JL's Columbia SC Real Estate Blog: JL Boney, III Columbia, SC Real Estate (Russell and Jeffcoat)

We as real estate professionals have a wide variety of designations at our disposal. Anything from Graduates of the Realtor Institute, to Certified Residential Specialists, to Certified Green Home Specialists. Any of these designations can certainly prove that you have taken the time to go beyond the average training to receive greater education in your field.

 But there is now designation for integrity, and all the letters in the world following your name will be useless with out it. We as Realtors have a code of ethics and at the very least claim to hold ourselves to a higher standard of practice by becoming a Realtor rather than just an agent. But even the code of ethics itself can sometimes remain open for interpretation and doesn't ensure that even a Realtor is truly acting in the very best interests of their clients.

 There are no classes available that will teach you morality. There are no seminars that will show you how to do the right thing where your clients are concerned. This is simple though, you just have to remember the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Regardless of how you justify your stance on a given situation, every legally sane human on the planet knows the difference between right and wrong.

 You know when you are acting in the best interest of your clients to protect them and put them first. After working with you for a short period of time, they will know whether or not you are working for them or yourself as well. Always put your clients needs first. It's the best way to truly show them that they are receiving the representation that they deserve. You might not get letters next to your name for doing it, but you will get something just as important. Happy Client!

 In the battle of the Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady won the race. But these days I don't know how well the tortoise would do in the business of real estate.

 Consumers are demanding ever faster results and have become far too used to lighting fast answers right at their fingertips. While you can get a moment to catch your breath once and a while, when you have something that needs to be done, my advice is to get it done as quick as possible.

 When your clients make a request, make it happen as soon as you can. When someone makes an online inquiry, get them the information they want as soon as you can and follow up. Speed has become the name of the game when people want answers. And as much as I love the Internet and use it as a tool to my advantage, in all honesty it's only making things worse where required speed is concerned.

 You have to remember while in the process of helping your clients, that you are there to do just that. You are here to help. They are not here to make you your next commission, you are here to help them either sell or buy a home.

 I have seen far too many agents put their needs and wants above the needs of their clients. This is a fatal mistake for both the agent and the consumer involved in the situation. The second you put your own feelings above those of your client, you are no longer effectively representing them, in fact, you're not really representing them at all. You're representing yourself.

 Don't get me wrong, no one starts a business to lose money. We are all in this business in the hopes that we will make a living and hopefully a good living at that. How ever, your clients can't suffer for those aspirations.

 There will be situations where you may have to try and protect a client from themselves. For example when a seller wants to price their home above market value. It's your job to dispense the correct advice and tell them in what price range they can truly expect their house to sell. There can be any number of these same types of situations where have to do your best to pull your clients back in line with where they need to be in the process.

 However, there is no excuse for your client needing protection for you. You are here to provide protection, not to make it a necessity. The first rule of thumb in my opinion for any relationship is to get over yourself. If you think about yourself and only yourself, any relationship is doomed from the start, be it business or personal. You have to consider the fact that now every decision you make affects more than just yourself and you have to consider how it will affect the other person.

 So do your clients a favor, get over yourself.

 I don't know a single person that has started any business with failing as a large part of their plan. In fact, everyone who has ever started any business has planned the exact opposite. They have planned to succeed and most of them started out with the hopes that they and their business would be wildly successful.

 Unfortunately not all of them are and in the greater scheme of things you are more likely to fall flat on your face than you are to become the next great success story. However, if you fear laying it on the line and throwing all your chips on the table, then chances are you'll never see that wild success that you dream of. At some point you will have to truly take a leap of faith and stop holding back. You have to admire the all or nothing people that have no fear of throwing away the training wheels and running headfirst into the fight.

 Some of the most successful people I have ever known were also some of the largest risk takers I had ever met. In no way, shape, or form do I believe this was by coincidence. If you want to be successful in this life you have to be willing to take the risks that will help you get to where you want to be. Those who create great success usually only do so because they were willing to risk a great failure in the process.

 Not everything you try will work out for you, but chances are you will never know what would or would not work until you are willing to try. Yes, you could fall flat on your face, but you did that much more than you remember when you were learning to walk. You could fall flat, or you could achieve something great, but until you are willing to take the risk, you will never know. And isn't the curiosity killing you?

Lake Carolina in Columbia, SC

 To the left is the wonderful lake located in the center of the Lake Carolina community in Columbia, SC. Just off of Hardscrabble Road in Northeast Columbia, you'll find one of the Columbia areas most desired communities. With anything from starter homes to million dollar homes, Lake Carolina has something for everyone.

 Walking trails, a dog park, a wide variety of home styles, and well lite sidewalks await you in this beautiful development. A ton of community events, such as a weekly farmer's market in the Summer, a town center, oyster raosts, a triathlon, and many others also ensure an exciting time in your new home.

 So if you're looking for a new home in Columbia, SC then you will certainly want to take a close look at Lake Carolina and all it has to offer.