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Meet Charles Dine

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Dine.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Charles. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a United States Marine nearing military retirement, my wife Elizabeth and I brainstormed ways that we could continue in our spirit of service after leaving the military. After some consideration, we both arrived on Real Estate. It aligned with our investment philosophy, it would allow us to work together as a husband and wife team and it played to our strengths. I had been in charge of a recruiting station and had been extensively trained in sales and marketing. Elizabeth came from an accounting background and had a vast working knowledge of contracts as well as document review and negotiations. We valued the idea of guiding our clients through their transactions. To borrow a line from Dave Ramsey, “With the heart of a teacher.” We had no way of knowing how important this role would be until almost three years later.

Both of my parents were educators and I joined the Marines with the personal goal of completing my degree. As an airport fireman, I completed an A.A.S. in Fire Science Technologies and spent two years post retirement completing my upper-division classes to complete a B.A.S. in Emergency Management at Arizona State University. This in no way furthered my goal of becoming a Realtor, but I had a personal goal to complete; so I did.

While completing school, I took a management position at UPS. The early work hours complimented my school schedule well. Accepting a full time management position with UPS after graduation seemed like a good move, but despite the favorable pay and benefits, I still had the entrepreneurial bug. By late in that first full-time year at UPS I decided I would attend Arizona School of Real Estate and Business and obtain my Real Estate License. I didn’t want to be a half-timer showing houses on the weekends and “fitting my clients in” wherever I could around my work schedule. It was all or nothing so I decided to give UPS one more “Peak Season” and leave in the spring. By April I had made the crazy leap into a career with no salary, no guaranteed pay, no insurance, no benefits and no retirement; but I also realized there is a very low barrier to entry and unlimited income potential. I knew I had what it takes. Sometimes one just had but to believe it.

Most real estate agent’s initial successes come from friends and family in their first year. Elizabeth and I had retired to Phoenix from Japan so we had no personal sphere to draw on. We were all alone in an industry where over 90% of first time agents never renew their licenses and we didn’t even have a base to start from. Enter sheer determination. Our first year we completed four whopping deals, but we worked every day like we were doing 30. The thing about hard work is if you do it consistently, it pays off. This year, we have had 30 paydays and have doubled our annual business goal. Along the way we have learned just how special being a business owner is. We had the joy of paying quarterly and payroll taxes! We also gave back in a big way helping many first-time home buyers obtain the dream of home ownership. We have been free to help others when needed and have found that if you put lots of good into the world, you receive much in return.

The logical next steps would be to leverage through more team members and assistants to grow our business, but we feel it is also OK to say, “No, we are happy here.” If we grow a large team, we’ll lose our ability to be personally involved in our client’s transactions. This doesn’t stem from a limiting belief that no-one else can perform as we have; but rather, from a desire to limit the business burden on us. We sometimes enjoy saying, “Not today” and running off to lunch together. We couldn’t do that if team members were counting on us. This is the benefit of remaining small. We can be there when our clients need us, but we can also be there for each other.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The greatest challenge for any new real estate agent is knowing what activities to pursue that will grow your business. Many in our industry call them levers. These levers may be knocking on doors to introduce yourself to the neighborhood, they may be mail and marketing campaigns and they could be as simple as hosting events to draw people to you. Obvious challenges in your new business are having no marketing budget and everything that a marketing budget affects. This is where strategic partnerships such as lenders and title companies can be crucial for the new agent. These businesses are established and often willing to co-brand since the new agent will be doing the “leg-work”.

One has to be very careful of trying something, declaring that it doesn’t work and moving on to something else. Picture an oil well that hits little pieces of “pay dirt” and is about to strike a large deposit when the rig operator pulls the rig and moves on to another spot. Remember that I have already credited consistency for our success and that is a good lesson in any business. “DRILL DEEP”

Please tell us about your business.
CED Real Estate Team Mission: We help people satisfy their needs by our expertise in real estate through good communication to obtain a mutual and clear understanding to build new relationships and provide positive outcomes for our clients. We specialize in residential real estate, but we can also help with real estate investments, commercial real estate and land transactions through our Keller Williams partners. Keller Williams is #1 in real estate volume, units sold and agent count across North America. Being so large makes this company an incredible resource, but what makes it special is its value system. When we licensed, this is what drew us to KW. I obeyed our core beliefs of Honor, Courage and Commitment in the Marines, so I was immediately drawn to KW who’s belief system included the tenants of Win-Win (Or No Deal), Integrity (Do the right thing), Customers (Always Come First), Commitment (In All Things), Communication (Seek First to Understand), Creativity (Ideas Before Results), Teamwork (Together Everyone Achieves More), Trust (Starts With Honesty) and Success (Results Through People). None of the other brokerages professed this kind of belief system and that was important to us.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
This definition has changed throughout my life. As a football player, holding myself accountable for my assignments to secure the team win was a success. As a Marine, looking out for my fellow Marines (unselfishness) meant success; and now as a business owner and parent, encouraging my son to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit and raising him to be an independent thinker would constitute a success. All of these are still very important, but shifting glory from yourself to the success of others is what I believe guarantees success.

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