TWO FRIENDS AND NEWBIE AGENTS JOINED US THIS WEEK. This is for ALL NEW AGENTS. SOME OF US OLD ONES TOO...
Anticipation, nervousness, excitement and success..you probably experienced the moment when you decided that Real Estate was the career you wanted to claim. Little did you know just what lay ahead.
You knew you hungered to help people realize their dreams. You wanted to help in every way possible and you knew that when you drew a paycheck from this passage in life that you could be whole and happy.
YOU decided to study, learn, forfeit free time and hit the books. YOU wanted to become a Realtor.
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU have your Real Estate License. This is no small feat. Now you have a huge responsibility to your clients/customers, Brokerage, and of course, your family and yourself.
The question you must ask yourself is, "how am I going to get there?". This is a biggie. This is not suppose to be a "throw them in and see if they can swim" situation. It requires planning, training, research and direction.
Confusion, determination, confusion (oh, I said that) and hope...Now that you have your license to practice, you had better get busy. This is not a retail sales job where people walk in and ask for a certain size of shoe or a lug wrench. This is serious. You may have forgotten everything on the test but you must now begin to think of your client first and foremost.
Greed, selfishness, stepping over any line is NOT in the picture. Will you be able to do this? Will you be able to forfeit all this for the good of another?
If not, walk away.
If you are ready, then begin training hard and use your common sence, morals and personal ethics. Back this up with the study of NAR's (National Association of Realtors) rules and ethics. You are about ready to proceed. And, you will either succeed or fail.
This is totally up to you.
Direction, determination, endless work, marketing, planning, sucesses and failures. The ball is now in your court. Listen to all the GREATS. They say, "write down your goals and your plans to get there."
Find a MENTOR. This is a plan that requires a teacher that has previous experience, knowledge and can help you plan to make it happen. To be sucessful. To do it right. To reap the rewards of "thank you's", referrals, and pay checks.
Infinite learning beyond the testing, security within oneself, understanding and openness comes from DOING. LEARNING AND WORKING.
Questions, attempts, failures and then DOING IT AGAIN will get you to the point you want to be. For each question you have there will be a multitude of answers. And, a multitude of questions.
Did you vacation on Lake Conroe this summer? Do you live within a few hours of our lovely lake? Are you wishing that you could spend more time on and by the water building memories with your family? Thinking of retiring in the next few years and are beginning to think of where you want to live the good life?
Well, here it is.
Your Paradise awaits.
This gorgeous home has it all. Drive up appeal, open living, soaring ceilings, magnificent architecture, Tuscan Tile roof, Tile, 4 or 5 bedrooms fit for a king, media room, game room and a cooks kitchen with Granite counter tops throughout, mirrored workout room privately tucked in behind the Owner's Suite closet with walk through to main home, grand staircase, built-in wine bar with custom iron work door with lock and cooler, 3 fireplaces with two out doors with one on the upper balcony and one in the outdoor kitchen, huge game room upstairs touting custom built-ins, Granite topped bar with copper sink and refrigerator, separate media room ready for your theater needs, THE MOST GORGEOUS WATER FRONT LOT WITH WIDE OPEN WATER VIEW, landscaped and an ELEVATOR SHAFT READY THE ELEVATOR'S INSTALLATION, PERFECT HOME FOR ANY AGE EVEN WITH THE THREE LEVELS!
I was reflecting on past comments from my favorite people on Active Rain. I came across this one and decided to re-post. In the last year we have lost several of our favorite Rainers. Reflecting on their memories gives me joy.
Have you ever thought about just how powerful the word REFLECTION is?
"I do wish I could have done many things differently but at least today is the day I can REFLECTON in the future...."...Deb
We can look into a mirror and see exactly how the world sees us. But, there's so much more to the word...
The root of the word is REFLECT. Now, this means more than to just "mirror".
An action of ours can REFLECT the nature of our personalities. And, can become a REFLECTION of who we are.
We can REFLECT on the past and bring forward the memories. We are but a reflection of our pasts.
