S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

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Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the October 1972 issue of the Real Estate News Observer.

Are you one of the Fervent Few? And who, you may ask, are the Fervent Few? They’re that group of people, or perhaps we should more specifically say real estate licensees, who look around and see a group of outstanding people in the real estate field doing extremely well.

The latter group is called the Exchangors. The Fervent Few look at the exchange people with a great deal of envy. They think to themselves, That’s for me. That’s the field I want to get into. I would like to be a counselor; dress in a white shirt, tie, and suit; and sit in my office—waiting for clients to come to me while I appear intelligent and explain and demonstrate how to better their positions in real estate.

But alas, the Fervent Few find that there are prerequisites to exchanging and counseling. They find that special education is needed, so they start attending courses. They ask around and
find that Richard R. Reno’s class is one of the first that they should take. So they take Mr. Reno’s class, then C. Charles Chatham’s class, and then Robert W. Steele’s class. Next, they return to their home regions and start attending exchange meetings.

When asked to participate, they say, “I’m here just to learn. I only would like to listen in.”
And of course, the Exchangors, always wanting more people with whom to work, say, “Fine, we would like to have you sit in and listen to what we are doing.”

Listen is all “Fervent Feldon” ever does! After several months of this, Fervent Feldon feels he must need more education because he is not making any transactions. Far be it from him to realize that he needs to do counseling, make his package, write offers, and do a little work. It completely escapes him that Exchangors need backup material and packages.

So what does he do? Fervent Feldon attends Bill Broadbent’s class, George Hoover’s class, and Marv Starr’s class. He again returns full of fervor and ready to do business. He goes back to the Exchange meeting. Again, he’s without a package, without a client, not writing offers. He sits and wonders, Why, oh why, can’t I do any business?

Are you one of these Fervent Few? Are you a Fervent Feldon? Look back and see what is behind you. Do you put what you learn at educational seminars to work? Do you, when you arrive home, jump in and try out what you have learned rather than sit back, hoping for others’ success to rub off on you? Take a good look at yourself.

In the seven years that I have been an Exchangor, I have found many, many of the Fervent Few attending meetings, never bringing a package, never making even a mini-offer, finally staying away because they don’t do business.

There are certain basic steps that must be taken to become a successful Exchangor. By all means, you need an education, but education alone will not do it. More than education, you need to work hard, grasp what you have learned, and apply it. You cannot learn exchanging by watching someone else or by merely being told by someone else.

Exchanging is like swimming: you have to get into the water before you can learn to swim. You must thrash around a good deal and perhaps go under two or three times, but once you get a knack for it, there is a thrill from it that will change your life. It will make you one of the “Successful Exchangors.”

See whether you can’t change from being a “Fervent Feldon” to being a “Successful Sam, Exchangor.”