Rich Sweum's Blog

Richard Sweum: The Sweet Fear of Success! As a consultant and as a sales professional, time and time again I have had the opportunity to watch people get in their own way.  Many times, the biggest obstacle to success that I see people experiencing is their own selves. Whether it is self destructi...

Richard Sweum : Personnel Transitions are Great Opportunities! The employee walks in and closes the door behind time, "I have something to tell you..." and proceeds to inform you that they are giving their two week notice.  Years ago, my initial reaction was panic!  Now my initial emotional react...

Richard Sweum : “Would you like customer service with that?” The waitress asked with a smile, “Would you like customer service with that?  I only costs an additional 10%”  I thought for a moment, then replied, “Well, that sounds like a bargain, let’s do it!”  At the end of the meal I laid my cred...

Richard Sweum : The LIST… There are all kinds of lists…one list that we all seek to avoid being on is the $#it list—henceforth referred to as “the LIST”.  Being on the LIST means that you don’t get a return call, or email, or text no matter how desperate the situation, how eminent the danger, no ...

Richard Sweum : Do rising economic tides really lift all boats? The meaning of the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats” was a mystery to me until I saw the exception to the axiom.  Across the mortgage industry, professionals have seen their volume and number of transactions rise compared to las...

Richard Sweum :  December can be a powerful time to buy real estate.   The decorations are up, darkness falls earlier, no one is thinking about buying a home in the middle of the holiday season, right?  But, sellers need to sell.  They were hoping that they would have been in contract back in Oct...

Richard Sweum : Business planning-- what is in the cards for 2013. Ben Franklin wrote “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And while that is true, there are a few more things that we can be certain of as we make our action plans for 2013 for those of us in th...

Richard Sweum : Resistance to Change, a Fact or Two About Stability. Everyone has a different appetite and capacity for change and gravitation toward stability.  Too much change all at once tends to put people in a defensive and reactive posture which ultimately makes them less productive.  Viz… ...

Richard Sweum : QM Rule, Acceptable DTI Ratios and Basel III. Sooner or later, the QM (qualified mortgage) rule that has so many in the real estate industry nervous, is going to make its way to Main Street.  Sooner or later…buyers that were qualified for a $200,000 purchase under the lending stan...

Richard Sweum : Five essentials to a functional business plan. In a previous post, I covered the relationship between business planning and failure and success.  I’m sure that anyone could come up with any number of essential elements of a business plan but I would like to focus on five elements ...