Archives of real estate blog entries for May 9, 2008

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First Video with Flip Video - 09:03 AM
This is my first video using my new Flip video camera. I took a bunch of video today on my hike up Sauer Mountain above Leavenworth WA today. I wasn't very pleased with the Muvee software and am looking for suggestions for easy to use editing software. I used Microsoft Movie Maker today, but am considering Mixpo due to the good press it's gotten here.
… (24 comments)

Makeover to Takeover. The best protege ever!!! - 05:11 PM
Hi folks. I'm writing this post to help out my new friend Matt Yogerst. As most of you know, ActiveRain posted a few days ago, about a new competition they are putting together called: "Makeover to Takeover". Have you heard of it? If not, just click on the link above.....that's why it's there for Pete's sake!! 
Anyway, I received an excellent Email sales pitch from Matt asking me to team up with him to WIN this contest. But alas.....I turned him down!! Now, it wasn't personal, it's just that I'm selfish I don't do anything unless I can give it 100% and … (45 comments)

This Mornings Upgrades.........the Good and the Bad - 10:56 AM
We did a release to the site early this morning and it looks like there are a few bugs. (I'm a get the bad out of the way first kind of person) We have had people report that they can not upload pictures......the spell check still isn't working (this was suppose to be fixed in the release), one person lost the icon bar on their blog post page and in their comments.
We are aware of these issues. If you have seen other issues, can you let us know. Please include what browser you are using along with the version of … (108 comments)

Real Estate Agents working together.....a success Story :) - 08:52 AM
How many times have we wanted a sale to go through only to lose it for some small reason, or because the Agents couldn't work together.  I know Real Estate Sales are just that....sales, but aren't they also about negotiating?
Sale #1 - I closed today on contract that was only supposed to be 7 days....it was about 21.  I had both clients, so I can't even say that it was issues with another Agent. It would be easier to blame someone else, but the fact is sometimes Murphy's Law just comes into play.  You know that saying, "whatever can go wrong will."  … (29 comments)

@thelovelywife I Care! - 02:06 AM
It's not about what you're doing. It's not about what I'm doing.It's about what you and I are doing right now.
Like you, I didn't get twitter either. I was trying to make it something it wasn't and it's just not that complicated. 
It's about the conversation.
It doesn't matter whether it's here on ActiveRain or on Twitter. You, of all people, should know that.
Is there a lot of silly conversation on Twitter? Sure. There's a lot of silly conversation here too. That happens on social networks. It's how people get to know each other.
If it weren't for … (77 comments)

I'm honored that you like my work but.... - 02:07 AM
... please ask me before you use it!
I was searching through Google this afternoon and I came across a local blog here in my own back yard of Coral Springs Florida so I stopped to take a look.  As I'm reading the posts, I came across one that looked very familiar. I thought wow, this guy talks just like me.  Sure enough he had taken my post and used it as one of his own. I'm truly flattered that he thought highly enough of my words to post it to his blog but one critical thing was missing:  He Forgot To Mention Who … (82 comments)

Vacant and Undesirable to Sensationally SOLD! - 02:26 PM
Below are three examples of homes that have been on the market in the Indianapolis area for approximately 6 months without offers.  Even though they were located in different areas around town, they all had one thing in common.  They were vacant and undesirable; there was no point of reference as to how furnishings would fit.  Home buyers could not envision their lives in the space and therefore could not connect with the house that they were viewing. Price reductions could not even conger up a sale. In these three examples, Home staging was the missing ingredient these home sellers added to their sales mix and … (32 comments)

ActiveRain Newsletter coming soon - 02:04 AM
Rarely a day goes by that I don't find myself roaming the (cyber)halls of ActiveRain. It's my job. I have never confirmed this with Matt (I don't know if he can confirm it) but you would be hard pressed to find someone that views as many pages or spends as much time on this site as I do. Rich, Brad or Nicole would certainly give me a run for my money but they wouldn't beat me by much. Every now and then I take a break. It usually coincides with a weekend and the chance to spend some time with my … (127 comments)

You can't have it both ways - 02:36 PM
I almost threw the phone out my car window...
I placed a call the other day. It was a social call to another agent. We are friends and I hadn't talked to her in a while. So we're chatting it up and as always our conversation turned to business.
Now this agent has been around for a while. I consider her a mentor. When I first entered real estate I knew I could call with questions because she would have the answers.
She stated that she has been incredibly busy with buyers, but the buyers weren't buying. They are sitting because the … (61 comments)

