Shaun's Blog

Orlando Real Estate Market Conditions

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 11:23:19 -0500

Just a quick note to let you all know I have updated the current market conditions on my site. If you've been asking yourself, "How's the market in Orlando?," take a trip to my Current Real Estate Market Conditions in Orlando page. I've also added a post with a very brief breakdown of the numbers in the Ekday Orlando Real Estate blog.

Get Your Daily Fix

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 06:27:26 -0500

Don't forget to visit The Bad MLS Photo of the day to see today's picture. Here's one from yesterday:

Do You Like Bad MLS Photos?

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 04:12:07 -0500

You know you do - everybody does.

I do freelance photography for agents in Orlando on the side (I'm a RE broker by day). I decided to put a new blog on my photography site featuring daily bad MLS photos. Check it out, and subscribe so you don't miss a day!

Here's the link:

Daily Bad MLS Photos

Posh'd - 50 Ugliest Real Estate Websites

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:31:53 -0500

Well, the Posh'd blog is up to their antics again, and has posted part 2 of their 50 ugliest real estate websites. Seems fitting that a site showcasing the best real estate sites would also take a stab at calling out the worst.

So, did your site make it on the list? Have a look-see

Posh'd 50 Ugliest RE Websites

So how do you feel about this list? Do you think the sites deserve to be there? Do you know of any others that should make the cut?

Posh'd - Breaking the Mold

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:25:34 -0500

POSH'D HAS ARRIVED!

You may have noticed some of your fellow bloggers and favorite websites now carry the Posh'd Badge. So what does it mean? It means those sites are using the newest web technology to build their sites.

If you think you have one of the best Real Estate sites on the web, visit www.poshd.com and submit your information. You can also visit the site for inspiration to freshen up your own site if it hasn't been updated lately.

I look forward to hearing from many of you!

Have You Been Posh'd?

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Thu, 03 May 2007 06:45:48 -0500

Have You Been POSH'D

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Wed, 02 May 2007 23:37:34 -0500

Property Tax Reform - 3 More Days

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Tue, 01 May 2007 06:02:41 -0500

As the session for the Property tax reform in Florida nears an end, I'm noticing a tremendous lack of information available. Not only that, but people just don't seem interested. I'll admit, it's not the most interesting subject, BUT....IT'S IMPORTANT. Maybenobody thinks anything will change (I'm sort of in this group).

I'm keeping this short and simple so people will read it. I can almost guarentee it will not receive any comments, but I wish you guys would take a few seconds and tell me how you feel. You don't need to live in Florida for this to effect you. If property taxes are eliminated (increasing the sales tax) think of how many out-of-state buyers we'll have buying, but not living here.

Please post your 2 cents. Anything. It's very important this is discussed. Does anybody think this is really going to happen? We'll find out on the 4th. I'm hoping at the very least we get homestead portability.

Anal Warts, Real Estate, and How I Won $50

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:53:48 -0500

If you've made it past the title, you'll realize you're reading this for a good cause. Before I get too far, let me explain why I'm discussing Anal Warts and real estate in the same sentence. If you read the post from our companion Marcus Burke, he discusses using creative keywords to achieve higher search results in Google. It's a clever post about a popular subject (no, not anal warts). He throws down the gaunlet near the end by offering $50 to, "whoever has the highest ranking Active Rain blog on Google for the terms

real estate

and

anal warts."

So there's the explanation. So what will I do with the dirty $50? I think I will donate it to the North Shore Animal League. How's that for turning anal warts and real estate into lemonade? (gross)

Let's have a serious discussion!

ANAL WARTS

Wikipedia describes anal warts as, "a highly contagious sexually transmitted infection. Caused by some sub-types of human papillomavirus (HPV) anal warts are spread through direct skin-to-skin contact during certain types of sex with an infected partner." That's about as far as I can go on the topic of anal warts.

Real Estate

Wikipedia has a MUCH nicer definition for real estate, and here it is: Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate.

The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.

In law, the word real means relating to a thing (from Latin res/rei, thing), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between [real property] (land and anything affixed to it) and [personal property] (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. (The word is not derived from the notion of land having historically been "royal" property. The word royal — and its Castilian cognate real — come from the related Latin word rex-regis, meaning king.)"

