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© 2013 Catherine Hall Unlimited, Inc. All Rights Reserved Vol 18 June
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The Fastest Way to Success for an FHA Consultant
www.203kinabox.com - 877-869-4440

Greetings, everyone!

I hope you all are having a fantastic summer! 

Our weekly coaching webinars are packed with information on how to become the BEST 203k consultant in the industry! It's just one of the many benefits to being a member of the 203k In A Box program. For a limited time, we're offering free access to one of our monthly webinars. Use the link below to register!

To your success, 
Catherine Hall, your mentor and
the "203k Queen"


July 2013

Newsletter


Inside the "Box"

 

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Day of Discovery 2.0 in Denver, CO!
Copies of the event will soon be available. 
I'm going to be there...will you?

203k In A Box is giving away two free tickets to this years COA Inspection Conference in Las Vegas. To enter to win the drawing, write in 25 words or less why membership in a 203k In A Box Power Team gives you an edge over your competition. The best two entries received by July 20th will win!

Art of Communication


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Usually this first article of the newsletter is devoted to some issue related to the practice of 203k consulting, however, as a result of the number of private coaching calls I have received recently, I felt it important to pick up the second installment of the Art of Communication series that was started in May.

In the first part of the series, a list of four of the seven basic elements of communication was discussed. In this installment, I want to complete the list as well as relate them to the role of a 203k consultant.

I think the most important element of the role of the 203k consultant is to be an extremely clear and accurate communicator. You will find that many clients (and their real estate agents) don’t really hear much of what you tell them at the initial consultation– especially the things they don’t want to hear. As was listed in the first part of the article, the 3rd basic component of communication is NOISE. For our purposes, noise can and does refer to the distractions and misinformation that your client has or is receiving from other parties involved in the transaction. For that reason, it is important to back up what you say in writing. On a recent coaching call, I shared how I add an informational letter to the front of the feasibility report. This is a great tool to ensure everyone understands the steps and information you are giving them. For a sample of a cover letter that I used in a recent report, refer to the Feasibility Report in this month’s Success Supplies CD.

Now on to the next installment regarding “The Art of Communication”:

1.    Feedback. Both the sender and receiver constantly elicit verbal and nonverbal feedback to the other person.
2.    Replication. The duplication of understanding in one person that is in the mind of another person. Replication is an approximate goal and philosophically not perfectly possible, though desired.
3.    Understanding. An approximation of what the message means to the sender by the receiver.

Excellent communication is the ability to transmit a message by the sender to a receiver and have that message replicated in the receiver's mind. Excellent communication is the ability to receive a transmitted message by the sender and have the receiver be able to replicate the form and intent of the message in the receiver's mind. If the receiver is uncertain about some aspect of a communication, it is the responsibility of the receiver to clarify the communication through the artful use of questions. The transmitting communicator also accepts the responsibility for the result of a communication. This means the transmitter must be certain to code a communication so it is received in a manner that is understandable to the receiver.

All of this is of no consequence if a person is uncomfortable in the communication process to begin with.

Do you ever feel uncomfortable communicating with people in a "one on one" setting? If so, you will benefit from the following exercises that are designed to help ease discomfort in one on one situations. Please ask a friend to help you. Also consider recording the exercise. Listening to ourselves talk is very revealing. It helps us pin-point faulty language or issues with our diction that need correction.

INTRODUCTORY INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION EXERCISES

Silence
Sit across from your partner at a distance of 18-48 inches. For two minutes you must both sit in silence. You must look at your partner for the entire two-minute period. You succeed in this exercise if you are able to keep your eyes on your partner for the entire two minutes. It is not important if your partner maintains eye contact with you. It is only important that you look the entire two minutes at the other person's face or eyes without moving your glance to anything else.

When you have your partner’s approval for completing this exercise you may move to the closure exercise below.

Closure
Sit across from your partner at a distance of 18-48 inches. You will ask your partner to look at various objects or locations in the room until you have asked your partner to look at a total of 20 objects. After your partner looks at each of these objects, you will say, "thank you." Once your partner has looked at twenty objects, your partner will tell you that you have successfully accomplished this exercise designed to teach you to close cycles of communication.

With your partner's approval you may move to the next exercise.

Instigation Deflection
Sit across from your partner at a distance of 18-48 inches. In this exercise, you will sit and listen to your partner attempt to harm you emotionally with his words. He has two minutes to go on a verbal rampage against you. He can say anything he wants, using any tone of voice he wants. His objective is to get you to argue or disagree with him. You successfully accomplish this exercise if you remain silent during the entire two-minute time period and maintain eye or face contact without looking away. If you laugh or talk, you must start over. At the end of the two minutes, thank your partner and make sure he knows that this was your exercise and that you know what he said was designed by you, to help you. He meant no harm. You asked him to do this exercise to help you deflect the verbal abuses of others.

With your partner's approval you may move on to the final exercise to help you in confrontational communications.

