Yes, that is what I have heard a lot of Realtors tell me and it is the farthest thing from the truth! I have a large lead generating site I receive a lot of quality leads through. Since April of 2009 I have converted 4 buyer leads that originally logged on to my site and left a message they were working with another Realtor.

Just over a week ago I had my latest buyer lead do just that. She left a message she was working with another Realtor. I called her anyway and said; "I know you are working with another Realtor and I just wanted to know if there was anything I can do to help you with your home search?" In a surprised tone she said well why would you want to help me with my search when I am working with another Realtor?  I responded by saying it wasn't about me but about helping her find a home, whether or not I benefited financially or not. This buyer then opened up and told me what she was looking for. I immediately sent her 37 listings from our MLS system with a nice message that said: "I hope one of these homes is what you are looking for and I wish you well in your quest to find your dream home".

Three days later this lead called me and told me she was not getting what she needed from her Realtor. She said she really appreciated the way I treated her and wanted to know If I would represent her. I agreed and Wednesday of this week I wrote an offer for this lead. As I said above this is the 4th lead in less than a year I have converted by showering them with "Kindness and information".

So many real estate trainers tell us to always ask a lead if they are working with another Realtor and if they are we are told to "Run Forest Run"! We are told to politely tell them they need to contact the Realtor they are working with. This is some of the worst advice we as Realtors have ever been given! What if the lead is not getting what they want and need from their Realtor?

Every human being wants to be treated with kindness and respect. No one wants to be ignored or judged because of a decision we have made and many of us can change our minds if we are given options that appeal to us more. We are in an "Information and Communication" era. If we can give that information and communication better than anyone else and add a touch of "Kindness" you just may be amazed at how many buyer leads may decide you are the Realtor they want to work with!

After reading many comments that are concerned about "Buyer Representation" let me tell you that many are not looking at the "BIG PICTURE"! Of the 4 leads I converted in the past several months 3 had not signed a buyer rep agreement and one had. The one that had signed the rep agreement went to the brokers office and obtained a full release! Also, look beyond one lead. If you give great information and communication and add genuine kindness who do you think this lead is going to refer their family and friends to? Yes, I cannot tell you how many people have referred me their family and friends to me over the years that purchased their home from another Realtor! Think about this: Many leads will say they are working with another Realtor but really are not because they don't want to be bothered. If we use my approach our chance of converting them just increased ten fold! Look beyond one experience or one event and look at the endless possibilities!

Try this and see just how many new leads you convert this year!

I am amazed at how many Realtors I run into that still don't have a website.  Not having a website in this day and age is like not having peanut butter on your peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  Many people simply don't know how to create a website and many think a powerful website is too expensive to create and maintain.

I took a Point2Agent site in 2007 and made it (with the help of many AR friends) a powerful lead generating machine. This site, Search Idaho Homes.com is responsible for generating 7-10 good leads per week like clock work. However, I have spent countless hours creating new pages and and content for this site. I also write some SEO strong blogs and manually email these new informative blogs to my sphere on a regular basis which draws a ton of new traffic to my site.

Don't have the time to write a lot of new content and just want to create a site that will get attention without a lof of time and money and html knowledge? What better source to help you get started on a new site than Google? Yes, Google created Sites.Google.com which is pretty awesome. With Google sites you cannot only create a new site but you can set it up to automatically email your sphere or group and envite them to join and even help edit your site. For instance, you can setup a site about your community and add new contacts you make along the year to your site. Whenever you list a new listing or write something about your community an email will be blast out to your sphore and notified about your new listing or event! Even if you already have a powerful website you can get your name out to your sphere more often with good valuable information through the power of Google!

What better partner to have than Google to not only assist you in creating a new informative website but to find new ways to send your new information out to the masses? Click the video below and see how easy it is to get started with your new free Google website!