Anal Warts and Real Estate

If you've made it this far, God bless you - you are doing your civil duty of helping a few animals in serious need (is that really a civil duty?). As you can see from above, anal warts and real estate don't have a huge amount of things in common. Here are a few things they DO have in common:

anal warts and real estate have ALMOST the same amount of letters
Doctors look at anal warts, and doctors look at real estate
you sit on anal warts, and the space you sit on IS real estate
anal warts take up real estate on the body
you pay to have someone help get rid of your real estate (house) when you move, and you pay someone to get rid of your anal warts
anal warts and real estate come in different shapes, sizes, and colors
with real estate, someone might say, I want a view. With anal warts, the "owner" says, Doc, please have a view.

Please take this post for what it is. The web is an amazing way to share information, and web 2.0 is all about meshing different parts together for a better experience. Marcus' post is a great read (figures he's also out of Orlando), and like I said, if I win the $50 from his twisted game, it'll go to a good place. Now, come on Google, and cache this page!!!

2 Days left to show off your site!

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:14:08 -0500

I posted last night about a new site I'll be launching on May 1st, but I posted it late. This is another reminder that you have 2 days to submit your site for review to be considered on the new POSH site.

Here's a peak!

I have 9 spots left for the release. Here are the benefits of being featured on POSH:

Increase in traffic to your site
A link from an external page, to your site (helps with SEO). I predict a high google page rank on this site shortly after launch, so it will be a very good link.
If featured, you can copy the code to add a POSH'd symbol to your site, showing you are in the elite group of Realtors with outstanding websites
Can be used in your listing agreement. "We will list your house on our site, which has been featured on POSHRealtorSites

There are probably other benefits I'm not thinking of at the moment, but you get the point.

So, show me your pride by submitting a link to your site to shaun76 @ gmail.com.

If your site is approved, I will send you a link on the day of the launch.

Thanks, and good luck!

Get POSH'D

Only a Few More Days!

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 23:08:36 -0500

Well gang, I have been actively working on a new website that launches on May 1st. The structure is done. The only thing missing is YOU - That's right....YOU!!!

We all have real estate websites, but I think everyone will admit that some are better than others. So, how's yours? If you're using a template site like Z57, Advanced Access, or any of the hundreds of others, you can stop reading here. Those sites are fine, and serve a purpose, but I am looking for the best the web has to offer in Real Estate websites.

My new site is simple. It will feature Posh Real Estate websites. If you think your site is above average, and you would like to be featured, please email me with a link to your site, and I'll consider it for the launch. If you're selected, you will be featured on the homepage for the entire month. You will also be able toadd a "POSH'D" logo to your site.

Here's a teaser of the new site:

As you can see, I only have 3 sites so far. I have 3 more I need to add, for a total of 6. I'd like 15 at launch. So if you have a great RE site, let the world know.

You can email me at shaun76 at gmail dot com

FL Property Tax Reform Meeting with Gov. Charlie Crist 4/25/07 - VERY IMPORTANT

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 06:59:50 -0500

If you're in Florida, and you haven't heard about the Property Tax Reform proposal, you're living under a rock. This is an extremely hot topic - so I thought. Florida Governor, Charlie Crist, visited Valencia Community College in East Orlando yesterday evening. I expected a tremendous turnout, but sadly, less than a hundred residents and Realtors attended. I was there with my video camera, and decided to share the entire presentation with you.

The Governor does a decent job outlining the proposal, and different options, followed by questions from the public. Everyone in Florida, or anyone considering moving to Florida, should watch this in its entirety, and email this to all of their friends and family. In 9 days, the face of Florida real estate could be forever changed. Here is the speech in 5 parts, each lasting roughly 10 minutes:

FL Property Tax Reform - Part 1

FL Property Tax Reform - Part 2

FL Property Tax Reform - Part 3

FL Property Tax Reform - Part 4

FL Property Tax Reform - Part 5

So what are your thoughts? What would you like to see happen? Are you for or against an increase in sales tax? Please share your opinions in the comments, and don't forget to share these videos!

