Auburn Al Real Estate Blog

The X-Box Killer is Caught; So Why Can't We Get Somebody to Fix Housing?

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:35:50 -0600

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.

Note to Self: Remember to check your materials before holding an open house!

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:42:33 -0600

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.

SkyBar Owners Suing the City of Auburn

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:39:58 -0600

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.

The Perpetual "Rhythm" Required to be a Real Estate Agent.

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:08:28 -0600

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.

Another Agent Called MY Seller!

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:11:12 -0600

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

^®

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

ActiveKEY - 10 reasons I'd like to throw mine in the street.

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:33:32 -0600

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.

Finally back to computer normality after wiping the hard drive

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:50:03 -0600

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.

Buyer Myth #501: Going Directly to a Builder Will Save Money (not having to pay an agent)

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:52:42 -0600

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

Auburn Alabama featured on the Today show

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:14:31 -0600

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.

Village North Condominiums in Auburn Unit 17 - 4 blocks from AU Campus

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:43:52 -0600

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.

Auburn-Alabama Game A.K.A. the Iron Bowl is AMERICAN

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:24:05 -0600

British personality/actor Stephen Fry on his show that airs on the BBC network called "Stephen Fry in America" talks about the Iron Bowl: the yearly gathering of football teams from the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

Fry uses many adjectives to describe Amercian football as well as the Auburn-Alabama game, but one word sticks out...American.

For me, growing up in the shadow of Jordan-Hare Stadium going to football games, there is no greater sports event of the year than the Iron Bowl. There is no other college football rivalry so anticipated, so revered. It's chocked full of tradition. From "Punt, Bama, punt!" to the first game played in Auburn in '89, to "Fear the Thumb."

When you're born in the state of Alabama, it is said that you either look over and see orange and blue, or you look up and see crimson and white. You're either an Auburn fan OR an Alabama fan. All season long you may pull for the other team as long as they're playing someone else, but come Iron Bowl day, it's war.

Yes, Mr. Fry was right. This game is as American as they come. Folks outside of our little corner of the world may not ever understand what the words, "Roll Tide," or "War Eagle" mean. That's okay. We don't expect them too. But rest assured, if they ever visited, there's no doubt that the excitement wouldn't latch on as if they'd been watching these two teams all of their life. It's contagious. It is frought with the American spirit. No wonder Mr. Fry and his crew chose an event such as this one to film and show the rest of the world exactly how American it is.

Okay, Let's Hear It: Upload pics/video or link of your favorite Residential RECYCLING BINS

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:01:54 -0600

Where we live, the City of Auburn, Alabama, has a curbside reclycling program. When the garbage trucks come by, another truck comes by on the same day and collects recycling. It's pretty awesome that the cost is built-in to our sanitation services bill which comes on our water invoice.

The city accepts aluminum, cardboard, newspaper, glass (clear and brown), plastic (#1 and #2 BOTTLES only), and steel (tin) cans at the curb. In addition to that, they have a drop-off center off of Donahue Drive that accepts the aforementioned as well as: green glass, magazines/mixed paper, telephone books, rechargeable and non-rechargeable transistor batteries. For more information about the City of Auburn's garbage and recycling collection, go here. The Environmental Services Department handles all this for the city of Auburn, and does an outstanding job.

As cool as this is, the city does not provide, nor do they even sell, containers for residents to collect their recycling. Some people use clear trash bags, while others use empty egg crates. Some have boxes and some have plastic containers. I've looked into a few sold online, some that are fairly cheap if sold in bulk.

What I'd like from you, dear readers, is ideas.

Please upload your pictures, videos, or links of residential recycling bins, that can be kept in the home and set out on the curbside on pick-up day. What I'd like to do is get these for my clients and get my fellow realtors to do the same, so that when driving through neighborhoods, not only will you see the standard garbage carts, but standard recycling containers. It's not necessarilly a problem, but it would sure look a whole lot neater.

Please upload or post pictures, video, or links of your best ideas for residential recycling bins!

Here's some good ones I found off of recyclingbin.com.

Putting an inflated price on contracts so that customers move-in with EQUITY

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:15:48 -0600

I had an interesting question from one of my buyer clients yesterday that spawned a great debate around our office. My buyer asked me if he could put a higher price (higher than contract proce) in the minimum appraisal value blank of the FHA clause of our contract. The reason is so that he could move-in his new home with equity.

