A Griffith Listing

Real Estate Services by Jon Griffith

Exponential Growth Curve

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I’m on my 18th month at Cactus Crossfit. That’s 18 months of community-building, physical suffering, and a growth curve that seems to be exponentially slowing down. This could, were I not tracking my progress at every turn, become discouraging as the physical changes that I can see are not as prounouced as they once were. When I started this journey, I was at 216lbs and I couldn’t do 10 push-ups, a single pull-up, and I was limited to 8″ box step-ups. I’ve surpassed those limitations and am now able to do all of those movements as prescribed. I am now 187 1/2, which is actually 7 1/2 lbs up from the lowest that I’ve been, and it’s a result of impatience and compromise. Impatience to reach the next level and see additional results in the mirror (rather than just see numbers improve on the score-board) and compromise in diet as a result of boredom in the kitchen.

It wasn’t until January of this year that I actually started to see drastic reduction in size which was due to surrendering to the reality that what I put in my mouth during the first 10 months of Crossfitting was preventing me from progressing to the next level. In the past few months, I’ve been a bit less conscious of my dietary decisions, and while I still subscribe to a clean eating regimen, I don’t necessarily always take my prescription on a daily basis. Happy hour, beer, a bad habit of an occasional slurpee, and ultimately sloth are part of the equation.

The good news is that I’ve developed metabolic conditioning that can easily combat bad habits that I have had in the past. I’m 30lbs lighter than I was for a better part of my adult life leading up to last year, and I have WAY more energy and strength, and I look younger than I am. I attribute ALL of this to the rigorous activity that is programmed for me every day at Cactus Crossfit. I don’t have to think about it, I just go and do, and the people there and the competition that awaits me every day, not just with others, but against my former self, keeps me going, regardless of the widely held perception that it’s “excessively expensive.” Really, it’s less than $10.00 per class for world class coaching. It’s also the cheapest “bar” hopping I’ve ever done.

The challenges that I face now center around the speed at which I see results and a daily fight to give in to the choices in life that keep us from our goals. I still have long road ahead of me, and it’s sobering to experience 30lbs of fat loss in such a short period of time only to be faced with the converse, which is a long, arduous process of building muscle to reach the next PR. The time it takes to lose that initial weight is a drop in the bucket compared to the time it takes to refine what’s left over to see the same upward swing in progress when it comes to lifting…but, that’s not going to deter me. Crossfit is about setting goals and breaking through the ceilings to reach beyond those goals, not just physically, but in all areas of life.

The good news about an exponential curve is that it’s still a curve, and there’s always forward progress regardless of the speed of that progress, and that’s what keeps me going over and over again.

Now if I could just not be so damn sore all the time. ;-)

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Slave to the Lender

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There’s a relational dynamic that many people neglect or aren’t even aware exists when they consider purchasing something with debt.  It’s the master/slave dynamic.  When you borrow money from someone, regardless of the time-frame you’ve agreed upon to re-pay that debt, the debt must be repaid, or there’s risk of bad things happening.

As a consumer, I have a say in what products or services are of value simply by choosing to do business with that company.  In other words, I vote with my wallet.  If I don’t agree with something a company does, I don’t have to use their services.

When you borrow money, something is usually used to secure the loan accompanied by an evaluation of your “debt score.”  In the case of a house, the house itself becomes the security instrument that the lender uses to ensure they’ll get paid.  That is why your rates can be so low.  In the case of consumer credit cards or personal loans, since there’s usually nothing put up for security, your rates will be much higher as the lender shifts the risk to you.  They make more money that way.

Collecting payments from you can be a costly process, depending on the type of loan you’ve taken.  When you buy a house, your payments are typically handled by a company you never chose to do business with.  In 2002, I purchased my home using a mortgage broker who promptly sold the note for my house to Countrywide Financial, who was acquired by Bank Of America who subsequently released the note to Greentree Servicing.

I had no say in the matter except that when I signed my closing docs, I gave consent to this phenomenon.  Perhaps I could have retained more control over who I was choosing to do business with had I refused to these terms, but at the same time, perhaps I would not have closed on my first home.