"ActiveRain Home Tours Video Contest 2008!" - 02:04 AM
As a licensed real estate professional in a large military community (Kitsap County WA), many of my clients are active-duty personnel being transferred to our area from out of State.
It's difficult starting the home shopping process remotely. Many of the listings in our MLS have photo galleries that leave much to be desired. And most agents rarely upload anything more sophisticated, like slide shows or virtual tours.
So in the past, I've done my own slide show presentation. I'll run out to the subject property with my handy Canon SureShot 7.2M Pixel Digital and take a boatload of quality photos … (66 comments)

Burned... by my own inexperience....(maybe there is hope) - 02:26 PM
Buyer Broker Agreements - don't leave home without them....... 
Ok - Start this off.... I am a newbie licensed in 2 states, etc..... my outside blog is
Lake Powell Real Estate Blog 
So, two weeks ago i get a contact off my blog. They are relocating to the area and have already chosen homes to look at while here. Problem, my daughter is graduating college on the Friday they are going to be in town, 350 miles from where I need to do the showing.
So, we comprimise. Get together on Saturday as they will still be in town. I'll come home from the graduation … (33 comments)

Carnac Comes Out to Play (Finally)!!! - 07:40 PM

Being Carnac comes with a lot of pressure. I've been getting emails for weeks asking when Carnac might return.  I've had comments on old posts begging for an appearance.  I decided that the very first Carnac award today would go to the most creative beggar.  And the winner is......this video.  
So where was Carnac? Carnac has had a bad couple of months.  Everytime something Carnac-worthy showed up, the post was quickly removed.  Personally I think that Active Bob and Active Rich are ruining all the fun by deleting the crappy posts. I miss the good old days when crap stayed up for months for our … (113 comments)

IT'S A PARTY! Washington, DC Active Rain Gathering - 02:30 PM
The Date: Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The Time:  6:30 until whenever
The Place:  My House - 1623 Webster St NW (just off 16th Street, near Rock Creek Park)
The Occasion:  A get together for all of the Active Rain members who are in Washington for the NRA oops NAR mid-year meeting.  Oh, and all of you who live in the area are invited, too!  The more the merrier!
My house is about an 8 minute drive from the hotel where the meetings are taking place.  
RSVP here or send me an email.   
… (37 comments)

I have a RESPA question maybe you can answer - 08:58 AM
I have a buyer that is looking into buying a property and has a good down payment, great credit score, a pre-approval letter, and wants to buy a property we found for her. The problem is, the house they are buying requires us to use their sales contracts instead of the MLS sales contracts.
In the contract it states that the buyer has to get pre-approved by the seller's mortgage broker within 10 business days of the contract being accepted and this mortgage broker wants to charge my client $18 for the credit check. I avoided that charge by having them … (30 comments)

A Blog About a Blog - 02:27 PM
I've never been so moved and thought-provoked by another Blog on Active|Rain to actually blog about it....Until now.  So here is my very first Blog about a Blog:
 
Frank Llosa of Frankly Realty wrote a Blog titled:  Sorry, I Don't Answer My Phone!  And I Won't "Call Me Back".  In his blog, he discussed how he doesn't call random people back just because they want him to.  He talks about the calls he has received on mobile homes in West Virginia (he's in Northern Virginia), callers wanting to see a $500 rental immediately and others not "within his realm of … (38 comments)

Active Rain Meet and Greet in Orlando Florida May 22 - 02:20 PM
Active Rain meet and greet at the Rosen Hotel in Orlando Florida on Thursday May 22nd.  
We will get together at 7 p.m. at the Rosen Hotel to meet in person and do some Florida networking with fellow Active Rainers.
Please let me know if you can make it so I will be on the lookout for you. We will announce where in the hotel we will meet next week. Please bear in mind the hotel will be filled with children of all ages! Make sure to dress very casual.
I will be in Orlando for the Florida Homeschool Convention that weekend … (44 comments)


Blog posts


Real Estate Professionals, Do You Text With Your Customers? tnx4readN - 11:10 PM
Real Estate Industry Professionals, Do You Text With Your Customers? I do and I really love it! For me if I have a quick question or the customer has a concern right then and there. You can address it often times faster than an e-mail or a phone call.
glitter-graphics.com
While I do not have the text dictionary memorized..I do read and skim through..if someone uses letters or symbols I do not understand I do take the time to read it and learn and try to use it too!
Recently I told a customer that I really appreciated the fact we … (10 comments)

Woodbridge CT Home Closed 5/8/08 Country Club Drive - 07:01 PM
30 COUNTRY CLUB DR $479,900
   N273178 Sale Price: $480,000RES DOM: 22 Listing Date: 02/01/08 #Bedrooms: 3  Contract Date: 02/22/08Closing Date: 05/08/08
Only one home on todays closed hotsheet (I watch the Milford, Orange, Woodbridge and Bethany Martkets)
 
