COLORADO 12-21-20

COLORADO EDITION

Why Millennials Are Now

Emotional Fluency:

HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENTS WHEN TENSIONS ARE HIGH

THE HOTTEST SEGMENT OF THE BUYERS MARKET FEATURED AGENT

STEPHEN BERG COVER STORY

DANIEL DIXON

COLORADO EDITION

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DANIEL DIXON

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STEPHEN STEPHEN BERG BERG

CONTENTS 4) 10 SECONDS TO CHANGE A HABIT 13) WHY MILLENNIALS ARE NOW THE HOTTEST SEGMENT OF THE BUYERS MARKET

20) EMOTIONAL FLUENCY: HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENTS WHEN TENSIONS ARE HIGH

Phone 310-734-1440 | Fax 310-734-1440 mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com

DANIEL DIXON

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10 Seconds to Change a Habit

By Barry Eisen

I’ll bet that most of the speakers you’ve heard and books you’ve read on the subject of personal development, tell you that it takes 21-30 days to change a habit. Like a wives’ tale passed on generation to generation, sometimes the story is better than the information.

Clichés like, “habits are hard dying,” and “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,”etc., are primarily about protecting your ego from possible failure (psychological) and upsetting your brain in its quest to stay unchallenged and comfortable (physiological).

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If purpose is strong enough, shifts can happen immediately. A near death experience while driving on the freeway can make the driver quit tailgating forever. A drug overdose can have a sobering effect. Having The choice as to a new baby in the family can make a smoker stop smoking right now. whether you make Having enoughfinancial pressure, it easy or hard, like a child in the family needing fast or slow are college tuition money, can cause choicesyou get to an inconsistent salesperson to prospect consistently like their hair is make. on fire. There are lots of positive and negative motivations that can cause change instantly. When the perception of achieved pleasure is strong enough, the behavior will change. Purpose can take the form of the carrot or the stick.

Some habits will never change if you perceive the end result not being worth the efforts necessary to get there. Over thinking is just another way of saying... self-sabotage.

So, is there a real answer to the question, “How long does it take to change a habit or attitude?” Here’s my answer. See if it works for you.

Immediately, NOW. The only time you spend on this earth is called NOW. What’s done is history. What hasn’t happened yet is the FUTURE. The only time you have to think or act is in the NOW. If you focus on the best decision in your NOW, for that moment you made a change. Make that same change again in the next NOW time, and you will have reinforced and made more comfortable the habit or attitude you are addressing.

Make the same decision many times and you have the expression used by many neuroscientists that, “When brain cells fire together, they wire together.” At a certain point of critical mass (tipping point) the new behavior becomes a no-brainer... automatic. This can take a one time shift or days or weeks or...? The choice as to whether you make it easy or hard, fast or slow Top Agent Magazine

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are choices you get to make. So why make things hard when you always have choice? You always have NOW. 3 Keys to Change Habits and Attitudes

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When confronted with a “tough” decision (e.g.) Prospect for business or check out Facebook? - Eat this serious piece of cake or go for the fruit?

- Go to the gym or turn on the TV? - Return the phone call or put it off for tomorrow? Take a deep breath and picture yourself doing what’s right, not what’s easy. Surrender the self-imposed stress you associate with the change. Let go of the history of excuses and make a better choice NOW.

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Follow through with that thought (NOW), not just to make this better decision, but also to set a pattern of realizing the power you have in controlling your life. This is a simple, but valuable lesson about helping to develop confidence and a positive self-esteem. Most who go to the many varieties of therapy, usually go because of lack of control issues or self imposed victimization. Show yourself what you CAN DO.

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Learn and use self-hypnosis and hypnosis to reinforce the habits you choose. In “speaking” to your subconscious mind with words, pictures and emotion, in a relaxed state of mind, you are encoding brain cells with instructions (cause). You become what you think about (effect). Hypnosis will speed up learning, whether it be specific subject matter or whether it be learning an improved habit, 2-5 times faster.

Habit change doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does usually entail being Mindful. Exercise your good decision making abilities and you’ll develop a do it now attitude, improve physical health and energy, develop consistency in your business, more fully enjoy your relationships and so much more.

Copyright©, Barry Eisen. All rights reserved.

Barry Eisen teaches personal development seminars and coaches Southern California top producing REALTORS®. “Your business will never grow more than you do” is the theme; self hypnosis and behavior modification are the tools for playing a bigger game. barryeisen.com, barryeisen@LA.twcbc.com 818-769-4300 6

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DANIEL DIXON Top Agent Magazine

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Top Agent Daniel’ Dixon’s business, The Dixon Group, serves the Denver metro area, covering Colorado Springs to Fort Collins.

