What an incredible day of giving across North America...

Click the link below to view a quick video recap of the two project our Market Cener was in volved with .

1. was at an at risk elementary school and the other was a neighbor in need in henderson....

It is truely an enjoyable video... Thanks for all the KW associates and staff and vendors that joined in and helped make this such a GREAT day.

This is a note from a friend of my who owns several KW offices to his agents.... Check out this true story that just happened... Talk about goofy in Real Estate! YIKES

 A Message From Shaun Rawls - OP of The Rawls Group Share  Today at 6:10am If you want to know why the Southeast region has been the number one region for KW in every category for the past several years, you need to look no further than the leadership. Shaun Rawls is not only the OP for my office, but The Rawls Group owns many offices in the Southeast and now in the New York region. If it was not for Shaun's support and the amazing culture of my office that he helped inspire, I never would have been inspired to attract agents to this amazing company. - AK



Superstars...

If you like REALLY interesting stories about what NOT to do in real estate, then this message is going to make your day. Today, I was made aware of one of the most unique violations and criminal acts that had occurred in a transaction, and it involved one of our agents. Thankfully, the improprieties involved the OTHER company in this particular transaction and not "us."

It appears that our agent successfully negotiated a binding contract on a piece of property, the terms of which included our buyer placing $10,000 of earnest money with the listing broker. That's the good news.

Check out the bad news:
1. The listing agent fraudulently signed the contract on behalf of the seller without the seller's consent;
2. The listing agent also (and fraudulently) signed two other contracts on behalf of the seller without the seller's consent, none of which were made to believe that their contracts were anything other than primary contracts;
3. In addition to the $10,000 of earnest money that our buyer paid to the Listing Broker, there was an additional $50,000 of earnest money paid by the buyers of the other two contracts;
4. All of the earnest money was cashed. However, not by the Listing Broker.
5. When I questioned "How in the world an earnest money check made payable to "Company X" could be cashed by anyone other than Company X?", the broker explained that the agent had opened a bank account under the name "Company X," which allowed the agent to deposit the earnest money funds into this account.
6. Even more unfortunate is that the Listing Broker informed me that his agent was "duped" into taking the earnest money by an internet scam that led the listing agent to send all of the $60,000 of the buyers' earnest money to Nigeria in hopes of receiving untold amounts of riches. I kid you not.
7. The listing agent stole $60,000 of earnest money, sent it to Nigeria and has nothing to show for it. And even better, the listing broker doesn't have it either.
8. Our Team Leader, our agent, our buyers and the broker for Company X are all freaked out.
9. Did I mention that the listing agent is 62 years old, married and an associate broker with his firm?

More Good News:
1. After getting off of the phone with the listing broker and realizing that he doesn't have the funds to do the right thing, I immediately called our client to let them know (a) of the thousands of real estate transactions that I've been involved in over the past 20 years, his is, perhaps, one of the top 3 most interesting, and (b) The Rawls Group is going to write him a check for his $10,000 so that we can bear the burden of getting the money back from the listing broker, not him. This will allow him and his family to get back to work finding their next home without any stress or delay.
2. When I called our agent to let her know of my conversations with the listing broker and her buyer, she tearfully told me how she's always read that "I got your back stuff" and just sloughed it off, never realizing that I really did have her back until I had an opportunity like this to prove it.
3. Under the circumstances, I don't really see covering our buyer's loss from this freak incident as anything more than the right thing to do.

The Morals of this story are:
1. Agents should never take earnest money from buyers that they deposit into their own accounts only to send those funds to Nigeria to cash in on a get rich quick internet solicitation. If you do, then you'll probably go to jail like I believe the listing agent will.
2. Who you are in business with and who you do business with matters.
3. Doing the right thing is sometimes expensive. However, the right thing to do has nothing to do with profit or loss.
4. I recommend that we (Keller Williams Realty - The Rawls Group) hold earnest money as often as possible because it will always be held and disbursed appropriately and legally.
5. Just when you think you've seen it all, you're wrong!

Please, please, please use your common sense out there. Operate with the highest level of concern for your reputation, your integrity, your profession and your broker. The liabilities and the risks that we take everyday are staggering. No transaction is worth your reputation, regardless of the amount of commission you could earn.

Thanks for always being a shining example of the integrity and the professionalism that I want The Rawls Group to be known for. I appreciate you, and...

I really do have your back!

SHAUN

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Nevada-Association-of-REALTORS/318556647164?ref=ts

Nevada Update: All Real estate agents in Nevada should immediately become a fan of the Nevada Association of Realtos Facebook page.  This will provide you the most up to date news, tax and fee issues affecting our business during this upcoming 2011 legislative session in Carson City. There are many areas that we may need to lobby against and one of the quickest ways to get the word out is via social networks.

We are looking to get to 10,000 fans by the end of 2010...This will provide us with the ability to share information quickly and effectively during the 2011 session....Get youself signed up as a fan and mention it at your office meetings.

