The Xbox "Ring of Death" has been solved, according to a Yahoo front-page video I just saw. Apparently, it was such an issue, the game consoles getting a "Red Ring of Death" around the power button and not doing anything else, that several Xbox owners have even filed a petition in some states. Wow. Well rest easy Xbox fans, problem solved. Issue removed. WooHoo!

Are you kidding me?

There are computer geniuses in this country! Seriously. Look at some of these folks at Google, Microsoft, Macintosh. Things are done with computers that were unthinkable a few years ago. Great things have happened in technology.

But housing? A mess. We have people that can fix Xbox problems and write coded formulas that would make your head spin. But housing? Let's just throw money at it.

I'm sure you've wondered as I often have, why the US hasn't sent some elite force of Military ninjas to seek out and kill osama bin laden? Why not let Tom Clancy write us a black ops plan to sneak-in and get the guy????

I'll tell you why. Muscle doesn't win anymore, the GEEKS do. And the geeks could solve our economy problems. We put together a crew that built an atomic bomb and put a man on the moon. Multiply that by today's technology, the government could assemble a Manhattan (Housing) Project on steroids. (It's okay A-Rod, you don't have to come.)

NAR president Charles McMillan just recently sent an email that said "NAR is 100% opposed to the provision that modifies the Mortgage Interest Deduction and is prepared to use its formidable array of resources against its enactment." You GET 'EM Charles!

Let's face it, the politicians aren't smart enought to fix it. But the geeks aren't stupid enough to be politicians, so there is a gap between the two. We need to bridge that gap.

Put the geeks that can solve problems on the housing crisis. There's a good formula waiting to be written, to help the greater good and not hurt us.

I did two open houses this weekend in Auburn. Another agent in my officeis the listing agent. Often times our office will trade-up and hold open houses for one another in each others listings. This is common in every office. Now, both of these listings are in very favorable neighborhoods, and traffic is always good, even when it rains. So Monday I agreed to do both Saturday and Sunday, 2-4, in each of these houses. They were to be put in the local newspaper, on Friday in the real estate special, The Homeseeker, and line ads on the day of in the classifieds.

The last few days have been fraught with activity for my clients, both buyers and sellers. It's been an exciting last couple of weeks with all of the traffic I have been getting from prospects. I've been extremely busy, so I didn't have time to...

Wait a minute. I left out a detail. Our office has recently had to start seriously monitoring our use of the network printer, a Toshiba eStudio 3510. We use it for all of our in-office printing for black and white as well as color printing. It's also our fax machine and scanner. It's one of those mac-daddy machines that does everything but burp babies. We have some scholars in my office who don't know how to proofread before printing so there has been alot of abuse and wasted ink, which is NOT CHEAP. So, a few months back they implement a 5 digit code for each and every person in the office that you have to type-in before the "gatekeeper" will print what you want it to. This helps the powers-that-be keep up with who is printing what. Yes, I know I'm spoiled for having such a great and wonderful owner of the company who doesn't make us pay for our printing. (I hear that there are actually other offices that make their agents PAY for each and every page printed! Can you believe that?) Stacy Jordan, who I've spoken about before, is the best owner an agent could work for. I understand that we need to watch costs. But that 5-digit code ticks me off! If I tracked the time that I spend on a weekly basis typing that stupid code in, I could had a few productive hours that I'll never get back. You have to type it in to do ANYTHING: print, copy, scan, or fax! Sometimes I feel like doing the beatdown of the printer from the movie Office Space. It takes time to get things printed. Now we can't print in-color without one of the only 2 people in our office, who have the privilege, to print it for us. Yes, I know, it was like that at MY high school too.

Now, BACK TO OUR STORY--------> I didn't have time to gather fliers, info about similar listings, things to pass-out to my open house visitors. It would've taken too long and since I had to get someone else to print in color, I asked a few people in my office on Friday for the things I would need for the weekend. I had commitments all day Friday so I didn't have time to thumb through my materials.

I asked my assistant Missy to create a mini flier, one that would fit four to a regular sheet. It has link information for prospects and has worked quite well. Got that printed, in-color, no problem.

