Archives of real estate blog entries for January 1, 2007 (Page 3)

Blog posts


In Search Of The Great Philly Hoagie - 04:15 PM
Call it what you may: Sub, Submarine sandwich, Italian Sandwich, Hero, Torpedo, Zeppelin or Grinder, there is something unique and special about the Philadelphia (or Philly) Hoagie.  Some of it has to do with the type and freshness of the bread, or with the quality of the meats and cheeses or the type and quality of the oil and condiments. But the properly assembled combination, while reproducible throughout the Delaware Valley, is difficult to obtain outside of the region.  The Hoagie, a form of the submarine sandwich (or sub), is unique to the Philadelphia / Delaware Valley area.  It generally consists of an elongated roll (called … (1 comments)

SMART Goal Setting For The New Year - 10:01 PM
This is a brief outline for setting SMART Goals for the New Year: Whatever goal(s) you decide to attain make sure you write it down and it contains ALL of the key indegrediants of the following "S.M.A.R.T." attributes, then you are well on you way to acheiving your goal: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Achieveable, Attainable, Action-Oriented, Agreement (of those around you), Accountable (to others) R = Realistic, Reliable, Rewarding, Results-Oriented T = Time-Bound (Time-Constrained, Time-Limit), Time-Phased, Timely, Tangible. (Regarding "time-bound": A goal without specific target dates is just wishful thinking.) If your WRITTEN goal meets all 5 … (1 comments)

Employer Assisted Housing - 11:42 AM
Is anyone out there working with employer assisted housing programs? I was very impressed with the class I took in New Orleans at the convention and am starting to develop a project here with some other agents in my office. It is a great way to assiwst people with home buying and it is certainly a win-win for employers. Just curious to hear from anyone who is actively pursuing the niche. it is an automatic referral generator at the same time it would seem to me. … (0 comments)

Solar Powered Vineyards - 12:13 PM
I don't drink alcohol, but for those of you who do I would like to recommend wines from Stoller Vineyards in Dayton, Oregon. The vineyards technology uses renewable resources to make their wine. More than 50% of the land outside the buildings was restored with a native meadow mix. After two years the native plantings will need no irrigation. The facility is the first in the nation to be certified LEED Gold.
The structure is 24000 square feet with a south facing roof that supports a photovoltaic array. The array produces 40,000 KW and 70% of the winery's electrical needs. The combination … (0 comments)

Jokes about the War in Iraq - 03:31 AM
I know the war is no joke, but it may end soon, so I better discard all my old jokes.  It may not relate to real estate now, but after the war the land will be way cheap in the Middle East, don't you think?
An American soldier conducts a questioning session in Iraq: 
-          Name?
-          Abu Dalah Sarafi
-          Sex?
-          Seven times per week...
-          No, no, no... man or woman?
-          Men, women, sometimes a camel...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One war, two versions...
One soldier asks the other: 
- Why did you volunteer to serve in Iraq?  
-          I'm single, said the other soldier, and I like war.  What … (1 comments)

Just arriving - 01:55 PM
Ready to be enlightened and to share some insights...
A little about me:
I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where I graduated from Rio de Janeiro State University, majoring in Mass Communication, with minors in Marketing, Publicity and Public Relations. I have been involved with sales, mostly related to real estate, since 1983.
I immigrated to the U.S. in 1986, with three toddlers along with my five-months pregnant wife, and we chose Weber County, Utah as our new home. For 11 years I was Vice President of Marketing for a food supplement company, selling exclusively to health professionals.
In 1997 I went … (1 comments)

Serving HAFB - 01:57 PM
Hill Air Force Base is right in my area.  Most of my clients are stationed here and it is great that we have a group to get the military in touch with realtors that can help them.  Success.
… (1 comments)

Blogging can be tricky - 02:04 PM
I love the concept but need some major help.  Call me and enlighten me.
Everything I learn about blogging I learned on my own, but there are some tricks I still don't know.  How to attract people to our blogs, how to motivate people to comment, how to find time to do it consistently, how to search what has been already written, and how to address things that are really important. 
I'm in learning mood, so take the time to guide me.
Thanks beforehand for your help.
… (0 comments)

Hello group - 06:13 PM
I'm ready to learn from you all and intend to contribute as needed.
A little about me:
I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where I graduated from Rio de Janeiro State University, majoring in Mass Communication, with minors in Marketing, Publicity and Public Relations. I have been involved with sales, mostly related to real estate, since 1983.
I immigrated to the U.S. in 1986, with three toddlers along with my five-months pregnant wife, and we chose Weber County, Utah as our new home. For 11 years I was Vice President of Marketing for a food supplement company, selling exclusively to health … (1 comments)

Anyone Want a Smoke. - 06:35 AM
Anyone Want a Smoke.
By John Rogers
El Paso TX Real Estate
Well it is finally here, 2007 has arrived. This many not be a good thing if you are a regular smoker in the state of Texas. Austin has voted to raise the state taxes on a package of cigarettes by $1.00. That means the total tax for a package of cigarettes is $1.41. That is a lot of money if you smoke every day. That is at least $365 more that you are going to have to dish out to keep up your habit. Its bad enough city's are having all sorts … (7 comments)