It has two divisions—real estate and mortgages.

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” ~Zig Ziglar Dedicated to making an impact by providing opportunities, Keller Williams Mega Agent Daniel Dixon has turned life experiences and leadership principles into a successful business that focuses on the goals and growth of others.

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Daniel’s business, The Dixon Group, serves the Denver metro area, covering Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. It has two divisions—real estate and mortgages— with twenty-two licensed agents and five lenders. As team owner of the real estate division and branch manager of the lending side, Daniel views his role as a teacher, mentor, and coach. Before launching The Dixon Group, Daniel worked at Trulia Top Agent Magazine

and trains his team on the best practices he cultivated there, including maximizing digital marketing, prospecting, and converting leads. Daniel also encourages personal growth, challenging his team to master life through goal setting, taking on responsibilities, and becoming leaders in their own right. Daniel says, “You have to know how to lead yourself before you can even think of leading others.”

Unlike many traditional firms, The Dixon Group is buyer-based and geared toward Top Agent Magazine

soliciting new clients. They employ an exclusively digital approach to marketing and “track everything.” Promotional materials are prepared for each property and distributed to over 200 internet sites, thirty thousand database leads, and the team’s spheres of influence. Properties are assigned a unique text code linked to a mobile CRM. When the buyer enters the code, the system shows the listing and similar listings in the area. When buyers respond to yard signs, calls come directly to an agent for immediate follow-up.

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As team owner of the real estate division and branch manager of the lending side, Daniel views his role as a teacher, mentor, and coach.

It’s a fast-paced environment. With 1000+ leads each month, team members “have to have fire in their bellies.” The Dixon Group specializes in the 250-600K range (average listing price of 370K), putting them in the sweet spot for first-time and move-up buyers. Daniel reports sales volume of $86 million last year and he anticipates finishing at $120 million this year; the team’s goal for 2021 is $170 million.

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Having won the KW Cares Agent Contribution Award, Daniel is committed to giving back. Keller Williams recently launched a National Social Equity Ambassador Task Force devoted to growing equality through real estate, and Daniel is the ambassador for the Colorado Region. Acknowledging that as a black man, his path to success was more challenging than that of some of his peers, Daniel promotes diversity in Top Agent Magazine

his own team and seeks to improve opportunities for persons of color. His goal is to create local programs that build from the ground up. These include a scholarship for agents of color that provides funds for real estate education and dues and a program Top Agent Magazine

that provides housing expenses for a month to single mothers of minority kids. Daniel says, when he was growing up with a single mother, “if we’d ever had one month without those expenses, it would have done a ton for my mom.”

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Daniel is “a family man.” Two of his top agents Assistant when he first started. Outside of are his brothers, his Director of Operations is work, what he loves most is spending time like a sister, and his mom was his Executive with his three young kids—and football.

For more information about Daniel Dixon, visit metrodenverliving.com, call (720) 551-4493, www.

or email Daniel@DGDenver.com

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Why Millennials Are Now the Hottest Segment of the Buyers Market

and How You Can Attract Them to Your Home There are many factors when it comes to knowing how to sell your home to the Millennial generation. Millennials are becoming an important part of the buyer market, and to fail to cater to their needs will cut you off from a large and important segment. But, why have Millennials all of a sudden become interested in buying houses when they were perfectly content to rent for the rest of their lives?

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A number of factors contribute to what has recently made Millennials the hottest segment of the Buyers market. One factor is the improved job outlook for Millennials. Millennials took a serious blow during the recession.

Unemployment in this group soared to 14 percent, compared to the 9.6 percent for the population as a whole. But, in recent years that number has been decreasing, with unemployment for Millennials being 9.3 percent this past year.

Rising rents are also contributing to making Millennials more interested in purchasing homes now. Rents have risen so much that buying a home now just makes more sense. Half of all renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Millennials are becoming increasingly stressed over the constantly increasing financial obligation to something that isn’t even theirs to own.

The near-historic low mortgage rates are luring Millennials towards purchasing a home with their promise of affordability. When compared with the skyrocketing rental rates, buying a house looks even more enticing.

Another factor helping Millennials get over the hump of purchasing a house is the lower down payment requirements. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now offering new loan programs that require as little as a 3 percent down payment. This may just be the last push the Millennials needed to turn toward buying a home rather than rent.

So, now that we’ve established that Millennials are finally joining the Buyers market, the next thing that it is important to understand is what exactly Millennials are looking for in a home. What kind of floorplans do they prefer? What locations are they interested in? Here are some of the essentials that Millennials are looking for in a home: • Updated Kitchens and Baths: Almost everyone wants to buy a

home with new kitchen and bath fixtures, but this is especially true for Millennials Buyers. Millennials are going to spend most of their savings on the down payment and furnishings, leaving little room to update the Kitchen and Bath, which are also the most expensive parts of a home to

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update. Millennials who are on a budget simply won’t have the money to sink into those areas. An updated Kitchen and Bath is sure to bring in a younger crowd.