Buy Real Estate in Idaho

This seems like a no brainer but I have been pleading with Idaho Home Buyers and Idaho Investors to buy, buy, buy!  The reason I say this is that in 1987 I had the opportunity to buy real estate in Idaho at incredible prices that would have made me a very wealthy man today.  I tell the story that in 1987 I could have purchased one-third acre lots bordering the fairway of one of the most popular golf courses in Idaho for only $5,000 each and didn't buy them out of fear! I am embarrassed to say those same lots sold for an average of $178,000 in 2005! As many as 7 lots were auctioned off that day!

Fast forward to 2010. Last year I wrote the blog 3 compelling reasons to buy Idaho Real Estate Now! and pleaded with Idaho Home Buyers to not pass up the incredible opportunity that exists today that will some day go away. Don't do what I did in 1987!  Some Idaho Real Estate values have dropped to prices seen in the 1980's and the opportunities that exist are unbelievable!

Believe me when I say the party will come to a halt one day and many will not even know what hit them. This recession will not last and rates will not stay this low for long. Consider this, for weeks mortgage rates remained in the range of 4.75% and those same mortgage rates are at 5.25% today which is still great but as the economy starts to improve and we start seeing signs of stronger retail sales, stronger national home sales (which just recently happened) etc. the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates to keep inflation under control. Just look at the mortgage rate trends over the past 30 years and you can understand what I am saying. The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as fast as they dropped them if the economy starts to heat up too quickly.

Bottom line is if you can beg, borrow or steal (just kidding!) the money to buy, buy, buy Idaho Real Estate or real estate in Tim Buck Two "Just do it"! Trust me, you will thank me years down the road!

Start your Idaho Real Estate Search below where you can search the entire southest Idaho MLS for residental homes, land, investment and commercial real estate. Search for all listings in the Intermountain MLS, save your favorite listings for later viewing and request financial assistance and much more all FREE!

When I discovered Active Rain in early 2007 I went nuts blogging my little heart out and very quickly became Idaho's #1 Active Rain blogger, a title I relinquished in mid 2009 with no regrets.

When I did my major blogging it was after hours, usually well after 8:00 p.m. and into the wee hours of the night.  I could do this because I am divorced (No, blogging did not cause my divorce silly!) and had the time to do it. I quickly learned about the SEO benefit of Active Rain blogging from friends like Chris Elizabeth Griffith, Cyndee Haydon, and my dear friend Karen George.

Early in 2009 I was blessed with a wonderful lead generation system that took months to put into place and finally allowed me to have a steady, reliable stream of leads.  As we all know, in this economy most leads require additional work and attention and my leads are no exception. I work at least twice as hard as I did even a year ago with the same type of lead on the same type of transaction but I get them to the closing table and that is what pays the bills.

I have spoken to some top AR bloggers and social media members that have called or emailed me and asked if I am alright because they have not seen me around Active Rain much. When I explain to them my success in a very tough market they are surprised and have shared with me how tough it is for them in their markets and how much they are struggling.

I explain to my friends that I cannot afford to sit in front of a computer and blog my little heart out anymore or chat with Facebook friends all day. I need to take all my leads very seriously and work every lead as if they were the last lead I would get. I have done minimal blogging at best and have hired a great "copy writer" to write my powerful SEO blogs and website content which is a better use of my time. This combination has allowed me the time to take care of my daily leads and not loose the Google Juice my sites need.

I simply decided several months ago that I needed to work smarter and use my time more efficiently. I could sit in front of my computer all day long and blog my little heart out or I could put systems in place that would allow me the time to make a good living while not giving up a strong web presence and I have succeeded in doing just that.

Here's to "Smart Blogging!"

   Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent- Associate Broker 
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate. 

In my nearly 30 years in the real estate business I have seen the business of selling real esate change dramatically. I have to say that in the past few years I have seen some pretty dramatic changes and below I have listed some of the changes I have seen and what I deemed to be important if Realtors are to not only survive but flourish over the next decade.

1) The internet is here to stay and any Realtor that wants to flourish in the future in real estate must have a strong web presence. I have told many clients that before they hire a Realtor to go to Google and type in the Realtors name. If their Realtors name does not fill up all of page one and most of page two "Run forest run"!

