Archives of real estate blog entries for May 16, 2007

Featured blog posts


Where is your Pin? YOUR REALTOR PIN! - 07:58 PM
Sometimes just wearing your Realtor pin is all you need to get the conversation going.  I recently attended a 50th wedding anniversary.  I was seated next to a very nice couple who were from out of town.  We had a great conversation about where they were from, what was going on in the news, raising children, when all of a sudden he asked me how was the real estate business in this area.  His wife looked at him in amazement and wanted to know how did he know that I was a Realtor.  He pointed to my Realtor pin that I was wearing. I was sure he was going … (51 comments)

Arrogant Bigots - 06:53 PM
I started to answer a comment on one of my bloggs, and as so often happens when I'm commenting I got a little carried away. I posted the comment, but the more I looked at it the more I wanted everyone to see it, so after a short edit here it is.
Those that blame mortgage brokers for those nasty sub-prime loans forget that Borrowers received a "Good Faith Estimate" and "Truth in Lending" form when they applied for a loan or within 3 days there of! When a mortgage broker, submits a file to a wholesaler they will also send the … (40 comments)

Mortgage Fraud: Questions and Answers - 11:37 AM
I want to share my latest project with members of Active Rain.   I'm very excited because it has the potential for broad and positive implications.  The concept was born of the need for title agents to remain anonymous while asking questions about mortgage fraud. Over the past several weeks while giving fraud presentations in Michigan, we experimented by offering index cards to audience members who were encouraged to ask any question, or discuss any topic, without fear of incrimination or embarrassment.  The results were nothing short of impressive.  We now have a library of questions and comments offering a glimpse … (55 comments)

Agents Ignoring the Internet are headed... - 08:25 AM
I shared with a co-worker that I wrote two offers last week from Internet leads.  She quickly changed the subject.  She does not have an Internet presence other than what our broker provides for us on the office website. 
I've been learning so much from AR and it's working.  I like spreading the good news that "the Internet gets results," but no one in my sphere seems to care.  Well, I'm there to get your Internet leads.
Here's a mind-blowing statistic.  50% of potential client emails to Realtor(s) never get a reply.  And thank you to that 50% because I have a policy of … (55 comments)

Now This Is A House That Needs Flipping! - 11:20 AM
There isn't a week that goes by without me hearing at least three times "Chris, what do you think about flipping houses?"Personally, I think it's great. Professionally, I think it's great.IF, and I mean if, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.As a professional real estate agent specializing in investment property I am approached by almost everyone in the Kansas City area who has seen HGTV or been to a seminar or has a brother who works with a guy who is making a killing buying and selling houses.There are plenty of gurus out there who will sell you books and tapes … (27 comments)

Real Estate - The Lure of Easy Money - 09:35 AM
 
The real estate market is flooded with new agents.  According to a report released by the National Associations of Realtors a few days ago 23.2% of the members have joined within the last two years.  This rapid influx of new agents has contributed to declining incomes for Realtors over several years.
As agents most of us have heard comments after a closing about the Big Bucks we earn. From a consumers viewpoint they see the sales price of a home and assume the agent is walking away with a hefty commission check. Many do not understand how quickly that big check gets broken into … (42 comments)

Do Clearwater, Florida Home Buyers Get Full Service or is it Pump it Yourself? - 08:57 PM
 
Clearwater Florida Home BuyersI had something happen today in Clearwater, Florida that made my jaw drop and I just had to share it with you all.  It made we think about the extinction of Full Service Gas Stations.
How did it happen? When did it all start.....maybe it was when buyers no longer "valued" the extra service over price...we often discuss our services as Listing Agent, however today I'd ask that you answer wearing your Buyer's Agent hat?    
We had a potential buyer today, we'll call him Bob. Bob was referred to us by one of our past Tampa Bay real estate clients - normal enough, right? 
So one of the first questions we … (53 comments)

Active Rain Week In Review 5/6/07 - 5/13/07 - 11:37 AM
First of all, happy Mother's day to all Mothers around the globe, as you can see, I had to work so hard as the other members did in the past Active Rain "Week in Review", I reviewed more than 500 pages full of blogs, I respect all the hard work that my fellows did on the past reviews.  It is a lot of work!These 25 blogs are my favorites and some of them were not featured by Active Rain, I still think that some of them should deserve to be mentioned.  I apologize that I could not include many more blogs, … (143 comments)

Meet your fellow rainers - ActiveRain's birthday bashes - 12:17 PM
Many of you have already seen the posts flying around or may have noticed the links from the front page.  Next month in June, the ActiveRain Real Estate Network is having it's one year birthday.  To help celebrate Lydia has been working diligently with a number of members to coordinate five seperate ActiveRain get togethers.  One in each corner of the country (WA, FL, NY, CA) and one more or less in the middle (Chicago), each happening on a Saturday during the month. 
Yes, there will be cake, but the main purpose of this gatherings is to allow members who may have … (27 comments)