• Big Kitchen with Open Floor Plan: For Millennials, the kitchen has

become the room where they hangout in addition to the family room. This is why having an open space that can transition easily from the kitchen to the TV room is high on the list of things Millennials are looking for in a home. Along a similar vein, Millennials are attracted to an open floor plan rather than one that compartmentalizes the home. This has to do with how Millennials entertain. Millennials want their guests to flow through the rooms and mingle together, rather than be sectioned off in different rooms.

• Home Office: More than 13 million Americans now work from home,

and if you look at the trend, that number is only going to increase as the time goes on. With technology steadily increasing, more Millennials than ever have the flexibility to work from home. But, the home office isn’t just for someone working from home full time. Having a separate space dedicated to work helps people concentrate and focus on work while they are at home. They can separate themselves from the activities going on around the house and have a quiet space where they can set up their workday, plan a presentation, hold a meeting on Skype, or even pay bills.

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• Less Maintenance: Many Millennials work different schedules that

don’t conform to the 9 to 5 workday, as well as full social calendars. This doesn’t leave them much time to clean a big house. Lawn services and low-maintenance front yards are particularly appealing, as they take less responsibility to still keep the curb appeal high.

• Energy-Efficient Appliances: Millennials have been educated on

keeping the Earth clean from the time they were born. They want to do their part to help the environment and appreciate the long-term cost savings that come with it. Energy-efficient appliances and greener ways to heat and cool the home might end up being the tipping point that makes them choose one house over another.

• Hardwood Floors: Millennials don’t have the time or patience to clean

dirty carpets, especially those that own pets. Hardwood and laminate flooring is easy to mop up if there’s been a mess. The more time they can conserve, the better.

• Good Location: Millennial buyers are looking for homes that are in

proximity to public transportation and have a good walking score. Young Millennial buyers without children are more likely to want a location closer to the action of the city, while Millennials with children would prefer more residential areas.

• Technology: Technology rules the Millennial’s life. They do work on

their computers through an Internet connection and solely use cellphones for communication. They are going to ask about how strong the cell service is and about the Internet service provider. While these amenities are out of the seller’s hands, Millennials are still going to ask these questions, and you will need to know how to answer them.

Knowing what Millennials are looking for in a home will ultimately help you make the necessary changes that will attract these buyers to your home.

Since they are the a serious segment of the market now, updating your home to fit their needs will lead to more buyers and better offers. So, get with the times and embrace the Millennial buyer.

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STEPHEN BERG Top Agent Magazine

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STEPHEN BERG

With strong roots in Denver, Stephen Berg pursued his degree in Real Estate Finance and Development at Colorado State University. There, he had the chance to study Ninja Selling under Larry Kendall, who opened his eyes to the joys of handling residential properties. A few years after graduating, however, Stephen unknowingly purchased a house that had tens of thousands of dollars of mold damage, and he would go bankrupt in the ensuing lawsuit against its property manager and seller.

Disenchanted by the experience, Stephen and his wife decided to settle down in Oregon, where he built a successful career as a winemaker.

through both his brokerage and the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

When listing a home, Stephen prefers a comprehensive approach. Starting out, he guides clients through all the preparations needed to make their property shine, providing hands on assistance with everything from staging to cleaning and repairs.

He then proceeds to share his listings over a variety of targeted digital and social media campaigns, as well as yard signs and flyers to the surrounding

But Stephen was still drawn back to real estate – especially for the opportunity to use his past challenges to educate prospective buyers and sellers.

Today, he is a RealtorÂŽ for 8z Real Estate where he assists clients throughout Denver and the surrounding areas. He has quickly established himself through his unmatched organization and customer service, earning Rookie of the Year honors 18

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community. Moreover, Stephen utilizes the resources offered by 8z Real Estate’s elite marketing department to give his clients an added advantage. “I’m a firm believer that every home should receive the same treatment,” he says. “I navigate each transaction the same way, whether it’s for a two hundred thousand dollar condo or a million dollar luxury property.”

Stephen is equally detail-oriented with his buyers, standing as a trustworthy advocate and guide through all the nuances of their transaction. Better yet, he is always studying the state of the market and refining his workflow to better serve his clients. “I’m very process oriented,” he says. “I believe in making constant, incremental improvement to my approach.”

