john watson: What's New in Home Décor? Top 10 Fashion Colors for Fall Provides Clues - 04/29/09 04:52 AM
Paulia forwarded an interesting article to me entitled, "Top 10 Fashion Colors for Fall Provide Clues to What's New in Home Décor" from here.
Sellers seeking advice from listing agents who wish to update their properties with the freshest colors can take a look at the fashion industry for direction.  A color palette seen first on the fashion runways is picked-up by decorators and builders from wall paints to furnishings, towels and placemats.  The Top 10 colors for 2009 can be downloaded and viewed here .  This year's color range spans from semi-bold hues to catch a consumer's eye to a … (4 comments)

john watson: Website Hits are UP! This Could Be a Good Sign of Things to Come! - 01/26/09 05:20 AM
Website hits are up!  The Kennedy Team's website, www.BestofHotSprings.com expects more than a 33% increase in site hits by the end of January.  Historically, this website averages 35,000 hits per month.  As of today, with one week remaining in the month, 42,500 hits have been calculated with an average of 1,635 hit per day! That's 470 more hits per day than the usual 1,166! If this increase in web activity continues, and it is expected that it will, The Kennedy Team should have 52,300 hits by the end of January 2009. What a great way to begin the New Year!
The Broker … (9 comments)

john watson: Tough-Love Real Estate Marketing Part 2 - 01/06/09 12:42 AM
After posting my initial Tough-Love Real Estate Marketing entry, a number of people asked me to clarify the details of a Paulia Kennedy's 'honesty talk' and what the criteria was for 'being choosey'. 
Paulia explained that, "We first determine how motivated they are (if they really want and NEED to sell).   If they say, 'We don't really have to sell' -- then we really do not want their listing. If the need is there, then we spend a lot of time during the interview process explaining the complete process.  We want to make sure they are ready to work with us - which … (5 comments)

john watson: Tough-Love Real Estate Marketing - 01/01/09 12:32 PM
I received an interesting email from Paulia Kennedy last week. She explained me, "We're really getting hammered with new listing calls lately -- seems like we've been averaging about 3 new calls per week.  It's getting to be so many, that we really have to be choosey about the properties we list.  We have been deliberately honest, upfront and realistic with the sellers.  Then after the honesty talk, some of them are deciding to hold off on selling." 
Having worked with Paulia for sometime now, I am well-aware of the integrity that defines The Kennedy Real Estate Team, so I asked … (5 comments)

john watson: Feed Those Agents Well - 12/31/08 03:32 AM
When we put our northeast home up for sale a few years ago, I remember the day that the real estate agent caravan stopped our home on agent Open House day.  There isn't much to say here about that day, as it was an uneventful experience.  The agents came, and then they went. So last month when Paulia Kennedy asked me to flag her internet sites to indicate that one of her listing properties was to have an Open House the following week, I didn't think much of her request.  I soon learned that this was not going to be a ho-hum event.
Paulia explained … (13 comments)

john watson: The Kennedy Team REALLY Handles Every Last Real Estate Detail - 09/24/08 10:05 AM
As I mentioned in prior blog entries, I often peruse other agent sites to read what services he or she offers for potential buyers and sellers. Many agent sites tout that he/she will not only find the perfect home for their buyers but will handle every last detail up to the purchasing process.  What does that really mean; to 'handle every last detail up to the purchasing process'?  How far do these services really go?
I see that many agents offer more now in the way of resources such as the downloading of reports but that service seems to be the … (4 comments)