Speed of Business

One thing a business needs to do to stay on top is change their business model. Now I know that not everyone is going to agree with that statement, but it's true. Take Blockbuster, Polaroid, and Myspace for examples. They were all great ideas that made a lot of sense, but they got out paced and out thought. UPS has a quote on the side of their vans that says, "Moving at the speed of business." Many people these days are not willing to change their ideas or businesses and if someone comes up with something better you're business has a chance of failing. In that case people need to open up to the idea of modifying their ideas, so they can stay in the game. When it comes to shooting most people are the "Ready, Aim, Fire" kind of people, but I am a "Fire, Ready, Aim" type of person.Instead of taking a long time to make a decision people need to adapt and make decisions faster.

Teammates Mentoring Program

Scott Frost, Wide receivers coach for U. of Oregon

Teammates is a mentoring program started by Tom and Nancy Osborne in 1991 that aims to provide support and encouragement to school aged youth, and after meeting Tom Osbourne at a Teammates fundraiser a few years ago, I decided I wanted to sign up as volunteer.

A couple of years passed and I still had not signed up. Well, a couple of months ago a friend of mine nominated me to be a mentor. Teammates contacted me, but again I failed to sign up.

I had every excuse in the book. What could I teach a kid? I don’t even have kids of my own. Why would they want me to mentor them? The only person I mentor is my dog Oscar. I am too busy and my work schedule varies.

Then I read an article about former Husker Scott Frost. Reading this changed everything and made me jump off the fence. Click here to read the article.

If you would like more information please contact Chris Bauer at 402-510-1300.

Maintenance Tip of the Day

Leaves have fallen and frost is in the air. There is 12" of snow on the ground, the windows on the car are ice-covered and the kids are singing: "No School!" Now you lovingly look over at your spouse and say, "Honey, have you seen the window scraper, the shovel, the ice melt and did you get the car starter installed?"

Avoid the panic, plan ahead. Put a bag of kitty litter in the trunk. Get yourself prepared! Winters come and winters go. Please enjoy the winter season and be safe.

3 Mortgage Mistakes You Can Avoid

The mortgage market in today's world is pretty chaotic, at best. Rates are ridiculously low, and many homes are worth less than the mortgages they secure. People are still losing their homes left and right, but qualified borrowers are being denied loans every day. It's no wonder potential and current home owners alike are confused about mortgages. I found this great article from inmanNEWS titled "3 mortgage mistakes you can avoid," which I thought would be great to share with you all to try and clear things up a bit. The mistakes are:

1. Failing to try to refinance because you're upside down.
At last count, nearly 11 million Americans were upside down on their homes - meaning they owe more in mortgage payments than the home is actually worth - and that's about 23% of all American homes. With interest rates having dropped to historic lows, more than 10 million Americans have refinanced their mortgages since 2009. But there are still many homeowners with negative equity feeling trapped in the 6, 7, or even 8 percent interest rates because they're unable to refinance.

The fact is, there are multiple options for lowering your interest rate and monthly payment if you're upside down. Banks are increasingly amenable to simply modify existing mortgages to render them less prone to default and foreclosure - especially when the homeowner is trying to recover from a financial hardship, and especially with upside-down loans (which are particularly liable to strategic default).

2. Walking into the bank branch to get a mortgage.
Unless your bank happens to be a neighborhood credit union or one of the few large banks that ranks highly in customer satisfaction, you'll likely not be satisfied with the speed, customer service or assertiveness of a mortgage banker you meet just walking into the branch. But if you work with a mortgage broker or a private mortgage banker, chances are good you'll get someone who understands that the long-term health of their business depends on you and clients like you getting a good deal in a timely manner.

Also, if you work with a mortgage broker whose company also has its own bank, you get the best of both worlds: a professional who will shop lots of banks' offerings to find the best options for you, and someone who can coordinate your transaction via a small pool of local, experienced appraisers. Many large banks use appraisers who don't know the area, which can kill your deal in the long run.

3. Thinking you're stuck with it for 30 years.
Some people avoid mortgages simply to avoid a 30 year debt. Others are stuck with a 30-year loan because the 15-year mortgage payments were too steep. But the fact is, you control when you pay off your mortgage, and it doesn't take a lottery or inheritance windfall to pay yours off sooner than later.