Our contract has the following clause in the 4th paragraph:

FHA AGREEMENT: The following FHA AGREEMENT is/is not applicable:

"It is expressly agreed that, notwithstanding any other provisions of this contract, the BUYER shall not be obligated to complete the purchase of the property described herein or to incur any penalty by forfeiture of earnest money deposits or otherwise unless the SELLER has delivered to the BUYER a written statementissued by the Federal Housing Commissioner setting forth the appraised value of the property (excluding costs) at not less than $_______________ which SELLERhereby agrees to deliver to the BUYER promptly after such appraised value statement is made available to the SELLER. The BUYER shall, however, have theprivilege and option of proceeding with the consummation of the contract without regard to the amount of the appraised valuation made by the FederalHousing Commissioner. The appraised valuation is arrived at to determine the maximum mortgage the Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment will insure. HUD does not warranty the value or the condition of the property. The BUYER should satisfy himself / herself that the price and thecondition of the property are acceptable."

An example: Buyer finds a home in a decent, well-populated, spec neighborhood. All the properties in this neighborhood are around 1800 square feet and selling around $250,000. We find a house, listed for $240,000 and is advertised by the seller's agent as having "motivated sellers." 3 homes have sold (for around $250K) in the last 2 months. My buyer wants to offer $235,000, with FHA financing, and the minimum appraisal value set at $250,000. I told him that I'd never tried that before.

I consulted 2 appraisers, my broker, and several agents. None of them had tried it or even heard of it. It IS legal, but is it good practice?

It's the Time of the Season...

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:27:13 -0600

It's the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy

And let me try
With pleasured hands

To take you and the sun to
Promised lands
To show you every one
It's the time of the season for loving "

You may ask why on earth I felt the need to quote the Zombies on a real estate blog. Well you can ask, and the answer lies in the next lines of the song...

" What's your name?
(What's your name?)
Who's your daddy?
(Who's your daddy? He rich?)
Is he rich like me? "

No, I'm not rich. But I wanted to make a point.

In this economy, while buyers and sellers for the most part are scared out of their wits, there are still those who are gaining wealth by making smart investments. These intelligent investments include, you guessed it, REAL ESTATE.

By the way you can purchase your own "I heart real estate button" here.

You've heard the old saying that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Smart investors are buying NOW, right now, today. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not waiting until after the election, not waiting until after the new year. TODAY.

If ever there is a time to buy invest, it is now. Consider that most buyers are scared, on the fence, waiting on the economy to improve. Sellers are panicing. Think about it. When would be a BETTER time to buy? This is when deals are found. If only the stock market were as simple as what most believe to be "buy low, sell high." It's much more black and white in the real estate marketplace.

If you've worked with another realtor in the past, is he or she not ringing your phone off the hook to encourage you to invest at this, the most opportune of times?

I give you the next line of the Zombies song...

"Has he taken
(Has he taken)
Any time
(Any time to show)
To show you what you need to live?
Tell it to me slowly
Tell you what?
I really want to know
It's the time of the season for loving."

...Loving REAL ESTATE that is.

My office, Prudential Auburn, AKA Prudential Preferred Real Estate in Auburn, Alabama

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:17:49 -0500

Located at 1530 East Glenn Avenue in Auburn, Alabama, this is my office.

...where all the magic in the Auburn, Alabama market is happening at the moment. This is my first attempt at adding video (that I've recorded) to a blog, so please bare with me. I will have more to come. This was just a test to see how it would work out.

How often do you have your fireplace cleaned?

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:28:37 -0500

A fellow agent friend of mine just paid a chimney sweep company $179 to clean her gas log fireplace this morning. It's a brand new house with a brand new ventless gas fireplace not even a year old.

Now I know, if you have a regular, wood-burning fireplace, you should clean it out once per year. I called the only 2 chimney sweep companies we have in town, and they said you should have your gas fireplace cleaned once per year. But of course they're going to say that! That's how they make their money. It seems to me that my friend is getting "raked over the coals," so to speak. I laughed at her for being over-cautious and being duped by the chimney sweep. What on earth could he have swept?

