So, how does all this relate to real estate? How does corporate responsibility transfer to your day to day job as a real estate agent, broker, or executive?
Let’s back up for a moment. As discussed earlier, there are far too many real estate agents in the U.S.—more than 2 million. And about 5.5 million existing homes are sold each year.[65] That means that, on average, each agent would sell about 2.3 homes per year. But we all know it doesn’t work that way. Top agents will sell most of those homes, and the rest will fight over a limited pool of listings. Most folks entering real estate will sell a couple of homes, tops. That won’t be enough to sustain a family, hence the high attrition rate from the profession.
To make matters worse, technology will cull the field even more. Internet brokerages enable one “virtual agent” to do the work of 30 or more traditional agents.
You need an edge.
To stay in the game—distinguish yourself
Unless you’re already an elite agent, you need a way to differentiate yourself. And I gotta tell you, your price, quality, or shopping cart advertisement ain’t gonna cut it. You need something real, something meaningful that will set you apart from the pack.[66]
Here’s your chance.
When you weave a social cause into your business, you set yourself apart from the crowd. Your actions, not just your words, show that you care.
For example, use your real estate know-how to help educate seniors and disadvantaged people in your town. Go to retirement villages and college campuses and teach the folks there the basics of real estate and financial security. Don’t do it for leads, do it because it’s the right thing to do. You’re an authority! Show them how to plan for the future. You’d be surprised how much you can help people just by sharing a bit of your expertise.
Compare the power of a fellow volunteer’s recommendation vs a slick Facebook ad. They’ll advocate for you because you care about the same principles they do. You could never buy enough advertising to outweigh the strength of true believers. That’s why your goal should be to form deeper connections with folks throughout your community by joining with them in a common and worthwhile cause.
Establishing yourself as a pillar of the community will do more than just secure new clients. Your clients’ sales are likely to be more successful because of their association with you. For example, imagine that you’re known for all the good work you do renovating neighborhood playgrounds. The parents of the kids in town will appreciate your efforts. You’d be a local hero. Then, when they see you listing 123 Main St, potential buyers will have a more positive view of that home because they already admire you. Your client’s home will benefit from having a local champion like you listing it.
Remember, residential real estate is largely an emotional decision. Sure, buyers have certain criteria such as a maximum price or a minimum number of bedrooms. But, after that, buyers will decide where to purchase based on gut. Does the smell of the home remind them of their childhood? Can they visualize their kids playing on the backyard swing? The goodwill you generated with the playgrounds will transfer to your listing and will win the hearts of your potential buyers.
Finally, dedicating your free time to worthwhile causes will reverberate throughout the rest of your life and relationships. When you’re committed to more than pure financial gain, you’ll find more meaning and purpose. Your relationship with yourself and others will improve when you infuse your life with meaning.
Your colleagues and clients will see your dedication to helping others. In turn, you’ll be viewed as more honest, caring, and compassionate. People will want to do business with you because they’ll trust you and believe in your mission.
It may not even be a conscious decision, but folks will feel more comfortable partnering with a pillar of the community like you. You’ll get more deals, better terms, and improved service.
When you feel better about yourself, when you feel like you have a mission, you’ll be more productive and happier. Your business will improve because of your renewed internal drive. Your devotion to helping others will improve your self-esteem. Work will feel less like work and more like a cause.
Ultimately, feeling better about yourself and your reason for being on this planet may be the best benefit of all.
To be clear: I don’t recommend you support a charity as a slick form of business advertising. In fact, you shouldn’t mention your charitable work in your advertising at all! Help the community because it’s the right thing to do and because you want to do it.
Ways to help
Here are a few ways you can get involved. I’m sure you can come up with many more:
● Become a regular volunteer at an existing charity/group.
● Recruit friends and family to volunteer for a charity.
● Join the board of directors of a charity or organization.
● Join a trade association and steer them toward charitable aims.
● Start your own charity or group.
These ideas are just to get you started. See what appeals most to you and which fits best with your drive and skill set. For example, if you’re well-connected, you should consider harnessing your network to volunteer for a group. If you’re politically savvy, look at joining an organization and redirecting their focus toward a charitable cause. You know your strengths, use them.
Volunteer at an existing charity: You can start this one today. There are so many great groups that would love to have your support. Consider organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, the YMCA, local churches or synagogues, an animal shelter, the community hospital, an art museum, retirement home, a national/state park, a food pantry, or library. All of these organizations need volunteers like you—and they could put you to work right away. Best of all, there are no special skills required. All you need is a willingness to help.
Pro tip - You’ll get the most out of volunteering if you go regularly. Make sure you find a cause you believe in because you’re much more likely to stick with it over the long-haul. If you don’t like the first organization you join, pick another one until you find the right fit.