Now, as a debtor, indebted to repay a loan serviced by a company (Greentree) with whom I would never choose to do business, I am stuck with their garbage services and practices until I either pay off the note, or they release the servicing responsibilities to yet another collection company.

This is one example of how borrowing money can put you into a situation whereby you have no control over who you choose to do business with.  Thus, the borrower is slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7 – The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.

 

Gmail, a Realtor’s Best Friend

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Let’s face the facts people.  A majority of the real estate professionals out there are computer illiterate.  I know this because I trained, in a classroom setting, over 300 agents when I was working as the IT director at a real estate company here in Scottsdale, and as a private technology consultant for some of those agents.

“Computer literacy is defined as the knowledge and ability to use computers and related technology efficiently, with a range of skills covering levels from elementary use to programming and advanced problem solving.”

-Wikipedia.com

Not only is computer illiteracy a problem, but ignorance to the basics of branding and running a business is also at the forefront of their every-day practices.

One of the ways you can effectively brand yourself is by creating a domain name that fits your vision.  It’s cheap and very easy to do, and it’s technological purpose extends far beyond the branding aspect.  With your own domain name, you can eliminate one of the most flagrant errors in your day to day communication.  The “other-guy” e-mail address.

What do I mean by the “other guy” e-mail address?  How many agents do you know that still rely on free e-mail systems like yahoo.com, hotmail.com, outlook.com, cox.net, aol.com etc.?

In the poker world, when someone who doesn’t know how to play sits at a table, we call them a fish, or a donkey, because you can take all of their money, because they’re blatantly obvious about what they do or don’t know through common “tells.”

Using aol.com, cox.net, etc., is a “tell” in the e-mail world.  It “tells” your reader, that you’re not really in business.  Furthermore, what are you to do if one of those companies goes out of business?  Don’t you want your brand to move with you instead of against you?

Creating a domain name like “yourname.com” just like I did for this website is one way to establish a permanent online presence.  But there’s more to consider than just creating a domain name.  Once you have that name, you have a choice in the technology you use to handle the traffic (“mail”) that’s sent to the addresses within your domain.

I used to be hung up on the full Microsoft Office Outlook software, which is big and bulky, slow, exclusive to Windows, and expensive to own.  Sure, it works, but it’s designed primarily for a corporate environment where there are thousands of users.

Thankfully there was a solution that came along called GMAIL, and after that, Google Apps for Domains, which is a set of tools that Google offers for a very low fee (annual or monthly options available).

Google Apps for Domains allows you to take your domain name and launch a set of tools based on that domain.  If your domain was “realestatebywhomever.com” then you could have a GMAIL account that would handle all e-mail sent to “yourname@realestatebywhomever.com.”

Since switching to Gmail inside of Google Apps for Domains, my e-mail productivity has gone through the roof.  I am able to label specific messages based on who they come from or what’s in the body of the message, archive messages permanently for later retrieval, and most importantly, search ALL of my e-mail, past and present, for specific messages quickly.  That barely touches the surface of what I’m able to do.

If you have a smart mobile device, you can connect it to Google Apps for Domains very easily so all of your e-mail behavior is mirrored on every device.  Read a message here, it’s marked “read” everywhere.  Delete a message there, it’s deleted here too.  Contacts are automatically added to your phone and vice versa.

When you switch all of your communication and online collaboration (yes, calendars are also integrated into your mobile devices) to Google Apps for Domains, you not only build a better brand for your business, you also establish a permanent presence regardless of where you choose to hang your license, and you have complete confidence that your data, contacts, e-mail, appointments, etc., will never be lost if you lose the device that’s storing them.

I would never go back to what I once thought was superior software.  Now the hardware that I require, the tools of the trade, can be lighter, faster, and less expensive to accomplish the same goals.

Interested in learning more about how to make this happen for your real estate business?  Simply drop me a line and I’ll set up a consultation with you to help you make the migration.  There are some up front technical issues to consider before you make that transition, but once that is handled, you’re on your way to a better system, and a better brand.

Contact me today to start the process.

Mailbox for iPhone Almost Rules

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So after a lengthy wait I finally have full functionality on my iPhone for the new Mailbox application that supposedly replaces the native iPhone mail app and beats the Gmail E-mail app hands down.

