Archives of real estate blog entries for November 12, 2007

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What Are You Going To Do When They Come For You? - 04:23 PM
Land Trusts by Bill Roberts
The LAND TRUST is a venerable estate planning tool and a tremendous privacy shield.
It was developed in England hundreds of years ago and was brought to this country by Chicago Land Title and Trust in the 1890s.
The primary purpose of a LAND TRUST is to provide anonymity in the ownership of real estate. Privacy and anonymity are getting more difficult in this modern technological age. People have learned how to "snoop" on the Internet.
The DEED to your property is probably recorded with the County Recorder. I say probably because a deed does not have to be recorded … (33 comments)

Starting over in a new state...my story Part 1: Getting your license - 05:00 PM

 
 
I remember my first day of real estate licensing classes.  They were held in the basement of our Charlotte Regional Real Estate office.  The class was full and it was quite an eclectic group.  Only two of us were already Realtors from another state.  I looked at my "Modern Real Estate Practice; North Carolina" textbook with a combination of fear and reluctance.
I kept thinking to myself, "but I have been a Realtor since 1991, I have my CRS, GRI, SRES and spent the last five years training new agents".  Guess what, North Carolina only reciprocates with 7 states and California is … (52 comments)

What Can We All Learn From the Restaurant Business? - 01:21 PM
 We took the kids to a restaurant today for lunch after church, and although this particular place has been a mainstay for the Crouch family for awhile and my wife was excited about going there, today's experience was lackluster at best.  I will probably devote an entire post to this later in the week and I will name it then, but the subject of this post might make it distracting.  Suffice it to say that there were a couple of things that came up both during our meal and as a result of our conversation that made me think of writing this post.  I … (92 comments)

Slow Down! - 01:29 PM
Have you ever had one of those life moments where you had to say to yourself, "Slow Down!"
We can all get so preoccupied with life that we forget to live it, enjoy it, and cherish those things that really make life worth while in the first place.
Sometime, and I would recommend us all do this, we need to turn off our cell phones, computers, pagers, and anything else attached to business and work and just escape, refocus, recharge, rebuild, and get rejuvinated.
I found this song on accident (if you believe in accidents) and some of the lyrics really hit home for me. … (55 comments)

ActiveRain Systems Update - Nov. 12th - 10:13 PM
Hi everyone - Many of you might've noticed the ActiveRain outage tonight (Nov. 12th). We fervently called everyone to get our systems in check only to find out the entire data center, where our servers are located, blew a transformer and suffered a complete outage. Apparently there was an accident outside of the datacenter killing the power and cooling systems for the data center... We want to apologize for this and want to let the community know that we did our best even with hands tied. That said, we will be following up with our data center folks in a "post-mortem" … (79 comments)

Used to Bees - 04:24 PM
Used to bee's........ Don't make any Honey.
We have a concept of how things should go, then life happens and it all changes. 
With markets different than they use to be it is an opportunity to ask ourselves some questions and remember that those who adapt, those who create thrive!  Remember that the unexamined life is not worth living.
What do we need to do in conflict? Exchange information, different answers give us different options. 
When this market has passed we will be able to add it to our resume's as having worked through it. 
Ask yourself the following questions,  
•1.)    Am I … (15 comments)

Have you had sellers pretending to be buyers? - 01:08 PM
Today I met the nicest young buyers.....so I thought.
I gave them a tour of my listing...asking key questions as we viewed the property.  They were really nice and very young....but already established in their careers.  I had fun with them and we chatted about financing options.
They seemed to be more interested in my marketing methods....I said they work....you came....just then another couple came and I told them I would be right back after greeting the new prospects.
I started the new prospects on their tour and excused myself and went back to the young buyers.  I asked how they found out about … (88 comments)

Imagine - Bidding Against Each Other for Business - 04:26 PM
 
I received a phone call this morning from yet another vendor who is in the business of referring leads.  He went on to explain how they are working with Google, Yahoo, Overture, etc...  through a reciprocal advertising arrangement. 
 
Their service refers clients to Realtors for a 19% referral fee.  Sounds pretty good so far, doesn't it?  They keep 3.5% of the fee and reimburse 15.5% to the client  Doesn't sound so terrible yet, does it?  I actually continued talking to him for a while (I usually hang up on them).  The service is new, has only been around for … (91 comments)

What does a successful real estate professional look like? **see update language at bottom** - 06:51 PM
It's always been bothersome to me that some agents equate real estate success solely with real estate sales volume. Before you get all mad at me, I would agree that it is a measure of success just not the only measure of success.
The real estate industry perpetuates this practice by handing out awards and plaques every year for sales volume. Of course, we all know that there is an award for just about every level of production so really does it mean anything at all? Woo hoo! I got another plaque! I'm really successful!
I recently got an email from a client that contained this blurb … (59 comments)


Blog posts


LOL Localism - 08:40 AM
 ?  … (1 comments)

