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30 Ways to Save Money on Utilities 
Almost daily I see posts on Active Rain from new bloggers agonizing on how to get started with blogging. They want to know how others are generating business from their blogs and whether the time and effort is going to be worth it. My answer is YES. Blogging is worth the time and effort. However with anything that pays great benefits, how you move forward can make the difference between a phone call, text or dead air. The first question you need to ask yourself is who are you trying to engage with your blog? Are you a Gen X agent … (109 comments)
Tonight I signed on to Active Rain... I was on several times already today and this were "normal", but now... ONCE AGAIN... the dear sweet folks at Active Rain have chosen to "FIX" something what WAS NOT BROKEN.
Your attitude is what matters most. It is not what happens to you that matters but rather how you respond to what happens to you. 
Have you ever had an escrow where you were hoping would be closing tomorrow so you wouldn't have to talk with the client again the day after? I know! SAD!
I was cleaning out my junk e-mail, today and there was a message from a potential client in New York! This gentleman is very undeserving of being assigned to the junk folder, why Outlook put his message there, I don't know.
When the recession hit here in Renton, Washington a couple of years ago the evidence was immediate in old downtown. In less than a year it seemed every 4th or 5th door was closed and there was a For Rent sign in the window. My heart went out to these small shop merchants. I use to be one. Back in a different recession in the 70's I had a small music store, Renton Guitar Studios. I didn't make a ton of money in those days, but as a young man in his early 20's I was the proud owner of my own … (29 comments)
There are so many blogs submitted everyday on ActiveRain that it's impossible to capture every well written, interesting post. I missed a really interesting and enjoyable post by Ralph Gorgoglione titled "where do you spend your advertising dollar?" I responded to it only after I saw it twice when it was re-blogged, and I responded to both re-blogs. 
Many people will tend to look at the success of others by their status, title, label or how financially stable they are. The career choice of an individual just starting out in the work force most likely is an employee who works for a monthly salary or paid by the hour.
I have been extremely busy as of late and I believe there is a direct correlation to my connecting with Active Rain more than a year ago. I was trying to remember how I came to Active Rain and it took me awhile but then I finally remembered that I was in a class with Amy Chorew. She is fabulous by the way and if you ever get a chance to take a class with her don't miss it! Who knew that those words I jotted on a piece of paper "Active Rain" would have brought me to this point where … (34 comments)
Do you consider other agents in your area "competition" or "peers"?
(not so) Speechless Sunday... Kinda like in the days of the Wild, Wild, West, I'm never too far from my trusty "shootin' iron". No, I don't keep it in a holster strapped to my hip, but it is within a moments grasp if I need to shoot some critter, reveneur or folks that go a wanderin'. Yesterday, while relaxin' and putterin' in the lower 40, I managed to squeeze off a few shots in the direction of this female gold finch before she decided that enough was enough already. Thankfully, I'm a bad shot...
You never really know who's watching and reading ...... Going thru my Google Alerts today and I saw an interesting post about Active Rain which I decided to check out. I'm always curious about what other blogging platforms have to say about us. You know, that cult called ActiveRain with all those Realtors©, they said ...... Active Rain offers chance to eavesdrop The post suggests going into the site and see what Realtors© are thinking and saying about the industry. Hot juicy news? Tidbits of gossip? I guess not, we are 100% real estate all the time evidently. But the writer … (63 comments)
A very good friend revealed to me recently that they had their home on the market as a short sale ... with another agent.
I read an article the other day about a gentleman named Jay Shafer, who gave up living in his 4000 square foot home to live in a hand built 89 square foot house. Amazingly, by taking some of the design styles that Frank Lloyd Wright incorporated into his architecture, Jay was able to build a house that has all the amenities needed without all the extra "stuff" that others tend to collect over the years. The house, he lovingly calls "Tumbleweed" has a kitchen, bath, bedroom, living area with furniture and of course a front porch. The house cost 13,000 to build … (64 comments)
Most every time we work with a buyer it involves searching for the right parcel that "fits" our client. In days past we looked like hero's as the general public could not access our MLS listings. Now days things are a little different, most buyers have already looked at your MLS before even calling so you have to be ready to step up your search game to stay successful. Most agents have got in the habit of just searching their MLS so when the client says "seen that" it discourages them. When I search it starts with local boards but then … (19 comments)
Pre-Approvals Disappearing?
