Although I have worked with Real Estate Agents for a long time for helping to sell a home, we seemed to be on different wavelengths. Of course our common purpose was to help a client's home sell but I believed we were "coming from different places." I couldn't have been more wrong.
When I signed onto Activerain I felt the same way. The funny thing is, the longer I am on the site and the more I read about Realtors has shown me we are much more alike then I ever would have believed. So, what ARE the common denominators between Feng Shui Consultants and Real Estate Agents?
We CARE very much for our clients. We want the best for them and try to help them in so many ways. We feel their happiness and their pain. We just aren't able to leave all our thoughts of them at the door when we arrive home; they are very much on our minds.
We don't work a "normal" work week or a 9 to 5 schedule. We need to make ourselves available when our clients are available, including nights and most weekends.
Most of us didn't choose this work, it chose US. Or maybe we found ourselves in it and got caught up in it. Although it may be a challenge at times, the fact is we LOVE what we do!
This brings to mind a line from the movie "A League of Their Own." It is based on a true story about a girls baseball team. When one player is getting ready to quit and Tom Hanks asks her why, she replies "It just got too HARD." She didn't end up quitting and neither do we. "After all," he replies, "If it were easy, ANYONE could do it." Not everyone can do what we do.
Simply put, most of us have to pay our own health insurance---or go without. Many people might prefer to stick with the "safe" job with a guaranteed income where they receive benefits. Not us.
Many of us form a real connection to our clients and go on to become genuine friends with them. How many people in how many professions can actually say that? We form some very special bonds that are never broken.
We feel that we have "helped" people. That in itself is a great satisfaction.
A recent fascinating post by Lola Audu showed that many of us do feel the ENERGY in a home. It's real, it exists and the comments all support the fact that most other Realtors feel it as well. If you happened to miss it: How to Successfully Engage the Sale of "The Angry House!"
We don't stick with the safe, corporate jobs we may have once held. We don't leave when the going gets rough. We delight every bit as much as our clients when we have helped them and feel their pain almost as deeply when something goes wrong, despite our best efforts. Real Estate and Feng Shui Consultants are committed to their work and, as it turns out, have MANY common denominators.
*Carole Provenzale has been a Certified Feng Shui Consultant since 1997 and is the Founder of Feng Shui Long Island providing on site consultations for all of Long Island and New York City and personalized Feng Shui Consultations by phone for those at a distance.
Carole, Everything you've said is so VERY true ! I especially like the part about the business having chosen us....I know this business chose me, and no matter what, I feel guided by an invisible force who travels ahead of me preparing the way....
I believe that all people who are in service fields and enjoy their work, fall under the same descriptions you've used above. We ARE 'servants'.
Jo
The commonality is unique. What a great combo, the Realtor and the Feng Shui specialist.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting on Why I Unsubscribed From Your Blog
Carole... you mean realtors are here to sell houses? That you care about your clients and want the best for them? And that you don't work 9 to 5? lol seriously, I agree with the fact that we love helping people... and feeling that energy or getting the energy into the clients house that you are selling. Which is something at I am sure you are great at. Just reading your mirrors post showed me that example. nice job
I read my mantra in your blog; we are in a service industry, even in Long Island. Not only is that my mantra, it is always been my focus.
I coach a lot of Realtors and not surprisingly, Realtors who lived their first lives as nurses are doomed to success; they get the service part.
If we stay focused on why we are doing this, success follows...do the right thing.
Gail Gladstone, Long Island Realtor
All I know Carole is that you care for your clients and go above and beyond to have a connection that far outlast the business portion. I have always believed that by being more involved ...to care...about our clients is also what will bring future referrals....because they came to trust us and know we will take care of their friends/family etc. as well.
Carole,
You are right on target - we ARE more alike than most people realize. While I don't understand all the intricacies of FengShui I don't discount its importance either. I will eventually learn more about it and how it impacts the 'feel' of a home.
In the past I have voiced concerns about a home because the 'feel' wasn't right. I couldn't pin it down, and my clients often thought I was a little goofy, but in the end it turned out I was right. Sometimes a house (or any building for that matter) speaks to us. It tells us stories that we can't interpret immediately, but we hear them nonetheless.
Great post, my friend!
Katerina, It would have been difficult for me to imagine when I signed on how very much alike we are! Not to mention all the others involved in a Real Estate transaction. Thank you for your comment.
Jo, We certainly are "servants" and we do it because we love it. The parallels, not the differences surprised me.
Dan, Thank you. We are not nearly as different as I had thought. And congratulations on your feature, it was terrific!
Jeff, Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. I should not have left out anyone relating to the field of Real Estate; we all work so hard for our clients and love doing it.
Joan, I know the ones that love it are the ones that stay....I see many leaving and others just getting through this difficult time, knowing things will turn around again.