To be someone we use to be we use the term, "I am a mere REFLECTION of the person I use to be".
We decorate our homes, drive a car, and dress in a way that REFLECTS our personalities.
We also run our businesses in a way that REFLECTS directly upon us.
Our clients/customers will become a REFLECTION of our service.
Their opinions of us shall directly REFLECT upon us. Our Real Estate business and personal business is branded.
If we are going to leave our footprints in this life, we should remember how they will REFLECT on us.
To REFLECT can mean to bring back memories. Whether or not they are good memories or not so good....we REFLECT.
Our REFLECTION in the mirror is pretty stark.
It is what we look like and not who we are!
When standing and looking at yourself in the mirror, next time look deeper.
Are you pleased with what you REFLECT?
Your attitude towards your business and the people you work with will REFLECT how you are doing...what you believe and who you are.
Reflect a positive attitude, hope, honesty, sincerity, empathy, humor and all the good you can muster each day. So, when you REFLECT on yesterday you can nod and smile.
Debra A Brooks, Lake Livingston, Lake Conroe Real Estate Specialist. 936-661-2624
Happy 4th of July all! As we all know our Holiday is to celebrate the Declaration of Independence our Nation declared from Great Britain in 1776, on the 4th of July.
As Realtors, Brokers, Mortgage Brokers, Inspection Specialists, and Surveyors and pretty much everyone else that helps make our clients' dreams come true WE SHOULD REALLY CELEBRATE.
We are blessed to be INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS!!!
No, there are no bosses that will dock our pay if we show up late...
Yes, we have to be self-starters and be King or Queen of our schedules...
No, we don't have to get up in the morning unless we feel responsible to our commitments...
Yes, we do take the brunt of the blame when it isn't even necessarily our fault...
No, there is no one to hand us a paycheck at the end of our week even if we didn't produce...
Yes, we do receive a paycheck when we complete a job well done!
No, there is no minimum quota to meet to remain on the payroll...
Yes, we only get paid if we produce...
No, we don't get benefits or perks or paid vacations...
Yes, we get to make as much money and success as we choose to make...
And,
We are our own bosses.
We are blessed to be in a Nation of Freedom that allows us to decide and then attain the success we feel we deserve. Markets are local but even in the worst possible market you can be the best. If nothing else you can be the best you want to be!
If you are anything like me you are totally thankful for the freedom of our Profession. Even Doctors, Lawyers and Indian Chiefs have to remain in their Teepee's and wait for the retail market to come to them. We have the freedom to spread the word, shake hands, become friends and ask for referrals. How does it get better than that? IMHO, it just doesn't get any better.
We have no one to answer to but ourselves and our clients. If we are true to ourselves and continue to be the best we can be then if we do fail we can excuse ourselves, readjust our plans and try again. We are one gigantic lucky bunch of people that chose to go into a profession of FREEDOM AND ABUNDANCE.
Seriously, if you don't like it then get out of it. Again, it's your choice. There is no one to blame for failure when the deal is in our hands. Get up, dust yourself off, and do it again till you get it right. The business is there.
I throw my hat into the air with a "WOO-HOO" AND HOW DO YOU DO!
We are Independent and we are the lucky ones!
Celebrate our Nation's INDEPENDENCE and Celebrate your own!
Active Rain and its staff have provided us with a resource equal to "Guaranteed Success". Now, of course this means that for it to work you have to work it. That's the down and dirty truth about just about everything we do. We can talk the talk but to become successful we must walk the walk.
If you are sitting at your desk in your office waiting for the phone to ring or for someone to walk in off the street to "give" you business then WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! You may just starve doing that! Buyers AND Sellers are now beginning their search to find the right match for them on the Internet. Up to 90% of all Buyers AND Sellers are looking to the web before making any decisions about who they should list with, what properties they would like to view, what Realtor they would feel the most comfortable with, how to find the right lender, what the steps are to securing a home and getting to closing successfully and who comes most recommended?
All the information is on the web. Shouldn't YOU be the one supplying it? Yep, you should. Here are a few great reasons to post consistently to Active Rain.
