Archives of real estate blog entries for February 18, 2009

Featured blog posts


10th Closing and Counting from Active Rain!! - 11:41 AM


For those of you who do not believe in blogging?
For those of you who do not believe in Social Networking?
For those of you who do not believe in Internet Marketing?
For those of you who do not know who would contact you through Active Rain?
For those of you who do not believe you can get business from Active Rain? I have one thing to say it works.  I have been on Active Rain for over a year now, and really was not a huge believer at first.  However, that quickly changed when … (133 comments)

My thoughts on the housing bailout plan - 09:34 PM
Prepping for my CNBC appearance tonight forced me to dig into the housing bailout plan in a way that I might not otherwise have found time to do. I find this stuff really fascinating because it's at this beautiful intersection of several of my favorite disciplines: politics, economics and real estate. I majored in Government as an undergrad at Harvard, and studied Economics there as well, so I enjoy playing armchair economist and political theorist every now and then.
 
Here are my thoughts on today's announcement. And let me preface this by saying these are MY thoughts on the bailout … (42 comments)

Are you focused on these simple marketing strategies every day? - 11:42 AM
Real estate marketing starts with great services and often small ideas that can be made into big ideas.  Review the list below and ask yourself do I have a "marketing" part to my day?  Am I doing all I can to assist my clients and grow my business?  (I hope your answer will be yes!)  I hope you will find this list helpful and thought provoking as I feel they are great strategies that I have personally used myself in all my years of sales that can create great opportunities and growth for your business.


General Marketing
Never let a … (127 comments)

I snagged a new member... Inviting on ActiveRain - 05:20 PM
I mean I invited a new member of course...
Monday February 16, 2009 I invited a new member to ActiveRain. 
Monday the day of the historic announcement about changes to ActiveRain for new members I invited a home inspector from Central Ohio to ActiveRain. I invited someone I don't know, have never met, I've  never talked to, don't have his email address but I have to date received 270 points from inviting him.
I believe I musta "snagged"  this new member with my button that is on the sidebar, which says "Click to Join The ActiveRain Real Estate Network."
I wondered … (77 comments)

An Open Letter to Joe the Plumber. - 06:19 AM
An open letter to Joe the PLUMBER...or CARPENTER...of God forbid, Joe the ELECTRICIAN:
Let me begin by telling you that I think you have a lovely home! You have done much to increase its value since you purchased it so many years ago. I especially admire the work you did when you finished the basement, added the powder room and expanded the kitchen. You have an excellent eye for detail and really know what today's buyers want in their next home! There's only 1 problem...you never got permits for the work you did.
Now please understand...I know that you know … (62 comments)

Real Estate Tech Gadgets - Using the Internet to Stay Alert - 02:25 AM

When I first started practicing law, the tools for monitoring your or your client's reputation and business goodwill or for researching the opposition were limited.  Back then, we subscribed to a "clipping" service that scoured hundreds of trade journals, newsletters, newspapers, etc. to find information on people, companies, projects and industry trends.  The internet has changed how companies manage information.
Admittedly, the internet is a great tool for accumulating information on just about any topic.  However, there are times when you want to stay current on a subject or topic without the need to conduct repetitive searches of the internet.  Fortunately, there … (79 comments)

If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Active Rain had me at "Hello" - 12:04 AM
Okay, I've just cut short my time away from Active Rain by 1/2 day when I received news from the daily Inman News, Active Rain Adopts Subscription Model. I've been gone for a long weekend (late Thursday through Monday) and look what happens? You bet when I read the news about Active Rain on a different website, it gets my attention. Though after reading it calmly that it only affects New Members, I "came back" online only to find Brad Andersohn's post about Active Rain's New Membership Plan.
I was on my way out for a 5pm appointment so at 4pm, … (63 comments)

Blogging...Words and Pictures? or Pictures and Words? - 06:01 AM
WORDS >>> You can use too few and you can use far too many!  The irony here is that depending on how well a blog post is written the length of the post typically has no bearing on how many in the ActiveRain membership read it!  Quality over quantity is a mantra every "ActiveRain Drip" should take seriously!!!
Some examples of what I would consider quality posts but read more like short stories are:
Joel McDonald's Darryl & His Brother Darryl: A case study about "Long Tail" and Real Estate Marketing
Margaret Woda's It's 9 a.m. and Time to Log Out
Marc Rasmussen's Sarasota Realtor Tom Quits the … (56 comments)