Windermere Among the Lakes

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 11:33:21 -0500

I spent a few years living in Windermere, FL, and grew to love the town. It's a small town, but is home to many of Central Florida's elite (I wasn't one of them). Tiger Woods, Denzel Washington, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey, Jr., Mark O'Meara, NBA All-Star/Orlando Magic team member Tracy McGrady and Planet Hollywood CEO Robert Earl have all resided in Windermere in a neighborhood named Isleworth (Local Tip: pronounce it correctly - no "s" after isle).

Isleworth is nearly impossible to enter unless you are a resident. The news once featured a story about Michael Jordon visiting, but being turned away at the gates because he didn't have an appointment.

The point of all this? Well, when I started in general real estate, I decided I wanted to focus my efforts on Windermere, FL. One of the first things I did was grabbed my video camera and took a drive down Main St, stopping off at a few of the town's landmarks. I figured I would include this video in a website at some time, so I shot it, edited it, and posted it to YouTube, but haven't thought about it since - until this morning.

I received an email from someone in the military, stationed in Iraq. He thanked me for posting the video because he's from Windermere, and just seeing the trip made him very comfortable. I was a little blown away, so I thought I'd share the video here. It's nothing incredible. The editing is pretty bad, and it's the YouTube version, so it's been compressed by their standards. However, for anyone that has visited Windermere, none of that matters. The town is full of pride, and this video gives a dashboard view of the entire trip down Main St.....with a few stops to enjoy the lakes. By the way - I did 30 the whole trip! (inside joke for residents)

TOP SECRET - Disney Tunnels EXPOSED!

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:31:31 -0500

I can't believe what I'm about to post. Trust me, it's not because I took a Mickey oath saying I would never discuss the "behind-the-scenes" stuff at Disney, but just because I'm not really a Disney fan.

I guess I should preface this post with my brief history, and why I'm qualified to even discuss this.

First, I am a native Floridian - one of only four (number might be off slightly). I was born in Miami, but moved to Orlando when I was 6 months old. I was raised on the west side of town, very near Disney - close enough to see the fireworks nightly - actually, as a kid, I just heard them nightly, and they always woke me up. Like almost every Orlando resident, I served my time working for the mouse, spending 7 years on and off, working in Epcot attractions (RIP World of Motion and Horizons - or MOHO for you CMs out there), and various roles in the Magic Kingdom. When I finally turned in my ears, I was one of the 5 Mike Fink Keelboaters that brought the keelboats from Liberty Square to its rightful home in Frontierland, after serving a year in the tunnels as an operations manager.

The reason I'm writing this is because, for some strange reason, my last two clients asked me what I did before becoming a real estate broker. I went through my resume, discussing my experience as a financial planner, licensed stock broker, marketing specialist, teacher, and yep, a little bit of time at Disney during high school and college. Why that's the ONLY job they hear, I'll never know, but it is. Then the conversation turns to Disney stuff. Are there really tunnels under Disney? Are there really hidden Mickeys? Did you see Walt's frozen head? I guess these questions really only come from buyers from outside of Florida, but having 2 clients in the past week get into this discussion prompted me to write about "The Tunnels."

The Tunnels under the Magic Kingdom

When you get hired by Disney, you become a Cast Member (or CM for short). You are required to attend a Traditions class (mine was 4 days long, but I believe they have shortened it to 1 or 2). It's all rah-rah during Traditions. They teach you a very detailed history of Walt, the park, the characters, and how to look and act when you're "on stage." According to the class, Walt was walking through Disneyland and saw a Frontierland character walking through Fantasyland, and thought it killed the perception of the theme for that land. There's a very long, interesting story about how Walt came to Orlando and bought land under the radar, as he planned his new theme park - the Magic Kingdom. He decided he wanted people to be able to escape reality and needed a way to keep cast members in their designated areas. The tunnels were born - and if you really want to sound like you know what you're talking about, they're called the "Utilidor," short for utilities corridor.

Anyone who lives in Orlando knows that if you dig deeper than 6 feet, you'll hit water. So how can there be tunnels UNDER the magic Kingdom? Well, because the park is built on the 2nd floor (technically speaking). the tunnels are at ground level, and the park is built on top of them. They serve many purposes, the main one being the ability to get from wardrobe to your spot, "on stage," without crossing lands. It also gives cast members a much easier way to get to their destination without having to fight crowds.

