Some of the best ideas come from out-of- the-way places. - 06/21/11 07:19 PM
I work the rural parts of Pierce County, WA.  That's where most of my listings are located.  I feel comfortable around the farms and fields.
I have a couple of listings in the town of Mineral, which is a very picturesque place just outside of Mt. Rainier National Park.
The little church in Mineral has a minister with a great sense of humor and human understanding.
This past week he put on his reader board the following:
"One of life's most difficult challenges is knowing what bridges to cross and which ones to burn."
I say amen to that.
… (3 comments)

Buy a new car and save money. - 06/14/11 09:40 PM
A follow up to last nights post. If you have a car payment, as so many of us do, this may be the perfect time to buy a new car and save money doing it.
As of this posting, Ford has a special incentive for the Taurus SEL. That means BlueTooth, data ports and 6 free months of SIRIUS. There's a rebate (probably varies by dealer) and a 1.9% deal through Ford credit.
I took my 17 month old Ford Edge into the dealer, got the new Taurus with no money out of pocket, and a lower monthly payment.
On top of … (2 comments)

You can't assume that everyone knows what you're talking about. - 06/04/11 11:02 PM
There are a few words in the English language that give you a visual once they're said.  Words like hot, out, fire etc.
I learned several years ago that "toothpaste" isn't one of those words.
I listed a house of a young couple that had lots of posters and pictures on the walls - held on by nails.
As part of my listing presentation, I was encouraging them to "depersonalize" their home in our attempt to market the property.
The husband was concerned about removing the posters and having buyers see the holes that would be left after the nails were removed.  I said "don't … (3 comments)

Realtor's National Open House Weekend. Are you in? - 06/03/11 09:48 PM

June 4th & 5th is National Open House Weekend. Our Association works in conjunction with our local news paper and puts together a great format to attract as many buyer's as possible for the event.
For a fairly decent price, we get a color ad in both the Saturday and Sunday papers featuring our properties, and a map of the general area with the listings marked on the map so that potential buyers can find our listings easily.
I've decided to have two of my listings included in this event. One on Saturday, and the other on Sunday.  The weather forecast for … (0 comments)