Stump the Agent: Objection Handling Techniques (blog 1 of 4) - 02:29 PM
The Keller Williams national convention, "Family Reunion", is in Orlando later this month.  I am participating in a panel discussion called "Stump the Realtor: Objection Handling Scripts" and I am doing a little research.  This is the 1st of 4 objection-handling posts (1 = TECHNIQUE, 2 = SELLER, 3 = BUYER, 4 = WRAP-UP).  The concept here is to share best practices and help enrich and broaden each other's business activities and lives through different perspectives and ideas.  So I will comment on some of my best responses and am interested in yours.  I will post again after Family Reunion to … (28 comments)


Blog posts


Selling a home by agreement of sale - 12:53 PM
A friend of mine living on another Hawaiian island is in some financial distress.  She moved out of her home and advertised it for rent.  A suitable tenant was found and now the tenant is interested in buying the home.  My friend asked me for some tips to sell the home via agreement of sale.
I've prepared several purchase contracts with agreement of sale provisions which were reviewed and approved by my broker.  For various reasons, the purchase contracts were not executed.  I'll share what I've learned and invite others to comment.
- A realtor can prepare the documents for purchase … (5 comments)

The Ultimate Pay It Forward Teachers Thinking About Our Future! - 08:02 AM
It's splattered over the net...budget cuts here and budget cuts there...caps on salaries...schools closing...Who suffers the most during these rough economic times?  Our Children....
No this is not about the stimulus package..or even real estate..the fact is everyone is affected...and in many people's mind its every person for themselves...
Very Sad and a sign of the times! Recently I read a heartwarming story.....In Maine teachers, teachers aides and janitors took a pay cut to save jobs being shy $100,000 there was a chance 7 people were laid off but as a school they would not allow it..instead many celebrated a day … (12 comments)

Office and team meetings today - 06:57 AM
There's an office meeting at 8:00am and later on will be a team meeting at 4:00pm.
The agenda for the team meeting is as follows:
Old business Family reuinion - On call duties for agents not attending Leads updates Tech training by Jessie New business No time to blog this morning, got a busy day.  I'll post something later.
… (5 comments)

$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - 12:33 PM
$8,000 first time home buyer tax credit is now a reality.  Designed to stimulate the first time home buyer market, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law yesterday.  One of the key features that will provide immediate impact to struggling first time home buyers is the $8,000 first time home buyer credit.
What is it?  It's an actual tax credit of up to $8,000 dollars given to first time home buyers.  It's based upon the purchase price of your new home and will pay 10% or up to $8,000 whichever is less.  Unlike the former $7,500 program, the new plan does … (0 comments)

NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE MARKET STATS 02/08 - 02/14 - 08:50 AM
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NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE MARKET STATS 02/08 - 02/14 - 08:51 AM
Real Estate Market activity in zip codes 90031, 90032, 90041, 90042, 90065 for the previous week as reported in I-Tech MLS:
New listings entered
Price reductions
Reported pending
Reported sold and closed 
These zip codes include the Northeast Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Sycamore Grove, Garvanza, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights
… (0 comments)

Listing Keywords = Buyer’s Search Terms - 07:24 AM
Marketing a listing requires attention to every detail to get as many showings as possible.  A showing with today's technology means more than just getting visits to the physical address.  You have to get internet showings or viewings, before you can get prospective buyers physically inside the home.
A listing's description has always been a good way to pique the interest of buyers.  Terms like fabulous, unbelievable, charming, spacious, beautiful, adorable and serene have been used for many years in descriptions of listings.  These adjectives are good to catch the human eye, but what about the search engines?  The search bots … (0 comments)

Being Sick Can Get You Down - 11:02 AM
Thanks to the Austin water, I was very sick over the weekend.  We went down to visit the progress of the new house on Wednesday and Thursday.  We got back Thursday night at about 8pm.  Alyssa went to bed shortly there after. 
I awaken at 11pm to screams.  I ran upstairs and reached my hands in her crib to pick her up, but my hands pulled back very quickly.  Serves me right for always leaving the lights off so they don't hurt her eyes.
Alyssa had gotten "sick". This contined for over an hour and I can't tell you how many … (11 comments)

How Do You Shut Off Your Brain at Night? - 11:10 AM
Is there a process you go through in the evenings to shut down your brain?  I've been up since 1:30am this morning as I couldn't sleep.  My brain wouldn't SHUT UP!
No matter what I did with my usual tricks, I couldn't get my brain to power off and allow me to sleep.
I even got up and worked for 2 hours.  That's two hours that I don't have to work later today, though I will work as I have lots to get done, but I couldn't believe I worked for 2 hours in the middle of the night.
What's sad … (27 comments)

Belated Valentines from My Daughter - 01:00 PM
Today, I received a belated Valentines present from Alyssa.  Can you believe she is already 15 months old?  She is starting to have her own thoughts and opinions and she designed this pendant.