Ventless gas firplaces have no soot, no ashes, what's the deal?

I googled the question and found no acceptable answer. There are a couple of DIY sites that show how to clean your own fireplace, and a few used phrases like, "your yearly inspection." But none gave any indication of how often you should have one cleaned.

I ask you Active Rainers, does anyone who is not a chimney sweep, have an answer?

I'd love to have more fuel for the fire for my friend.

Filezilla Client or Server?

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:45:15 -0500

I've taken the WordPress.org plunge for my professional blog, to be named at a later date.

I've got hosting with HostICan which was one of the recommended hosts off of the WordPress site.

Now I've come to the part where I need an FTP Client. From what I've observed on this site and others, Filezilla will suit my needs. Question is, should I download Filezilla Client for all platforms or Filezilla Server for Windows? I'm using XP Pro, so I would assume that either would work. But, I don't need a "Server" but an FTP Client software.

The Filezilla site doesn't explain the difference in any detail at all. I figured if I could get some answers from some of the pros on A.R. here, then whoever has this question down the road can reference this post.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Prudential in Auburn has a new broker and much more

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:18:16 -0500

Wth the closing of Century 21 Paramount in Auburn (see previous post), Prudential Preferred Real Estate has doubled in size and added some outstanding agents as well as a new broker.

Taylor Britton, who was a top producer the last few years at C-21, is now the new broker at Prudential, which is located in the Bruno's shopping center off Glenn Avenue in Auburn, Alabama. He brought with him some good friends and fellow producers: Ryan Edwards, Jimmy DeVenny, Debbie Whitley, Bryan Huff, Annie Williams, Brian Huddleston, and Charity Edwards (who is the new office manager).

Of course, the veteran Prudential agents are still performing their best: Missy Harris Thompson, Dawn Radnitz, Wendy Hamme, Chrystal Ingram, Becca McVey, Amy Smith, Chad Williams, owner - Stacy Williams Jordan, and yours truly.

Century 21 in Auburn has closed

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:51:35 -0500

That's right the once powerhouse of Century 21 Paramount in Auburn, Alabama has fallen.

This great company of all star real estate agents that, at one time, peppered Lee County with black and yellow arm signs is no more. Some went to Keller Williams, some went to Prestige Properties, the broker went to Weichert, but the bulk of talent moved their licenses to Prudential Preferred Real Estate on Glenn Avenue in Auburn.

Taylor Britton is now the new broker at Prudential. Following him (in no particular order) from C-21 to Prudential: Ryan Edwards, Carrie King Maurelli, Debbie Whitley, Annie Williams, Bryan Huff, Jimmy DeVenny, Brian Huddleston, and Charity Edwards.

This exodus to Prudential in Auburn has doubled the size of the brokerage overnight. And owner Stacy Williams Jordan has to be thrilled with the sudden explosion of market share. She said that,"If anyone else wants to come, we'll knock the wall down and expand into Countrywide" (which is next door in the Bruno's Shopping Center).

Tom Ferry's Success Summit '08

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:39:18 -0500

Still fresh off the plane from Palm Desert, California where I've been for the last week with 3 of my co-workers and 1500 or so other realtors from all over the country.

The occassion was Tom Ferry's Success Summit 2008 which was held at the Desert Springs JW Marriot Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA. We flew from Atlanta to Phoenix, then Phoenix to Palm Springs, then took a cab ride to the resort last Monday. We flew home Saturday arriving back in Auburn, AL about Midnight local time.

What a week! The actual conference didn't begin until Tuesday afternoon but we we there for early registration to avoid the crowd and I'm glad we did! Wow, what a line of folks. I thought these people were crazy for getting in line an hour before the doors opened to get a good seat in the ballroom. It was like a rock n' roll show. Lights going everywhere, upbeat music blaring from the sound system, and 5 enormous projection screens so that everyone in the room could get a clear picture of our esteemed leader, Tom Ferry.

Let me just say, I say Tom in New Orleans this past March at the Prudential National Convention. He was, by far, my favorite speaker. After the 90 minute talk, I went home, implemented the strategies he taught me, and my business SHOT up! So when I got the opportunity to go to his 4-day Success Summit, it was an easy decision.

