Real Estate Professionalizm - 09:07 AM
In todays market with so many properties and so few Buyers I have a question? Why is it so hard to make appointments to see properties?
We all are trying to make business happen but there is a lot of agents who can't be bothered to answer calls for showings. It can take 24 hours for an agent to call back when setting up appointments. You would think that we are all in the same business and that we want to make our life and the life of fellow agents easier. When setting appointments we put a list of properties (That are paying … (6 comments)
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Title companies vs Real Estate Attorneys - 03:23 PM
I have used many Title companies over the years. To date I have had nothing but problems. Rude people, not trained people, eagar to get you off the phone but not eager to do the job. I have a list of bad Title companies and if a client offers on one of my listings and is thinking of using one of those companies it becomes part of the negotiating process. I am tired of being talked to as you are the Realtor OK will call you back. In ALL CASES if we don't follow up on a daily basis the deal … (2 comments)
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Active Recruitment - 05:02 PM
Holy Cannoli!
Since I've been on Active Rain, I've been contacted by close to 30 companies over the past week...Each one of them is trying to recruite me and offering incentives and packages to start working with their company. Each one has a "much better" offering than the next. I'm here to tell you that I'm very happy with MY Company and I really don't have an interest in yours. Has anyone else been contacted with such offers? I figure that each of us will start to get some interesting contacts throughout our Active Rain careers!
Scott GormleyBroker/OwnerOak Valley Mortgage2006 Chico Assoc. of … (6 comments)
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The Importance of Spell Check! - 05:22 PM
Over the years, I have seen some very funny and at the same time embarrassing listings in the newspaper and online. Mr. Baxter was one of my Freshman year college teachers and put a strong influence on both understanding the definitions of words as well as the correct spelling of them. I have found that over the years, many don't take the time to spell check their listings,ads, marketing tools,etc...I'm here to tell you that reflecting back on Mr. Baxter's teachings, "People can tell how you present yourself through language, both written and verbal." The dictionary is one of my top 3 … (16 comments)
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Humor of the Week - 05:40 PM
I stayed up one night, pondering what I could do to differentiate myself from the "rat pack". What is the rat pack? The rat pack is the group of companies, all in the same field, that try to gain the acceptance and business of someone or something. In this particular case, Realtors and agents on tour day. Afterall, there are several mortgage companies in our local market to choose from, so, "Why would an agent want to refer their business to me over the competition?" After staying up all night, I decided to "think outside the box" and take a different approach. … (8 comments)
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Labor Day Weekend - Slow For Real Estate In Your Area? - 01:02 PM
So, what is everyone doing this Labor Day weekend? Vacationing? Picnic in the park? Pool party at your house or a friends? Just hanging out with family and/or friends? Hiding in your house all weekend to get some rest?
It seems like no matter what you are doing this weekend, you WILL be doing something, right?
So how does your real estate business typically hold up over a big holiday weekend like this? Aside from maybe having a buyer to show a few homes to, etc. Does anyone really hold open houses or have a lot of buyers that actually want to spend the … (8 comments)
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Rest and Recuperation - 05:30 PM
Now a fun subject that I get to actually participate in this weekend. REST AND RECUPERATION. Tomorrow will be the offical first saturday of college football season!! Yes, I am a football junkie! My favorite college team is the Brigham Young University Cougars. They play the University of Arizona Wildcats, and I expect to watch a great game Saturday night. I also expect my wife to find some reason to be shopping or away from me while I'm watching the game!!
Reflecting on our business, it's a good thing when we take a break from time to time. Diversion is necessary if … (3 comments)
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Missed Fortune Summit - 05:35 PM
If your in the intermountain west or west coast, don't miss the Missed Fortune Summit!
I've been able to derive a number of idea's from these events. Doug Andrews team has brought together a number of great speakers and it looks like a blast. I'm bringing down a number of my associates with me to Octobers event. If anyone else is going let me know, the hotel is close to some great golf resorts as well.
… (2 comments)
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Inspection and followup - 01:14 PM
When purchasing a house an inspection is obviously one of the important steps especially if the financing is going FHA or a similar program. However some people, especially inexperienced first time home buyers, will take the sellers for their word and forgo a follow up to make sure what was said to be done was actually done.
This happened to me when I purchased my first house. The inspector came and found very little actually wrong with the house. Just minor things like the bathroom sinks had rust on the over flow drains and the furnace needed to be serviced. Also … (0 comments)
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Importance to getting a good agent - 02:09 PM
As you know when purchasing a new home it is very important to get a good agent especially if you are a first time home buyer. When I bought my first home with my ex-fiancé we got a horrible agent. Thankfully we got a really good loan officer.