Answer my question
Sit between 18 and 48 inches across from your partner. Ask them a specific question.

  • “Do dogs meow?”

You are going to say, "thank you," when your partner answers you with "no." However, the partner can choose not to respond, change the subject or ask you the question back instead of answering your question with a no. Your partner may do this four times for each of these four questions. He must give you a straight "no" answer on or before the fifth time you ask, "do dogs meow."

You succeed if you only say, "Do dogs meow?" after each nonresponsive answer and when you say "thank you" to the correct answer to the question.

The other three questions are these:

  • "Are mailmen all women?"
  • "Do birds eat sharks?"
  • “Can you walk on water?”

The correct answer to all the questions is "no," and you must eventually elicit a no response from your partner. You may only use the words in the original question. This is how you succeed.

No time limit is necessary, but each question should take no more than two minutes.

The purpose of this exercise is to teach you to remain focused on the goal of your communication and your ability to ask the same question after it has been ignored or a new direction has been taken by your partner.

When these exercises are completed, have your partner express his or her true feelings about you, to you. If anything he said still has you upset, make certain you discuss this now with your partner.

These exercises teach you to communicate and maintain your composure easily and effectively in difficult situations. Having mastered these difficult exercises you will be ready to move toward the macro level of interpersonal communication.

In the next installment, I will discuss a communication technique that is really important to a 203k consultant– Outcome Based Thinking. Be sure to remember that like any art or skill, practice is necessary to achieve lasting success.

Success Supplies Section


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Well, the dog days of summer are here and everyone is sweating to get all the inspections completed that are coming in. Where are they coming from? I am not going to ask- I don't look a gift horse in the mouth! But I will ask you this question- are you taking advantage of all the new agents and clients you are meeting to introduce the world of FHA 203k renovation home buying? Maybe not for the home that you are inspecting but maybe they know a friend or family member (or the agent has another buyer with very particular needs). You never know who needs your services unless you tell everyone what you can do for them. Are you using the Success Supplies fliers you receive each month? An email went out the end of June with a link that will give you 200 free black and white copies or 50 color copies using the online printing service that has been such a great addition to my business– BestValueCopy. Look for the email or send us a request and we will send you the link again. 

Are you letting agents and loan officers know you are available to conduct educational training sessions? Maybe they are too busy to have a session this month or next– but the fall and winter will be here sooner than you know it and it would be a great boost to your business if you have already set up 4, 5 or dare I say 6 appointments for the fall before everyone else starts trying to book the dates. Remember, there are 8 PowerPoint presentations that you can customize and give– that means 8 months of different educational classes all focusing on you as the Residential Building Consultant EXPERT! 

Wow! Did we have a great time at the 203k Day of Discovery Denver last months at Academy Mortgage. Thank you so much to Mike Wilcox and his entire staff who were such gracious hosts.I really enjoyed getting to put faces to the names of many of you.

A special welcome to our new members who joined us during and following this event. 

And lest I forget—congratulations to our newest 203k In A Box Certified and FHA Approved consultants:
Tom Kruger
Don Matthews 
Marc Shanley
Did I forget anyone since last month? If so, I apologize. All of you are wonderful- outstanding building consultants and I am honored to be associated with each and every one of you!

Stay cool!
Sincerely,
P.S. Please ONLY email me at 203kpowerteams@gmail.com. Even if you receive email FROM me at info@203kinabox.com, I don't check that inbox daily the way I do 203kpowerteams@gmail.com.
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Jessa's Corner


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The Certified 203k In A Box Consultants Roster is officially public! Share the page with your contacts!

The summer is a crazy time in my household, and I'm sure the same can be said about yours! If you can't find the time to join us for our coaching webinars on Thursday evenings, don't worry! I will post the webinar on the Power Teams page shortly after the call.  

Some of you have been asking me what the steps are to become a Certified 203k In A Box Consultant.

Here are the basic steps: 
1. Read the training manual.
2. Create or revise/update your resume (should resemble the sample resume provided to you)
3. Create a narrative of skills (should resemble the sample provided to you)
4. Complete and pass the knowledge assessment test
5. And last but not least, send me an email once you get certified!

Here is a link to the detailed instructions on the FHA 203k Certification Package Contents

Please let me know of any questions, comments or concerns you have at any time by clicking the email box below! Have a great month!
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It's Getting Hot in Here!


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Ask me how many 203k projects I have completed since April– go ahead, ask me. The answer is 15! They are coming hot and heavy and every one of them seems to need a contractor. In this month’s mailing, I have included the video from a recent feasibility report. I have also provided the printed feasibility report and contractor bid package. On the Success Supplies CD, I have given you all the files– the completed bids, the final work write up package—EVERYTHING. You can see from start to finish and step-by-step all the files and documents that go into a typical 203k project. A special thanks to Kathy Weiner of Hill Country Inspections who held the camera steady for almost two hours. The video is raw, but it should be very useful. ENJOY!