Some people pay half their mortgage payments every two weeks, which results in a full extra payment every year and can pay your mortgage off as much as five years early. Others just pay an extra $100 or so whenever they can and apply it to the principal. Some apply paycheck raises over the years or the amount they would use to extinguish a credit card debt in an effort to pay the mortgage off early.

What to take away? As a borrower, you have much more power than you think - from exploring all available options to being aggressive about paying off your home sooner rather than later. Either way, be clear on your personal goals for your mortgage, get educated about your options and get assertive about making them happen -- now.

** Be sure to check out the original article at InmanNEWs.com.

Management Objectives

Landmark Group is a fast-paced workplace that is driven by tight deadlines and a company attitude that demands results and maximum effort from every one of the employees. As a manager under constant pressure to deliver the end result, I have found that it helps to keep in mind on a daily basis the following five objectives:

1. Analyze accordingly
2. Prioritize promptly
3. Force flexibility
4. Communicate constantly
5. Demand documentation

By analyzing the daily workload and prioritizing the important task of the day, I can clearly define my objectives and that of my team in order to avoid confusion. I have a plan of action to follow based upon what is high priority and working my way down from there. Of course in this business it is inevitable that issues and problems arise on a daily basis that forces priorities to change. When this happens it is important that I revisit objectives one and two before altering the course of the day and then, if necessary, be flexible enough to change priorities to fit the demands.

Communication and documentation helps keep a unity among the employees. Being clear in my communication to others helps to define a process that everyone is familiar with and avoids mishaps. Documentation is a proven way of verifying that the process and procedure was handled from the beginning through the end and provides proof of completion.

By following these five objectives daily it has helped me improve my work habits and I believe has made me a better manager at Landmark Group. Try instigating these objectives into your day as well.

Bumper Stickers

On my way to work I saw a bumper sticker that read "the problems we're facing right now will not be solved by the person and/or persons who created them." I instantly thought of our politicians and blamed them for our problems and agreed that yes - they caused the problems and yes - they would not be the ones to solve them.

But really think about this. It certainly is easy to blame everyone else for the problems when in reality, the problems have been caused by a combination of a lot of factors. We need to accept accountability and move forward and yes, I believe that even though we created the problems, we are capable of solving them. We need to stop blaming other people and just get it done.

It's Not All Bad News

Good economic news can be a little sparse right now and selling your home in today’s market can be intimidating if you are not working with a REALTOR® who has experience and market knowledge. Many homeowners are scared they will be selling their home for a discount in today’s market, and if you listen to the national news, this will only feed the hysteria.

Don’t base your decisions on what you read in the paper and hear on T.V. because not all markets are the same. The first step would be to request a comparative market analysis from a REALTOR® to determine if it’s the right time to sell or not.

Keep in mind, if you are selling your house for possibly less than your purchase price, you may be able to more-than offset this by your next purchase. Many homeowners are taking advantage of this with low interest rates to move up to their dream home!

Primary Production is OVER

Although we hate to see them go, it's good to move on to the next phases of our lives. Primary production for The Super is done. We have been working on this project for nearly two years and we have been in production since mid June. Soon the snow will start falling and Rodger, Cote, the maintenance crew and I will be going hard to remove it all. Here comes the 16 hour days and getting up at 3 AM not knowing what the days will bring.

I'm Busy

Last week I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and she said to me, “I’ve been so busy that I didn’t have time to call you” which would not have been a big deal except I was waiting on her to finish a home project I was working on. When she told me that, my first thought was that I was not important enough for her to make time to do what she said she would do. The words, “I’ve been busy” bothered me so much that I began listening to others, and myself, in conversations to see how often we all say this and what impact those words have on others.

I heard a tech at Landmark Group apologize to a tenant for not being at their house at a desired time due to “being busy." I listened as a sales rep told their client, “I’ve been busy which is why I didn’t get back to you” and I even told my own children that I didn’t get something done that they asked me to do because “I was too busy”. In each of these situations, as I listened to the words spoken and then the expression or response from the person they were spoken to, I realized that in each case the person being told this had a feeling or look of unimportance. The wrong message had been sent. What these individuals heard was you are not as important as whatever else I have going on.