2) No matter how much things change, the basics of business relationships remains the same. People still want to be kept informed and the good old telephone is still one of the best means of doing this. Communicate with clients and keep them informed and you have a client for life.

3) The 80/20 rule is history and has been for years. The ratio is closer to 90/10 in most real state markets across the country. The web has caused this ratio to shrink. In any office USA you can find agents that embrace the web an those that do not. Very few Realtors are truly web savy.

4) More specialization is required more than ever before. This has been verified with the recent surge of short sales and bank owned homes. Those Realtors that have specialized and worked hard at educating themselves have and will continue to out produce their competition.

5) Those that look only in their back yard will never reach their potential. The web has opened up the real estate world.  Walk across the street and ask your competition to give you their trade secrets and they will laugh at you. On the other hand make connections on sites like Active Rain and ask for help from agents hundreds or thousands of miles away and people will reach out to you like you could not imagine. My world changed immensely when I sought help from Active Rain members in 2007 and my sales have skyrocketed in an area where Realtors are struggling today. I have Active Rain and the web to thank for this. Realtors that don't reach out to the world of the web to increase their knowledge and networking are making a HUGE mistake.

I am sure that the next few years will see more changes that could never have been imagined, especially with technology and how we gather and disseminate information. It is an exciting time to be in the real estate profession and in my humble opinion the gap between the truly succesful Realtor and the average Realtor will continue to spread.

  Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent- Associate Broker 
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate. 

After nearly 30 years in the real estate industry I have seen just about everything there is to see. I have seen marriages and divorces, friendships made and broken in anger, families split apart by heirs that are angry because they don't think they got their fair share.

I have seen business parters that were partners for decades split in anger. I listen to Dr. Laura on the radio and the amount of families that have been split apart due to religion, children, drug addiction, infidelity, alcoholism and much more is rampant and out of control. Some people come into our lives and stay awhile while others leave for whatever reason and some even choose to hurt us.

Whatever it is let us all remember that we have a choice. We can continue to dislike or even hate or as Tina says "I don't care who's wrong or right, I don't really want to fight no more".   Like me or not, agree or disagree, it doesn't matter and holding on to anger is harder than walking away and not hurting anyone. Letting it go and choosing to accept the fact that it really doesn't matter who's wrong or right is awesome and has allowed me to be at peace like never before.

There it is...My New Years wish for 2010. I hope Tina's message rings loud and clear!

Boise Idaho Real Estate Market Report

*Real Estate market data as provided by the Intermountain Multiple listing Service of Southwest Idaho

Search over 5,000 listings in Ada County including Boise Idaho

Start your Boise Idaho Real Estate search by making your selection below where you can search for single family, homes with acreage, condo/townhouse, income real estate, commercial and vacant land. All searches include bank owned Idaho Listings and Idaho Short Sales.

Save your favorite listings for later viewing and much more.

Recently I was speaking to an associate friend of mine and she wished me "good luck" when I told her I was showing property to an out of state buyer. At the risk of sounding arrogant I responded by saying "Thank you but luck has nothing to do with it, luck is for the tables at Las Vegas, I am armed with knowledge, drive and determination"!

Knowledge is knowing your product inside and out. I was showing land to this particular buyer and I had extensive information regarding planning and zoning issues, irrigation water, wells for the area and more. If we are showing homes we must have extensive knowledge regarding schools, zoning laws such as re-zoning proposals, proposed highway changes, etc. One who is armed with knowledge can overcome a lot of weaknesses. Know your product inside and out.

Drive is something one acquires at a very young age in my opinion. Drive to me means being driven to excel at anything that becomes a challenge or an obstacle. I knew very little about SEO when I joined Active Rain in 2007 but by reading numerous blogs and calling members I learned a lot about SEO. Whatever we want to excel at be it residential, investment or commercial real estate, having a relentless drive to succeed will pay big dividends. This sometimes means doing what needs to be done even when we don't have the desire or will to do it.

Determination is the "belief" that I will get it done and that I will succeed. I have been blessed with determination from a very young age and when I stepped on to the wrestling mat, into the rodeo arena or was first thrown into the real estate jungle I was determined to succeed and failure was not an option. This determination has helped me excel in the so called recession.