Recruit friends and family to volunteer for a charity: A lot of wonderful groups need volunteers for big projects. For example, Habitat for Humanity has days where they go out into the community and build or repair homes for seniors or the disabled. Food pantries need tons of extra volunteers for major holidays, snowstorms, and natural disasters. Retirement homes often hold fun events around the holidays to cheer up their residents. For these special days, groups need lots of extra volunteers. If you have a big network, why not mobilize them to pitch in? You’ll make life easier for the charities and you’ll introduce your friends and family to some great organizations.
Join a board of directors: If you have a skill or interest in a particular area, harness your passion and offer to join a charity’s board of directors or leadership team. As a real estate professional, you already know about marketing, managing an office, interacting with people, making sales, and understanding needs. Charities are in desperate need of your skills! Most of these organizations are led by volunteers just like you. You have the talent, now put it to work for a great cause!
Join and redirect a trade association: There are a lot of excellent organizations that can be harnessed to support charitable causes. You’re probably already a member of some, like your local or state real estate association. Your real estate firm probably has a charitable arm. You can join the leadership team of these groups and encourage them to support more philanthropic causes.
Most of these businesses and trade groups want to support charities—they just need someone like you to give them direction and energy. If you volunteer some time with your company or organization to promote your favorite charity, you can bet that they’ll be willing to back you up.
Start your own charity or group: You’re an entrepreneur; everyone in real estate is. You know how to run a business and you have hustle. You
do it every day. Why not take that talent and start your own charitable group? They’re easy to form and many companies will offer your charity discounts on websites, supplies, and support. When you start your own charity, you’ll have total creative control. You can support any cause you choose! It’s easier than you think—and you already know how to sell it.
I asked top real estate agent and philanthropist JR McKee his tips for agents who want to give back to the community. He suggested “joining a community service organization. Service organizations need support from professionals, as well as regular individuals from every walk of life. As a real estate professional, joining a charitable organization is an amazing opportunity to support the community, to give back, and to get that sense of gratification and sense of balance. It is therapeutic to help by giving back to the community and supporting our children. It balances and offsets the intensity under which we work.”
I asked McKee how his philanthropy impacted his business. “It's also good for marketing. I mean, by default I am so visible through my community giving that it reinforces who I am. It does bring me business, but that's the secondary benefit—not my primary goal.” Read the full interview with JR McKee by clicking here.
If you have a particular affinity for helping homeless beagles or cleaning up neighborhood playgrounds, go ahead and start a group of like-minded folks and get the job done. In fact, for most causes, you won’t even need to create the charity itself. Just start a Facebook or LinkedIn group. You can create a group on one of these platforms in just a few minutes, and you’ll be surprised how many volunteers will be willing to follow your lead if you just get the ball rolling.
Use your real estate acumen to help the disadvantaged
Rather than supporting charitable causes after work, how about helping the underserved as part of your work? Poor single mothers need housing vouchers and a safe place to raise their kids. Low-income seniors need assistance in finding affordable (and handicapped-accessible) housing. Folks in blighted parts of town need the expertise to improve their neighborhoods. Recent immigrants need help to navigate our complex housing system.
They need a champion. You. You have the experience and the skills to make their lives better.
My journey to philanthropy
As a kid, my parents and I regularly visited my grandparents in their Florida retirement community. They had a great place to live, lots of visitors, and a home designed for the disabled. As I grew older, I realized that not everyone enjoyed a secure home during their golden years.
When I read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, I learned that the elderly really have it tough in this country. Many cannot afford to own a home. Their fixed income often makes renting difficult. Far too many rely exclusively on Social Security to pay their monthly bills. In fact, almost half of the unmarried elderly rely on Social Security for over 90 percent of their income![67] That doesn’t leave much for rent.
Seniors become isolated as their friends and neighbors move away or die, and they lose the ability to drive. Aging in place can go from promise to prison as physical disabilities prevent the elderly from walking upstairs, using their own kitchen, and opening doors.
Now, I do what I can to help the elderly find affordable homes with my company, Dignified Housing. We help connect older adults with real estate pros who share my passion for the elderly. We are a marketplace for affordable senior housing. And, we are a source of useful information to help older Americans make the right housing choice for their golden years. If you’re dedicated to the elderly and disabled, I urge you to join our team!
Whatever your philanthropic zeal, find a way to weave your social commitment into your real estate career. Technology can help you do it.
Technology makes supporting a charity or starting your own easier than ever. With a few clicks, you can create a Facebook group to support any cause you choose. Never in history has it been so easy and affordable to mobilize like-minded people to pitch in and help out. Give it a shot, it’s easier than you think!