I asked the listing agent for spec sheets (both listings are new construction) and asked the other support staff for a printing of all the listings in the price range of the house I was doing a open house for on each day. Last weekend, I did that at another open house and more people took the sheet with all of the listings than any other material I had to offer. Well, the way I asked was that a list of "all the other houses in these price ranges in the neighborhood" be where I could hand out to prospective buyers. She did it. Exactly as I asked, without the house I was doing an open house in, included. By the way, her name is Charity Edwards, and no other office in the land has a sweeter office manager, that goes above and beyond like she does. She's also easy on the eyes andthat's nice too. Sorry fellas, she's married to my friend Ryan. I can't fault her at all. She did it EXACTLY as I asked, and with a smile.

On the first day's open house, I was in a new neighborhood, so the printout I got for that was of the whole neighborhood's floorplans and styles. No prices. "They vary too much." Wish I'd known we really didn't have accurate pricing, woulda done something myself.

I show up, in plenty of time to put out my directional signs and balloons, and bring in all my print-outs. Some folks pulled-up just as I was bringing the last load in. The walk straight up to me as I'm stacking papers and ask the obvious,

 "How much is this house?"

"Duh. Um. Uh. Ugh."

I had NO pricing info. Had everything else that I had asked for. Just didn't have pricing. Somehow, I managed to recall some of the information that I had heard from the agent during an office meeting several weeks prior. I also called my friend Wendy, who works with one of the builders in the neighborhood and told me some prices that she had. I used a little bit of both, mixed-in with a whole lot of bull%*#$, and somehow convinced these people to let me get back to them. They actually want me to take a look at listing their home as well as build in that neighborhood. Wow. All off my own ca-ca. 

I had copies of Friday's Homeseeker on hand and noticed that the house I was doing an open house in wasn't listed. Great day. I had about 5 groups show-up miraculously. Lesson #1 learned. Check your materials.

Then on Sunday, I go to another house, again getting signs out and balloons out. I get in the open house and find that, oh yeah you guessed it, NO PRICING, NO NOTHING. I looked on the sheet I asked Charity to print, nothing. I searched the house. Notta. I looked at the Homeseeker, and saw the square footage, address, and price. More than I had the day before! I called a few colleagues to see if they could get me anything on the fly, and come to find out, the price in the Homeseeker was wrong! For the 2nd day in a row, I did an open house with no handouts whatsoever.

And it was ALL my fault. The moral of the story boys and girls is to always proofread. Always check your materials before an open house. Be prepared. I wasn't. Don't make the same mistake that I did.

Pat & Dan Grider, owners of the downtown Auburn nightclub, the SkyBar, are suing the city.

The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in civil court on February 23rd. They claim that the city "targeted" them by police surveillance and numerous citations in an effort to shut them down. They believe that the Mayor, Bill Ham,  the City Manager and the Public Safety Director conspired to close down the bar so that condominiums could be built on the site where the SkyBar is located.

The SkyBar is located on Magnolia Avenue, just off of Toomers Corner across from Auburn University's campus and, no doubt, would be an ideal spot for more condominiums.

Of course, no one is talking about the underage drinking that occurs there, the fire code violations (too many people stuffed inside), the numerous bar brawls that have gone on, the destruction of neighboring businesses by the bar's patrons, or the business practices of giving away free drinks of. They think they're trying to be shut down so that yet another more-than-half vacant condo complex can be built in its place. Yeah right. Though the spot would be a good one for housing, Auburn has a serious over-abundance of condos and it seems unlikely to me that they (the city's leaders) would pull a stunt like trying to close a business to build condos that would take years to fill. 

I could be wrrong. Mayor Ham has been involved in several private developments both as an investor and as a beneficiary. Could he be using his power and lengthy list of contacts to exercise some influence for his personal gain? Perhaps.

The City Manager, actually both the current manager, Charles Duggan, and the former City Manager, Douglas Watson, were named defendants in the case. Both could stand to benefit (hypothetically) from the bar's closing and a new develpoment constructed. On the other hand, bars in Lee County, and more specifically Auburn, pay a substantial amount of taxes and closing another one would certainly make a dent in the city's revenue.