Tom is a world-renowned, real estate coach, speaker, and motivator. I spoke with him briefly on Tuesday night at the Prudential party and to my surprise, 2 days later, he called me by name and referenced our conversation 2 days prior. That blew me away. I've only known Southern Baptist preachers who could remember names so well.

Several successful agents from across the country who are Tom's clients spoke of their businesses and how they've achieved real estate stardom. They were equally as helpful as Tom.

On Friday, Tony Robbins spoke. If you've never heard him before, wow. We were jumping up and down, getting pumped-up and full of energy. (They even had to take some guy to the hospital.) This was an excellent closer for an awesome week. I've never felt so energized and excited about real estate. I WILL be there next year.

Not to give away all the secrets I learned from traveling across country, but here's Tom's vision: to make 1,000,000 people millionaires and to make their respective businesses simple, fun, and profitable.

House Values - Lead Generation

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:17:01 -0500

What's the deal with this group?

Is their pricing fair?

Is there anyone out there who has used them and gotten good results?

Seems to be a little on the expensive side. I'm curious if it's worth it. What are the ratios of leads to closed sales? I have had success with one other company that I won't talk about in this blog because I really want to discover more about House Values and their company.

People always say that if you get one closed sale, that the money spent is all worth it. But should we waste all that time chasing bad leads that we're paying for or use good old fashioned shoe leather to get leads?

2008 Auburn University Football Schedule

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:53:25 -0500

2008 Auburn Football Schedule

Date	Opponent / Event	Location

08/30/08	vs. Louisiana-Monroe	Auburn, Ala.
09/06/08	vs. Southern Miss	Auburn, Ala.
09/13/08	at Mississippi State	Starkville, Miss.
09/20/08	vs. LSU	Auburn, Ala.
09/27/08	vs. Tennessee	Auburn, Ala.
10/04/08	at Vanderbilt	Nashville, Tenn.
10/11/08	vs. Arkansas	Auburn, Ala.
10/23/08	at West Virginia	Morgantown, W.V.
11/01/08	at Mississippi	Oxford, Miss.
11/08/08	vs. Tennessee-Martin (HC)	Auburn, Ala.
11/15/08	vs. Georgia	Auburn, Ala.
11/29/08	at Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Ala.

WAR EAGLE!!!

Not too long before football season is back. If you've never been to an Auburn football game at Jordan Hare Stadium, it's a treat. Our little town of 55,000 people grows to about 200,000 on game days. Football is almost like a religion in the south. The tailgating experience alone is worth the trip even if you don't go to the game. The southern charm of Auburn fans really shines before the games at tailgates spread out all over campus. The smell of barbecues and fried chicken is everywhere!

Prudential Auburn: A Machine Full of Talent

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:31:35 -0500

Prudential Auburn, otherwise known as Prudential Preferred Real Estate located in Auburn, Alabama is a fast-growing, thriving real estate company, full of allstars of Lee County Alabama's real estate industry.

I often tell people that with all of the negative media attention in the national real estate market, that Lee County is in the Twilight Zone! The rules don't apply. The numbers are not negative the way they are in Florida, California, and the other hurting areas of the country. We have excellent school systems and thriving industry.It is a GREAT time to buy here.

At the forefront of the Lee County Association of Realtors is Prudential Preferred Real Estate, a quasi-bolier room of good agents with an excellent support staff, a broker with a Ceasar-like persona, and a state-of-the-art office like no other in our area.

Stacy Williams Jordan, my broker, is a demigod in the real estate business in Auburn and Opelika. The walls in her office are adorned with numerous plaques, awards, and pictures that look like the gold records that hang on the walls of the Motown record label's lobby. I feel fortunate and privileged to be under the tutelage of such a giant in the industry.

When you walk in the front door of Prudential, you're greeted by the sweetest of souls, Nancy Blanchard, a former shaper of young minds, now retired and faithfully giving her smiles to each visitor who graces our lobby. The pretty fliers that are placed in front of all our listings are all designed by her. She's also recently organized a scholarship program to a deserving high school senior who will use the funds to attend college this fall. And most of the time, when you call the office, she answers and directs the phone traffic.