Re-listing minimized, but still present - 07:10 PM
I first wrote about the effects of "Re-Listing" before I ever even discovered the Active Rain community. I did ultimately write about it here, but at that time, my local MLS provider was putting into place a new policy designed to minimize re-listing as a problem.
It has been quite a while since these new policies came into effect in October of 2006. For the most part, it is clear that the new policy has in fact dramatically reduced the practice of re-listing. Before this new policy, you could count on over 50% of homes being effected.
However, it has not eliminated … (11 comments)

The Art of Self Promotion - 07:12 PM
I recently read an article on that was very interesting.  It was written by a former Fortune 500 VP and was on the art of selling yourself.  The highlights caught my attention.
Lose the 'Elevator Pitch'
By this the author meant that we need to loose the well rehearsed pitch.  In real estate this would be a pre-rehearsed response to a buyer or seller.  I can't tell you how many real estate educators promote rehearsed comments or responses.  People can see right through these canned pitches.
Reality Check
The reason pre-rehearsed pitches don't work well is that we as humans want to interact naturally.  That … (64 comments)

Trunk Tales - 02:41 PM
Remember the show "Let's Make a Deal?"  Monty Hall was the emcee and he would roam through the audience asking ladies for strange or abstract things they might find in their purse.  The gals would wildly rummage through their purse and pull out the requested item, for this public humiliation they would get the chance to bet on something and maybe get lucky and take home a car.
Well I've never met Monty Hall nor have I been lucky enough to play on a game show. But I do know one thing for sure when people come to me to buy or … (57 comments)

Remember the Excitement When You Joined? - 10:49 PM
 
Tonight I had the joy to feature a post of a newer member here at ActiveRain by Cheryl S. Miller  titled Where is your Pin? YOUR REALTOR PIN! What a refreshing post!  Do you get what drew me to this post?  It was a fresh idea!  New members breath new life into ActiveRain.
So what is your point Colleen, you are probably thinking?   Well ActiveRain is a wonderful experience and the support of the members here truly make a difference to everyone. 
Giving back to the community is a wonderful thing.  Before becoming a moderator here at ActiveRain I used to go to … (42 comments)

Defining My Real Estate Blogging Strategy - Project Blogger - 11:16 PM
When I started out in the Project Blogger contest I had no idea what to expect.  Since I'm pretty good at following instructions I figured that I'd listen to my coach and simply follow his recommendations.. Sounds pretty simple, right?
My coach, Joel Burslem, knows volumes about SEO and marketing.  His area of expertise is internet marketing and his blog Future of Real Estate Marketing is full of useful information about technology and tools available for increasing one's internet presence. He has built a solid online presence for himself using many of these same tools.  But, he is not a real estate … (17 comments)

Your Blog is Your Presentation - 06:44 AM
So much has been written about negativity, rudeness and even stalking on Active Rain.  There's plenty to read about it, but I'm still going to throw in my thoughts, too.  Sometimes I'm just that way.  :o)
This is a social network and we sometimes forget that it is based on business.  We're learning a lot about people by the way they conduct themselves here.  We're paying attention, even while having fun.
There are times when I have someone moving outside my area, and they may need some help to do it.  There are people here that I would happily refer my beloved clients … (85 comments)

Posting photos in Localism articles...Do you fill in "image description?" - 10:13 PM
I put together my post, and upload photos. 
I resize photos and then insert them. 
    VOILA AND/OR BINGO! 
If I don't put something in the "Image Description" line, I get a dialogue box asking if I don't want to put in a description, as some folks may have disabilities, be using a text browser, or surf with images turned off.  GUILT.....
Is this for real?  Or is it a boilerplate line in the box?
I sure don't want to deprive anyone of seeing photos, and feel guilty if I think I have skipped something that might be helpful to a visually disabled member.  But a … (21 comments)


Blog posts


What Is A Judgment Lien? - 08:36 PM
A judgment lien is a court ordered lien that is placed against the home or property when the homeowner simply fails to pay a debt. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but when the homeowner has a judgment lien against his or her home and wants to sell it, the judgment lien has to be paid in full before the home or property can be sold. Judgment liens can be placed against the property for a variety of reasons such as unpaid credit card bills, utility bills, department store bills, landscaping or home improvement bills, and just about any bill … (3 comments)

4 Boards, 1 Location....I Love Cooperation! - 04:23 PM
 
Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors Technology Fair will be June 1st.  If you are planning to attend, I hope to see you there, and you will!  As I will be helping with registration and assisting throughout the day!  If we have never met, please make it a point to introduce yourself! 
We are cooperating with our other local boards and have invited their associates as well. The Flagler County Board of Realtors, New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors and West Volusia Board of Realtors.   We do expect a very good turn-out based on R.S.V.P.'s we have received so far. 
We have … (6 comments)

