The Story Behind The Game: Why I Wrote Down the Rules

I didn't set out to write a book. I set out to keep a list.

It started years before real estate — small notes to myself after decisions that went well and, more often, decisions that didn't. I grew up in a small town in Texas where nothing was handed to anyone, and the path from there to here was not a straight line: a master's in economics earned in China, learning Mandarin the hard way, trading commodities in Chicago, running operations for an international company in San Jose, and eventually building a real estate practice on the Peninsula.

Every one of those chapters taught me something — usually by charging tuition first. The list grew. At some point I noticed the same handful of principles kept showing up, whether the decision was a commodity trade, a business negotiation, or a home purchase. That's when the list became The Game: The 10 Golden Rules.

What the rules are really about

I want to be honest about what this book is and isn't. It isn't a get-rich playbook, and it isn't my life story dressed up as advice. It's the shortest version I could write of what experience taught me about making decisions when the stakes are real:

• Know your numbers. Feelings are information; numbers are the decision.
• Lead with the truth. Especially when it costs you something today.
• Play the long game. Every shortcut has a price, and it compounds.
• Keep your word. Reputation is the only asset that appreciates in every market.

Those are four of the ten. The rest, you'll have to read.

Why I finally wrote it down

Two reasons.

The first is my clients. Buying, selling, or building real estate is one of the biggest financial decisions most people ever make, and I found myself repeating the same principles in living rooms across the Peninsula. Writing them down felt more useful than saying them one conversation at a time.

The second is where I come from. I was fortunate to have people early in my life who told me the truth and expected me to work. Not everyone gets that. If a kid from a small town — or a first-generation buyer, or a new agent, or anyone starting from scratch — picks this up and avoids one expensive mistake, the book did its job.

How the rules show up in my work

I don't think of the book as separate from my real estate practice. It is the practice. When I tell a seller their home is worth less than they hoped, that's leading with the truth. When I advise a buyer to walk away from a deal I'd earn a commission on, that's playing the long game. The rules aren't marketing. They're the standard I ask my clients to hold me to.

Get the book →

If you read it, I'd genuinely like to hear what landed and what didn't. That feedback makes the next edition better — and probably makes me better, too.

Payne Sharpley · Silicon Valley real estate with Intero | Forbes Global Properties · CA DRE #02195155.