So what's in the tunnels?

Lot's of stuff. Here's a map:

At the top of the map is the tunnel entrance. As a cast member, you park in a parking lot about 1 mile away from the tunnel entrance, and take a bus to the tunnels. If you're hungry, your first stop with be the "Mouseketeria." Burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and amazing omelettes are available for a fraction of the cost of the park prices. The "mouseketeria is immediatly on your right as you enter the tunnels from the bus (on the left in the map). If you look to the right of the entrance on the map, you will see costuming, and locker rooms. The best part of working in the Magic Kingdom was being able to show up in shorts and a t-shirt. You walk up to a window and say the name of the area or attraction you'll be working for that day, and your measurements, and they hand you a freshly laundered (questionable) costume. You change, and travel the utlilidor to your final destination.

If you look at the map, you'll notice the tunnels are fairly simple. It's a large circle, with a line through it. There are other sections that branch off of the tunnel, but only a few. To make things easier, the tunnels have lines on the ground that are color-coded for the section of the park that is directly above you. To travel the tunnels faster, there are bikes parked at many of the exits to the park - so they say. I often saw people on bikes, but never saw one waiting for me to jump on. From wardrobe to the back of the tunnels is about a 10 minute walk if you travel around the circle.

In the map, each of the park's "Lands" are labeled. Here's a map of the Magic Kigdom to give you some idea of where the tunnels are in relationship.

What Else is down there?

Disney has an amazing trash system called the AVAC system. The trash is sucked through tunnels to a centralized collection area. Walking through the tunnels, you know when trash is flying by you - it's very loud. There are service vehicles driving around all over the place. There is plenty of room for you to walk, and a full-size truck to pass by. They deliver merchandise to each area via the tunnels so you never have to see a delivery truck "on-stage." There are also offices, storage, kitchens, break rooms, two employee cafeterias, including the Fantasyland Dining Room, Kingdom Kutters (a hair salon), a Fire Prevention Center, Studio "D" and many of the support departments for the Magic Kingdom.

So how do you get out of the tunnels?

There are so many unmarked doors in the Magic Kingdom, you would never think that most of them lead to a stairwell that leads to the tunnels. Here is a list of most of the exit doors and their locations from the internal phone book:

Stairway 1 - to Pinochio Village Haus
Stairway 4 - to Liberty Square, Columbia harbor House, and Peter Pan
Stairway 5 - to Fantasyland Theatre (Lion king)
Stairway 9 - to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland
Stairway 10 - to theHall of Presidents
Stairway 12 - to Ye Old Christmas Shoppe
Stairway 13 - to Liberty Square and Adventureland Veranda
Stairway 16 - to Adventureland and Frontierland
Stairway 17 - to Crystal Palace and First Aid
Stairway 18 - to MO-8
Stairway 19 - to MO-6 and West Parking Lot
Stairway 20 - to Town Square Kitchen
Stairway 21 - to MO-5 and East Parking Lot
Stairway 22 - to MO-7
Stairway 24 - to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe
Stairway 25 - to Mickey's Star Traders
Stairway 27 - to Transportarium
Stairway ? - to Tinkerbell's Treasures

If you've ever curious about the Magic Kingdom Tunnels in Orlando, I hope this has answered all your questions. Why is it on my Real Estate blog? Well, because I work in Orlando, and my clients have asked me about it. For some reason, the tunnels have always been a local mystery. I intended to shed some light on the subject. If you're an Orlando Realtor and you find this post, the next time someone asks you about Disney, you'll have a wealth of information to share with them.

Twitter: What are you doing?

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:13:57 -0500

I have been using a service called Twitter for a few months now, and more and more of my friends are asking what it's all about. There have been a few posts on here about the program, but in case you've missed them, here's my best explanation.

As blogging popularity continues to grow, so do other blogging "type" services. Twitter is a microblog that tells people what you're doing. It has really started to catch on, even though the most popular reaction is: "What's the point?"