Thanks,

JC Melvin

Here is the cool thing about Success....It's a choice! Anybody can choose to enjoy massive success or....they can choose to wallow in the reasons why success has eluded them...either way, it's still a choice...1/6 of the year is over... Are you on track for 2010? All the best....You Deserve Success...so, go get it!

As we approach the end of winter and move towards the spring where most of our businesses tend to pick up and increase...it's really time to examine what the heck we have accomplished in the first two months of the year....It is gut check time...We've got to ask ourselves, "If I keep doing what I've done for the first two months of the year, what will my end of year really look like?"

This is really the last shot to break out, change our daily habits (if we are not on track) and create new momentum for 2010...We all deserve success...let's go get it! JC from Vegas    

That's right....11% of the year is already behind us and we've got about 89% of the year to go... Time to check progress... I've got a few agents in my office that are still formulating their 2010 plan???

This is time for a quick gut check...How are we doing after the first bit of the year is over... Not to worry if we find ourselves behind...Let's just reorganize and get ourselves set for the coming spring and summer months....

With 11% of the year behind us, it's a simple reminder that our career is really a day to day business. So, the question is -- what am I going to do TODAY to enhance and grow my business? What will I accomplish the rest of this week? What can I do before the end of this month?

I am still a believer that 2010 can be one of the greatest real estate years of our career...It is the new normal and this door of opportunity is HUGE! We simply need to open the door and walk through it!

Just some food for thought. JC from Vegas! 

Our mutual friend on facebook, Larry Bergstrom, says that new years resolutions last, on average, about 19 days!!!  Here is a thought--More health club memberships are sold between December 15th and January 15th than at any other time of the year. By Feb 15th the crowds have left the clubs and the regulars return to their normal workout schedule....

On the "Making More Money" resolution...it also requires work and commitment which is why it is often left behind and/or lost in the "life gets in the way" category....

To succeed in either one of the top two resolutions for any given new year, it takes a bit more than a wish and verbal declaration on our part.....You are welcome to read our new book called "Reinventing Yourself in Today's Economy."... It's a free pdf download on my profile page... It's a fun, quick and easy read which addresses how to change ones mindset and how to change ones financial future. Enjoy and Happy New Year!   

YEP...it's true. I wrote a blog post on July 26, 2009 called, "Is the country Depressed?" In writing this blog and giving thought to the answers it stimulated the idea that I should write a book. SO...My wife Minnie, my daughter Julie and I wrote a book called "Reinventing Yourself in Today's Economy." It's based on the research we did after writing that simple blog on activerain! The result is a fun and quick read which has some valid answers for many in our business as well as for many others. Many business leaders such as Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Gary Keller and others are quoted in this fast moving read about Reinventing Yourself. It truely has some great concepts for 2010 and beyond. It is FREE to our entire activerain family. Just click on the FREE ebook on my profile page for the pdf version. JC Melvin

Wait a minute, I thought the year just got started. Do you find yourself saying that each year? I do and one of the things we may all becoming aware of is this; The older we get...the faster the time seems to go! At the end of each year I, like everyone else, begin to question my business success over the year and often times come to a realization that I did not accomplish what I had originally set out to do for the year. For years I kept saying to myself, "I've got to work harder and smarter next year and stick with it."

Then these last two years came along and kicked me in the teeth! OUCH! I don't want to sound like a victim here but wow...really...I just didn't see it coming and I got caught like many others in the real estate business. My wife and one of my daughters are also in the real estate business and all of us experienced some massive frustration...We just completed writing a book called "Reinventing Yourself in Today's Economy." Whether you are in the real estate business or any other business for that matter, it may be a great read for you...and we gladly share it with you for FREE. Simply go to my profile or see my link , "FREE ebook" and click on it. All of our active rain friends may have it for free. It's a pdf download...Writing the book really got us refocused on the correct way to think and ultimately on creating a very strong financial base.  

PLEASE VOTE TODAY: We have a family friend who is one of the two finalist to be A Victoria Secret Angel this year. Her name is Kylie Bisutti.  Every vote counts..1. go to http://cbs.com  2. go to bottom of page and click on Victoria Secret Home page  3. Click on watch and vote  4. Click on Vote now for your favorite  5. Vote for Kylie Thanks, JC  

As we wrap up 2009 and put it behind us, it's time to prepare for 2010. While I am one of the most optimistic people you will ever meet, I was slammed financially in 2008....YES I know it's now the end of 2009 and we are heading for 2010...Just giving some background....

I love the new slogan that Realty Executives has come up with describing our real estate market as "The New Normal."  Although I am not with them, I believe they have nailed it... We are now getting adjusted to the new normal and it's different than before.... My wife, daughter and I have just completed writing our newest book called "Reinventing Yourself in Today's Economy."  While I have been sucessful in the real estate industry in the Las Vegas market for some 28 years, 2008 and 2009 woke me up!

We will provide a FREE ebook version of our new book to all of our Active Rain Family...Simply go to my profile here on active rain and click on the FREE ebook or CLICK on FREE ebook from my links.  It's a quick read designed to help reinvent yourself! Happy Holidays to all... It is our gift to you!

Happy Holidays to all. JC in Vegas