Lisa, You are my "Fair friend" :) I believe you have tremendous fortitude with overcoming all that you've had to over there and I love your fortitude!
Gail, I always believe in doing the right thing, whatever you send out comes back to you sooner or later. Like you, I want the BEST to come back to my clients and myself and will always go the extra mile.
Sally, I know without a doubt you are the same way. I know you think about your clients long after the "deal is done" and they think about you....and you CARE. It's really a people business, not a home business....
Carol, I'm not sure many people realized that years ago....or brushed off the feelings. Yet almost every comment on Lolas post showed that realtors are much more in tune with the energy of a home; my clients are, that's for sure. It's nice to know we are all not so different and we have the common ground of wanting to make our clients happy in their new space.
Missy, 60K, that number still is SO much to think about! It is incredible how this site has grown and is continuing to every day! The differences we may have does not come close to the same things we all want for our clients. I have learned very much from you as well and will continue to. Thank you for your comment.
Hi Carole, hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! Remember when we first started out here? We didn't know what we might have in common. Feng Shui is a big deal for me as I look at a home. I'm more aware of how "things" are placed in a home and also the energy of the house.
I did take a class on it years ago...long before I began in real estate. Once you know about such things you incorporate them into your everyday life. Sometimes, when I mention feng shui to another person in real estate and I get a blank stare...I can't imagine that they have not heard of it! How mainstream it really is. But I can see that you have to be open to new ideas...some are just stuck in the old ways of the past. Just like not using a computer! lol
The thing that rings most true after reading your wonderful post Carole is empathy...that feeling you get after reading personal experiences of real people here on AR that allows us to "walk in their shoes" (not literally :0 ...but to see things from their eyes or perspective!
Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!
Sincerely,
Grace Safrin
Carole,
You are right about the common denominators. The thought of returning to a corporate job sends shivers down my spine! This is a calling otherwise we would not have made it past the first client!
It is true--we work with people and help them because we truly care about them. We don't punch a time clock and we don't "kiss and forget" once the deal is done. Our clients become our friends and neighbors. As you said, we didn't chose the profession we're in, it chose us.
Donald, Thank you for your comment and for stopping in and reading.
Lysa, Thanks, Lysa. I was wondering how your latest event turned out--you have SO many things going on there! I haven't been able to be on AR as much, I'll have to go back and make sure I didn't miss anything!
Lizette, Thank you, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I didn't know you had taken a class on Feng Shui, it allows you to see things in a totally different "light" in relation to your surroundings. I'll bet it helps you sell as well. Funny, over the course of more then 10 years I can't tell you how many times I've seen that blank stare!
Teri, I love all that I've learned on this site and all that I still want to learn. One thing about AR, it's a never ending source of information....don't you wish we could keep up with everything??
Grace, You are so right. We all feel very much for our clients and want to do the best for them. That comes across loud and clear on this site! Funny that I didn't think we were all so alike. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.
Kim, You and I both. I was only happy in those positions until I learned everything I wanted to know and then I would get restless...time to move on. And I would be miserable if I had to go back....
Cynthia, Thank goodness for all that we don't have to do! I forgot about punching that time clock; heaven help you if you were two minutes late--we got "docked" in increments of 15 minutes. Wow, those were the days and I'm glad they're long gone.
Jennifer, Health care costs have always been my biggest concern, they are right up there with the taxes I pay on Long Island. It is frightening and that's the primary reason I did not leave my "safe" job years before. But aren't people from here retiring up there in your lovely area? I thought I read that because they don't want to leave NY and it's more affordable.....
This so true, Carole. I'm glad you wrote this post because most realtors do peform above the call of the job alone. The really like their clients and try to do their best for them - always. It is such a rewarding profession.
Medical insurance is a very big concern for most realtors and other self-employed people. There are also no retirement benefits unless you are putting away your own money.........and with medical costs skyrocketing, this is getting more difficult to do.
Thanks for the thoughtful and appreciative post.
Bonnie, Thank you for your comment. Those of us who work independantly do love what we do but I do know about lack of retirement funds and of course, medical insurance. That was my biggest factor in leaving the "corporate" job behind. But I believe like you I wouldn't have changed a think :) Perhaps we can build our on AR "retirement" community!
Sheron, I'm sorry to hear about your sister, mine has passed as well. But she too choose to do what she loved in life and you're right, we all work so strongly with clients we leave our own imprint on them....and a bit of all of them stay with us. Pretty nice "side effect" isn't it?
Donna, It's a calling we have, maybe, to work with homes and the wonderful people who live in them. I used to think we were all so different but we're more alike then I ever thought!
Andrew, Thank you so much for your comment. People can't see Energy of course but many can feel it...and we always recommend a space clearing from the "imprints" left behind of former occupants prior to moving into a new space. I am so sorry to hear of the new homeowner, although it's impossible to tell if it was the home or something else. Thank you for sharing that.