We started off by getting preapproved then looking in the real estate magazines. We called on several homes but they seemed to be all sold by the time we saw them in the book. We left several messages but only one agent called us back so that is who we ended up going … (0 comments)
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When is the Best Time to Put Your Home on the Market? - 03:57 PM
I sometimes get asked this question, so I thought I would respond here.
Along with economic factors such as supply and demand, the time of year you choose to sell can impact both the length of time it takes to sell your home and its ultimate selling price.
Typically, the real estate market picks up around February, continues strong through late May and June, and tapers off during July and August. The summer is usually the busiest time for moving since school is out and buyers may be looking to get their children in school before the new school year. September … (2 comments)
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A blog a day will keep the doctor away - 03:08 PM
Hi everyone,
Have you ever feel so overwhelmed sometime it’s like your going to loose it. Well I have been feeling like that lately. Everyone commands my attention, my daughter, my husband, my clients etc. No one wants to hear latter, we will talk latter. I feel almost guilty sometimes. I told myself I was leaving the Navy to spend more time with my family but its seams I am depriving them even more. I tell myself its because I am still in the building stage with so much to learn and so little time to do it if I … (3 comments)
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I was a buyer never a seller - 07:26 PM
Hi everyone,
It’s always nice to learn things first hand. As you all know I am a Loan Officer not a realtor. Before coming out of the Navy I purchased a home earlier this year in April so I received first hand knowledge on just what a buyer’s agent do. I liked my realtor so much I referred her to my parents who subsequently purchased a home 4 house down from mine in Newport News VA.
My parents decided since I have made Virginia my permanent home they relocate there as well. They ask me what they should do … (8 comments)
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Town of Cary Road Expansion Update - 07:24 AM
As you know from the proliferation of orange barrels all around us, the Town of Cary and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) have several road projects under construction in our area. Here is a brief summary of these projects.
[A] Louis Stephens Drive from Heritage Pines to Morrisville Parkway Under construction. The Town's portion will be complete by end of August. However, a critical segment of the road within Heritage Pines will be completed by the developer. The Town expects Heritage Pines to finish construction on its portion in mid to late Summer 2007.
[B] Louis Stephens Drive between … (3 comments)
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West Regional Library Opens Its Doors on Sept. 16 - 07:26 AM
West Regional Library, 4000 Louis Stephens Drive in Cary, will pen its doors Saturday, September 16, immediately following an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
To celebrate the occasion, West Regional Library will host a day of fun-filled events and performances for all ages that start at 10:30 a.m. and run until 5 p.m. Located near the intersections of Highway 55 and Morrisville Carpenter Road, the 30,000-square-foot public library will be the second largest in the county. West Regional Library will provide much-needed services to the rapidly expanding western half of Wake County by serving the Cary, Morrisville and Apex communities. The library will … (2 comments)
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Online Transaction Management Programs - 07:01 AM
There is a growing trend in using online transaction management programs. But are the programs worth the investment? Sure. However, the program selected is only as good as its users.
Some agents equate price with quality, other equate quality with ease of use. As a transaction coordinator, I prefer to place value on the ease of use and security of information. If your buyers and sellers are stumped with the program and find logging in a chore, it might not be worth it. If your clients, are constantly calling because they are having difficulties uploading or download documents, posting messages/notes, or are … (4 comments)
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Sharing your Outlook with other users - 02:39 PM
Once again, another company’s invention to create a way to share your Outlook folders with another person on the other side of the world has made my life easier. I found Shared O several years ago while debating between having a client use an online server or backup and send files via email. Either way, both process was a royal pain and required too much work. It has been close the 3 years and we are still on track.
Shared O allows you to share one or several email, tasks, calendar, and contact folders in a flash. The process is so … (3 comments)
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Do designations mean anything to the consumer? - 04:42 PM
Over the past four or five months I have polled my clients and had the agents in my office ask the same questions. Which were Do designations behind a Realtors name mean anything to you? Question two: Do you know what GRI, ABR and so forth mean?
Surprisely although this was conducted on a small sample (85) I am beginning to see a real trend. A trend which basically says that the designations mean nothing to the public except that "Realtor has taken some class". Ultimately it seems that personality, appearance and market knowledge mean more than athe designation as far as … (19 comments)
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Active Rain Origins - 08:14 AM
Could someone point me in the direction of learning the origins of this wonderful site? … (3 comments)
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Need honest opinion on my website!!! - 08:30 PM
Good evening everyone!
I am new to AR and also quite new to Real Estate, but plan to be here for a long time. So I had to do everything that every new Realtor has to do-ADVERTISE! So, I've created my website and even working on translating it in Russian since it's my native language.
I have a huge favor to ask you guys. Can you please look through my website and give me an absolutely honest opinion on what do you think. I have some bells and whistles there and some people like it and some don't. So please tell me … (6 comments)
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