Please consider taking 30 seconds of your time to help Heather win the blog brawl!!! She is an amazing writer (and a dear friend). Please help her win!!
Thanks to all of the fantastic support from my friends, family, colleagues, peers, coworkers, twitter friends, and November moms, I have made it to the FINALS of the Blog Brawl! So this will be my last plea for votes, just one more time to get me through! The voting page is set up slightly differently this time (perhaps to further eliminate voting irregularities?) In any case, click on the link below to go to the proper page on VARBuzz.com, then below the video, click on ***click here to vote in the finals*** and it will open a new window for you to vote in.
I can't thank everyone enough for the outpouring of support...it's been fantastic and I'm eternally grateful! Voting runs until MIDNIGHT on SUNDAY, so don't delay!
You might enjoy this video that a few of my friends made to 'get out the vote'...
Are you hearing the buzz? Do you want to see the biggest, baddest bloggers in the country?
BlogWorld is a month a way and it is THE place to be for bloggers around country. What is BlogWorld? My friend Todd Carpenter described it as "the biggest baddest conference on blogging in the world".
Real estate and mortgage professionals have a fabulous opportunity to attend ReBlogWorld, which is basically a pre-conference to BlogWorld. This day long event will feature seminars and panels with tips on leveraging social media techniques for the real estate industry. With your ticket to ReBlogWorld, you get admission to BlogWorld and the New Media Expo. This is a really fabulous opportunity to step outside the real estate blogging "bubble" and see dozens of seminars on blogging, social media, search engine optimization, podcasting, video-casting, online journalism, small business strategies and more.
The ReBlogWorld track features a who's who of real estate blogging gurus. I am honored to be a moderator for this event, which is truly an all-star line up-featuring:
SIGN UP TODAY- You only have a few days before the price goes up. When you register for REBlogWorld, you get all three days for one price. Active Rain members get a 20% discount. Just enter ACVIP in the promotional box during registration, then click reply to see the new price before entering your payment information.
In case you need another reason to attend, don't forget it is all about the relationships, as any of you who have attended inman connect or other meet ups can attest. It is amazing what you will learn in the conference center, but what you learn outside of it can be pretty darn powerful too.
Book your registration and your plane tickets. I hope to see you there!
Tiburon is a highly coveted place to live in Marin, in part for its excellent public schools. I am often asked about the location of the schools in Tiburon. Here is a quick snapshot of the public schools.
What is happening in the Tiburon real estate market?
The charts below are a great visual to what has been happening in the last 90 days as compared to last year. It is a good to see the median Tiburon home price continues to beat out median home prices from last year, although we are seeing those number get closer together. The average days on the market has continued to be in the 90-100 day range over the last few months.
You can also sign up to receive very detailed real-time market reports in your email. These reports are awesome - tons of information. Just register below and let me know which neighborhoods you are interested in. Download a sample report.
The official start of the sailing season kicks off on Sunday, April 27, 2008 with Opening Day on the Bay. The bay will be filled with boats and is always a spectacular sight to see. The Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association hosts the annual boat parade which generally features more than 150 boats. The parade begins at 12:00 noon near Chrissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge and ends around 2:00 pm at Pier 39.
Sausalito and downtown Tiburon will be packed with visitors enjoyed the festivities and sights of the day.
Set sail and enjoy what is sure to be a beautiful day on the Bay!
Sounds of sobbing were coming from my room on the second day of my ski trip to Lake Tahoe last week week. I rush in to find a cute blonde six year old sitting on the toilet in full tears.
MOM-EEE.
I don't want to ski. I don't like it. I HATE it. I can't do it!
Oh me, oh my. What to do? I definitely don't want to be one of "those" mommies who push their kids to do things they absolutely hate. At the same time, I don't want to be one those parents who don't push enough and the kids regret it later in life that they didn't have the opportunity to do this or that.
What is a parent to do? Well, I asked lots of probing questions, trying to get down to the bottom of the situation. I can tell you, it is much easier to get an irrational buyer or seller to answer probing questions than a stubborn and quite irrational six year old. I wasn't getting anywhere.
With the busy holiday weekend and 8 days scheduled to be on the trip, we had planned for day # 2 to be a sledding day, thank goodness. This gave me a day to think, and to huddle with the other five families staying at the house. (yes, we had a houseful!)
I knew if I didn't get her skiing on this trip, it would be even harder next time, and it might never happen again. Timing is crucial. I decided that she had to work through her fears. She was going to learn how to ski. So, thinking cap on, I realized that I needed a fresh approach. Ski school wasn't right for her. Despite loads of hot cocoa, great friends, and lots of snacks, she didn't like it.
My girlfriend's 86 year old father joined us in Tahoe. His caretaker, a highly proficient (and patient) skier from Sun Valley, Idaho was with us. Sarah is incredibly sweet and patient. The kids adore her. She offered to take the little one out. We also had Brian, who works in the ski shop and takes care of the house during the winter. Brian is a ski pro. I took dad... Brian & Sarah took my little one and another six year old boy. They knew them and trusted them, and went off without a tear.
Two days later, my daughter was on the moguls. NOT KIDDING. 2 days of private lessons with Bryan and Sarah. 2 days of a different approach and she is a pretty darn good little skier.
She could have given up. 20 years from now, should could have regretted that she never learned to ski. I could have given up, not pushed her, and let her stay indoors and play princesses.
We could have said she can't. Well she could and she did.
Sometimes we have to push ourselves when we don't want to. Sometimes we have to step outside our comfort zone. Sometimes we have to push our kids and our clients- by taking a new and fresh approach.