1. AR is extremely Google Friendly. The staff does all the technical work behind the scenes and they have a wonderful relationship with the Search Engines. They take most of the work off your plate. They provide you with an abundance of information to guide you through the process of optimizing your Active Rain Account. THANK YOU ACTIVE RAIN FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US!
2. AR provides you several platform options to choose from. My advice is to mix it up and use them all. You have a basic submission account that sends your post to Google. It is up to you to write quality and informative posts with keyword optimization to target your Market Areas. These posts can be about just about anything. Real Estate related posts are the best for you and your marketing strategy.
3. Another one of AR's platforms is called Localism. What does this mean and what will it do for you? It will show you as being a local expert within your own community. Now, if a Buyer is shopping in your area who will they call? The Local Expert of course. YOU.
4.What is the reason you want to be the Local Expert and why would you want to be so? It means you love your community. You can post your personal listings and watch what happens. Google loves it. You can eat at your local restaurant, write a review and throw in a couple of pictures and a portion of the menu. You can visit the local park and write about the neighborhoods that have easy access for their children's soccer games and playgrounds. What better way is there to gain local loyalty?
5. Yet another reason to post to Localism is that it actually helps YOU to learn and love your own community. Who can best sell their community? A person that is active within the community and a person that loves it. The more you learn of your own people and area the better you can sell it!
6. The more you are out in your community the more people you will meet. What is the absolute BEST ADVERTISING IN THE WORLD? WORD OF MOUTH! You meet the people and write a post telling all about them. They read it and are proud as well they should be. Then what happens? They tell someone and your phone begins to ring off the wall. It all centers around Active Rain and their strategy. Go for it.
7.Google LOVES FRESH CONTENT! This does not mean you have to write every day by any means. Even once a week with good content can and probably will establish you as an expert with Google and other Search Engines themselves. After writing consistently and posting on a regular basis Google will begin to consider you and expert in the field. They will feel you can be trusted and know you will be back. Up goes your site and up goes your best writing!
8. Pick your local Market Keyword Phrase and go for it. Example: Boston Imperial Gardens. Let's say it's a neighborhood. Post at least every other week on that neighborhood. Add a link to your site for your post that has a title of Boston Imperial Gardens and just watch what happens. Any time anyone types in the keywords "Boston Imperial Gardens" to either buy or sell a house YOU are going to come up. You and your posts.
9. Have you added the link of Active Rain to your site? If you look on the left hand side bar while on your profile you will see towards the bottom "Add Link". By adding this link to your site, you are adding the power of the total membership of Active Rain. Google will follow your link and realize they are linking back to you and you will be on the map! Each time you write a post through Active Rain it is a link that points straight towards your site because after all, you are the Local Expert, remember?
10. This is it? I thought I might find it difficult to get 10 but I'm having a difficult time stopping here. There are tons of reasons I have not gotten to mention. Tons! But, here we go. Number 10 is by far the most important reason for you to be an active member here.
Sub Categories: Friendship, bonding, learning, teaching, sharing, understanding, pride of marketing, acceptance, excellence, eye candy (photos), humor and tears and prayer. What could be better?
In the last 10 days I have secured two listings to the tune of $1,500.000.00 directly from my Active Rain Account. We have also executed a contract of nearly $500,000.00 to close at the end of the month and it all came from Active Rain. Oh sure, it took a lot of work. It's not a walk in the park. As I said before, you have to "walk the walk" if you "talk the talk" AND YOU CAN DO IT!
Can you truly place a price tag on SUCCESS? I think not. Sign up today.
I'm Deb Brooks
Active Rain Ambassador
Call me direct if you have any questions...936-661-2624.
Oh, and get busy. Sign up, create your account and start posting!!!
I showed seven homes around Lake Livingston today to a new set of Clients. They also love the lake as I do but have never lived there. They spend almost every weekend boating on our lake and in the creeks and the Trinity River and are simply in love.
We had a ball together exploring the homes along the water that fit into their price range. They own a very large speed boat so a boat lift with a pier is very important to them.