Now the Public Safety Director, William James... I fail to see where he could gain monetarily by the SkyBar's closing. At least not personally. He's not exactly a real estate mogul and if anything, he could lay off a few employees if he didn't have to keep paying the officers who, it would seem, stake out the downtown nighlife scene, in which the SkyBar plays a huge part of. Now I believe that a police presence downtown is a necessary and for obvious reasons. We as a city, must have uniformed officers patrolling the area. But if you drive by the SkyBar on ANY given night that they are open, you'll see Auburn's finest loitering about near the entrance.

I consider Pat and Dan friends. I think that they are the most successful barkeepers this town has ever seen. Everything they touch turns to gold. They constantly change the properties they own, expanding and renovating to keep things fresh. They don't squander. They reinvest. They're very intelligent businessmen. Have they done some things wrong? Sure. Have they pushed the envelope to the edge with what should be allowed of an alcohol-serving establishment? Oh yeah. Have they paved a rough road for any other potential barowners who will have a rough start with the city, county, and ABC board? Most definitely. But will they survive? You better believe it.

It's not of my opinion that this is a frivolous lawsuit, but if you're a barowner, you don't want to be barking up that tree. Of course, they have outstanding legal representation with Davis Whittelsey. Don't know many other lawyers who would have the balls to sue the city! But I'll tell you this: I'll be watching this one like a sporting event. Should be REAL interesting.

Many of you know that I am a drummer. Have been since the age of 10 (I'm 33 now.) I play as much as my schedule wife allows me to, which equates to about once a week. It is more than a passion for me, more like an addiction. In the past, I tried the whole "rock star" thing...driving up and down the road to play bars all around the Southeast. Met, opened up for, and even played with some of my musical heroes. And it was worth it. Glad I did it. Wouldn't have done it differently if I had to do it over again. But I digress.

From being a drummer, even when I'm not on stage, nor thinking, or dreaming of being on stage, I still have that "rhythm." It flows through me. I don't mean I walk around and beat box all day or drum on every surface I touch. (Wait a minute. I DO drum on everything.) That's not what I mean. I mean that my day runs smoothly when I stay on course, when I stick to the routine, or (forgive me if you will) get into a "rhythm."

Emailing, blogging, taking pictures of properties, previewing properties, sending handwritten letters, calling exprieds, calling FSBOS... to me it's all rhythmic. And, like playing with a band, if you lose the rhythm, the day falls apart just like a song would with the beat not staying on tempo. Sometimes I rush the beat, try to go too fast, and forget to call someone back or take the earnest money check to the closing. Oops! Other times I'll drag the tempo, or go too slow, and not get everthing done that I need to, like staying in contact with sellers, or having the time to stay in touch with my sphere of influence for referrals.

I'm sure not many agents out there are drummers, so it's doubtful that they've thought about their daily or weekly routine as a drum beat. But to me, that's what it takes to keep me successful...rhythm.

I awoke this morning to an email from one of my sellers. It was a forwarded message between him and another agent who, in my opinion, violated Standard of Practice 16-2 in the Realtor® Code of Ethics.

First, she called him last night and, as he put it, she asked him if he would be willing to make a trade with her clients for my listing. He informed her that she needed to contact me instead of him directly. She replied that, if he would consider the trade, that she, of course, would go thru me. But she figured that since she knew him, she would just call him directly.

Now let me back up a little bit. This particular listing was HERS last year. It expired, and I got the listing, fair 'n square. I'm sure she's maybe a little upset that she wasn't able to sell this listing and lost it, but that's no excuse.

My seller knew that what she was doing was wrong and promptly notified me. He forwarded the email correspondence between to two of them and called me to tell me about the phone call as well.

Furthermore, she is a BROKER. Should've know better.

From the Code of Ethics:

Standard of Practice 16-2

Article 16 does not preclude REALTORS^® from making general announcements to prospects describing their services and the terms of their availability even though some recipients may have entered into agency agreements or other exclusive relationships with another REALTOR^®. A general telephone canvass, general mailing or distribution addressed to all prospects in a given geographical area or in a given profession, business, club, or organization, or other classification or group is deemed "general" for purposes of this standard. (Amended 1/04)
Article 16 is intended to recognize as unethical two basic types of solicitations:

First, telephone or personal solicitations of property owners who have been identified by a real estate sign, multiple listing compilation, or other information service as having exclusively listed their property with another REALTOR^®; and

Second, mail or other forms of written solicitations of prospects whose properties are exclusively listed with another REALTOR^® when such solicitations are not part of a general mailing but are directed specifically to property owners identified through compilations of current listings, "for sale" or "for rent" signs, or other sources of information required by Article 3 and Multiple Listing Service rules to be made available to other REALTORS^® under offers of subagency or cooperation. (Amended 1/04)

I'll update this blog as more progresses. My broker is handling it for me as we speak.