For upholding 8z Real Estate’s core values of clarity, control and confidence, Stephen has earned a terrific reputation throughout Colorado, with the majority of his transactions coming from referrals. Best of all? “I love the idea of helping people become homeowners and build their wealth through real estate. You learn so much through homeownership, and it’s key to building security and freedom in your life.”

Outside his career, Stephen can be found working on numerous projects around the house or spending quality time with his beloved wife and children.

Stephen supports local charities such as Salute Colorado, a mentorship program for veterans looking to establish careers in the business sphere, and Greenhouse Scholars, an organization that supports high achieving but underprivileged children.

Looking ahead, Stephen has strong ambitions for his future, but also offers sound advice to any aspiring Realtor®. “I was terrified when I started in real estate. After incurring debt from my lawsuit, I took a risk to give my family a better life.

But I’m proof that you can be successful in this industry if you put your mind to it, treat people well and stay focused on helping your clients.”

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To learn more about Stephen Berg email stephen.berg@8z.com, call (970) 769-7048 or visit stephenberg.8z.com

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Emotional Fluency:

How to Communicate with Clients When Tensions are High Managing emotions, expectations, and personalities are central to a successful real estate career. After all, this is a business based on relationships and interpersonal communication. Likewise, real estate is built on one of life’s central milestones—homeownership. This means that stress, disappointment, excitement, and competition are inherently 20

involved in the process. As an agent, you take on the real estate world every day, but most of your clients aren’t well-versed in the norms of the industry and are likely riding an emotional roller coaster throughout.

Acknowledging this, how do you steer the ship when emotions and tensions are running high?

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For starters, it’s not always intuitive. Just like you add tools to your arsenal when it comes to marketing, social media, or lead generation, you also have to add emotional tools to your repertoire. Here are a few ways to diffuse tense situations and keep clients on an even keel—even during the ups and downs of the transactional process.

Create realistic expectations from the outset and reinforce them as you go As a seasoned agent, some aspects of the industry may seem run of the mill to you, but may come as a shock to your clients. That’s

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why communicating expectations from the beginning can help create reasonable touchpoints in the minds of your clients. In addition to talking through the steps of the transactional process with your clients, consider writing out a checklist or compiling a buyer’s guide that can serve as a resource for them throughout. Think of it like a security blanket, but one that’s built by facts, figures, and anecdotal experience. If you paint a clear picture of what to expect, clients are less likely to be taken by the surprise and react impulsively as a result. What’s more, reinforce next steps, expectations, and possible outcomes as you go. If your client is left to wonder or guess at what’s ahead or

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what will happen, they will either envision the worst-case scenario and panic, or they’ll misjudge the next step and be disappointed or left anxious as a result. Minimize surprises by communicating regularly, clearly, and with all options on the table.

When unveiling a problem, come to clients with potential solutions in hand Any agent worth his or her salt knows that bumps in the road are likely to occur along the way. You can’t promise a transaction free of stress or unforeseen issues, but you can minimize the ensuing stress by preparing you client in advance for any potential problems, and by addressing any problems

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clearly and with solutions already in hand.

Clients are likely to become agitated if a problem arises and they can’t understand why or what it means. That’s why slowing it down, talking it through, and offering potential avenues for recourse can quell fears and remind clients why they chose you to facilitate the transactional process. This means you’ll have to vigilant, proactive, and on the ball. Of course, it’s much easier to be an agent when everything is going great and flowing naturally. It’s when things take an unexpected or negative turn that true talent is really tested. Accordingly, show your clients that you are confident and in control by remaining adaptable, communicative, and clear in your problem-solving approach.

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Never underestimate the power of listening As an agent, you are probably well-versed in putting out fires and sourcing solutions. Sometimes, however, clients are really looking to you as a confidante and a listening ear. You’d be surprised how much nervousness you can resolve by simply offering a listening ear and offering reassurance. Sometimes it’s not about providing a band-aid or a practical solution; oftentimes, it’s all about listening. Clients need to feel like they’re being heard, even if you’ve heard it all before. By listening to their fears, acknowledging their perspective, and reiterating their goals—you display your empathy and understanding, which is often just what a client Top Agent Magazine

needs to feel better. In other words, you don’t have to break out the graphs and data each time a client airs his or her insecurity. First, slow down, listen, and interact on a personal level. You may stop an emotional upheaval in its tracks simply by putting your listening cap on.

Not all clients are alike. Some will require a little more hand-holding than others, but it’s your job to put yourself in their perspective, recognize the milestone at hand, and managing the personalities you’re working with. The next time you feel frustrated by a client’s unpredictable emotional energy, keep these insights in mind as you diffuse the situation, steer them to a place of comfort, and fortify your interpersonal skillset in the process.

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