Ok Ok, so she didn't really design it, but she did help with the idea.  Her birthstone is the yellow citrine and she definitely has a heart, yellow gold.  I just attached her heart to my white gold heart with my birthstone as the red rubies, and now my heart holds hers forever!

 
 
 
 
Even though she was sick this weekend along with me, … (14 comments)

And on a happier note.... - 09:55 PM
With all the doom and gloom being spread by the White House - "Catastrophe"; "crisis"; "financial meltdown"; "we might never get out of this", I am happy to report some good news!
Today was the start of High School tennis season here in Central Florida and this year I am coaching the boys and the girls of Dr Phillips High School.
We opened our season away at Evans High School today and both of my teams won their respective matches 7-0. In fact neither one of my teams gave up a single game! I have high hopes for both of them … (16 comments)

Market Conditions-North Texas - 04:44 PM
Market is heating up here in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.  Historically this time of year has been very good for selling your house.  I am seeing buyers entering the market and sellers putting their house up for sale.  It seems to be following the usual pattern.  That is good news for all of our sellers and buyers.
… (0 comments)

Decrease in Calls, North Texas - 04:54 PM
I have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of calls coming in from the hispanic community.  I started noticing the change around December and assumed we would come back around in Feb 09.  We mainly focus on Residential home sales in Lewisville Tx at the 150 median price.
… (0 comments)

Obama Housing Plan Speech - 12:24 PM
Looks like Huffington Post is first up with the full text version of Obama's Housing Plan speech, given today February 18 in Arizona
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/obama-foreclosure-speech_n_167889.html
Here it is on Reuters:  http://in.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idINN1843410920090218
I watched it on cable.  Whatever else you think about the plan, you gotta admit Mr. Obama is a powerful orator!  The effect of the delivery was very positive.
The comment stream on Huffington is pretty interesting, too.  
 
 
… (2 comments)

Options abound - 12:49 PM
Did you know that if you are considering purchasing a home, you can actually buy yourself some time? This time is called an option period and the length of time will vary depending on the terms of the contract. The option provision allows buyers to terminate a new-home or resale contract-for any reason at all-and still receive a refund of their earnest money.
This option provision, also known as the termination option, is in all Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) residential contracts. Many buyers will use the option period to evaluate the property with a professional inspection or to address any … (0 comments)

Pre-approved versus pre-qualified - 12:54 PM
Before you begin the process of shopping for a new home, consider getting a preliminary loan approval. There are two options available to consumers-pre-approval and pre-qualified. Although they may sound similar, they are, in fact, quite different.
While both may place consumers in a potentially stronger buying position, getting pre-approved by the lender carries a bit more weight. Pre-qualified simply gives you an idea of how much money you might qualify to borrow. A pre-approval goes one step further than a pre-qualification. Typically pre-approval means that the lender has verified your financial situation. It lets sellers and agents know how much … (1 comments)

NEW SMYRNA-VININGS GA HOMES FOR SALE WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING~COME USE YOUR $8,000 TAX CREDIT FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS - 01:52 AM

THE NEW SMYRNA~VININGS, GA HOMES FOR SALE WEBSITE
A New Website to search all the homes available in the Smyrna-Vinings, Ga area is up and running.  Smyrna_Vinings home prices are exceptionally low at this time. If ever there was a time to buy a home for first time home buyers and any buyers for that matter, the time is now!
With an $8,0000 tax credit through November 2009 for first time home buyers and the plethora of new and resale single family and townhome/condos on the market at exceptional prices, if you are credit worthy and financially able you should definitely take advantage of … (0 comments)

I was SMART ...SMART progam that is! - 02:50 PM
I had a great day! While having lunch with Kim Jones last week (she was Maryland Association of Realtors® Rookie of the Year), I noticed she was carrying a SMART bag . That is Floyd Wickman's program, and anyone who knows me knows that I am one of Floyd's biggest fans. Heck in my book Real Estate the Rome Way, his name is indexed more than anyone else's, and the first blurb is from Mike Pallin.Me: "Oh, you know Floyd?" 
Kim: "Well yeah, I am enrolled in the SMART program right now. We meet on Mondays. Steve Caudle knows you … (14 comments)

WEBSITE PROMOTION - 12:09 PM
I have been working with my real estate website for over 8 years and was having little success in obtaining the kind of top page positioning I wanted on the search engines.  This all changed when I started working with Grass Roots Neworking powered by www.webpromotion.com.  This excellent website promotion allowed me to move up ten positions to the first page of Google after only two weeks of working with his program.  If you want to join a small but powerfull website promotion program for Real Estate agents I highly recommend you contact Mark Barreras at 1-540-984-8190.   
The above information was provided by Dale … (0 comments)

Wordless Wednesday - 12:55 PM

… (17 comments)

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