, so all agents are aware of the same data. During the Sales meetings, we give very short snippets of what activities have been successful for buyers and sellers. Most important, we know we have been very successful in every market over the past 35 years, so we are very confident in our ability of not only surviving but thriving in today's world of real estate. So we have knowledge and attitude and it works. It is simple but not easy I know, but these agents are flat out kicking butt!!

October 2, 2008, Chevy Chase, Md. 21 years.

Our TV has broken down. The night before we left for Nova Scotia, the screen on the television went black. In addition, a loud noise came from the set, so we decided that our TV needed to be replaced. It seemed to us that the set was fairly new and it certainly worked well, at least, it worked well enough for the amount we watched on TV. But then we figured out that this fairly new set was purchased in 1987, when we moved into Franklin Street, so the thing was actually 21 years old. No wonder it needs to be replaced. When we returned from Nova Scotia, we discovered to our surprise that the old thing was still working well, so we put off buying a new set. But tonight we have a problem. We have a picture but no sound. It is fine for the baseball game, but not too good for the debates. Ken has ordered a new TV set on line. The new fancy one will be delivered and installed, and the old one hauled away. We are going to be very fancy and modern, at least the set will be fancy and modern. Unfortunately, we lag far behind from being fancy and modern. In fact, I don't think I have ever been either fancy or modern. even when I was young.

Tonight my granddaughter Sarah phoned me. She called me on my cell phone, in response to a message I left for her Mother Suzanne. Now the message I left for Suzanne was to have her Secretary Sarah call me back, because I had a couple of things to tell her. Sarah has the habit of picking up all the messages on their machine at home, then telling everyone their messages. She will be very helpful by dialing the phone for Suzanne to call folks back. She is a very competent helper. Sure enough, she dialed me herself, by using the return automatic dialer, and we had a very interesting conversation, before she turned me over to her Mother. These young folks are certainly far ahead of us oldsters. She has already placed her picture on my phone by taking a picture of herself on my phone, then putting a heart around her picture, so I have her with me all the time. All four girls are in a play just now. They love it. Their rehearsals are on Thursday and Sunday, so it is quite a time commitment, but the productions are produced and directed with high standards, so the training is excellent. Of course, they love the productions. Their lives are busy.

October 1, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Baseball Playoffs.

I love post season Baseball. For some reason that I don't understand, I never watch baseball during the regular season, perhaps because Ken does not enjoy watching baseball. But he is somewhat interested in the World Series, and as I love to watch the post season games, we often watch a lot of the games. My Father was always keen on baseball, and I believe kept track of who was winning and losing through the season. But it was my teachers in grades six, seven and eight who really got me hooked on the World Series. I attended Edith Cavell School in Vancouver during those grades. It was a small school, with excellent teachers. There was only one class in each grade. One teacher, Mr. Clark taught the seventh grade and Mr. Bowering taught the eighth grade and also was the Vice Principal. These two teachers taught Math and Science, and the whole World Series season was kept on the radio all day. We calculated all the stats for all the players. We discussed the strategy for the Managers. We discovered all the scientific facts available about Baseball. It was a lot of fun. Of course we learned a lot of math and science too. Both those teachers went on to become very successful careers as Principals in High Schools, in fact Mr. Bowering was the principal of the school that my friend Beverley attended, Gladstone School. So my love with The World Series all started when the games were played during the day and we listened to the games on the radio. That were never happen today. No teacher would be allowed to leave the radio on for the students, letting us hear the games, and no games are ever held during the daytime during the week.

In those years, the competition was between the Yankees and Dodgers, of course both in New York. Right now I am half listening to the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but I can not get interested in the Dodgers, even tho they have a great Manager. I would like to see Boston and Chicago meet in the World Series. I have already figured out that I have a problem. We go to Texas on the thirteenth of October. We have no TV at the lake or the ranch. Horrors. Then we go to Mexico for a two week period, and I am wondering if the condo will have the series on the TV. My goodness, the problems in my life are frightful!!