Wallingford Parks are Very Family Friendly - 10:35 AM
 
 
These pictures of my grandson were taken at the Meridian Playground, located at 4649 Sunnyside Ave N in the Wallingford area of Seattle.  It has a large grassy area for any open activities, a play area and a gazebo near the shelter.   I see families having picnics there on warmer days. Acreage: 6.50 acres
 The Wallingford Playfield is located at 4219 Wallingford Ave. North.  The Seattle.Gov link I have added says this about the park:
"Wallingford Playfield has long been a popular neighborhood gathering place for tennis, picnics, wading pool splashing in summer, ball games, and playing-and now it … (3 comments)

Meet your fellow rainers - ActiveRain's birthday bashes - 12:17 PM
Many of you have already seen the posts flying around or may have noticed the links from the front page.  Next month in June, the ActiveRain Real Estate Network is having it's one year birthday.  To help celebrate Lydia has been working diligently with a number of members to coordinate five seperate ActiveRain get togethers.  One in each corner of the country (WA, FL, NY, CA) and one more or less in the middle (Chicago), each happening on a Saturday during the month. 
Yes, there will be cake, but the main purpose of this gatherings is to allow members who may have … (27 comments)

ATTN: Real Estate Agents--Find out more about the Real Estate Virtual Assistant Industry!! - 02:39 AM
Are you having trouble locating a virtual assistant to help you?Do you have questions about the VA industry in general?Do you wonder what services real estate virtual assistants typically offer? Are you overwhelmed with the various certifications, virtual assistant websites, associations, etc. and you do not know where to start your search? Follow the steps below and I will personally have no more than 3 Virtual Assistants that reside in your state and that specialize in your service need contact you ASAP!!This is NOT a sales call!  This is NOT someone just quoting prices to you! This is an opportunity for … (2 comments)

You Can Harness the Power of the Law of Attraction!! - 11:04 PM
… (4 comments)

Texas Marriage License Legislature - 07:21 AM
There is some new legislature that has been introduced for this session.  They are wanting to increase the amount for a Texas Marriage License to $60 from $30.  However, if you can show you had pre-marital counseling, you only have to pay the $30 fee.
What?  Is this supposed to deter people from getting married on a whim?  It's only $60!!!  If you want to prevent people from getting married so you can help alter the divorce rate, charge a couple hundred dollars or something that will actually put a dent in people's pockets and make them think about what they're doing.
Also, … (2 comments)

Texas Getting Rid of Graduation Exit Exams - 07:37 AM
When I was in school, every two years we had to take a standardized test in order to pass that grade.  For me, the tests were very easy and I always scored well over the 95% range for the state, but that's just me.  I remember my first day of seventh grade.  First period was English with Ms. Gorman who was about 4'6, 75 pounds, and as soon as we all sat down, she starts preaching about the TAAS test in February.  We were like, it's August, why are you talking about February?
Everything she taught was about the big test we … (13 comments)

Monday's episode, 5/14 - 02:12 PM
Who's going to write it up??  I think this week was Ravi's turn, but maybe I volunteered him without him ok'ing it first.  And I misspoke last week.  The finale is going to be a 2 hour finale!!  We probably won't watch it on Monday since we'll be dog tired from a 10 hour trip from Nebraska, but we'll probably watch it Tuesday.
My favorite quote was (not exact since I've slept since then), "We're going to war because of a piece of circuitry."
… (4 comments)

Surprise Arizona Real Estate - Sun City Grand - 4/30/2007 - 03:16 PM
There were 44 homes sold in Sun City Grand for the month of April 2007.  The average list price of these homes was $395,195.45 and average sale price was $381,292.05.    As of April 30, there were 56 homes under contract.     The average list price of these pending homes was $372,659.64.   
As of the end of the month, there were 356 active listings in Sun City Grand.    The average list price of these homes was $369,848.79.
For more information about Sun City Grand or other fine communities in Surprise, please view my website at http://www.donrichhomes.com/.   
… (0 comments)

Surprise Arizona Real Estate - Surprise Farms - 4/30/2007 - 03:17 PM
There were 14 homes sold in Surprise Farms for the month of April 2007.  The average list price of these homes was $268,650.00 and average sale price was $260,100.00.    As of April 30, there were 19 homes under contract.     The average list price of these pending homes was $276,787.21.   
As of the end of the month, there were 189 active listings in Surprise Farms.    The average list price of these homes was $295,915.69.
For more information about Surprise Farms or other fine communities in Surprise, please view my website at http://www.donrichhomes.com/.   
… (0 comments)