The 10 Things Successful People Live By Before They Make It


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In last month’s newsletter, I shared the first of the 10 things that separate successful people from those who are only getting through the day. Sometimes I admit, I am one of those people who take their eye off the ball and slip into unproductive behaviors. For that reason, and as a request from many of you, I have compiled this list from resources like “Think and Grow Rich”, “The Success Principal” and “The Power of Habits”- books that were on my reading list this year.

Let’s continue with the remaining 5 power secrets.

6. Wavering, yet unbreakable faith. We all have moments of doubt. Even the best of us question if our dream is going to come true. The one thing that separates the truly successful from those who never reach their true potential is an unbreakable faith in the fact that what they’re doing is right. Even if they have moments of doubt, they’re soon quelled, where other’s listen to that doubt and let it eat them up and finally they quit. Have your moments of doubt. You’re human. Just don’t let that doubt eat you up. Instead let it motivate you to prove your optimism right.

7. A reason. Many of the greatest accomplishments in the world were accomplished by insecure men and women, people who had something to prove to others. A desire to elevate their status and create change that was so strong, that failure is simply never an option.

Abraham Lincoln‘s reason(s) had to do a lot with his view of himself in relation to how other’s viewed him. Where others saw a poor, illiterate boy, Lincoln saw someone capable of achieving more, even if he had to do it completely on his own. He also saw the need for change. A nation that preached freedom wasn’t free. He saw something fundamentally wrong with this and set out to change it. His why wasn’t about him. Which in turn made him one of history’s great men. Understand why. You have that reason to work when others sleep, to sacrifice a safe life for a risky one with no ceiling. Find it by asking why, and not stopping until you hit your core, emotional reason for wanting to change your status, or the status of others.

8. They persevered when others didn't.
How does the guy who quit on his dream know how long it would've taken him to become a success? He doesn't  None of us do. It could be tomorrow, or ten years from now. What separates a lot of the great people we read about in our history books from those we've never heard of is the fact that they never quit. Quitting was never an option. They only stopped when they reached their dream. And even then, they created a new mission. Take James J. Braddock, or even Nelson Mandela, for example. They didn't achieve their greatness or success early on in their careers or in life like some. They achieved it after surviving. They survived while others literally died, or quit. In their cases it wasn't just that they were the best, but they were the best because of what they endured. They were the last ones standing. We don’t know when our breakthrough will come. So don’t guarantee your failure by quitting. You can adapt, change, and evolve, but never, never, never quit.

9. Great people relentlessly studied their craft.
Tony Gwynn and Mike Tyson studied their craft as much as anyone. Gwynn spent hours upon hours studying opposing pitchers. He studied their patterns. He wasn’t the most athletic guy around, but he put his work in to be the best at what he did: hit baseballs. When people think of Tyson, they think of an animal, but what we fail to see is the student. No one studied boxing like Tyson did. Watched more film than anyone in the history of the sport. He was a student first, a fighter second. These great athletes studied film, but how can we perfect our craft? Using myself as an example; much of my job has to do with writing, and obviously fitness. So, I study those two things. I read books about how to become a better writer, ways to connect with the reader, and I simply read great books written by authors who are much better at writing than I am. If you’re in sales, read and study sales. If you’re a marketer, then do the same with marketing. Being a drone that simply goes through the motions is no way to achieve greatness. Assuming success is something you want, you have to study your craft, whatever it may be. Learn it inside and out. Build a wealth of knowledge. It’ll help you create great, inspiring, and unique work.

10. Risk. No risk, no reward. Yes it’s an over-used, cliché of a phrase. But it’s true. Those who have achieved real success have often risked the most to get there.

There have been billions of people throughout history who have had the ability to achieve greatness, whether it was the talent or smarts, they had it. What they didn’t have was the guts to risk the life that they were living. They also didn’t have the work ethic to see their talent realized. 

The greatest tragedy in life is wasted talent A Bronx Tale 

Your big, audacious dream might be to marry the girl of your dreams and have a family with her. Your risk might be to leave the career that you love in order to support her and your family. Your dream might be to help millions live longer, healthier lives. Whatever your dream is, give it enough of a chance to be realized. Risk if you truly want to see the reward. Find your dream.

Then risk everything to get it. 

What's Inside?

"I know I am doing great things because those around me are too!"
-Catherine Hall
Have a question for the 203k Queen? Schedule a private call now!
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Quotes for your Success


"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.“
-Mark Twain
 
“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”
-Tommy Lasorda
 
“Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you’re going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus.”
-Oprah

 
It has recently come to my attention that one of the charities that I support does not truly benefit the intended recipients. This was sad to learn but also very enlightening for me. As a result, I have found there are several excellent organizations that oversee and report on the effectiveness of charitable organizations. From now on, before I donate or recommend a charity, I will research them using this site: http://www.charitywatch.org/
 

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