Deals fall apart. Buyers change their mind and back out based on a 65-page Inspection Report. Appraisals come in low. Sellers won't budge. Lenders drag their feet. 

Good producers know that the more deals you put into the pipeline, the more problems you are going to have to solve. It just comes with the territory.

The income earned from the ability to put deals together will almost always be on the same level as the ability to keep deals together and put deals back together. In other words, to solve problems.

And yet, there are some who want to earn more income but they don't want to have any more problems. It's a well-known contradiction, like risk and opportunity always seeking equal levels. No such thing as high reward with low risk. And no such thing as big production with no problems.

If you want to grow your income, you also have to increase your problem-solving capacity, because unless your problem solving capacity grows up to the income level you want, your income will shrink back down to the level of your problem solving capacity.

Here are three solutions if you find yourself swamped by problems:

1.     Become a problem preventer with systems and checklists. Smart, smoothly functioning systems prevent problems. They make sure deadlines don't go by without action. They make sure balls don't get dropped and details don't fall through the cracks. The good news is that most real estate systems have already been figured out by people who learn from mistakes.

2.     Create a communication chain for every transaction and include the co-broke agent, both brokers, buyer and seller, lender, title, appraiser, inspector and both attorneys. When progress is made toward closing, send a good news report to everyone. When there is a hiccup, let everybody know and ask for solutions. Because when it is ENTIRELY up to you to solve every problem on every transaction, it can start to feel hopeless.

3.     Change your attitude toward problems by reframing their meaning. If it's true that more production means more problems, when you have problems it must mean you have production. Lots of real estate agents don't have either. Be grateful. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

By the way, if production is your problem, explore our Programs for quick, simple, safe and affordable solutions!