Blog blockers - 04:18 PM
I am officially declaring that Dixie Chicks music is a blog killer. It is technically impossible to write cohesive thoughts while listening to the Dixie Chicks.
My favorite artists for good blog writing are:
Imogen Heap

Feist
Regina Spektor
Snow Patrol
Chris Tomlin
Dido
and some songs from Switchfoot

… (32 comments)

If your clients are always right, then you are a phony. - 05:53 PM
Bob taught me something over the weekend. He showed me that it is better to be genuine and truthful and possibly upset your customers, than it is to placate them when they are wrong.
On the surface, it is often much easier to give into a customers demands and "make it all better", than it is to stand up to them and tell them the truth.
But what do we lose, as professionals, by doing this?
Respect.
The era of where the customer wants to be right is in the past. People are tired of being sucked up to. They want … (38 comments)

Tour Grant Island This Thursday, November 15th - 08:05 AM
This is a great way to see the hidden paradise Brevard County has to offer. Grant Island is boat access only. You wil find island cottages on the north end and luxury homes on the south end of the island. This will be a fun filled morning for all. Lunch will be served.
Join Us!
… (0 comments)

NO FAQ'S!...I Want Your Opinion...Help Me Become A Better Real Estate Trainer! - 06:43 AM
One of the things I love about being a Real Estate Trainer is helping associates to be better.  While I strive for them to be the best as a trainer, my job really is about making people better. 
A better Real Estate Professional, a better webmaster a better business manager.  It's all about being better.

I love it when I take the time to teach someone how to do something for them to do it better than myself. 
I am a true trainer, I step back and watch it all unfold. 
There is so much I have gained from blogging on the rain...I … (20 comments)

Wisdom From My Dad...Whatever You Do Make It Count! - 10:18 PM

I spent my youth trying to be opposite of my mom and dad, I swear I thought they were the worst parents.  As you get older you realize they weren't so bad and then you realize you have many of their traits.  
My father, John Terwilliger inspires me everyday. 
I remember my first day of college, he wrote me a note on a piece of paper bag. Just thinking about it now, made me smile... it got me thinking about how special that moment was and how it made a big difference in my life.
I imagined that I was sleeping and … (19 comments)

Free Admission to the Public to the Seattle Children's Museum on 11/13/07 - 01:27 PM

Today's Seattle Times has an article about the Seattle Children's Museum having a party to aid an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda.  I have written before about The Seattle Children's Museum on my post More Pictures from the Seattle Children's Museum.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 13, 2007, they are offering free admission to the public from 6 - 9 p.m..  The are asking for a donation to support the Sanyu Babies Home.  You can read the article "Children's Museum party to aid orphanage."
"Nicole Donnelly, a former professional snowboarder, has visited the orphanage, an organization that cares for up to 40 babies and children. … (2 comments)

Search Engine Optimization Tool - 05:57 PM

Calie Waterhouse wrote a blog about search engine optimization and recommended using "Cool SEO Website - websitegrader.com."  I have spent many hours working on this so that I could get the best ranking that I could for my website. 
The other day, I was speaking with the folks that help me with my website and told them what I was trying to do to with that particular website.  He recommended that I go to "Adwords.google.com."  There is a place that you can look for key words in general and also you can put in your website address and the site will … (5 comments)

ActiveRain Systems Update - Nov. 12th - 10:13 PM
Hi everyone - Many of you might've noticed the ActiveRain outage tonight (Nov. 12th). We fervently called everyone to get our systems in check only to find out the entire data center, where our servers are located, blew a transformer and suffered a complete outage. Apparently there was an accident outside of the datacenter killing the power and cooling systems for the data center... We want to apologize for this and want to let the community know that we did our best even with hands tied. That said, we will be following up with our data center folks in a "post-mortem" … (79 comments)

Panama City Real Estate - Mortgage Newsletter Update - 08:07 AM
As we near the end of another year, it is important for us to maintain perspective on the Panama City Florida Mortgage market.
Linda's Mortgage Market update, helps consumers and investors maintain this perspective with:
Rates and Index InformationMarket CommentaryFreddie Mac Primary SurveyEasy to understand Graphs Economic SnapshotThe lastest issue of Linda's Mortgage Update has been published on my website for my visitors convenience.  The newsletter requires Adobe Reader which you can download for free. 
As a member of my team of experts, Linda brings many years of experience to the mortgage market for Panama City Beach Florida Real Estate.  She has helped many … (0 comments)

Jessie's tech talk... Desktop Publishing - From Panama City Florida Real Estate - 10:21 AM
Jennifer has asked me to continue posting with another tech talk installment.
I thought today I would focus on an often misunderstood and sometimes scary tool, Desktop Publishing.
First, let's discuss what Desktop Publishing is...
Basically, "desktop publishing" is commonly used to describe forms of advertising page layout and the skills associated with it. Whether the layout is for paper and books, or computer stored files that contain text, images and other visual elements such as photos all encompass desktop publishing. It is a way to incorporate text and graphics for items such as:
point of sale displayspromotional items such as property flyers and bannerstrade … (1 comments)