Scottsdale Arizona Real Estate - Desert Mountain - 4/30/2007 - 03:19 PM
There were 3 homes sold in Desert Mountain for the month of April 2007.  The average list price of these homes was $2,163,000.00 and average sale price was $2,021,666.67.    As of April 30, there were 14 homes under contract.     The average list price of these pending homes was $2,029,500.00.   
As of the end of the month, there were 159 active listings in Desert Mountain.    The average list price of these homes was $2,808,785.52.
For more information about Desert Mountain or other fine communities in Scottsdale, please view my website at http://www.donrichhomes.com/.   
… (0 comments)

Typepad: Using GoDaddy For Domain Forwarding And Masking - 06:26 AM
You can also use GoDaddy,  or Dynonames or almost any other registry to purchase and register a Domain Name for your TypePad blog.
Here's how to forward and mask your domain nam using GoDaddy .  The instructions are the same for Dynonames :
Go to GoDaddy --  sign on and register your domain name ( If anyone needs a step-by-step on this, just yell)
After the domain is registered, click the drop down arround to the right of "Domains" - "Under Domain Management and Renewal", click "My Domains" to reach the Domain Control Center.
Place a check mark to the left of your Domain Name or click on the … (8 comments)

To Mask Or Not To Mask, That Is The Question - 09:13 PM
To mask or not to mask, that is the question.  And keep in mind, just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should.
The issues are easier grasped by example so, to illustrate, I have created two test blogs:  http://www.clutteredshelf.com  and http://www.frayedcuffs.com  .  For the purpose of this example, http://www.frayedcuffs.com  will be the good guy, http://www.clutteredshelf.com  will be the evil twin.
Take a look at http://www.frayedcuffs.com    The domain name frayedcuffs.com was parked on the Typepad blog using PairNIC.  Do you see the short blogroll in the left colum?  Click on any of those blogs, then look at the address bar … (8 comments)

Remember the Excitement When You Joined? - 10:49 PM
 
Tonight I had the joy to feature a post of a newer member here at ActiveRain by Cheryl S. Miller  titled Where is your Pin? YOUR REALTOR PIN! What a refreshing post!  Do you get what drew me to this post?  It was a fresh idea!  New members breath new life into ActiveRain.
So what is your point Colleen, you are probably thinking?   Well ActiveRain is a wonderful experience and the support of the members here truly make a difference to everyone. 
Giving back to the community is a wonderful thing.  Before becoming a moderator here at ActiveRain I used to go to … (42 comments)

What are recruiters making across the country? - 07:45 PM
Salary plus commission--what is your breakdown
Does your recruiter do training and retaining?
… (2 comments)

What You Should Know About Home Warranties - 10:46 AM
Although not mandatory, over 90% of home resales in California include a home warranty. Unless you are purchasing a property "as-is" at considerably below market value, you should always ask the seller to provide you with a warranty plan.
A home warranty or home protection plan is essentially an insurance policy that covers the basic systems of a home for one year. Usually, the homeowner can renew the policy to extend coverage for longer.
So what is covered? Basic home warranties cover the home's heating system, plumbing, and electrical system. In addition, the water heater and built-in appliances are covered.
Home warranty companies offer … (0 comments)

Detailed Data for the 1st Quater, Wichita, Kansas real estate sales - 05:41 PM
Wichita MLS statistics for January 1, 2007 to March 31, 2007
The number of residential sales in the 1st three months is down 7% from the same period in 2006 and up 10% from the same period in 2005.  The colder weather experienced this winter probably contributed to this decline along with some national media information on National real estate markets.
The number of new Residential listings also declined 7% during this period and the total number of existing homes for sale on the market was 7.5% below the inventory for March 31, 2006.
New home sales for the same period were down 3.4% … (1 comments)

Trunk Tales - 02:41 PM
Remember the show "Let's Make a Deal?"  Monty Hall was the emcee and he would roam through the audience asking ladies for strange or abstract things they might find in their purse.  The gals would wildly rummage through their purse and pull out the requested item, for this public humiliation they would get the chance to bet on something and maybe get lucky and take home a car.
Well I've never met Monty Hall nor have I been lucky enough to play on a game show. But I do know one thing for sure when people come to me to buy or … (57 comments)

Castle Rock, Colorado - 12:54 PM
Castle Rock is a quaint old town grown up, a great affordable place to live close enough to Denver to commute, especially now that light rail is available just 10 miles north on I-25. The Outlets at Castle Rockis the largest collection of outlet shops in Colorado, and provides locals and Denverites with a great shopping experience.
Real estate prices in Castle Rock run from $200,000s to the $500,000s, with most selling midway between. Townhomes range from $70,000 to $325,000. Castle Pines, an upscale community in Castle Rock, has homes selling upwards of $800,000.
Beautiful Castlewood Canyon between Castle Rock and Franktown provides many day-use … (0 comments)

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