You can access Twitter in many ways. I use it primarily on my cell (text messages) and on my Mac with twitterriffic. When I am doing something, I twitter (is that a verb?) it. When my friends are doing something, they do the same. We all sort of know what we're doing at any given time. It's easy to turn on or off, and very addictive.

Here's a few posts from my timeline:

What You And Your Friends Are Doing

	RapidMac Just found out that there's actually a bug on the MacZOT! website. Every time I load it, the counter starts with 30 seconds left 21 minutes ago from twitterrific
	RapidMac Went to MacZOT! With 13 seconds left... the offer closed after frantically searching for the "Buy" button 22 minutes ago from twitterrific
	ekday just noticed my picture is VERY small on twitterific. 36 minutes ago from twitterrific

	ryanbsmith Elixir Graphics = Discounts Gone Wild! 42 minutes ago from web
	RapidMac Working on a project about 1 hour ago from twitterrific
	nikf Handy App for Panoramas and QuickTime VRs: http://echoone.com/doubletake/ about 1 hour ago from twitterrific
	nikf 4GB SD card The Second en route apparently. but they're not doing next day delivery for the replacement. cheapskates!! about 1 hour ago from twitterrific
	elixirgraphics If you're looking for more MacZot!-like deals , pop over to our blog: http://www.elixirgraphics.c... about 2 hours ago from twitterrific
	nikf Off for dinner and a cold continental beer. Laters folks about 2 hours ago from twitterrific

Nothing mind blowing, or life changing, but if you're bored, this will help. One popular use is by using it as a group chat.

By the way, what are you doing?

Twitter me!

Sanjaya and Real Estate - So similar it's scary

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:14:09 -0500

I have to admit, I'm not even close to being an American Idol fan. That being said, how could you NOT watch it this season with all the negative publicity Sanjaya has been getting. If none of this is making sense, keep reading....I'll do my best to explain and pull it all together to make sense.

A brief history of Sanjaya

There is a website called Vote For the Worst. They have been around for a long time, but really had a presence this year. They try to persuade as many readers as they can to vote for the worst in hopes to destroy the very essence of American Idol.

I have to say, I love the idea. And for those of you who hate me now, think about it for a minute. Don't the winners usually do worse than those that are the #2 and #3 people?

Vote for the Worst was only part of Sanjaya's rise to badness. Enter Sirius satellite radio king, Howard Stern. He read about Sanjaya, and jumped on board, and pulled all of his listeners along with him. Every week, he has people call in and tell him how many times they voted for Sanjaya.

All of this madness seems to be working. Sanjaya has NOT been in the bottom 3 yet! And he's terrible!!!

You must be asking how any of this relates to real estate. Well, here ya go....

Have you watched the news lately? Have you heard anything negative about real estate, or the current market conditions? Ya, I know...only every time you turn on the TV. And how have your sales and listings been? Maybe a little less than normal?

It just seems to me, our society is media driven, and Sanjaya is a microcosm of our fun little real estate world.

There you have it. I'm very tired, and it's possible that shows in this post. :-)

Have a good night, and don't forget to vote for Sanjaya next Tuesday!!!

Having a little fun....

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 23:51:54 -0600

About 5 months ago, I was up at 3am pulling some comps, and had the TV on in the room. An infomercial came on for a Realtor in the area, and it was pitiful - maybe. He was jumping around, yelling about how many bedrooms this house had, and how great he was, blah, blah, blah. TThing is - I kept watching. It hit me that night that I wanted to make a commercial. I finally got around to doing it, and actually came up with 4 of them (with many more on the way). I'd LOVE to know what you all think of them, so please take 4 minutes to watch them, and shoot me some feedback.

UPDATE******

I tried to embed them in this post, but it didn't work, so here's the link to them:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=27DA689E2960F225

Have a great night!

You Have to See This - The future is NOW!

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 21:52:35 -0600

Watch these youtube videos. VERY cool stuff coming in June. Here's the link:

Video Playlist!

I hope you all enjoy the videos. I'm really excited, but would love to know what my fellow associates think.

******EDIT******

I have clicked on the link to test it a few times and noticed it doesn't always work. It should pull up a playlist with 9 videos. If it doesn't pull it up correctly, just close the window and try again....that seems to work for me.

