Home In Chandler AZ

Blogging Panel Tues 10/21 at SEVRAR in Mesa, AZ

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:53:22 -0500

Don't miss out on the next Q&A Presentation: BLOGGING

Want to know more about blogging? Got questions that need to be answered? Then you'll definitely want to make time on Tuesday (yes, it's tomorrow) to attend this powerful Q&A with experienced, area bloggers.

Blogging is just the beginning of the this trend called "Social Media". Join the internet revolution by starting today. Whether you need ideas or just need to get started, this is definitely a panel of professionals that will be able to (honestly) answer your questions.

While blogging is viral in any industry, REALTORS® who blog have documented success! Whether you want to connect with potential clients or build your referral business - then Tuesday is a great day to get started!

Join us for this special presentation to learn more!

Blogging Date: Tuesday, October 21st

Where: SEVRAR Conference Center

SouthEast Valley Regional Association of REALTORS® 1363 S. Vineyard • Mesa, AZ 85210

Time: 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Which Social Media Networks Are Your Favorites?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:53:43 -0500

I'm a Twitter kind of gal ... I can easily express my thoughts in a limited amount of characters and now, without correct punctuation. Sure, it drove me crazy in the beginning. I felt robbed of my education when I was forced to delete certain letters and leave out a period at the end of a sentence. But - I have quickly gotten over it. The world of texting and micro-blogging really does make you take a second look at your priorities.

Mary McKnight recently penned a new article and posted it on her blog Netamorfasis (catchy name, huh?) How did I learn about it? Why, Twitter, of course! Because I'm very good at taking directions, I wandered over to check it out.

"Top 100 Social networks every Realtor should have a profile on"

The title is more than thought provoking - it's almost a challenge. My personality type wouldn't just let me read the list - I had to print it out and highlight it. Which networks am I involved in? Which ones not? Did I need to be? Will it increase my sales? Improve my relationships? (BTW (by the way) - when did they become relationships and no longer connections?)

I perused the list and was quite proud that I can claim "membership" on at least 50-60 of them. Unfortunately though, I don't spend enough quality time on any of them to nurture the relationships that I've started. However, in my own defense, I'm actually "connected" to those same people on at least 5 other networks.

I wonder: If main stream society is pushing us towards increasing involvement in social networking - which networks are the tops?

I invest my time on my Active Rain blog, my personal blog and my other one, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and I also find it beneficial to stay connected to our MLS system. (It too comes with messaging).

Since we're all connected and we're all building our business through our social networks, which ones are most beneficial to you? How many of the 100 can you claim? Which ones are actually helping you to generate more business and closed transactions?

More than just me - Inquiring minds want to know.

Worried, Scared, Optimistic or What?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:17:44 -0500

Are you worried? When you drive down the street and you see abandoned houses with those all too familiar “signs” posted on the garage, what are your thoughts? If 1 in 6 homeowners are facing foreclosure, then that means 2 of the houses on my street are facing a dismal future. Not only that, but 2 of my neighbors are about to be hit with life changing events that perhaps they never saw coming (if they haven’t already).

While out walking the dogs earlier this evening, I stopped to talk to some friendly folks in the neighborhood. Of course, the subject of the economy always comes up – just because it’s on everyone’s mind. The same questions are asked –

Are we near the bottom of the market?

Will we be able to recover?

How has the economic slowdown affected your job?

Do you have a back up plan?

Interesting, really. These questions don’t seem to be exclusive of a particular generation. People in their twenties are asking, as well as empty nesters. Those that seem particularly hardest hit in my neighborhood are those within 10+ years of retirement. Those who had a 401K last month, now have a 1K to retire on.

Sometimes, I wonder if I’m overly optimistic or just plain naive. Do I understand that depth of what is happening or are market reports inflated?

What are you thoughts? Are you worried? Scared? Optimistic?

Acronyms and Abbreviations - Our Best Work?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:01:06 -0500

In a society rich in acronyms and abbreviations that are considered the norm and correct grammar is an anomaly, I’m wondering if we sometimes take advantage of our “expertise” and leave others scratching their head and saying “Huh?“

Taking a step beyond Active Rain and delve into social media and you'll certainly understand what I’m talking about. Join the micro-blogging network, Twitter, and you’re bound to expel any thought into 140 characters or less.

Another step is DM (direct message) or IM (instant message) – depending on the platform. Instant communication with someone to whom you are connected. Typically permission based, but not always – allowing you to bypass the email delays.

Speaking of email, have you noticed that these days it’s very typical to receive a note with only a subject line? I received an email earlier today from a class I intended that merely said “Thanks for attending (the class name)” Seems to me that an opportunity to market additional classes was completely missed by not including some kind of text in the body of the email. Thanks?! That’s it – my thought was “Don’t you want to sign up for the next class? How about a referral? How about a recognizable email address that can easily be identified?

I wonder how many opportunities to connect with potential clients or other industry professionals I have missed in my haste to just get things done?

While it may take an extra minute to type the entire word or sentence, certainly the connection that it makes with the reader is worth it? What if it lead to a referral or a lifet-time friendship?

If I could guarantee that everyone who reads my work is blessed with the knowledge to interpret every acronym or abbreviation then, and only then, would I give myself permission to limit my writings, but until then, I am committed to writing out my posts & emails in complete sentences.

Now – follow me Twitter and that’s another story.

Learn More at PodCampAZ 2008 - Nov 1&2, Tempe AZ

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:40:18 -0500

When: Nov. 1 & 2, 2008

(Saturday & Sunday)

Where: University of Advancing Technology

2625 W Baseline Rd, Tempe, AZ

Click Here for a Map

Registration: On-Line

Fee: FREE to the public, although donations are accepted: $10 for a t-shirt, also lunch available

SPEAKERS: Incredible line-up speaking on a variety of venues

This is more than just podcasting - this is new media and social media.

Think about this: Arizona in November is absolutely beautiful and we have great golf, too!

If you're traveling to the area & You can Book Your Hotel here

Hope to see you there!

( Oh, you can follow PodCampAZ on twitter - @podcampaz )

The REAL Wild West - Boothill Cemetery & Tombstone, AZ

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:35:17 -0500

Located approximately 3 hours or 180 miles south of Chandler is a town that is “Too Tough To Die” - Tombstone. Already a historic town, but made into a hugely popular tourist attraction when the movie (bearing the same name) hit the big screen back in 1993.

Your first stop is the Boothill Cemetery – originally known as City Cemetery. Dating back to the 1880s, Boothill graveyard is open to the public. For a small donation, you can walk amongst the graves of Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton (see photo below) – all of whom died in the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. While there are over 300 people buried at Boothill, there’s only a little over 200 that are documented. There’s also a story about the Ghost of Boothill that you may find interesting. Click here to read about this paranormal visitor.

As you travel south bound, you’ll reach the City of Tombstone – one of the west’s first mining camps. Today it is a popular Arizona tourist destination filled with hotels, restaurants, shows and shops. During our excursion to Tombstone, we stopped by the Longhorn Restaurant for lunch. Nice sized servings, good prices, wonderful lunch specials and a very nice server. We’d recommend it.

Down near the end of the street sits The Birdcage Theater. The New York Times called it, "the wildest, roughest, wickedest honky tonk between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast." In addition to a saloon, it was also host to the world’s longest poker game - lasting 8 years, 5 months and 3 days. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson were frequent visitors, as well.

While our group opted not to attend any of the shows, we did take the tour at The Birdcage Theater where we learned that the show, Ghost Hunters, had recently visited to tape an upcoming episode. I also picked up a flier for their night time historic ghost tour. Available to adults only Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, I’m thinking another trip might be in our future. The Birdcage Theater has been called “Ground Zero for the Paranormal” by the History Channel and the “Epicenter of the Paranormal” by the Travel Channel. I don’t know about you, but this definitely peaked my interest.

Speaking of paranormal, while walking through the downstairs area of The Birdcage and taking pictures of just about everything – my camera suddenly shut off. Without warning, just off. I didn’t think much of it at first, figuring the battery had died (and who hasn’t had that happen before?). While speaking with the Gift Shop attendant, she mentioned that it actually happens quite a bit. Hmmm ….? The ghost of Josephine Marcus, Wyatt Earp’s love and eventually his wife of 42 years, doesn’t like to have photos taken of her bedroom. The place where she and Wyatt began their love affair is apparently off-limits and she doesn’t like to have photos taken.

I bet you’re wondering what happened to my camera after we left The Bird Cage? Well, I could tell you that it turned back on and continued to take pictures or I could tell you that the battery actually did die. But, what would be the fun of that?

I’ll just leave it to your imagination.

Fazoli's - Closed For Business in Arizona

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:47:02 -0500

After a long day of sitting in class and traffic, I decided to take the kiddos to dinner at Fazoli's. In case you've never heard of the place - they typically serve fast Italian food. For us - it was pretty good. Spagetti, ziti, sandwiches, bread sticks and salads. Good food at a good price.

... but not tonight. While driving through the parking lot, I noticed that the Arizona Ave/Warner Rd location drive-thru menu board had been taken down. Then, I noticed that it was completely void of any vehicles. Then we saw it ... the sign on the window ... "CLOSED FOR BUSINESS IN ARIZONA".

I must admit, I'm surprised and a little sad. This was a nice, family friendly place with 9 Arizona locations. It's kind of sad to think that Fazoli's could be just one more casualty of today's economy.

Hat Tip: J. Ferguson's article on 7/16/08 from the AZ Daily Sun

Buyers Beware! Some Arizona Builders Experiencing Financial Difficulties! (reblog from Teri Ellis)

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:26:20 -0500

This original post was written by Broker, Teri Ellis. It's a list of Arizona homebuilders who are experieincing financial difficulties, and it is quite long. Teri really did her homework and provided quite an eye-opening service to Arizona consumers by bringing this list to our attention. I felt it was worth a reblog - just to make sure every consumer was aware. - Calie Waterhouse

8/18/08 Original Post:

Via Mesa, Arizona Real Estate *** Teri Ellis, Broker, ABR,CRS,GRI,ePRO,MRE:

The Official Website of the Arizona Department of Real Estate has placed on its website a list of builders experiencing financial difficulties. I've provided a link of the pdf file provided by the Department of Real Estate for those purchasing new homes and for their Realtors! - Builders Experiencing Financial Difficulties. As Realtors, it's our duty to be "informed." This list would be useful for your buyers, or to place on your website or personal blog. Checking the website of the Arizona Department of Real Estate regularly will help us stay aware of what is going on in our State.

This is not just happening in Maricopa County, but throughout our state. Yet another good reason for buyers to use the services of a Realtor instead of going out on their own.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: Active Rain; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog.

South Chandler Dunkin Donuts Opens on Friday

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:20:05 -0500

If you’re a donut lover, then you will want to head over to the new Dunkin’ Donuts on Friday (tomorrow) - at the corner of Germann & Alma School Roads - inside the Cobblestone Auto Wash.

Starting before the sun rises at 5am, Dunkin’ Donuts will begin celebrating the opening with free coffee, contests and gifts.

In addition to all the free stuff, this particular Chandler location will also have a couple of baseball players on hand - Rick Aguilera and Tim Salmon.

If you happen to be among the 50,000 Arizonans looking for a job - look on the southwest corner of Chandler Boulevard and Dobson Road for their second Chandler location. Opening in December, 2008.

Click Here For more information. See you there?

Is It a Bird? A Plane? An H2?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:25:17 -0500

I must admit ... it's been hot here in Chandler. As I share this picture with you, I glance down at my weather report and it flashes a 110 at me ... yes, it's that hot. So, when I was driving down the street and saw this car in front of me ... my first thought was "Really? Pink? It must be a mirage". You know - when you think you're seeing something that's not really there.... Ever have that happen to you? What do you think? Want one?

Part-Time vs. Rookie Agent - Which one would you rather hire?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:05:43 -0500

"Would You Rather?" Question #2

Since this is a real estate industry blogging network - I would first like to ask you to put the shoe on the other foot and put your years of experience to work by allowing a newbie to benefit from the knowledge that you, perhaps, take for granted.

Last night, while I was desperately trying to convince a group of hyper 9 years old divas to go to sleep, this question popped into my head.

As a home buyer or home seller - which type of agent would better serve your needs?

Would you rather work with a Part-Time agent or a Rookie agent?

As a Rookie myself, I can see the benefits of both - but then again, I can also see alot of potential in a Rookie. For instance, since I've only had my license for a couple of months, I have had the "luxury" of sitting in on quite a few continuing education classes - including Orientation, Code of Ethics, Fair Housing, etc. etc. etc. However, I lack the day-to-day experience needed to serve my clients fully.

How does a Rookie compare to a Part-timer? The real estate industry hasn't been very kind to agents in the last year, so there's probably a measurable number of experienced part-time agents who use to be full time. I'm not thinking about these people. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that because of their experience - they'll always have the knowledge and benefit of their experience - regardless of the number of hours they work.

I'm thinking more about the people who have had little or no experience, work a full-time job doing something else and have their real estate license on the side. I know that they, too, have the same continuing education requirements, but how do they utilize that education? How do they serve their clients?

Now - I leave you to the commenting on this thought provoking "Would You Rather?"

I can't wait to read what everyone has to say. Thank you in advance!

Wanna Play A Game? Let's Play "Would You Rather?"

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:58:09 -0500

Sometimes when we're in the car, we like to quiz each other. It's a strange, but fun habit that everyone in my family partakes in. Well, actually, anyone who rides in my car gets to experience a barrage of "Would you rather .... " questions.

Wanna play? It's actually quite simple and a great way to get to know something about another that you may not otherwise have the opportunity to know.

Tonight on our way to our neighborhood Starbucks, my daughter asks me "Would you rather go to a store with great customer service and so-so quality or a store with lousy (or non-existent) customer service and great quality?"

Hmmmm ... I'm thinking this is a really great question. Not just because my daughter thought of it (she is a genius, like her Mother, after all) - but because it brings up an age old debate - Does good customer service bring the customer back?

If you've ever had to make a return to any retail establishment, you know what I mean. What about the clerk who isn't empowered to make the customer's experience the very best?

Ever had to make a return only to be told that it's the store's policy to give the $$ back on the store's gift card? How about the store that hands you a credit receipt and tells you that you need to go upstairs to the Customer Service counter to get your cash?

Good customer service or poor policies?

When I worked for Corporate America - I was literally brainwashed with the importance of good customer service. From the very first interview to my very last day, I was educated on the importance of great service. Customers are always #1. While they may not always be right, certainly the way it's handled is a true testament to the character of the representative and ultimately the company.

The picture above is of "my" Starbucks. Located on the corner of Chandler Blvd/Dobson Rd, this is absolutely the very best Starbucks in Chandler. I have visited other stores in different states - Hawaii, California, Colorado and all over Arizona and feel quite confident in saying that "my" Starbucks is the BEST.

Want to know what sets this particular store apart from the hundreds of others? It's those people in the picture. While I must admit most of the time my iced-tea is just an iced-tea - it's the service that keeps me coming back to this store day after day. And let's be realistic, I actually have three other Starbuck stores within a 1 mile radius of my house. Literally - there's one on every corner.

BUT - this Store - with these people - that's the difference. If I'm up north in Scottsdale and say, I get the wrong drink, but don't realize it until I'm half way home (or sitting in traffic on the freeway). "My" Starbucks will fix the drink by usually giving me a new one - at no charge. This, to me, is good customer service. I know it's makes me one happy (returning) customer.

So - Would you rather have poor customer service and a great quality item or great customer service and so-so quality?

Craig Schiller Opening Doors ... Guest Blogger for Homescape

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:39:42 -0500

While reading through my Google alerts earlier today, I came across this announcement that our own, Craig Schiller, owner of Real Estaging in Chicago, IL, has been tapped to be a guest blogger on Homescape's consumer focused blog - Opening Doors. Craig is known to be

"one of the most widely read staging bloggers on the Internet"

WOW - now that's a title for a business card! In case you've missed out, you can read some of Craig's posts here and here and here. Craig has also received nationwide recognition on television (NBC, ABC, USA TODAY, CBS, FOX) just to name a few.

You know what's really exciting about all of this? We knew Craig was destined for greatness from the first time we read his post here on Active Rain. We knew Craig when he was just starting out in the industry ... and honestly, over the years - we still know Craig. And we know that this recognition is well deserved. Agree?

To Wick or Not To Wick? That is Today's Staging Question

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:25:30 -0600

As the holidays begin, I find myself enjoying the crisp air and the scents of the season. I have recently discovered a wonderful new scent from Partylite called "Iced Snowberries". LOVE IT! Right this minute, I probably have at least a dozen of these candles burning. I can do this while my children are not home :) I find myself staring into the flame wondering about the damage that these little beauties can cause. Obviously, for me, the beauty and serenity of these candles far out weighs the liability of lighting them.

Which brought me to this post. I recently wrote a post about Stagers taking pride in their work. (You can read it here) Amongst the comments, Terry Haugen commented that she had "found that unlit cinnamon candles give a house a fresh scent without making that "perfume"statement." That's all it took!

Stephanie Heron-Weeber wrote a wonderful post about dewicking candles and the liability of even staging with candles back in May. Because of her post and the responses to the tangent off my post, I thought maybe the topic needs to be discussed again. Seems like we all have an opinion on the subject (just like everything else, huh?)

To be honest, I hadn't thought much about it...until another stager shared a story with me about a home owner lighting the candles for an open house. Unfortunately, when the open house was over, all of the candles were not extinguished. Yes, there was a fire - but thankfully, only minor damage.

Perhaps this is one area that we, as stagers, need to take a little more seriously. It's probably right up there with the liability of staging with items that could be considered weapons (i.e., "real" glasses, "real" silverware, etc).

When you stage a property using candles ... Do you leave the wick in, trim the wick so it's rendered "un-lightable" (I know it's not a real word, but it does sound kind of like one) or do you remove the wick in its entirety?

For The Love Of ... Michelle Minch of Moving Mountains Designs & Staging

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:18:21 -0600

Don’t you just love talking to people, in any industry, who absolutely L O V E what they do? Everything they seem to say just exudes their excitement about their talents, skills, passion.

You know the old saying “Enthusiasm is Contagious” – well that’s what I’m talking about. I’m talking about that moment of time when someone says something and you just get it. Ah! Ha!

That’s the way I felt when I was talking to another stager-friend about the unique qualities of our industry and the exciting things that are on the brink of happening.

That’s when it happened … she mentioned a friend of hers that she felt was confident, passionate, intelligent and a leader. Doesn’t that sound like someone each of us should have in our lives?! I felt like I was missing out because I don’t know her friend like she does.

Who is this friend? Well, you can guess by the title

– it’s Michelle Minch of Moving Mountains Designs & Staging

in Pasadena, CA. By the end of the conversation,

I really felt like I had been missing out on meeting Michelle

and seriously, like I should be boarding an airplane

and joining her for Thanksgiving! Yeah - it was like that.

So – from interior design to set design, this is what I've learned of Michelle:

She’s passionate about what she does!
She’s incredibly TALENTED! (visit her website for proof!)
She’s very eloquent and a good writer/blogger!
She’s someone you can trust! (read the testimonials on her profile!)
Her clients feel honored to have worked with her!
She makes doing business with her, a pleasure!
She’s a smart businesswoman!

If I were a home seller or hot shot Hollywood type, I would be calling upon Michelle! I would like to thank A/R for yet another opportunity to meet such an amazing person. I am so blessed. Have you met Michelle?

An Open Letter to All REALTORS - from a Prospective Buyer (and Potential Client)

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:01:11 -0600

Dear REALTOR,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Prospective Buyer. I am the person that all of your marketing and advertising dollars, when applied properly, appeal to. If all the stars align, I’m your client. I’m even already pre-qualified to buy a new house. While my credit score is not quite perfect, it is in the excellent range.

Quite unexpectedly, I found myself in unfamiliar territory (outside of the state that I currently reside in) looking for a new home. As the majority of today’s buyers do, I started my search on the internet. I looked through the local MLS and determined a quadrant that appealed to me. My search included four local cities within a 25 mile radius of my new office location.

After two days of searching (without a local REALTOR to help), here is what I determined:

For re-sale homes:

I visited approximately 26 single family homes with for sale signs posted in their front yards. Out of those 26:

12 had no fliers at all

10 had no price listed on the flier

1 flier’s information did not match the sign in the front yard (different agent!)

0 fliers invited me to call for more information (or to make an appointment)

From the new home communities:

Who we'd hire:	Who we would not hire:

KB Homes representative was very nice to my family & smiled a lot!	Agents that did not greet us upon entering or did not offer their name.

Beazer Homes REALTOR took time to explain what set his homes apart from others (even showed us).	Agents who talked about items that were of no consequence to us. Like the Agents who warned us of how terrible Arizona’s real estate market is!

Beazer Homes REALTOR who personally showed us around the first model to explain upgrades vs. standard options.	Agents who did not explain their product, build outs, incentives, phases, etc.

REALTORS / Agents who referred to us by our names & pronounced them correctly.	Brochures with incorrect information, misspellings, etc.

The REALTOR / Agent who opened the door for us & obviously ready for business.	Model home offices that closed prior to the times listed on the door – even though their car was sitting there!

Now, as I mentioned that I did not have a local Real Estate Professional and before you ask, I want you to know that I did contact a few of them – 4 to be specific. I called on Sunday afternoon to see if they could show us around on Monday. What I found was, 2 did not answer their phones, 1 already had a meeting and could/would not refer me to another agent in their office and 1 didn’t work with new home communities – so I felt this left me on my own. (Remember, I said I was there unexpectedly).

If you are spending your money, energies and your time to sell your listings and catch the attention of perspective buyers, then it shouldn’t be this hard to do business with you.

Here are my suggestions:

When your phone rings – answer it.

If you’re too busy to answer my questions, please refer me to someone who can.

Be patient with me. I’m going to ask questions that you have answered a hundred times, but it’s all new to me.

Update the fliers and keep the tubes/boxes filled. Even black/white copies are better than nothing.

I know it’s probably inconvenient, but could you please put the price on the flier?

Consider including additional information on the back of the flier – how about your other listings? More info on the house?

Tell me why I should hire you as my REALTOR? Even if it’s over the phone, I really want to feel/hear that you like – no make that LOVE – your chosen profession. (There’s nothing worse than working with someone who hates their job. Right?)

Use the Internet. If you can’t include info on the fliers (which seems like a loss of opportunity), at least point me to an Internet website that will fill me in.

When posting your listings on the local MLS, please, please, please provide me with as many photos of the actual property that you can. I don’t care about the community pool as much as you think, but really want to see what makes this particular property worth my time to call you and schedule and site inspection.

Take advantage of out-of-state buyers and blog! Share yourself, experiences, education and listings with me – appeal to me like you really want my business.

I want you to know that I DO want to hire you. I do want to be able to utilize your skills, talents and education to my fullest advantage when either buying or selling property. This is not an area that I am comfortable in and am willing to pay you to share your expertise and represent me in this transaction.

Thank you for taking your time to read my letter. I appreciate your time and look forward to working with you in the future.

Most sincerely,

Prospective Buyer

(The above story is true and based on this bloggers recent experience. On a personal note - I work with incredible and professional REALTORS and real estate professionals every day. I have been well educated by them on what is a fair and acceptable expectation...this is probably why my recent experience caught me so off-guard. In my naivety, I thought most agents operated the same way. (Obviously my mistake)).

I Missed My Anniversary?! How did that happen?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:47:39 -0500

October 14, 2006 was my one year anniversary. I guess we're still newlyweds, because we're still spending a lot of time together. I wake up early to spend extra time. I check-in periodically. We even spend our evenings together. How could this have happened? Our anniversary - and I missed it!

Here's a picture of my significant other:

Oh come on - you've got to know by now that I've been married to the same wonderful guy for almost two decades and would (hopefully) NEVER forget my own anniversary - which by the way, is also this month!

38 people joined A/R the same day I did. But, only one of those 38 has more points than I do (and I really don't have as many as I should) ... Allison Stewart of Florida Pines Realty in Saint Cloud Florida - She's got 4x as many points as I do - she's over 120,000!!!

While I've been busy blogging about home staging, Allison's been writing such wonderfully witty posts such as:

Running Naked Through Real Estate
Distressed Properties and A Diamond in the Ruff
What Real Estate and Menopause Have In Common (my personal favorite)

By the way, Allison is also the founder of A/R's REALTORS community. Take a look at these stats!

Founder:	Allison Stewart
Founded:	11/28/06
Subscribers:	5375
Posts:	36191

Do you know who joined A/R the same day you did? It's easy to research:

Start off by going to your Profile
Click on the "Points Summary"

At the very end (or the beginning depending on how you look at it) - Is the date that you set up your profile (Here's mine)

10/14/2006

100

Activated your real estate profile.

Armed with that information, you then:

Click on the A/R Logo Above
Scroll down the front page till you see "ActiveRain Membership"
Under the heading are these two: New Members Today Top Referrers
Click on New Members Today
On the right side bar, are the months by year.
Click on your Anniversary Date
Voila - there you are - back in the beginning!

Pretty cool, huh?

AZ Blog Party With Craig Schiller - Thanks & Some Pictures

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:16:58 -0500

Everyone who took time out of their busy schedule and/or drove hundreds of miles to join fellow Active Rain members last night at Garduno's in Scottsdale was rewarded with warm welcome, great conversation, quality drinks & appetizers and a great opportunity to put a face with a blog :)

Of course, the guest of honor was our very own Craig Schiller from Chicago.

Penny Schoenbeck & Mike Jones

Craig & Dru Bloomfield Jill, Penny & Dale Dale & Janice Sutton

Craig & Dan from PropertyNut.com were also there, but somehow escaped my camera

so did Gary Miljour and Tracie Martin

At least one person who was at the restaurant and couldn't find his "real" group joined us - his name was Robert - who just happened to be a REALTOR. (If I'm wrong on this - correct me... wasn't someone going to send him an invite to join A/R?)

Thanks to everyone who made it. A special thank you to Mike Jones for driving up from Tucson and to Janice Sutton who drove over 5 hours to get here from Murrietta/Temecula, CA!

Gary emailed and suggested we do this more often ... like once a month. What do you think? We could absolutely turn this into a "real" networking group where we could all learn from each other, network and refer business. Wouldn't that be nice? ... What do ya think?

AZ Home Staging Roundtable: Walking Away With A Plan

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:27:10 -0500

I'm so excited to write this post that I can't wait for Craig to return from the pool... So, I'm going to go ahead and recap what happened at today's AZ Home Staging Round Table.

First off, let me just say - WOW! It's always so amazing to see what happens when a group of talented and intelligent business people get together. I like to use the word "synergy". Ideas just seems to build and grow into something great.

Who was there? Craig Schiller, Yvonne Root, Janice Sutton, Nancy Cummings, Debbie Wheeler, Tracie Martin, Stephanie Heron-Weeber and myself.

We discussed "The 10 Questions" posted earlier by Craig at length. The first question of the day was presented by Maureen Henry of Rockland Home Staging. "Is home staging a viable career choice?" While everyone agreed that it is indeed not an easy choice, but you can make a living at it - sometimes at the expense of everything else. What it comes down to is - what are you willing to sacrifice for the success of your staging business?

An open discussion took place about standardizing our terminology of (Kate Hart of Hart & Associates Staging and Design) "Simple, Standard & Select Staging" and the benefits of such for our clients. Not to be confused with price fixing, but the impact on our clients to be able to compare apples-to-apples and the effectiveness of such. Would such terminology increase potential clients knowledge of staging and help them to make better choices for hiring a home stager?

From Michelle Minch of Moving Mountains Design & Staging, "How will the current volatile and dropping real estate market effect the staging industry?" This one small sentence contains quite a punch when home stagers are together! Michelle adds "Is there a price point in home sales below which staging will no longer be an option for home sellers and REAs?" These questions followed by Tracie Martin's request to discuss overcoming objections, opened up a lively chat! Debbie Wheeler and Nancy Cummings queried why any home seller take a price reduction over staging? Discussion ensued about the out of pocket expense of our service. While the benefits truly outweigh the price tag, we need to realistically acknowledge that sometimes people just don't have the money to pay upfront.

Jessica Hughes of Ambiance Staging asked "Given the same budget, would you rather do several vignette in a few rooms or "full blown" staging in one room?" Craig admitted that all of his stagings are "Select" Stagings and not vignette. Tracie Martin shared that at the request of a client, will stage "vignette" style. Janice Sutton offers a "partial-partial" of kitchen and bath staging. I took that to mean "accessory only" staging as there is no furniture involved.

A fun part of the roundtable came from Bath Patnode of Stylish Transformation. "What are you least favorite aspects of being a Professional Home Stager? Also, what are you favorites?"

The least favorites include:

Paperwork
Networking
Cold-Calls
Inventory

The Favorites:

Shopping
Speaking to Groups
Actually Staging a Property

Janice Sutton submitted the question about "What are some of the most successful marketing tools used by home stagers?" Of course, fliers, brochures, presentations, impact of business cards, etal were all discussed. The issue of gifts was also discussed. Do you give gifts (whether it's a Starbucks gift card or a book) to your client? Does it matter if it's a home seller or an agent? What kind of gift is appropriate?

Craig shared his vision for "Stage It Forward" and the concept of helping one another build their staging business - without the threat of competition or fear or losing business.

The highlight of the entire Round Table was the energetic discussion about collecting "pure" statistics. Everyone in the group commented on the lack of actual/verifiable stats on staged homes selling faster and for more money. Craig talked about the opportunity to have stagers submit their stats (at a state level or regionally) for compilation. Each stager would need to submit 4 staging statistics (via fax) in order to receive a quarterly report to use in their marketing, etc. Make sense? Craig is working on a easy-to-fill out form for use. I'm sure he'll post a blog about this very soon.

In closing, Craig said "Thinking small, keeps us small." WOW - Together, we can grow the home staging industry and with Craig's vision - I, for one, am expecting great things.

So - who's next?

AZ A/R Cocktail Party On Tuesday 10/23 with Craig Schiller

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:23:47 -0500

Greetings Fellow Arizonans -
You are invited to an Active Rain Cocktail Party with our very own Craig Schiller!!
Craig is visiting the valley for a few days and would like to meet up with AZ Active Rain members.

Meet & Greet with Craig Schiller
Tuesday, 10/23 at 5pm
Garduño's Restaurant
Located at the Shops at Gainey Village
(at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Doubletree Ranch Road, 3 blocks south of Shea)
8787 N. Scottsdale Rd, Ste. A-102
Scottsdale, Arizona 85253

Interested in attending? Just RSVP below in a comment.

Thank You Yvonne Root & Active Rain - You Rock!

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:24:05 -0500

A few months ago, I met Yvonne Root of Rooms By Root - you may know her as Northern Arizona Home Stager. After commenting on each other's posts and emailing back and forth, we finally had the opportunity to meet at the Phoenix Blogging Conference back in June. Yvonne is more than a home stager, though, Yvonne is a genuine person. A wonderful lady with a great sense of humor, only to be dwarfed in comparison to the size of her heart.

Why do I bring this up?

This last weekend, I had a "flippin' inventory" sale at my house. My family and I spent the entire week sorting through my staging warehouse and deciding what had seen better days and what needed a new home. Believe me, there was plenty to it! With enough inventory to stage 40 vacant homes - this was quite an optimistic endeavor.

Some time during the week, I came to my senses and called Yvonne. Would she, could she come down to help?

Now keep in mind - we live approximately 2 hours apart. There's a reason she's called the Northern Arizona Home Stager and I'm not. Without even missing a beat, Yvonne arrived at my house Saturday morning at 6am - which means she left her house around 4am!! 4am!!

WOW! Now, that's amazing! She was a real trooper too. She helped, pitched and supervised. Awesome all the way around.

I am so thankful to Active Rain for introducing me to Yvonne. I'm thankful for the community of networking that has allowed two people who live two hours apart who would typically by competitors to be comrades and friends. I'm blessed.

Thank you, Yvonne and Thank you A/R - You Rock!

Have you made the same connection with someone here on A/R that perhaps you might have missed? I'd love to hear about it!

Gotta Go? Gotta Go Right Now?! Here's the Place To GO!

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:20:32 -0500

In addition to the absolutely spectacular lake and hiking areas at Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area here in Show Low, Arizona - I discovered one of the nicest bathrooms in a public area that I have ever seen. E V E R! Don't get me wrong, not all public bathrooms are poorly maintained - oh, who am I kidding - I can't stand public bathrooms. Most of the time, they're gross, disgusting and just want to make me "hold it a little longer".

So - when we came across this great place to take some pictures, we, of course, had to stop by the facilities. WOW - I was shocked. Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area has the cleanest, most well maintained facilities I have ever seen. I might even venture to say cleaner than my own. (YIKES!).

To make it even better - the buildings each had three separate rooms (not stalls - ROOMS).

There was the nice, clean bathroom that was completely tiled with a "normal" working toilet and sink with running water.
The next little room is a private shower room. Same sterile environment and just as beautiful!
The third room was another facility - for families with young children.

AWESOME! Even my husband commented on the cleanliness. Which is amazing, because just a couple hours prior, we were introduced to "recyling toilets" (Not a pretty thing).

If you're ever out and about any place between Payson and Globe - the trip along Hwy 260 is worth your time. Fool Hollow Lake Rec area has 123 campsites, fishing, hiking, boat ramps, picnic tables and playgrounds. Very family friendly and open 365 days a year! It's scenic, enjoyable ... and obviously, now has great bathrooms!

How do you Stage a Haunted House or Would you Even want to?

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 19:54:50 -0500

I've been reading a lot lately about home buyers who intentionally seek out haunted homes to purchase. Oddly, there are apparently quite a few of them out there. Don't believe me? Check out Real Haunted House Listings

I'm not going to debate the validity of these homes - real, unreal or surreal, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to stage a home that is considered haunted. Would it take me less time than a "normal" house or would it take me twice as long? Would I need more breaks or fewer because of the company?

Joel Nash wrote an article about a year ago about Haunted Homes for Sale Apparently haunted homes aren't just in the United States, but all over the world. Interested in staging Spain's most famous haunted house? 5 Real Street, in the village of Bélmez de la Moraleda allegedly "sports a host of faces and body outlines that have appeared on the concrete floors." Still interested? Then you need to know that "when a trench was dug a 13th century graveyard was uncovered containing bones, although the skulls were missing."

Want to read about another one? Check out this haunted house for sale or this one. They're everywhere, I tell you!

I don't know about you, but I don't think I would last a day in such a wildly popular home - staging aside, I just don't think my nerves could handle it! I'm almost paranoid about being in a strange house alone after dark, could you even imagine staging a house inhabited by dead spirits?

I staged a house last year that my kids absolutely, positively thought was occupied by a ghost. (Interestingly, in the houses that that they have seen, they have only felt this way about this one) ... But, truly - who knows? I'm not sure I do.

Happy Haunting ... oops, I mean Staging!

photo (c) curbed.com

Visit Family Friendly Freestone Park in Gilbert AZ

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:23:47 -0500

As our Arizona mornings are cooling, I find myself out of the house rather early on Saturday mornings (say track meet?) .. . Anyways, this week's meet took us to Freestone Park here in Gilbert, Arizona. While waiting for the meet to begin, I strolled around.

Within the 65 acres of this park, I found baseball cages, ramadas, a great little place to take pre-wedding photos, fields a plenty for soccer, baseball and football games, as well as this great little miniature train that goes around the park. Just a really fun place for kids of all ages and for those of us with kids.

Remember, I said I was out early Saturday mornings? Here's a couple of pictures of the sun rising:

See the railroad tracks?

How about now?

Definitely a well kept park that should be the pride of Gilbert. They've done a really fine job of keeping everything clean (which I would think would be difficult with all those ducks). Freestone is located at the corner of Lindsay and Juniper Roads - between Guadalupe and Elliot Roads, Gilbert AZ.

Tempe Canal Park - Arizona Haven for Walkers, Bikers, Hikers & Fishers

Calie Waterhouse - Chandler AZ Homes (John Hall & Assoc) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:01:12 -0500

Just a few yards from the back of the Phoenix Zoo, is a wonderful little park called Evelyn Hallman Park - formerly known as Tempe Canal Park. Most of the park is designed with marked trails, but for those of you who love to fish, purchase your Urban Fishing license and plan on spending a day. Coined as one of the "best Urban fishing habitats" this is a definite place of enjoyment for avid fishermen.

Located near McDowell and College Ave, in Tempe, AZ - if you can muster through a bit of construction, this is a great place to get some exercise and enjoy these beautiful Arizona mornings. Just in case you need some proof - check out these great shots taken just last week:

P.S. If you watch very carefully, you'll even be able to spot a big horn sheep on top of the mountain.