Success isn't easy. Failure is.
P.S. My two year got on his skis for the first time too, but not quite ready for the big slopes!
The Inman Wiki had a great article today titled The Guide to Realtor Speak- a guide to real estate cliches and what a consumer's true definition would be. I found the article quite amusing and very true, so of course I had to see what people were saying in my MLS today. Here are a few that I saw:
"State of the art bathrooms"- Does it have a telephone? TIVO? Wireless internet? What is a state of the art bathroom? Do explain.
"This is the house you want." - Well what if you are wrong?
"Low maintenance yard" - No grass or loads of junipers!
"Over 1,500 sq feet of decks" - No yard, built on a steep hill.
"Romantic fireplace" - Have you ever seen an unromantic fireplace? Wait, yes, I have. It is not particularly romantic when all of the bricks are falling off.
"MAKE OFFER" - We are overpriced and I want this listing SOLD
"Retro style" - Seriously outdated
"Owned by the same family for 58 years" - yikes!
"on the quiet side of the street"- Across the street is REALLY noisy
"Recently updated for easy living" - As compared to hard living? Have you ever seen one that says- Not updated, perfectly suited for hard living.
"A sign right behind you here reads "Strange Dog". They're not kidding. ....the yellow lab is wayyy too friendly. Strange indeed." What is stranger, the dog or the comment?
Truth is stranger than fiction. It is all in the marketing...
I just returned from "ski" week with the kids. It is hard to imagine you could learn much from a week at Lake Tahoe - but hey- I am a blogger. We planned to leave on Saturday to avoid the masses of people heading up to Tahoe for the long President's weekend. My girlfriend and I rent a vehicle for this annual trip for two reasons:
We both drive sedans and can't fit 2 adults and 4 children into our vehicles
We don't have 4 wheel drive.
We arrived at the car rental company to find a very frazzled "Assistant Manager" running the show. He was wearing a paper thin suit with shoulder pads the size of Texas. This was clearly his first real job out of college and his first suit. Our 4 wheel drive, 3 row vehicle had been reserved for more than a month. We fill out the paperwork, while Mr. Shoulderpads answers a few calls, tells the people behind us they will have to wait, answers a few more phone calls and eventually calls back for our car to be brought up. When Employee#2 brings up the car, Mr. Shoulderpads realizes that it won't work. We absolutely positively can't take the car. He switched out cars from our original reservation and this vehicle only had 5 seats. We have six people.
Apparently car rental companies play a little roulette. They overbook their cars, assuming a certain percentage of cancellations. Clearly on this holiday weekend, they overbooked.
Mr. Shoulderpads had no car for us. We were understandably not happy. We had antsy children waiting to depart. We were expecting 17 children and 20 some adults for dinner in Tahoe that night (Yes, I am not kidding- but that is another story)
"They are screwing me. They are screwing me." Mr. Shoulderpads starts saying, quite loudly. Did he really just say that out loud? Hands running this his hair, palms sweaty. Mr. Shoulderpads is not exactly grace under pressure. He offers us another car. An upgrade, mind you, with the correct number of seats- but no 4 wheel drive. "Don't worry," he says, "weather in Tahoe is supposed to be good this week." Now Mr. Shoulderpads is a weatherman? Our rental was for 10 days. Who can possibly accurately predict weather 10 days in advance? Meteorologists certainly don't do it that well, but Mr. Shoulderpads could?
Mr. Shoulderpads didn't get screwed, we did. We had no choice at that point, but to take a vehicle we didn't want. The upgrade we eventually got had all-wheel drive, which was fine for the snow, but it wasn't really big enough. Six bucket seats, no storage (and I mean NONE). We had luggage shoved everywhere!
Customer Service 101- don't mess with your good customers. Multiple times a year, we rent one of the most expensive vehicles for our Tahoe trekks. This isn't a weekend rental. This is a week+ rental. We won't return to this car company again.
Customer Service 102- when you are in trouble and things aren't going as planned, show some grace under pressure. Show some empathy for your client. It is not about YOU, it is about THEM.
Customer Service 201- don't be deceptive. Your clients know when they are not getting a good deal- don't lie to them! Don't try to talk them in to something they don't want or don't need.
Customer Service 202- Mistakes happen. Find a way to remedy it and make your client happy. If you don't, they will tell everyone they know, and that costs a lot more than just the loss of that specific client.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
hearing the buzz? Do you want to see the biggest, baddest bloggers in the country?
Posted by 
Sounds of sobbing were coming from my room on the second day of my ski trip to Lake Tahoe last week week. I rush in to find a cute blonde six year old sitting on the toilet in full tears. 
While writing a recent post about the 
We arrived at the car rental company to find a very frazzled "Assistant Manager" running the show. He was wearing a paper thin suit with shoulder pads the size of Texas. This was clearly his first real job out of college and his first suit. Our 4 wheel drive, 3 row vehicle had been reserved for more than a month. We fill out the paperwork, while Mr. Shoulderpads answers a few calls, tells the people behind us they will have to wait, answers a few more phone calls and eventually calls back for our car to be brought up. When Employee#2 brings up the car, Mr. Shoulderpads realizes that it won't work. We absolutely positively can't take the car. He switched out cars from our original reservation and this vehicle only had 5 seats. We have six people.
Mr. Shoulderpads had no car for us. We were understandably not happy. We had antsy children waiting to depart. We were expecting 17 children and 20 some adults for dinner in Tahoe that night (Yes, I am not kidding- but that is another story)
;)
;)