… (0 comments)

"ActiveRain Home Tours Video Contest 2008!" - 02:04 AM
As a licensed real estate professional in a large military community (Kitsap County WA), many of my clients are active-duty personnel being transferred to our area from out of State.
It's difficult starting the home shopping process remotely. Many of the listings in our MLS have photo galleries that leave much to be desired. And most agents rarely upload anything more sophisticated, like slide shows or virtual tours.
So in the past, I've done my own slide show presentation. I'll run out to the subject property with my handy Canon SureShot 7.2M Pixel Digital and take a boatload of quality photos … (66 comments)

This Mornings Upgrades.........the Good and the Bad - 10:56 AM
We did a release to the site early this morning and it looks like there are a few bugs. (I'm a get the bad out of the way first kind of person) We have had people report that they can not upload pictures......the spell check still isn't working (this was suppose to be fixed in the release), one person lost the icon bar on their blog post page and in their comments.
We are aware of these issues. If you have seen other issues, can you let us know. Please include what browser you are using along with the version of … (108 comments)

Simsbury, CT - Quiet Cul-de-sac Street Close to Simsbury Center - 03:16 PM
… (0 comments)

Simsbury, CT - Quiet Cul-de-sac Street Close to Simsbury Center - 03:19 PM
… (0 comments)

The Housing Crisis is Over or is It? - 06:46 PM
An article in the Wall Street Journal declares that the housing crisis is over.  It is an interesting article and worth reading.  It compares today's market with those of the 70's 80's and 90's.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121003604494869449.html?mod=WSJBlog
The article has a lot of merit and the local statistics seem to support it.  Last fall, we had an 18 month inventory and today the Phoenix Arizona market area has about 11 months supply.  Gilbert has about a nine month supply of homes for sale based on sales of 302 in the past 30 days.  Currently, Gilbert Arizona has 2463 properties listed for sale.  Chandler … (5 comments)

Who said homes aren't selling in Turlock CA?? - 06:47 PM
Here's probably something you have not read in the paper or saw on the TV news.  Homes are selling in Turlock CA!  Here are some facts:
Pendings:   March 07 -  55            April 07 -  45
Pendings:   March 08 -  77            April 08 -  79
 
Sold:   March 07 -  51          April 07 -   48
Sold:   March 08 -  77          April 08 -  47
While the sales havent seen a huge increase the number of homes under contract has.  These are homes that will probably close in May or even June. 
Another big difference is the amount of months supply of homes on the … (0 comments)

Government Loans Jamming up the Market - 11:34 AM
As if the situation hasn't been bad enough with all of the bad loans that have been given out on houses in the past several years, now government loans are also putting a jam on the current real estate market. After we have had several closings that have had to request extension after extension due to loan underwriting being tied up extra days and even weeks, I decided to look online to see how many others were out there having this problem. It seems that in April there was a survey done that included 1400 real estate professionals and concluded that … (3 comments)

Fort Myers Beach " OPEN HOUSE" Single family home Friday 11 AM, 2008 Reduced $50k - 09:50 AM
Beach " OPEN HOUSE " Friday May 9, 2008 11 AM - 2 PM
 
If you are looking for a great Fort Myers Beach home for under $400k this is it !   Very charming 2/2 just across the street from the Gulf.  Two under building parking spaces, nice lot with room for a pool, rear deck and nice views.
This association owns a private Gazebo on the Gulf and a small dockage on the bay for the use of owners.  Very nice neighborhood !
Priced at $350k this is one of the best values on the island !  Stop  by and … (1 comments)

I ADORE Maureen Henry - 09:12 AM
If you write any kind of tutuorials, do info-videos, publish any kind of e-book, or whatever, Stop what you're doing right now (which is probably reading my blog) and go read Maureen Henry's post about YouPublish.com
Maureen has packaged up her home staging presentation into a PowerPoint file, and she is selling it on YouPublish.com for $29.99
What a GREAT idea!!
If I have some free time over the weekend I am going to start pakaging up some of my tutuorials, and I think I'll list them for sale there, too. 
Anybody want to do a CMA on some of my … (8 comments)

Makeover to Takeover. The best protege ever!!! - 05:11 PM
Hi folks. I'm writing this post to help out my new friend Matt Yogerst. As most of you know, ActiveRain posted a few days ago, about a new competition they are putting together called: "Makeover to Takeover". Have you heard of it? If not, just click on the link above.....that's why it's there for Pete's sake!! 
Anyway, I received an excellent Email sales pitch from Matt asking me to team up with him to WIN this contest. But alas.....I turned him down!! Now, it wasn't personal, it's just that I'm selfish I don't do anything unless I can give it 100% and … (45 comments)