There you have it. I am sure many of you have your own recipe for success like "Passion" and "A good office" or a "good broker" but I am simply sharing my ingredients for success which has worked well now for nearly 30 years as a licensed Idaho Realtor.

Here is wishing you an awesome 2010 filled with Knowledge, Drive and Determination!

  Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent- Associate Broker 
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate. 

This is a letter to my nephew Matthew George. He is following in my footsteps and wrestling in school. He has had some good success this year but has lost a few close matches. Below is a letter I wrote to him last night.

Matt,

I wanted to share my opinion about something that I guarantee will help you in wrestling and in life son. What do Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Walter Payton and Lance Armstrong all have in common? Not only are they all considered to be the best in their given sport but THEY ALL ARE OR WERE IN BETTER CONDITION THAN THEIR OPPONENT. This may seem real basic but trust me, it separates winners from losers.

When I was wrestling my best I was in the best condition of my life. I ran more laps, did more pushups, did more pull-ups and did more agility training than anyone on my team. I would stay in the gym longer than anyone else and the results showed. When your mom saw me wrestle and beat state champion Hector Cedillo in 1973 I was in the best condition of my life. When I walked on that matt I believed with my whole heart I could defeat Hector Cedillo and there was no doubt in my mind. I believed this because I knew I had trained harder than anyone on my team. When my hand was raised in victory it was one of the most incredible days of my life. All the hard work and dedication had paid off.

Vijay Singh will hit golf balls until his hands bleed and has been known to finish a golf tournament and head right for the driving range to practice a particular shot for hours that he miss hit in the tournament. There was even a report one day that Vijay's caddy was holding a large lamp because Vijay was hitting golf balls in the dark. Both Vijay and Tiger Woods have personal trainers that push them to the limit when most pro golfers have gone home. When Walter Payton was alive he would go to his old university and train with the young guns. They would run up dirt hills and Walter Payton would always outrun guys half his age and train harder than anyone else. We all know why Lance Armstrong has accomplished what he has. He was simply in better condition than anyone else hands down. There is no magical pill to take and no one can teach it to you. Very few people in this world are blessed with the drive and determination all great achievers have.

I PROMISE YOU that if you get yourself in better condition than anyone else that you will have more stamina at the end of your matches and you will outlast your opponent. This is not a guess on my part but a guarantee! You see son, if you continue to do what everyone else does and continue to do what the coaches tell you to do and no more you will continue to get the same results.

Like Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Walter Payton and Lance Armstrong, if you start running extra laps, do extra sitt-ups, do more agility training than anyone else you will see the results that will make you a stronger, faster athlete. At the end of the last period you will outlast your opponent and have more gas to get the job done. You will have more victories like the one in the photo above and you will be rewarded for doing what most in this world are unwilling to do which is to pay the price that has to be paid and the price that all winners pay.

Life takes this kind of dedication if we want more out of it son. If we do no more than we are told to do we will be average at best. If you train your mind and read more, search more, work harder and never stop learning magical things will start to happen and your world will change.

Know that I love you and will never stop believing in you.

Uncle George

Yes, it's happened again. For the past several years some national publication has picked Boise Idaho as one of the best places to live or a great place for business and industry.

In 2008 Forbes ranked Boise the 2nd best place in the nation for business climate and careers. Forbes cited the diverse business climate, strong econimic foundation, diverse culture and the wonderful atmosphere which offers the Boise River runing the middle of the city and impressive mountains in the backdrop.

And now U.S. News and world report has named Boise Idaho as the 4th best place in the nation to live for 2009. The article cites over 2,700 acres of parks, Micron Technologies, Hewlett-Packard and the diverse cultures that are evident throughout the city.

With all the talk about the struggling economy it's nice to know there are places like Boise, Idaho that have many areas that have never even felt the blow of the recession. There is a positive and vibrant atmosphere in Boise and many marvel at what it has to offer.

 Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent- Associate Broker 
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate.