With only 3 voting for the motion, the Southeast Valley Regional Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors (SEVRAR BOD) voted not to accept the counter offer from the Arizona Association of REALTORS®.  The Western Maricopa Association of REALTORS® (WeMAR) had voted earlier to possibly accepting the counter offer depending on What SEVRAR voted to do.  As this was explained in our meeting, whatever SEVRAR did, WeMAR would do.

The SEVRAR  BOD vote was strong evidence that the members of SEVRAR had their voices heard by the SEVRAR Board of Directors.  Because members asked and were given another opportunity to be heard, 95 plus attendees at a Town Hall meeting of sorts shared their concerns with the majority of members asking the BOD to vote no.  Because of this voice, the BOD took another look at what taking action in either way would do to, or for, their members.  After careful consideration, several members of the BOD changed their votes and the result was as reported above.

I would encourage you all once again to stay involved as you did on this issue.  Stay informed by attending the association meetings.  This will not be the last big issue discussed this year and I for one love to have your input.

Thanks again for being a part of SEVRAR and having the desire to be involved and take action as you see fit.

Hercel

My heart sinks with each of the reports dominating the airwaves about the fires all across the great State of Arizona.  Sadly, the reports confirm suspicions those who were raised to be cautious with fire have, and that being “some stupid” who didn’t have time to build a proper fire pit and didn’t want to be inconvenienced to properly extinguish his fire, is the cause of burning “the place to the ground.”

I can’t count how many times we have cruised through recently vacated camp sites to find the charcoal in the fire pit still red hot and smoldering, if not still flaming.  In one case last year, we found a 6’ wide fire pit with a 3’ diameter log the length of the pit placed on hot coals and abandoned.   This was left by the same group that decided to leave the road to pull their 3 ton toy haulers across a flooded meadow leaving deep ruts when the whole mess buried up to the floor boards of truck and trailer.  (Like anyone with even the smallest amount of common sense wouldn’t of seen that happening.)  What amazed me was the fact that about a million dollars in trucks, trailers and other toys gave indication that these folks weren’t necessarily dim witted.  That just leaves one explanation.  They thought of themselves as too important to take the time to follow the rules.  Sadly, their attitude affects the landscape that would have otherwise been enjoyed by folks for generations were it not for their 6 hours of stupidity robbing everyone else of that pleasure.

So, here are some tips that have been handed down through the generations that have been quite successful in preventing damage to our wonderful state.

1.        Love the land.  Every resource we enjoy comes from it and wise use is imperative to our longevity of comfort and enjoyment.

2.       Stay on the road.  Just because you have an “off road” vehicle doesn’t mean you have permission to go off the road.  Yes you have the “right” to own it but with all rights come the “responsibility” to use it in the right place and time.

3.       Think about the fact that your kids are watching you.  The fact that you brought them out here means you want to pass the experience along.  Not following good common sense will insure what great scenery you show them today, won’t be here tomorrow.

4.       Tread lightly on the ground.  Arizona seems like a tough place but the land is very fragile as we see clearly once it is destroyed.  (Dude, Rodeo Chediski, Wallow, Horseshoe and unfortunately, the list will go on.)

5.       Look where you are building your fire pit.  Make sure you clear the area several feet out from the fire pit of any combustible material.  This would include your wood supply.  Numerous fires have gotten out of hand when the wood supply  caught a hot ember and flamed up.  Make sure you are building your fire pit far enough away from trees and other combustibles so that there is no chance of igniting them.  Some have suggested using fire rings created by others and this may be a good idea in an established camp ground but if you are out in the “wilds” make sure the pit was placed correctly by a person with experience and not some city slicker tenderfoot who didn’t know his rear from a hole in the ground.  If you see a fire pit in a bad location, tear it down and cover the hole to look as much like the rest of the landscape so no one else will be tempted to use it again.

6.       Dig a hole for your fire pit and line it with rocks around the rim.  Keep the dirt from the hole piled up so that once the fire is extinguished you can bury the whole thing like it was before you arrived.  Bringing something to act as a wind dam is also a good idea.  This serves two purposes.  The first is to keep the hot embers from blowing out of the fire pit and the second is for those who like to cook on the camp fire.  The wind dam will make it a whole lot more comfortable for this task, keeping the smoke and embers from blowing into your food and face.

7.       Never leave a fire unattended even for a few minutes.  In this dry climate, a fire can get out of hand in mere seconds.

8.       Keep at a minimum, 5 gallons of water to completely extinguish your camp fire. 5 gallons is simply a rule of thumb. If your fire pit is larger than 3 feet across, you will need more water.  Keep a shovel handy so that after you pour two gallons into the fire pit, you can stir the water down into the pit where the coals are still burning.  If you don’t take this step, the water on top will boil away leaving the hot coals burning underneath and reigniting the coals that are now dry on top, again creating a fire hazard.  Once you have stirred in the first two gallons or so, add the rest of the water to the pit and stir it in again.  Remember how deep your pit was dug and make sure you have stirred the water down to that level.

9.       Police the area one more time just before pulling out to make sure you are leaving nothing behind that would not be there naturally.  (Pack it in.  Pack it out.)  Numerous fires have been started by tin cans, bottles and other trash concentrating the sun’s rays like a solar oven or magnifying glass, as well as spontaneous combustion of the other types of trash.