My point is that we are all very busy individuals, but I believe that we are sending the wrong message when we say “I’m too busy”. What the underlying message that is being sent is that I am too important to deal with you and your problems. It is vital in life to understand that our time and experience is worth something and that managing an agenda is a hard thing to do, especially under extreme time pressure, but that we have to respect other's time and experiences as well and send a message that says you are important to me.

So the next time we feel like saying “I’m busy” instead try to rephrase your comments to make the other individual feel important. Try something like, “I’m realize I haven’t finished the task but it’s on my schedule to get done.”

Technology Has Benefits

This morning I wanted to test a feature for processing credit cards on the web site for Dino's Storage and I used my personal card. I wanted the transaction to fail and it did, three times. Within minutes I received a call from the credit card issuer asking me to verify that those transactions were really mine before they disabled the account. So my card is still active and I have no problems. But if someone else had been using my card it would now be disabled, saving both me and the credit card issuer a lot of headaches.

A few years ago that ability did not exist. This is not the first time I had what was considered suspicious activity, but the last time I had to call the credit card company after it had been disabled and get it reactivated. So as far as I am concerned technology is good and I am enthusiastic about many of the advances in recent years.

Using Community Forums

Have you ever encountered a problem that seems unsolvable? Do you feel alone facing a problem? Fortunately you are not alone. There are many forums available on the web and frequently you can find answers to your most vexing problems.

I ran into a problem with an anti-virus system I had recently added to our network that caused a crash in our backup system. I have been working on a solution for several days with customer support. Finally yesterday I went the the vendor's forum and posted a description of my problem. Within hours I received responses that pointed me in the right direction. I wrote back thanking them and told them I was making progress. They had a couple other suggestions that I followed, and now I feel confident that I can resume using that software and not have the problems.

The web is a wondrous tool. People who have experience problems are willing to share their solutions. You do have to be careful that the advice you are receiving is good, but when it is on a respected and well-followed web site, you know that if the suggestion will not work other followers will let you know.

And this is true not only about computers and software but many other things. I have used the internet to research things as diverse as proper pruning of trees to recipes for someone on a gluten free diet. So the next time you have a problem go online and ask for help. You might be pleasantly surprised at how easy the solution is.

Identifying Character

Over the last couple days I've had the pleasure of spending time with my 26-year-old nephew who is trying to break into the pro golf circuit. He came to Omaha to play in a qualifying match at Tiburon Golf Course, trying to earn a spot to play in the upcoming Cox Classic. Although he didn't play or score well enough to earn a spot this time, he knows what he has to work on and will continue on his quest.

What I personally learned from watching him play is that almost all of the golfers trying to qualify for the Cox Classic shoot the same scores. There will be the few that shoot very well and make it into the tournament and there will be the few who shoot horrible, but the majority of the golfers will be in the middle - not good enough to make the tournament but not the worst scores either. So these "middle" golfers need to work on some aspect of their game that will move them up and out of the middle.

I think the same is true with real estate companies. Essentially all the companies provide the same service, but if you want to be the company that people hire - you need to provide that one additional item - something that distinguishes you from the rest.

Landmark Group certainly does that! We work with all real estate categories, meaning that we not only deal with residential properties but commercial as well. And not only do we just sell real estate, we lease and manage properties. As part of a full-service real estate agency, Landmark employees are exposed to all aspects of the industry, not just one small area - we aren't called your intelligent real estate experts for nothing!

The 4 Hour Work Week Review

Off topic from real estate, but I thought I would write a very condensed review of a book I just completed titled "The 4 Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferriss. Can you actually work only four hours a week? Highly unlikely but you can take several steps to streamline your day. This is the basic premise of the book.

Everybody has strengths and weaknesses. But don't fix your weaknesses, let someone else handle these areas for you. If your focus is totally on your strengths, you will be far more productive. The author actually recommends that you not only create a "to do list" but also a "not to do list."