Carnac Comes Out to Play (Finally)!!! - 07:40 PM

Being Carnac comes with a lot of pressure. I've been getting emails for weeks asking when Carnac might return.  I've had comments on old posts begging for an appearance.  I decided that the very first Carnac award today would go to the most creative beggar.  And the winner is......this video.  
So where was Carnac? Carnac has had a bad couple of months.  Everytime something Carnac-worthy showed up, the post was quickly removed.  Personally I think that Active Bob and Active Rich are ruining all the fun by deleting the crappy posts. I miss the good old days when crap stayed up for months for our … (113 comments)

What Is Up With Mortgage Interest Rates - 09:46 PM

So what happened with mortgage interest rates this week? Not much. For the second week in a row mortgage rates pretty much stayed the same.
May 8, 2008
30-yr 6.05 15-yr 5.60% 5-yr ARM 5.67 1-yr ARM 5.29
May 1, 2008
30-yr 6.06 15-yr 5.59% 5-yr ARM 5.73 1-yr ARM 5.29
April 24th, 2008
30-yr 6.03 15-yr 5.62% 5-yr ARM 5.68 1-yr ARM 5.29
April 17th, 2008
30-yr 5.88 15-yr 5.40% 5-yr ARM 5.48 1-yr ARM 5.10
Using our free mortgage calculator lets take a look at what the mortgage payment would be for a … (0 comments)

Things to Do in the Campus Area in Austin - 10:31 PM
With over 50,000 students there are numerous entertainment venues around the University of Texas. Austin is frequently referred to as the live music capital of Texas. And although when people talk about the music scene in Austin they usually think of downtown the campus area also reflects this saying with nightspots such as the Hole in the Wall, which is an Austin institution and has been the home of many local recording artists for more than twenty-five years, as well as the U.T. campus itself, which hosts regular live music performances in the Cactus Café, which is adjacent to the student … (1 comments)

30510 Coshocton Road, Walhonding, Ohio 43843 (off market) - 08:24 PM
Country Mini Farm with Over 10 Acres with Barn / Workhop
Perfect country mini farm that's very nicely located Situated back off the road and adjoined by woods Includes over 10+ acres with gorgeous rolling land Nice sized 3 bedroom ranch with a quality feeling  Big living room with fireplace and attractive built-ins The fireplace is a real focal point in the living room Adjoining dining area and large cabinet filled kitchen Convenient main level laundry room off that master Big walkout lower level offers future living space An attached 2 car garage with a limestone driveway Huge Pole Barn/garage/workshop with … (4 comments)

Mother's Day Weekend - 12:36 AM
Looking for something to do this weekend? How about a Chocolate Festival for Mom?  Celebrate on May 10 at Quail Botanical Gardens (qbgardens.org) in Encinitas (San Diego County). The gardens are beautiful, covering over 30 acres, and it's a short trip from Orange County.  There will be cooking demonstrations by local chefs, entertainment, treats and gifts to purchase, and of course, chocolate tastings.  There's also an interactive children's garden called Seeds of Wonder, just in case the little ones get bored.  I have a hunch, though, that everyone will be fascinated by the fountains of molten chocolate and all the treats … (0 comments)

Hiring Contractors Before Listing Homes - 12:50 AM
As we all know, in this market, it can be tough to sell a home. In any market, however, it is often necessary to enlist the help of contractors to make needed repairs or modifications before the home goes on the market. There are plenty of "nightmare" stories out there about unfinished projects or unethical handymen, which is why references are important. It's also important for your protection to know how to check the license of any contractor in the state of California. Just go to www.csib.ca.gov.  You will find a link toward the bottom of the page in the center … (1 comments)

No comments showing, no points adding up, no available linking! What is up AR? - 10:10 PM
As I began to comment, I noticed that none of my comments showed up on my home page. After three or four, I looked and noticed they weren't in my register either. I noticed that AR is having some problems, but is it better to just wait until tomorrow to comment and/or post a blog? For those of you writing, I am commenting, and it LOOKS as though my comments are showing up on your posts, but nowhere else. 
 Am I the only one noticing this problem? I am using Firefox, but even with IE, it's not working well. Maybe I'll … (25 comments)

Flooding in Branson Missouri - 08:13 AM
I've been meaning to post this... a couple of weekends ago we made a fast trip down to Branson Missouri to see my favorite aunt and uncle.
I've mentioned before that my uncle is a fishing guide with River Run Outfitters in Branson.
Branson as well as the rest of Southern Missouri has had more than it's share of rain over the past few months. So much so that Branson has had to open all 10 of it's flood gates down by the fish hatchery.
Here's a video:

… (5 comments)

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