Remember that the one time you don’t take the 30 minutes to an hour of your time to insure the safety of the land can and has resulted in decades of scorched earth viewing for the rest of us.  Please be careful and responsible.

Hercel Spears is a 3^rd generation Arizonan raising a 4^th.  His outdoor experience includes cowboying on the 3 J Ranch in Southeastern OK as well as the Nada Ranch here in AZ.  He is an expert in desert survival, avid outdoorsman, hunter, as well as cowboy poet and writer of western culture.  He currently resides in Tempe, AZ.

March 2011 Next>>

All classes will be held at Western International University

55 N Arizona Pl Suite 103

Chandler, AZ  85225  SE Corner of Arizona and Buffalo

Free!

No R.S.V.P.        Please Arrive Early

                  February 2011

All classes will be held at Western International University

55 N Arizona Pl Suite 103

Chandler, AZ  85225  SE Corner of Arizona and Buffalo

Free!

No R.S.V.P.        Please Arrive Early

EDUCATION SCHEDULE

The word needs to get out on this so the fastest way is to re-blog the post.

Thanks Donne for bringing this to our attention.

Government verses Private Sector.  This explains the recent election results. 

H. A. M. P  on the one hand has done a whopping 27,000 loan mods and the private sector H.O.P.E.  Well take a look...

http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/mypage/archive/1/54561/

"Ask not what your country can do for you but ask yourself, what you can do for your country."

                                                                                                                             John F. Kennedy

I wonder how many agents would have ventured into real estate had we known all the things they didn't tell us before our  pre-license  classes?

One area I wish was stressed a lot more than it is, would be, "This is a small business."  The lesson would include all the expenses, time management, customer service, continuing education etc. that is necessary to insure success.

It seems that even the basics have been left out.  Those would include returning phone calls promptly.  The NAR has determined that communication is the number 1 complaint of clients about their agents.  This made perfect sense after hearing, once again, the following story.

A fellow agent friend and I were out previewing houses.  We came across a listing that was not in the mls and decided to call the listing agent to get information on the property.  We noticed one of those cheap, non-mls lock boxes on the front door as we stopped in front of the property.  When the phone went to voice mail he just hung up his phone and waived his hand in disgust.  Then he related how over the weekend he wanted to see a property that was in the mls and the listing agent requested a call or text in order to receive the (non mls) lock box code.  He jumped through those hoops and had yet to receive a call back on Monday afternoon.

As a real estate coach, trainer and mentor, I want my agents to understand this is a business. You and your business appear to be very small when the listing says call or text for lock box code and then you do not get back to those who do until 2 days later with the excuse that you were out with the scouts on a jamboree. 

Kudos for community involvement but I wonder how pleased your client is when their property had no showings??? 

Too cheap for an MLS lockbox that does so many wonderful things in the way of security for your clients property, tracking showings to determine marketing efforts and allow good follow up.  This is also a poor reflection on your business.

As a real estate agent looking to compete with a plethora of agents, I would encourage the public that before you list your most expensive investment with any agent, make a call on one of their current listings to see how timely a response they provide to agents that are trying to assist you in cashing out your investment.  I would also ask what type of lock box they will be using to insure you, your loved ones and investment are as safe as possible.

Professionalism means service to clients first.  Success will be evident when professionalism is in place.

Here's to your success.

 Several articles in the real estate community have been about disclosure.  Mostly the articles have been in regards to bank owned properties and the fact that banks somehow think disclosure makes them more liable.   REALLY?   I wonder from whom they are receiving their advice?  Then there are the flippers that seem to be sitting at the feet of these uninformed lenders and insisting that even though they, “have spent X thousands of dollars on fix and repair,” they too have nothing to disclose.  Well you can lead a man to knowledge but you can’t make him think comes to mind with these types of attitudes in today’s market so we will just move to what we, real estate agents, can do.

 Whether or not this is a requirement by law, (disclosure is the law in AZ) what we as agents do will go a long way in protecting you the public and I will give you one example of how your agent should be protecting you.

As I stated earlier, in Arizona there is no option for disclosure and our standard real estate contract produced by the Arizona Association of REALTORS® makes disclosure by the seller mandatory. So the question is how to protect your client if a buyer makes this a part of the contract and the seller wants to counter the offer and remove this contingency or refuses to comply.  Your agent would be prudent in pointing out to you their buyer/client that most reasonable prudent folk would see this as a red flag.  Certainly this disclosure would be worth some monetary amount and this should also be considered by any reasonable prudent buyer before proceeding with this transaction.  

If in the same scenario the seller agrees and provides the disclosure, both the buyer and seller will benefit.  You as a buyer will know what to expect regarding possible repairs and will be able to budget for them and the seller will have reduced their liability whether or not they know it.

Either way the seller responds to the contractual/offer requirement, a buyer’s agent will have demonstrated they are looking out for you, their client’s best interest if they provide the above.

To see a more detailed article on this subject go to the following links:

Disclosure Is Not an Option Even if It's an REO

and

Disclosure Is Not an Option Even if It's an REO Part II