Common daily time wasters are meetings, irrelevant discussions, certain phone calls, unimportant emails and web surfing. (Does facebook ring a bell?) Just stop and think how much of your day is spent on all this. He also suggests you take a one week fast from specific time-wasters, which means:

• No newspapers or magazines
• No TV - not even one second
• No news websites

I know it may be a crazy thought, but this time could be spent with loved ones.

Other ways to be more productive is to determine your most important task first thing every day and complete it by 11 AM. This is usually an item that makes the most money. Many of us begin the day doing non-productive busy work, trying to convince ourselves we are doing something important. So true if you think about it.

If you need to eliminate your unimportant busy work, and don't we all, you can obviously hire someone cheaply or you can look into a virtual assistant. This idea has been gaining popularity. You can hire someone from all over the world for about $10/hour to do just about anything you can imagine in both your professional or personal life. You can find virtual assistants at elance.com, for example.

The book goes into great detail how to only focus the important things in your day-to-day life. The bottom line: if you're doing something that can be done by someone earning minimum wage you're wasting your time. It also covers how you can make a living online and set it up to be totally automated. I highly recommend this book. You can find it anywhere and it's currently about $15 on Amazon.

New Website!

Our sister company, Dino's Storage, launched a new website this morning. Check it out! We out hope you like it!!

www.DinosStorage.com

Impending Doom

Wow! To be alive now is crazy! The last Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Atlantis, took off this morning. It appears it was too costly to keep going. It seems the Russian's approach of an overpriced guided cannon ball, which is a fraction of the price of a reusable space shuttle, is better. Why does the government have to have all these programs? Why do we even have debt?

I was riding in rural Washington County this morning, and I was reminded of how cheap the real estate taxes are in Washington County vs. Douglas County. The reason is simple: there are few, if any, government programs to support.

I think our country is headed for the same fate as Spain and Greece. If we do not get spending under control we are going to be insolvent. Why cant we just have a simpler government? 1.7 million people work for the federal government, not including the military or post office. Is there something wrong with this picture?

Landmark Group's Maintanence Advantage

In the last few years the world, the economy and companies have undergone significant changes. The world has turned global and competition is everywhere; these new challenges have led to deep transformations in companies, affecting maintenance as well.

As a result of this transformation, maintenance has come to a position of enhanced and well-deserved importance due to its relation to the overall company’s competitiveness. I think nobody would argue the significance that the two key factors of Quality and Productivity have on a companies’ competitiveness.

However, in order to ensure this competitive advantage on a long-term basis, there is need of a third key factor: Reliability! If we are not reliable, we will not be able to sustain our achievements on a day-to-day basis or meet our goals and potential let alone keep our clients happy. Placing good employees is at the center of this issue, and because of this I would present the concept that Quality is not in the things people do, but in the people that do things.
Today’s maintenance man must be well versed in all trades and able to quickly adapt and learn new concepts and ways of enhancing their skill sets to meet the ever changing nature of service calls and the demands of clients as well as management.

Landmark Group is currently and always accepting applications for Quality people to add to our Maintenance Team . If you feel you are up the challenge , or know someone who is please come in to our office located at 2702 Douglas St. Omaha , Ne and apply in person. You may also see our ads on the Nebraska Workforce Development page or on Craigslist.

Isaiah 55:9

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9

Most nights I try to do a short Bible study with my kids and last night the Bible verse that came up was Isaiah 55:9. The context of the Bible study was that God has a plan for our lives and it is not always clear to us what this plan is as things are happening in our life.

I think a lot about this in the business world, especially in light of what has been going on in the economy in the last five years. On a regular basis, we see peoples' life savings vanish because of decreasing real estate values in Omaha. The take away from this verse is that we have no idea what God has planned for our lives. For example, read the story of Abraham Lincoln's life. When his fiance' died, Abraham Lincoln thought it was the end of the world as he knew it. Yet ten years later he was elected President of the United States. Think how this may relate to someone you know.

Change Can Be Good

On April 29th, Phil Abraham wrote an interesting blog about copper theft in Omaha. He mentioned a possible solution being the use of PEX piping but said there is resistance to it. He prefers PEX because there is no copper to be stolen and it is easy to work with. But current building code does not accept it. He also wonders if plumbers might oppose it because they see it is giving them less to do an maybe putting some of them out of work.