Who do you use?

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 14:59:10 -0600

I've been sick with the flu for the past week, and it gave me some time to work on my website. I know there are other blogs about this topic, but not specific to my question:

Who/what do you all use for your site?

I use z57, and wish I had never signed up with them. Their sites are fine (probably one of the better template sites), but I just wish I had taken the time to do a custom site.

Here's my site: http://www.ekday.com

If you visit, you'll see it is based in frames. I can't stand frames. I went through Realtor.com and started looking at other agents' sites and noticed one thing....they're essentially all the same. Why, in an industry where we all want to stand out, do we all use the same web providers? lol.

If you have a unique site, I'd love to see it...feel free to post it in the comments. I have done everything I can to mine (for now) to customize it, but it still looks/feels like a template.

Remember what??? Tech Series

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 07:01:04 -0600

If you are like me, you are pretty big on setting goals and work with to-do lists. I have found a nice little website that helps in a big way. The site is www.rememberthemilk.com. I have been using it for a few days with no problems. It's in Beta now, but what sites aren't these days. Give it a try - it's free! It jut might help you get things back in order. It also emails you alerts on the day your items are due.

By the way - the best keyboard shortcut I can recommend is hitting the "D" button when you have an item selected. It will allow you to change the due date. Also, when working with your items, a check mark will appear next to them. This does NOT mean they have been completed. You must hit "complete" when an item is finished. Thos are just a few things that I had a challange with when I started using this site.

Tech News - Cingi Customers can smile

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 08:17:22 -0600

For all you Cingular fans, your wait is finally over. Cingular released their version of the Blackberry Pearl yesterday. T-mobile released this phones months ago, and I picked it up on day 1. Now, as many of you know, I have a bit of a cell phone problem. I have had 12 phones in the past 6 months, trying to find the perfect solution. I have had a Sidekick 2, Treo 650, Treo 700w, Motorola Q,Samsung E900, T-Mobile MDA, T-Mobile SDA, Nokie E61, BB 7105t, and many othes that I can't really remember.

Now, I will say, I was completely against Blackberrys for years. I thought they were too proprietary, and didn't allow much in the way of customization. Boy was I wrong. When I first caught word of the Blackberry Pearl, the first thing I noticed was the size. That had become a big deal for me. I wanted something I could slip in my pocket. I also wanted a camera and media player (I never use them, but want them there when I need them). This phone has both.

I love this phone. This is by far the most stable phone I have ever had. It has NEVER crashed on me (yeah, I've suffered through the every 10 minute crashes on my treos). The operating system is snappy, so it doesn't hang up like windows mobile phones do. My only concern before getting this phone was the keyboard. I thought I wanted a full QWERTY like the treos offer. I bought a BB 7105t with Suretype to test out the funky keyboard, and was so impressed, I decided I like it much better than a full keyboard. Having 2 letters per key makes the keys much larger and easier to peck at. And it is extremely accurate at selecting the correct word as I type. The battery is decent, and I can usually get 2 days of use between charges. It has bluetooth 2.0, a 1.3 meg camera, decent mp3 playback, and the size is perfect. It can also be paired with a GPS receiver and offers maps to show where you're going (the Cingi version offers turn-by-turn directions). So, if you're in the market for a smartphone, or already have a BB, this might be something to consider. I'm a huge fan, and consider myself quite the connoisseur when it comes to mobile phones. If you have questions about it, post them in the comments, and I'll get you the answer.

So....How do you market that Mutli-Million Dollar house - This is how!

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 07:56:38 -0600

I am always trying to find new ways to market a house, and specializing in Windermere, FL, I have to face sellers with Million dollar homes daily. Check out the video HERE for what I consider the best home video I've ever seen. Hopefully you can pull some ideas from it, and stop using your phone to capture video. ;-) Have a great day!

One last post before bed....