The water level is also important so they can come and go even if the Lake is a bit low. One of the great things about Lake Livingston is that it is man made and governed by the Trinity River Authority Dam that helps the water level remain at the optimum level even during potential flooding times.
When the water rises it is manually released to flow Southward and help the Rice Farmers in the Southern parts of Texas.
Now we're talking win-win.
The South end of the lake is the deepest and most active area of the total body of water. This is where the Dam is found and many wide open water areas.
In this part of the lake it is imperative that if you live right on the water that you have a solid bulkhead.
The water kicks up as if it were a part of the ocean and the bulkhead takes a beating.
Be aware that this end of the lake is the most dangerous. Higher waves, heavier currants and stronger storms will be a part of your life.
If you are wanting the open look of the ocean then this is where you want to be! Please just take the necessary precautions when boating or when children are involved.
Now, the North end of the lake is the calmer, easier boating area of our lake. The Trinity River is at the mouth of the Lake Livingston basin and provides all the fresh water coming from North Texas and Dallas.
When Dallas gets rain ... watch out! Here it comes! The river tends to overflow its banks in the area where it meets the lake but most homes and Real Estate that is improved lies on a higher piece of land.
Lake Livingston supplies many creeks that spin off from the main lake, mostly in the Northern end.
These creeks make fantastic boating areas and are also great for fishing. White Rock Creek is one of my favorites!
The creek runs deep and wide. The banks are bluffs that are speckled with trees and are gleaming with white rock!
This is by far one of the most beautiful areas on the lake.
Perfect for skiing, boating, tubing, jet skiing and fishing, the North end of Lake Livingston must not be overlooked.
Don't let another summer get by you without shopping for your Lake House Getaway.
Our game is Real Estate and it is up and down and all around right now. How do we handle this? With kid gloves. Let's talk appraisals. They have an incredible effect on our pricing in different neighborhoods don't they? If you are like me I have several neighborhoods that I regularly work. Some are economically stronger than others and what about the weaker ones? Why are the prices dropping?
The combination I can see is too many foreclosures in one neighborhood. Foreclosures for comps = lower price per square foot for the other homes for sale. Retail or not. The comps are simply the comps.
I spoke to an Appraiser the other day and asked him point blank..."do you base the square foot price directly on the local foreclosures or do you attempt to target the retail homes?" wow...he hesitated so much. He wanted to tell me what I wanted to hear but the truth spilled.
It's simple. If there are more comps that compare with the foreclosures then he is obligated to use them. Thus the regular retail dollar amount is immediately dropped to a lower price. He can't help it. It is what it is. If the lender requires that the comparables are within a certain radius area of the target home then they have no choice.
If the appraiser has three comps that are recent foreclosures that are closer to the age, area, bedrooms, build and style than the other three retail comps he is obligated to report the closest match and the prices of them even if the prices were on a foreclosed home. We are out of luck with this.
When you are listing homes in a particular area I highly recommend you pull from your local Multiple Listing Service exactly what the Appraiser will see. When it comes down to what a lender will lend they listen to the comps and not us agents that really know better.
It is what it is. Be honest with your potential seller and it will hurt less in the end. You are sharp. You know what I'm saying. It makes our job even more difficult to tell people that their home is worth more than what we can ask for it but you have to remember that we can't buck the system. Save your seller pain and yourself a great deal of work for nothing and do your homework my friends.
We can only sell the home for the value the lender believes in.
That varies from place to place. It could be better for you to tell them to hang in there for a while. The tide should turn and when it does they will remember you for the honesty and education you give.
Now, if you find a buyer with cash??? Go get um tiger...
My husband showed homes in Austin the other day and they were right by the water. He met with a man and his young son named Conner. I spoke to them a time or two during the showings and the men were laughing about Conner being a real Con Man! He was sneaky and pulling their legs about what he thought was funny all day long.
They came to the last showing and it happened to be the one that Conner's mom had picked out as her favorite. The men just loved it. The house had everything they wanted at a price they could afford.