As I read his comments I thought about a situation that played out over 50 years ago in finishing walls and ceilings in buildings. My grandfather was a plasterer at the beginning of the 20th century. At least four of his sons also became plasterers, including my father who became a contractor with his own business. When he began his business, the lathers put up sheets of rock lath that may have been 18" x 36" (it has been so long ago I can't be sure of dimensions) and was 1/4" or 3/8" thick. Then plasterers put a heavy coat of "brown coat" on it and smoothed it out and then put a thin layer of "white coat" to finish it. In addition to the lathers and plasterers, he also employed laborers who moved the scaffolding in and out of rooms, mixed and delivered the plaster to the rooms, and cleaned up when everything was done.

My father was among the first, if not the first, to eliminate scaffolding by purchasing stilts for the plasterers. He also bought power mixers and pumps to pump the plaster onto walls rather than using a hawk and trowel. But in the late 1950s something called wallboard, or drywall, started making its appearance. Lathers did not like handling the 4' x 8' sheets and refused to work with it. It was thick enough that it did not need to be covered entirely like the small sheets in order to provide fire protection. Just the joints needed to be finished and then a spray texture over everything, so plasterers did not like it and refused to finish it. But the carpenters said they could put it on the walls. The painters said they could tape it an finish it.

By the time the 70s rolled around rock lath and plaster had become only a memory. Those who refused to change found themselves out of work. My father saw the change coming and learned the techniques of drywall finishing. He taught me the importance of accepting change.

I did some research on PEX and it will not replace copper on everything. It is degraded by light so it has to be stored carefully. But when properly handled it sounds like a worthy substitute for copper piping. So to everyone who says they do not like change I would say get over it. Change is inevitable. If you do not like the path change is taking, don't think you can stop it, but you can work to see that it it changes in a good way.

Copper was not always used in pipes. I grew up with lead pipes. Copper was better and safer, so plumbers changed what they used. They may have to change again. Plumbers concerned about their jobs cannot stop it, but they may be able to influence the changes so it works out to benefit everyone.

Change can be good. My father welcomed it and so do I. Some old ways are great and will remain. But cell phones, internet, planes and automobiles are just a few examples of change I would not want to give up. I do not know what next year holds, but bring it on.

Landmark Group

In two days I will be graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a double major in Business Management and Real Estate. I thought this day would never come!!! When I graduated from high school four years ago I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I did know two things though, I knew I wanted to go to UNO and that I wanted to be in the College of Business. What in the College of Business, I had absolutely no idea.

My entire life I have had an interest in real estate, so I decided to take a Real Estate Principle and Practices and I loved it! After that class I continued to take other real estate classes such as appraisal, investments, residential finance, and brokerage hoping to someday take my real estate agent or brokerage license exam.

Working at Landmark has continued to peak my interest in the real estate world by adding property management and owning rental properties to my list of things I might considering doing as get older. Starting next week I will be working full time at Landmark helping Dave with Real Estate Property Tax Appeals. Dave and I will be appealing property evaluations to the Douglas County Assessors office.

I never thought graduation day would ever come! I am nervous about going out in the ‘real world’, and finding out where I fit in the huge world of business. Working at Landmark has been a great learning experience!

Landmark Group's Quota Club

People often ask me why in the world do we do Quota Club. Since I got my Bachelors degree in Marketing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I have only had one other job. I was a high-tech sales guy for a company called Sun Data. This company has since changed its name and been sold. It is now called Presidio Network Solutions. This company supplied all the technology to medium and large firms across the country. All the sales people in the company had a goal of how much hardware we were to sell each year and if we met that goal we go to go on a company paid trip called "Quota Club".

Not very many companies have a Quota Club. Even fewer do it the way Landmark Group does. The difference for us is that we not only have Quota Club for all the sales people, but we also have a Quota Club for nearly everyone in the company.

Now for the fun part. We have done Quota Club for six years. We have gont to Mexico nearly every time. One year we went to Disney World. I am going to change where we go to Quota club to make it more of an epic adventure. We are going to do stuff that they write stories about. I am open to suggestions.