If you're a real estate agent, and you work with buyers, chances are that your association has lockboxes and keys for all participants to get inthose lockboxes. Our association, the Lee County Association of Realtors, uses the ActiveKEY by GE Security.

These seemingly easy-to-use devices are supposed to make life easier for realtors, safer for homeowners (so not everyone has access to keys), and good for tracking showings.

That IS, when they are working correctly and are set-up right.

Here's my complaints (in no particular order):

First of all, when you press the keys on the ActiveKEY, they don't depress or "give" any. My young child has toy phones and such that have physical, responding keys. With the sound off, it's hard to tell if your keystrokes have been succesfully chosen or not. What a pain. Even the first TV remote controls, you know, the ones that were attached to television sets by a wire, had keys that depress! Man, how could GE go backwards with technology? The keys we had before we swapped to these things had keys that depressed. The first evidence that GE ran out of money by the time these things hit the assembly line.

Second problem I have is that the screens are monochromatic. As I said before, these things are bass-ackwards when it comes to keeping up with technology. Even the cheapest iPODS (who's prices are cheaper than these things) have color displays. I mean, COME ON. What has a monochromatic screen anymore?

Third, battery life is nonexistant. I understand the juice that gets eaten up from broadcasting. I sold mobile phones for several years before real estate. I can draw charts and graphs explaining radio waves and signals, as well as explaining that the harder a device searches, the more battery it drains. These things only need to update ONCE per day. The software inside is written so that in case your not in an area where a cell phone signal can be reached, that the key will keep trying until it gets a signal to update. This could easily be solved with a menu function to "connect and update." Funny, that was essentially what the old keysdid. We just had to have them hook up to internet or phone to update. Wireless was the next step. But at least the old DisplayKEY had more than a day's battery life. Shoot. Those things could go almost 3 days. The illegitimate baby step-brother, the ActiveKEY, would be dead as disco after more than a day of not charging and a couple of uses. Which brings me to my next point...

Fourth, is LONG charge time. Harry Houdini couldn't hold his breath long enough to wait on these things to get even a minimal charge to open one keybox! Let's face it. We have ENOUGH to wait on in this business. Uploading pictures probably takes the most time of a realtor's. But when I'm lying on my deathbed, I'll sit and try to calculate how much of my life I wasted waiting on these d%&* ActiveKEYs to charge.

Fifth, (remember how I said these weren't in any order - this one should have been FIRST) these things are too expensive considering how crappy they are. I have twice paid $263 and some change (yearly charge) to use this thing. I wish I could find a Motorola or Samsung designer to make a better device. I understand the service costs money.  I get that.                                                                                          SIDE NOTE : I tried the key on my Pocket PC for a few months last year. They make the software for Palms and Blackberrys now as well. That was a monthly charge of around $29 per month. If you do the math, that's a few dollars more a year for an interface that is cumbersome and not very user-friendly - but that's a whole nother blog topic!          But back to the price. Where do these people get off? Seriously, I've called tech support to complain before. I jokingly asked the operator, who did speak good English by the way, (don't get me started on hotlines with foreign operators!) I asked her, "wanna know why I don't like these things?"                        - She replied, "Oh please tell me what YOU don't like. No one has shared anything negative about these units." - I got the sarcasm loud and clear. She went on to confide in me that since the inception of the new devices, their call volume had tripled in complaints. 

Next, (what number am I on?) I've been waiting on my Key to charge so that I could turn it on and tell you more things wrong, is the way the software works in assigning lockboxes. If a lockbox is used by another agent in your office, and that agent doesn't "unassign," they'll be getting updates on their keys for showings on your property. Quite frustrating, and will confuse the hell out of you if it happens to you for the first time. One night, as another agent kept opening the lockbox to show her client how it worked, my key beeped repeatedly, having me scury to my computer to find out who was showing my property(s) every 2 minutes for half an hour.