5 Reasons Charlotte Home Sellers May Reject Your Offer Rejection is a difficult thing to face in life, whether it’s from a potential client, a potential boss or a potential home seller. As a Charlotte home buyer, your stress level may be reduced if you’re aware of some of the reasons a seller may flat-out reject your Offer to purchase their real estate. 
July 19 is "Stick Your Tongue Out Day". I wouldn't make that up. (Hang in with me, because I'm going to make a connection here with real estate blogging. Please read on...)
My first blog ever! My first rent house!
I had been in contact with a potential buyer for over a year. I had set him up on Auto notification searches. Recently, he contacted me and said he was ready to buy. He pinpointed a particular high-end neighborhood. I showed him and a girlfriend a house in the $400k range. He was able to purchase using cash or he was able to finance. After viewing the house, we went out to lunch to discuss and that is when he asked me for 50% of my commission. I ended up letting him know that I was not in agreement and I … (254 comments)
I have held a lot of open houses. Some very successful and some pretty non-eventful. I read a book early on By Danielle Kennedy that had a load of great suggestions to get the most out an open house so I always prepared well and hoped for the best. Today was an off day for me, I would return to being a Realtor tomorrow. As I drove around town doing errands I saw several open house signs. Finally I couldn't resist stopping in on one to see how it was going. I quickly introduced myself as a Realtor just checking things … (65 comments)
INXS- The Stairs INXSfan | MySpace Video
This new thing about calling the shots is making this weekly post a lot more interesting. When I see a great post, I want it for this summary, but that usually means that at least I think it's gold star worthy, so I suggest. It's resulted in my having to do a lot more reading than I used to, and there will be a few that I may include that were featured by the Gold Star fairy. So here's this week's favorites:
Lots and Land for sale in Sylva, NC … (0 comments)
I went Camping Friday morning for 3 days with my 4 oldest boys so I weighed in a day early. I was up 1.2 lbs. I am sure I am much heavier today as I ate the same food as everyone else on the camping trip. It tasted great but made me kind of sick.
JORDAN'S FURNITURE IN NATICK - Great Furniture Meets Great Service! 
Karen has a great list that anyone and everyone should consider... It will help you save some money while helping Save Our Planet =)
One of my 'puters contracted a Search Redirect Virus yesterday. These are nasty little buggers that work like this: You search for something in Google, Bing or Yahoo, and you get pages back containing your search results...then, when you click on one of the search results you are taken to pages of advertising and/or virus links instead of the page found by your search.
Voted as the one of the Best Places to Live by Money Magazine in both 2006 and 2008 is Arlington, TX. Arlington has many highlights such as a close knit community, activities, crime rate, the weather and, of course, median priced homes. Likely the reason why it is having an increase during these tough economical times that have hit the real estate market so hard. While a decrease in home sales was relevant in 2008 the market has been steadily increasing and currently above that of last year in sales. Like many other areas in Dallas, many foreclosures went on the … (1 comments)
Some people think that well-bred horses never end up needing rescue, that it's only "grade" horses that find themselves on the truck to Canada or Mexico for slaughter. Well, t hat's not true. Here's a list of "papered" Morgans that just ForeverMorgans has rescued in the past few years. If you're familiar with Morgans, you'll definitely recognize some of the prefixes. These are the ones who came through with their papers or that we were able to identify after rescue; there are many more whose papers were not sent with them (perhaps to hide who sent them to auction, perhaps because … (6 comments)
Who would have thought that Warwick, Rhode Island would show up in one the of top 100 Best Places to Live?
North Of Chicago Real Estate Suburban Numbers in July 2010 
I have written in the past about how the University of Arkansas contributes to the economy of Fayetteville, how Fayetteville has been rated as one of the best college towns in the country, and how Fayetteville has been at the top of many “best places” lists, often because of the university. I ran across some interesting facts about the University recently that I wanted to share. To read more ... … (4 comments)
Mortgage Insurance for Condominium Units (Section 234(c)) program assists potential homeowners in purchasing a home in a condominium development. The prospective condominium must be the potential homeowner's primary residence.
This past Thursday night I had the opportunity to go on a harbor tour/cruise of Portsmouth, New Hampshire along the harbor out to where it runs into the Atlantic Ocean.Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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