The Features that are Awesome

The entire purpose of this app is to help you manage your onslaught of e-mail.  In particular, I’ve found it fabulous for handling the problem of timing.  When I get an e-mail that’s important, but doesn’t need a response or action until a specific time, Mailbox allows me to schedule a future time to be notified of that message again.

When you’re looking at messages in your in-box on your phone, a simple half-swipe to the right will archive the message.  A full swipe to the right will delete it.  A half-swipe to the left will allow you to schedule a future notification, and a full swipe to the left will prompt you to add it to a Mailbox list.

The Features that are NOT Awesome

  • Mailbox creates a new “folder” structure in gmail utilizing the label feature.  You’ll immediately notice a label called [mailbox] in your list of labels.  If you organize your mail into lists by labeling them, then you’ll be “sub-labeling” or nesting your labels under the [mailbox] label, which means any labels you already have in Gmail will need to be moved, as Mailbox doesn’t access the labels you already have.
  • If you were using your iPhone mail app to read mail, and you have notifications ON, you’ll want to turn them off, and allow Mailbox to take over.  The problem I have with this is that I can no longer have a custom sound on my e-mails and the phone defaults back to the annoying “bong” sound that has always been difficult for me to hear when there’s other background noise or when I’m driving.
  • In the gmail search field, if you begin typing a label name for a label that you already had, you may see anticipated results, such as label:<something> as you type.  Since Mailbox puts a top level label of [mailbox] in gmail and nests the rest of your labels under that, you can no longer search for mail by the first few letters of a given label.  If you type the left bracket “[” into the search field, you’ll see results for [mailbox]:/<whatever>, but that’s cumbersome and not efficient.
  • On the iPhone, when you swipe a message into a list, the names in the list are not alphabetized.  They must be manually sorted in the Mailbox app settings.

Aside from those few hiccups, the app is extremely useful.  I just hope they can work through some of this stuff.

 

How Do I Know if I’m a Millionaire?

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Let’s first define the term Millionaire.  The term millionaire defines someone who has a net worth of at least one million dollars.  To understand this further, one needs to know how to calculate personal net worth.  This is a simple calculation.  Add up everything you owe (liabilities) and subtract it from the value of everything you own (assets) and you have your personal net worth.

If this number is $1 Million, then some would say you are a Millionaire.

Let’s say your net worth is $1 Million dollars based on the following.  You own a home, for example, that would sell today for $4 Million and you only owe $3 Million on the mortgage.  After it sells, you would have $1 Million left over.  Many wouldn’t consider this being a true millionaire because you can’t get to the money without either selling your house, or borrowing against it.

You could have a net worth of $1 Million dollars and hardly have any cash in the bank.  This is not what is meant by being a millionaire.  Many also define being a millionaire as someone who is a “cash millionaire.”

A cash millionaire, after all debts and assets are calculated, has at least $1 Million in CASH in the bank that they could get to today.  If you’re a cash millionaire, then you know that you’re really a millionaire.

Now, get out there, kill it, and drag it home.

She’s Not a Man!

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I met someone online. Yes, Plenty of Fish (www.pof.com.) Until today, I hadn’t heard her voice, but that just changed…and was cut short by a battery…on her end. HA!

It was some time ago that she gave me her phone number and alluded to the fact that I was welcome to text her any time. I was involved in other things that was preventing me from doing so, but that didn’t pan out, and I’m not the type of guy who will date multiple people at the same time. Too much truth-bending required. I don’t do lies well unless I’m at the poker table.

We have been texting back and forth for days now and I’m eager to meet her, but she’s been out of town on business. Thankfully, I’m a patient guy, and as much as I’m ready to meet my match, I’m not in a hurry to smear my heart all over the city.

While discussing former relationships, the one thought on my mind was, “why aren’t we just talking on the phone?” When she asked me for more details about my short “engagement” I queried:

“you aren’t a creeper guy posing as a cute girl, are you?”

I waited, considered calling her, was about to press the call button, and her incoming call beat me to the punch.

She’s a female. And she sounds as cute as she looks…and she laughs when I say stupid things.

Note: Just received a text that said, “Sorry phone just had a stroke.”