Interview with David Ament, philanthropist, international speaker, business advisor, investor
Gregory Charlop: Can you tell us a bit about your background?
David Ament: Absolutely. For the most part, I collect companies. That’s what I do now. I am a business advisor. I love strategy, both domestically and internationally. My companies cross multiple sectors. I have a real estate portfolio—real estate investments in the U.S. as well as outside—a couple of schools, a non-profit, a technology company. I'm actually in the process of acquiring a construction company. I've been in the spaces of renewable energy, imaging business services—it's quite diverse. Businesses are not that different from one to another to another.
Gregory Charlop: You're also a leader of the International Institute for Peak Performance. What is that?
David Ament: That's a school that teaches business and wealth, along with leadership, health, and relationships. The focus of it is personal and professional development. I just happened to have aggregated and curated some of the best teachers in the world to come together in different locales to teach students.
Gregory Charlop: Is that something that the real estate agents and professionals reading this book might be able to sign up for?
David Ament Yeah, they absolutely would be able to. As a matter of fact, we have a new curriculum that is specifically geared toward the real estate professional, both improving their business and getting to the point of peak performance.
Gregory Charlop: You also are a social entrepreneur, and you've coached other social entrepreneurs. What exactly is a social entrepreneur, and what is the difference between a social business and a charity?
David Ament: When I first heard the term social entrepreneur, I thought it had to do with Facebook or social media, but a social entrepreneur means that there's not just a profit, but a social cause behind the goals and the actions of a company. It's tied to both purpose and profit. Profit is one side; the social cause is giving back to the community. It's beyond being profit-focused at all costs and, instead, creating true wealth and true riches in your lifestyle. You get up in the morning, and it's not just, let's make another buck. It's a matter of, let's change some lives. How can we make some money and change lives? The more money we make, the more money we get to put back into our social cause—something that we care about.
Gregory Charlop: I love that. You are both running a profitable business and benefiting the community. That idea really seems to be catching on, and it seems like it gives you a reason to wake up in the morning.
David Ament: Absolutely. It puts a lot more pep in people's steps when it's not just a job. I was working for somebody else and it was a job. Even if you own a company, at some point it can turn into just another job once it gets into the mechanics of money.
But you can attach a social cause to your for-profit interest, such as a separate foundation or a charitable arm of your for-profit entity. And having that piece makes it exciting because you get to look at how you’re impacting the community. Maybe it's the world ecology, maybe it's the local school, maybe it's a group of underserved or underprivileged individuals. You get to look into their eyes and see how you're impacting them, see how you bring a smile to their face.
Gregory Charlop: It sure feels good to know that you're helping other people and not just your bank account.
David Ament: Yes. I'm all for the bank account, by the way. But, I'm also all for building true wealth and a truly rich life. The bank account is great for feeding the stomach, but how are we feeding our souls?
Gregory Charlop: You mentioned that there are different structures one might use to create a social business. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss all the different structures, but who would someone interested in doing this contact to learn more about these different structures and what would be best for them? Would that be a lawyer? How would someone go about setting up a social business?
David Ament: That's one of the tough
parts. If you talk to a lawyer, they'll advise you on the legalities of setting up one kind of entity. As soon as you ask any tax questions, they say go talk to your accountant. The accountant will tell you the same thing—I can answer only your tax questions. So, it’s a little bit difficult.
For instance, when I deal with folks, it's more about goals than it is about legalities or the tax ramifications. But the legal side and the tax side are really just part of the ingredients to the legacy that you're creating—both a living legacy today while you're on Earth, as well as something that lives beyond you.
Gregory Charlop: In my view, real estate professionals are ideal social entrepreneurs. They know a lot about their community and they care about it. And they also tend to have large networks. What do you think are some ways that real estate agents or brokers, or even executives, could work to benefit their communities?
David Ament: You're absolutely spot on. I believe that real estate professionals are the right people to have a social cause and infuse that into their brand, into what they stand for. Don’t be just another real estate company, another face on a business card, or just another logo hanging on a sign in front of a house. Instead, you're communicating that, in addition to real estate, look at what we're doing over here. We're doing something to solve the homeless situation, build parks, etc.
I recently heard about a real estate agent who sponsors an annual Easter egg hunt at a local market in the Salt Lake City area. He's known for it. So, he's got this great PR. He’s doing something that creates his brand. When folks in that area think of him, they don't just think, "Oh, he's just another real estate agent." He has branded himself with the annual Easter egg hunt. That's something that makes him stand out. He’s not just another pretty face and logo on a business card or sign.
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