Loan officer doing bad things PART 2....... - 02:07 PM
How much can a mortgage loan officer LIE?????
No forthcoming truth in lending statement...... and NOW the drum roll please for the ending of this saga......
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I have been lied to about how much the client I have is qualified for by the PIRATE SHIP LOAN COMPANY I WAS DOING BUSINESS WITH.....obviously they were standing to make more of a commission at the higher loan amount, besides charging on the back end of the loan fees they did NOT want to disclose in the TIL form....
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Along comes Jason Price of Knightlines Mortgage...one of OUR very own AR members, has gave me a CORRECT … (6 comments)

50,000 points....yeeehawwww..... - 02:17 PM
I just saw I have passed the 50K points total...and this was just from bloggin and comenting...I have sent many many e-mails to others to join this wonderful network to no avail....
I have held the #38-39 spot in the network for a quite a while out of over 11,000 people I think that is not a bad piece of work.....
I am looking forward to many MORE great professionals to work with in the future....
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"A successful endeavor takes good leadership, wise counsel and careful planning" (proverbs)......
I feel I am on the right track......
 
 
… (13 comments)

Investor Problems Prevented - 08:01 AM
   I belong to a small investor mentor group. One of the people found a duplex to purchase that they thought was a great deal and it may be. The only problem was that they were going off mortgage payment numbers supplied by an unethical broker. He purchased the property for 345,000.00 income is 1800.00 per month. The motavating factor in this purchase was the ability to be qualified to make a monthly PITI payment of 1270.00. It looks great on paper but when I asked how did you get such a low payment I found out the numbers were run on … (0 comments)

My other blog - 11:31 AM
My blog is worth $37,259.64.
How much is your blog worth?

I have never written this kind of post before because it seems kind of self serving and I find blog posts about blogs pretty boring so I'll keep this brief.
Why would I ever want to sell my blog?  Where do they get these numbers from anyway?  Between selling ads and winning business I have gotten about $25,000 dollars in revenue because of my blog.  I know that number will go up because I have about 1.2 million dollars worth of transactions that I am working on with people that I have … (2 comments)

Five Reasons to Live in Southeast Georgia - 05:18 PM
I was asked to post the top five reasons to live in Southeast GA.  Hmmmm... I could easily say "Weather, Weather, Weather, Weather, and Weather", but since there are so many reasons other than weather, I won't do that.
Here's my Top 5 Reasons countdown:
 5.  We have a broad economic base consisting of industrial (Georgia Pacific, Hurcules, etc.); Professional (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, many banks, etc.); and resort activities.  All of these are supplemented by our tourist activity which brings millions of dollars into the area.  This multi-pronged economy allows us a cushion if there are problems with one specific sector.
4.  Our … (5 comments)

Clothes Make the Agent - 01:55 PM
We've been having a conversation on Real Talk about what agents wear when working with their clients.
And, as I've been doing this since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, I can remember when jeans were NOT allowed as they were considered unprofessional. Now, how did this happen? Some type of commission dispute and at the hearing it came out that the agent was wearing jeans. That agent lost...and the admonishment from the panel: Business people wear business clothes.
Well, that was then! Today, I've noticed "anything goes." I've seen agents in flip flops; cut-offs; dirty jeans; tee shirts with a cigarette pack rolled … (17 comments)

Housing Market trends do appear to be rising.... - 10:14 AM
Several months ago  Scott Daniels wrote about the "The Housing market slowly picking up" http://activerain.com/blogsview/23017/Housing-market-slowly-picking
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes edged up 0.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.28 million units, after a 0.5 percent rise in sales in October.
It marked the first back-to-back increases in sales of existing homes since the spring of 2005 and followed news Wednesday that sales of new homes rose 3.4 percent last month.
The better-than-expected showing for both new and existing home sales could be signaling that this year's severe slide in housing is starting to bottomed out.Again, … (0 comments)

My BCS Bowl Game Predictions - Let's hear yours. - 02:46 PM
Michigan Wolverines vs. Southern California Trojans
This could be argued as the best matchup of all the bowls.  Both teams were very close to playing for the National Championship.  Some say that they may be disappointed, but I disagree.  THIS IS THE ROSE BOWL FOR GOODNESS SAKE!  Michigan defense just too much for SC.
Michigan 24 - Southern Cal 17
  
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Boise State Broncos
Boise St. is making there first BCS appearance this year with an undefeated regular season while the Sooners are one bad call away from being in the National Championship talks.  I think a lot of people won't give … (14 comments)

Paper vs. Digital - 09:38 PM
Browsing through articles today of our local newspaper, The Courier Journal, I found an article Think Before You Delete.  The article discusses some new federal rules that will require businesses to come up with policies to maintain and keep track of electronic documents, including email.
The article made me think about (again) converting all my files from paper to digital.  Another agent in my office does this.  He scans all documents pertaining to a particulr deal into a file.  Once the deal closes, he burns the file onto a CD and destroys his own paper copies (the Broker keeps paper copies … (15 comments)

Get a Support Group - 11:11 PM
Some good blogs have been written lately that talk about relationships we have with our fellow agents in the office.  Randy Prothero talks about all the benefits of helping new agents.  I couldn't agree with him more.  I a firm believer of "what goes around comes around".  The help you give anyone will be returned somehow, some way.
In another blog, Kay Van Kampen talks about office competition and how it makes us better.  This blog got me thinking of my own office.  Obviously there is competition between all Realtors, but I truly believe my office really doesn't care that much.  We … (6 comments)

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