A SALUTE TO OUR HEROS - VETERANS' CAREER AND RESOURCE FAIR - NETWORKING WEBSITE - 09:19 AM
 
 HIRE A VETERAN TODAY!
  I was listening to several tributes to Veterans yesterday and I was saddened to learn that there are so many Veterans that are either unemployed or under-employed. 
   These men and women are highly trained professionals and the best way we can show our appreciation to those who have served our country is insure that we provide good paying jobs so that these Veterans can fully participate in the American Dream!
   Later in the day, as I was flipping through the channels, I came upon a very interesting interview with Dan Caulfield, an Internet Entrepreneur who has developed a national … (20 comments)

Why I am a Realtor...not a sales agent! - 05:10 PM
I am proud to be a Realtor.  Yes, a card-carrying, flag-waving, handshake-seeking Realtor.  I announce this fact to my friends, family, and yes, even total strangers.    
 I admit that being a Realtor is not a crowd-pleasing profession.  According to a Harris poll in 2006, Realtor's are the second least trusted professional.  Only 7% of those responding to the poll said that they trusted their Realtor completely.  Yikes! 
When I read that statistic I pondered on why it was so, and what could I do to be one of those trusted few.  This is what I came up with:
A Realtor is one who educates him/herself … (8 comments)

Calculating Credit: The Other Scoring Systems You Should Know About - 10:10 AM

You've heard by now of credit scores, the three-digit numbers lenders use to gauge your creditworthiness. Credit scores predict how likely you are to default on a credit account or loan; they're used to help set interest rates and terms.
What you may not know is that credit scores are just the start of the way financial institutions evaluate you, and they're not even the most commonly used scores - far from it.
While a credit card issuer might check your credit scores once a month as part of its regular account review process, the same company probably checks other kinds of scores … (3 comments)

Trend Report v 11.2 - 12:43 PM
Here it is, our second installment of the weekly Trend Report....
(Just click on the image below to open up the file.)
 And again, feel free to post or email us directly with any comments or suggestions.
Thanks!
… (1 comments)

Tucson vs Albuquerque; who's better? - 04:49 PM

Since the beginning of my real estate career I've had numerous clients that began their home search trying to decide between Tucson and Albuquerque. With similarities like population size, climate (although Albuquerque does see colder temperatures then Tucson) and cost of living, it's easy to see why people consider both in their initial search.Tucson and Albuquerque share a lot in common, which is one of the reasons so many people are attracted to them both. If you enjoy an active lifestyle, both cities are great; the weather is perfect and there's easy accessibility to recreation like running, biking, golf, skiing etc. … (1 comments)

Subprime By County Map - 11:49 AM
 
Here's an interesting map that I found from the New York Times.  You can check the percentage of loans in any county that are subprime.  Here's what I found:
Anoka County    30
Carver County    21%
Dakota County   25%
Ramsey County  31%
Scott County      25%
Wright County    27%
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/11/03/weekinreview/20071103_SUBPRIME_GRAPHIC.html?hp#ty,
… (0 comments)

VA Directory Success Story!! - 04:34 PM
Hello,
I just wanted to take a moment to pass along what Sandi Logan from Florida wrote today.  Sandi Just signed up a couple of days ago in our VA Directory in Florida.  If you would also like to be listed in our VA Directory visit this link http://virtualcas.com/services/promote-your-va-business/
I just have to share that with Sarah and the VA directory, I just received a signed contract for 10 new clients from Mississippi!! This brokerage has a total of 39 agents and 10 that are directly under the broker I am working with. Once we develop systems, I will then pick up … (3 comments)

High Plains Village Town Hall Meeting - 10:33 PM
HPV Townhall Meeting - Nov. 14, 2007
The CRCA Board of Directors has scheduled a Townhall Meeting at 7:00pm onNovember 14 at the High Plains Environmental Center. The main purpose of themeeting is to inform HPV property owners of the increase in their HOA duesthat is imminent with the 2008 budget, which the Board is currentlypreparing for presentation at the Annual Meeting in December.
The Association's expenses went well over budget in 2007. To no one'ssurprise, Snow Removal was the one line item that was totally off the chartsin '07, coming in at  $50,000.+ over budget. Administrative Expenses, PostLight Maintenance, and Sprinkler Repairs … (0 comments)

Balancing My World and Yours - Holiday Balance - 12:44 PM
 The fact that I am a real estate agent does not ban me from pausing every November to be thankful. You see, I hear about agents that jumped up from a holiday meal to go show a house. I have heard the old wives tales about the biggest deals being done on a holiday.I don't believe it!I think that I have the right to sit down with my family and enjoy a feast celebrating all that has happened in the last year. I think those that are buying and selling have that same right. "Black Friday" will come soon enough. My … (16 comments)

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