As they were walking around the outside of the home looking at Lake Travis the discussion worked its way to making an offer on the home. Conners dad felt like his wife would be back in a couple of days to see for herself and they began discussing the right price to offer.
As they were saying their farewells to the Seller that had opened her home so graciously
Conner piped up and said,
"WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T SELL THIS HOUSE! MY DAD AND I ARE GOING TO BUY IT!"
Dad had only one thing to say. "Conner, next time let me do the talking." LOL
As you drive into this gorgeous little neighborhood you will begin to notice that beauty abounds! You will notice the blue waters of Lake Livingston's Carolina Cove.
You will see the huge hardwood trees and pines that line your drive. You will notice that each and every home is meticulously kept with Lake Living at its best. You will come to a street named Carolina Way and as you are coming around the corner you will see a very special hidden treasure. Flowering trees, pines, thick Saint Augustine grass and a large gorgeous home sitting on the bank of Lake Livingston awaiting your presence.
Absolutely heavenly! This is a neighborhood packed with non-pretentious residents that love their neighbors. These are genuine folks that are proud of their unique spot of heaven and are glad to be there and protect their own. It's a small neighborhood yet a grand neighborhood!
Oh, the hidden treasures they hold! The values of the subdivision are protected by the pride and prudence of the homeowners. Homes are meticulous.
Trees are tall and proud. The view of the Lake Livingston Carolina Cove is only surpassed by the quality of boating, fishing, skiing, and jetskiing.
The cove is deep and clear and ready for "safe" water sports. This is the place to build lifetime memories. Memories of family, frivolity and innocent fun. This is a small price to pay for your own spot of heaven!
The homes are not brand new. Families have built these homes with memories of fun and laughter. You can feel the love when you enter this home. The owners are getting on in years. Their children are grown with grown children so their memories are carved into the home as if a heart into a tree. The home is now ready for a new younger family ready to take on the building of this home and extend its life with yet more love and care and joy of togetherness.
Carolina Cove is one of my personal favorites on Lake Livingston and I want to tell you why! Contact me for more information about this lovely area and home and to schedule your personal tour today.
We all have to have fun once in a while. If you are in the Real Estate business then you don't need an explanation about the term "short sale". Nothing short about it.
As we all know, SHORT SALES can and usually will take weeks and months.
Like being "ALMOST DONE" or "NEAR DEATH"
A "LITTLE BIT PREGNANT"
Buy today! "JUMBO SHRIMP"
"ACCURATE ESTIMATE"
"ARMY INTELLIGENCE" ... don't take this personally as my son is in the Army and he laughs about it.
"CIVIL WAR"
"CLASSIC NEW HOMES"
"DUMB WAITER"struck by Alan May
"FIRM ESTIMATE"
"LARGER HALF"
"POOR RICH KID"
"PAST PREDICTION"
"RELATIVE STRANGER"
"SPEED LIMIT"
"TAX RETURN"
"AWFULLY NICE"
"SURE BET"
"TOLL FREE"
"VIRTUAL REALITY" (LOL)
"RESIDENT ALIEN"
"PRETTY Ugly"
Like Mother Like daughter........
"ALONE TOGETHER"
and I just left a comment and used the term "GOOD GRIEF" and then laughed at myself.
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.
YOU decided to study, learn, forfeit free time and hit the books. YOU wanted to become a Realtor.
Confusion, determination, confusion (oh, I said that) and hope...Now that you have your license to practice, you had better get busy. This is not a retail sales job where people walk in and ask for a certain size of shoe or a lug wrench. This is serious. You may have forgotten everything on the test but you must now begin to think of your client first and foremost.
Infinite learning beyond the testing, security within oneself, understanding and openness comes from DOING. LEARNING AND WORKING.
Successes, failures, learning steps, discovery, self awareness and direction...will lead to Success, understanding, knowledge, compassion, confidence, comfort, stability, belief.
Posted by 
there and protect their own. It's a small neighborhood yet a grand neighborhood!
;)
;)