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:40:52 -0600

This is another short post, but I read an article today from another blogcalled "Paper Money." It's a great blog about the US Real Estate Bubble. In the latest post, they liken our current housing situation to the Titanic sinking. Hmmm....I think I'll only post this for Real Estate Professionals. lol. I got a kick out of it, and wanted to share it with you all. Here's a link:

http://paper-money.blogspot.com/

Google Geo Searching for Realtors

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:36:37 -0600

I haven't had much time to update you on helpful tech news, but just found an artice on a google search type that could really help you out. Take a at this: http://articles.spiinz.com/?type=art&art_id=3881062418&start=1

Hope this helps out a little.

Yikes - FL Real Estate Agent Sentenced in Mortgage Fraud

Shaun McLane (Ekday Realty - Opening Dec 2007) — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:28:05 -0600

Mary E. Bolan, 46, former mortgage broker, Brandeton, Florida, was sentenced to 6 months in prison, six months home detention, three years supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution of $1,782,019.47, jointly and severally with other defendants. Bolan pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and 20 counts of mail and wire fraud. Bolan was indicted on August 11, 2006 along with Kelly Abercrombie, Todd Kerber (later dismissed) and Taya Parodo. Todd Kolbe, Kirk McVey and Amy Samuelson were indicted on October 14, 2004 in a related case.

n her Motion for Downward Departurefrom the sentencing guidelines, Bolan sought leniency in part because she is a recently divorced custodial mother of two minor children. She began her career in real estate in 1992 and focused her practice to helping first time home buyers of low income. In 1996, she obtained her broker’s license and in September of 2000, formed her own real estate company, Mary Bolan and Associates. According to the motion, she currently operates Quest Real Estate, which she owns with her daughter.

The Motion also describes her involvement in the fraud scheme, stating that Bolan had developed close friends in the mortgage industry who oftentimes financed the properties she sold - one of those friends being Kelly Abercrombie. Abercrombie introduced Bolan to Todd Kolbe - described by Abercrombie as a very wealthy, successful, real estate investor and owner of a successful mortgage company - and suggested that Bolan assist Kolbe in finding properties for sale for his investment portfolio.

Kolbe met with Bolan and advised her of his business plan to purchase, renovate and rent a portfolio of real estate as investments. Kolbe wanted Bolan to find suitable properties for his company to purchase and rent with her incentive being commissions as buyer’s agent and potential further commissions if she rented the properties. Bolan was requested to locate properties for sale in particular subdivisions and to submit their listing price and particulars to Kolbe who made all decisions on properties to pursue for purchase, offers to be made and accepted, financing and closing.

Prior to the first group of closings of Lakewood Properties, Kolbe proposed to Bolan that she sign all closing documents on behalf of Lakewood Properties – telling her that he was too busy to attend closings and sign real estate documents. The residential properties that Bolan located for Kolbe were purchased by Lakewood Properties for a fair market price and Bolan split the standard broker listing commission with the listing broker on each of the initial sales of the properties. Bolan was not paid any commission on the “flip sales” or resales from Lakewood properties to the straw purchasers.

Bolan’s only error in judgment, according to the Motion, was agreeing to the perfunctory signing of closing documents on “flipped properties” for Lakewood Properties once she suspected that the resale price of these properties were unusually high.

Bolan‘s Motion further claims that Kolbe was the mastermind of the scheme to defraud Home Star Mortgage Services. Kolbe was the loan officer on these loans, so his manipulation of the application documents was totally controlled by him and he personally and exclusively created and submitted to Home Star Mortgage Services all the false loan applications. He calculated the necessary false appraised value needed to support the inflated loan, drafted and supplied all counterfeit appraisals, created the false desktop Underwriter loan approval analysis, falsified the income and credit worthiness of his straw purchasers, falsified the income, assets, and real estate owned by his companion, Kirk McVey, and family, and lied in hundreds of documents and conversations with Home Star Mortgage Services employees concerning the loans, according to the Motion.

Further, the application states that the “cash out” proceeds of the loans were made payable to Kolbe and/or the companies he owned, such as Kolbe Construction Services, Kolbe Development Corporation, Lakewood Partnership/Lakewood Properties. The application further states: “It is undersign’s understanding that Mr. Kolbe and various family members have also engaged in a number of additional fraudulent loan transactions in Florida and Utah for which Mr. Kolbe has never been charged.”