You'll then see our large confence room off to the right that holds a large table with leather chairs, with a contemporary chandelier above it and on the wall a large, flat screen for viewing video and presentations. There's another smaller conference room built for privacy immediately behind the larger one where many contracts and deals come together. We also have a large media/file room that holds cabinets full of paperwork, mailboxes, the copier/network printer and office supplies... first class and professionally functional.

Angela Sheflin, who holds a real estate license, is our office manager. She's so important and so integral that she has two offices from which she "holds down the fort" from. I say that she holds a license to let you know that she does a whole lot more than just shuffle paperwork. She's the glue that binds us all together. Angela keeps us compliant and up-to-date with the many responsibilites that is required of a real estate company in today's world.

We have a full kitchen in the back that stays full of groceries for us to offer our clients, nice restroom facilities and a large sign shop for our many incoming and outgoing listings.

Then there is the talent. The agents. I couldn't ask for a better team of agents to work with. For a diverse market such as ours, you need a diverse group of realtors to handle all of the different cultures, ages, and backgrounds of people who are moving into the Auburn area.

We have Dawn Radnitz, Missy Harris Thompson, Wendy Hamme, Chad Williams, Becca McVey, Amy Smith, Christal Ingram, and Stephanie Truett. There's room for more, but we're very selective on who we have working with us. Other offices (and I'm not going to name any names) around our area are filled with drama and inexperience. At Prudential, we don't tolerate it. The biggest argument you might ever hear in our office is where we're going to eat lunch when we have a company gathering.

I could go on, but I hate to brag. If you're ever in Auburn, stop by our office located on Glenn Avenue next to Countrywide Home Loans in the Bruno's Shopping Center. You're sure to be greated with a smile.

Auburn Academy of Martial Arts

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:25:30 -0600

My son has been enrolled at the Auburn Academy of Martial Arts for a few months now. Wow! What an improvement. You can see the confidence in his face, his walk, his talk, and his general persona. It is a Tae Kwon Do school which is a Korean form of karate.

I love this logo!

Tae kwon do is more on the mind, body, exercise and defense as opposed to more offensive forms or karate. We go twice per week to the school which is located at 323 Airport Road, in Auburn. I wish we had the time to attend more! My son speaks to every adult now with a clear and concise, "yes sir" or "yes ma'am." And though I tried and failed before, he has learned to respect adults as well as his peers from Patrick Baeder, the owner/instructor (that's him in the picture) for the Auburn Academy of Martial Arts. We've been so excited about karate, neither he nor I can hardly wait to go back each week.

Patrick offers a 2 week $24.95 trial that includes a uniform just to try out the classes to see if your child will like it or not. Of course, after our 2 weeks, we were hooked! This is just one more place that makes Auburn, Alabama a great place to live.

My son's first baseball game

Jay Knorr, Auburn Al Properties (Prudential Preferred Real Estate) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:59:30 -0600

I just posted the schedule for Auburn University Baseball's 2008 season. It brought up a memory that I'd like to share. He's 6 now, but when my son, Landon was slightly over a year old, I took him to his first baseball game. Now, I'm not an idiot. I know that a baseball game is no place for a one-year-old. But I was running out of ideas for distractions for this screaming child and thought, "what's the harm, we'll sit behind the barricade."

Well, we got behind the net along the first base line above the visitor's dugout. However, we couldn't get close enough to home plate where the top, above-us was netted because the ballpark was packed. It was an SEC game against Florida. Beautiful day, 80 degrees, mostly sunny and a late afternoon game with the sun behind us. I had gone to J & M bookstore earlier in the week and bought matching AU hats for Landon and me. Hey, I bleed orange and blue and my son will be raised an Auburn Tiger just as I was.

3rd inning, and Landon is in my lap, quiet as a church mouse just taking-in all the noise, movement, and excitement. TING! Batter hits a foul ball......

I've been to thousands of baseball games and never caught a homerun or foul ball. This time, the one time a ball is hit seemingly straight to me, I have my one-year-old son in my lap. In a split second, just as if I had done it a million times before, I took my cap off my head, and caught the ball 2 feet from Landon's head. YES!

I calmly, as cool as I could be, held up the ball to the small cheering crowd around me. It was one of those great father/son moments that I'll take to my grave. We go to as many games we can every since.