Seventh, the flashlight function they brag about on the training video makes me want to light a candle to show someone at GE how much better they could've designed that! Pitiful.

Eighth, these things are larger and bulkier than their previous model, the DispayKEY. What, did someone complain that the predecessors were too small? Look at ANY OTHER handheld device. In today's Information Age, isn't the idea to get smaller and sleeker? Again, they've managed to go backwards in time yet again.

Ninth, you have to by the $30 vehicle charger from GE and only GE. I've tried numerous other fitting, but unsuccessful, chargers that wouldn't work. Gotta but theirs. This one isn't a big deal, but when I'm already ticked off, this just adds fuel to the fire.

Tenth, the sounds on this thing make scraping fingernails across a chalkboard sound like Mozart. Enough said. They just suck. And you can't change them.

In closing, I'd like to say that GE is an AMERICAN company, that I feel we, as real estate agents should support. We shouldn't have to go overseas to get this technology. But it's disappointing to see them strikeout so bad on the ActiveKEY.

When our Association swapped over, it was a huge undertaking and what we call where I come from, a "big ole GOAT-ROPIN!'" I dread the day we have to swap over againt, But yet, I can't wait to throw my ActiveKEY in the street.

Last Sunday, my laptop began to have a serious and annoying problem. Whenever I typed on the keyboard, in ANY program, online or off. The keystrokes took an extra 30 seconds to repsond on the screen. It did it in Outlook, Word, internet, ANYWHERE.

I'm sure you can imagine my            f    r   u   s   t   r   a   t   i   o   n  .

 I ended processes in the Windows task manager. I checked my memory and CPU usage, everything was fine. I ran MSCONFIG and stopped all the startup processes from running. I ran a disk cleanup and defragmented. I cleared out cache. I used-to work for a computer company. I know what I'm doing here. It's not as if I'm some technophobe or novice around a computer. I was like, "WHAT THE HE%%?!?! is happenin?"  My machine, a Dell Latitude 131L, is only a year old. Sadly, I only had a one year warranty. Been expired since the end of August. Not that I would call those idiots anyway. I'll get to them in a minute.

I consulted my tech-savy associate and fellow realtor, Ryan Edwards. He's got a degree in computer troubleshooting. (God knows why he's a realtor, he's so brilliant at computers, but that's another story for another day.) He quizzed me on everything I had failed at trying.                                                         "Did you try _____?"                          "Yep."                                   "Did you try this?"                             "Yeah. Tried that."                                            I had tried everything.

I ran 3 different virus scans and 3 different malware/spyware scans. Notta. Called on a few other folks I trust for computer advice, just hoping someone had a new idea. Not so much. I was just hoping the inevitable would not be that I would have to wipe the hard drive and re-install Winders.

Well, too bad, Jay. Looks like this is not your week. By Wednesday, I was distraught.

So I spent about 9 hours backing up to my external hard drive, (By the way, if you don't have an external hard drive to back-up your files, RUN don't walk...) wiping the hard drive, reinstalling Windows, reloading all the drivers, updating everything, and getting my programs back on my desktop.

Guess what? It was still doing the same thing!          T - y - p - i - n - g       s - l - o - w.

Holy crap. Got to be hardware. Just went thru an incredibly slow season of almost NO sales, Christmas, and a new baby in the house. I can't afford to buy a new laptop. And having to replace the motherboard in one of these things requires a left-hand monkey wrench.

So I get online, back to all the blogs, forums, and support groups I had browsed before. Searching for an answer, any answer.

Decided to call Dell. Damnit.

After a freakin' 30 minute wait, I hear on the other end, " ELLO, Wellcomb to DELD teckinical sahPORTD. Ow kahn eye elp yo?"

Angels of grace defend us.

"Yes. I have a problem. My laptop..."

"Sird. Kahn yo gi mee yourd eggsprez serdviss code?"

"Ok. Yeah. It's 11_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"

"Thak yo. Holdld on ford a mament. (5 minutes go by.) ......Id ap ears yord suhvis with us has expireddd. Yo will hahv to cole our Ot of wadranty suhviz depardmant. The nomberd is 888_ _ _ _ _ _ _. Hald on. I'll cahnectd yo..."

