Praying for a Home Sale in New England... - 11/29/06 12:03 PM
 
ST Joseph Statue Sales Soar in New England!
 
 
 
You may have heard about the custom.  In fact, I'm sure it has been blogged about here on Active Rain more than once. I've blogged about the subject twice on my Eastern CT Real Estate Blog.  Home sellers bury a St. Joseph statue in the yard and the home sells.  Once the home is sold, the sellers unearth the statue and give it a prominent place in their new home.  Over the past couple of years, the market was so hot that invoking St. Joseph was hardly necessary.  Last year, as the market slowed, St. … (22 comments)

STUCK for an idea???? - 11/26/06 05:00 PM

I started a series of simple staging tips on my Eastern CT Real Estate Blog.    I received permission by the author of "Dress Your House for Success" to use that title as long as I credited her.  I was blogging along and made it to TIP #7 and I am now officially STUCK.   I use the tips in my advertising and marketing - suggesting that people stop by my blog for the Dress Your House for Success Tip Series.  I also refer my current sellers to it. 
So...I was wondering if perhaps a few of you wonderful stagers out there might be willing to provide me with some … (19 comments)

Do you mean people actually eat fruitcake? - 11/25/06 08:04 AM

In my ongoing study of what makes real estate professionals tick, and in honor of the start of the holiday shopping season, I continue on my quest of questions of the mind.  I recently discussed Morning People vs Late Nite people and found there was no constant among the Realtors®, mortgage officers or stagers here.  So I thought I would turn to the age old Fruitcake question.  Do you hate fruitcake?  
I have observed that people are pretty passionate about the subject.  There is even "The I hate fruitcake hate page." where they state that "There is just something fundamentally Wrong, WRong, WROng, WRONg, … (24 comments)

Morning People vs Late Nite People? - a girl wants to know - 11/23/06 02:03 PM

I  woke up this morning at 6AM just like always.  Not because of any Thanksgiving preparations, just because.  Because I always wake up at 6AM.  In fact, I'm usually in the office by 7:30.  I'm known as a "morning person".   I started thinking about this whole phenomenon at a closing yesterday.  The young buyer seemed distracted.  Finally the closing attorney asked her if she was feeling ok.  She said, "I'm fine but I'm exhausted.  I had to be at work at 7AM this morning".   I tried not to snicker or make eye contact with the attorney. I know he is is … (30 comments)

How many agents does it take...... - 11/18/06 04:59 PM

As sales fall, number of agents increase.
The last 5 years have been an amazing time for real estate agents in Eastern CT.  As prices increased and homes sold quickly,  real estate schools became full of potential agents with visions of easy money and a lot of it.  This is a trend seen throughout the country as the number of real estate agents rose to astounding levels.  Last year, the National Association of Realtors®, grew by 163,117, to 1.2 million members.  And the scary part is that 25% of those members have not had a transaction yet this year. 
Minnesota Realtors® Association Senior Vic President, Christopher Galler … (25 comments)

NAR Convention Final Report - The Trade Show! - 11/13/06 12:41 PM

The Trade Show - Halloween for Realtors®
If you noticed me missing after Day 4, it was because I ended up sick.  I rarely get sick so I'm calling it the New Orleans Flu. I spent Saturday Nite multi-tasking in the bathroom.  Returning home, I was thrilled to walk out of the Airport in Providence and breathe the fresh air.  Ahhhhhh.   I hate hotels with windows that don't open.  (Since my room also had a mouse, you can probably get the idea, I didn't like the hotel.)  But that's all the complaining, I'm going to do.  The people of New Orleans were thrilled to see … (30 comments)

NAR Convention Report - Day 4 - Traffic - 11/10/06 10:40 PM

Today I met AR member, Bill French from Real Estate Blog Sites.  Bill spoke at our Cyberprofessionals meeting.  He is one SMART guy.  And very funny too. If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, you'll learn a lot!  And laugh a lot!   We also met Tina Beam from Visistat .  It's a very cool product. 
Tonight was the opening of the NAR Trade Show, one of my favorite real estate events of the year. (In fact, it is the only Convention event I attend.) All the big players are here including the major real estate and mortgage franchises.  The giveaways are lots … (7 comments)

NAR Convention Report - Day 3 - 11/10/06 10:11 AM

Here come the Realtors®!!!!   I arrived on Tuesday and it was pretty quiet in the streets.   I was amazed at all the jewelry and antique shops in the French Quarter, one after another for blocks.  I couldn't imagine how many of them had managed to survive. Talk about competition!! Inventory was up and there were few buyers.  Ironic that the arrival of the Realtor® community was so highly anticipated.   I could almost hear the sighs of relief, as last night, the streets were filled, the restaurants were packed and the shoppers were doing what they do best, spend money.  It makes me proud!   
There were some … (9 comments)

NAR Convention Report - Day 2 - 11/09/06 10:35 AM
 
                                   
When I heard that NAR had chosen New Orleans as the site of the 2007 National Convention, I was disappointed.  I didn't think the city was going to be ready for 30,000 people and selfishly, I knew that finding a hotel for our Cyberprofessionals  group would be difficult . NAR, in the past, would not let us book a block of rooms together.  But NAR was determined to get people back to New Orleans... so this year, with the help of Judy Burkett , past president of the Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, NAR agreed to allow us to book 30 rooms in the … (16 comments)

NAR Convention Report - My first taste of New Orleans.... - 11/08/06 07:51 AM
 
 
I've arrived in New Orleans. This is my 4th trip here and I enjoy the city.   I was rather surprised at how run-down the airport looks although the cab driver did share they had plans to rebuild it prior to Katrina.  I met some other Cyberprofessionals at the airport and we headed to our NAR hotel, the Astor Crowne Plaza in the French Quarter.  First impression:   Not enough help.  I expected this since my dealings with the hotel prior to scheduling our meeting was very frustrating.   As we lugged in our luggage and boxes for our meeting into the lobby, one bellhop with a cart stood … (17 comments)

Is it time to get Speedy? - 11/05/06 11:48 AM

 
 Let's Get Speedy.....
 
 
Here's a cool way to store AND SHARE your favorite blogs!  I'm not sure where I found this originally (hopefully it wasn't here and I'm stealing someone else's idea) but I was cleaning out my favorites and came across it!   I now am using it as my home page.  I'm in the process of setting it up but thought I would share this.  Ok...so it is a little big brotherish that you can see what my computer wakes up to every day.  And I suppose its a little scary that you can all see what I'm reading.  But hey, … (13 comments)