Phone rings forever. I get an answering machine that says "We're closed."

I'm close to tears at this point. All the while, I've been searching thru Dell support forums.

On PAGE 10 of a thread, I read something about FLEA power. I know, I had never heard of it either. Neither had my friend Ryan.

It seems that flea power is the power left over in your battery that needs to be discharged every once in a while. You power down your machine, unplug it, remove the battery, and depress the button on the battery for 5 seconds. Knowing that my laptop would run without the battery but plugged in the wall, I left it out and logged back on.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!

It worked. I mean better than ever, it worked. Put the battery back in. Same problem. Slow typing. Took it out. Problem solved.

This battery was the culprit. I found a new one online for pretty cheap. Little did I know that taking the battery out should have been a troubleshooting tip. That's not said or written ANYWHERE in Dell's support/troubleshooting documents.

I can't wait to buy a Mac.

Homebuyer Myth # 501:

Going Directly to a Builder Will Save Money (not having to pay an agent).

FALSE!

The fact is, as a buyer, with the exception of a few folks out there, open themselves up for overpaying contractors when they try to circumvent a qualifed, professional real estate agent.

Often buyers look at price-per-square feet usually in comparable houses to the one in question to formulate their offering price. Not a bad system, and 70% of the time it works for me and my buyer clients in my area. Not sure how much it's used in other areas, but that's the way it is here. This is for resales and spec houses.

I've had a few buyers recently, who I'd been helping for a month or so, decide not to buy a resale but possibly build. Great! I can help. My company lists houses for some of our area's best builders. Plus there's a few more that I could easily get their business by laying a golden egg, a custom, in their lap. Not only is it fun to these guys to build a custom, but in this market, let's face it, you can get a deal. While I'm gathering the best samples of these builders' work, a few who I know would be easy to work with if I took them a client, my buyers sneak away and talk to one of the builders I was actually going to introduce them to.

I know, not so great clients.

Regardless, when I spoke with them the next day, they told me what the builder would charge them for a specific floorplan with a basement added-on, lot picked-out and everything. Let's just say I crunched the numbers and the builder would make an extra $30K to $50K off these people. The buyers were floored!

"But I thought...."

Yeah I know what you thought. Going directly to the builder, and him not having to pay me a commission, he'd give you a deal.

The fact is, 99% of the builders in this part of the world use the services of a realtor.  Builders like to build, not talk to clients. Much less, stingy clients. In my example, this particular builder, knowing that his phone number is not anywhere to be found at ANY of his properties, (they're all phone numbers of agents that he knows and trusts), knows that these folks had to dig to get his number, to get around the system, and to try to take business away from the people who market his properties and keep him in business. He either overpriced on purpose 'cause he didn't want to work with them, or babies need new shoes! I don't know yet.

I do know, that outside of prospective business, if you were to ask a builder, loyal to real estate agents, which he'd rather prefer: dealing directly with buyers or having the buyers and himself represented in some form of agency, he'd choose the latter.

Questions? Comments? Snide remarks?

Photo by Dani Simmonds

Not sure if folks saw this or not. I'll be honest with you, I didn't. To tell you the truth, I hardly ever watch the Today Show. Not because I'm not up and out of bed early enough like most realtors in my area, but because I'm too busy getting myself and my family ready for the day while the show is on.

It's rather exciting to have our little corner of the universe featured on the Today Show though. Here ya go:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/28193890#28193890

I really like Barbara Corcoran. She's an out-of-the-box thinker in an in-the-box world. You can check out more about her and her company here.

This condominium, located four blocks from Auburn University's campus, is at the newly renovated Village North Condominium complex on the corner of Donahue Drive and Drake Avenue in Auburn. This unit is a one bedroom, one bathroom studio with completely tiled flooring and all-black appliances, a great alternative to dorm living, which do not include kitchens.

The unit is leased until July 31, 2009 at $350 per month. The Homeowner's Association dues are $47 per month which includes waste disposal. The current property management company is only charging $22.75 per month!

For more information on this or any other investment opportunites in the Auburn University area, please visit http://www.auburnalproperties.com.