Matthew Rathbun's Blog

Minorities wanting pass at foreclosures

Sun, 18 May 2008 18:55:57 -0500

I recently read an article from the Spring 2007 ALQ Real Estate Intelligence Report, entitled “Minority groups call for end to sub-prime foreclosures.” The article begins with the following:

A coalition of civil rights groups led by the NAACP and National Council of La Raza is calling for a moratorium on home foreclsoures in the sub-prime sector, saying lenders, real estate agents and other should be held accountable of putting low-income citizens into homes they cannot afford.

The group say lends should be required to convert their sub-prime loans to 30–year, fixed-rated loans immediately and cease foreclosure procedures for at least the next six months.

I had to read the article twice, but I suppose I wasn’t really surprised at this move. Every organization is trying to help it’s constituents in this period of real estate crisis. I am however left to wonder why these groups don’t rally for all consumers, and why exactly they feel that real estate agents should be included in their accusations? I am sure that there are a few agents and lenders who may have conspired against the consumer, but this was far from the norm.

I am a huge supporter of the Fair Housing legislation and have taught/preached many a class in this regards. I fully believe that no one should be denied the bare necessity of housing for any reason, other than the inability to pay for it. However, I am compelled to ask why these groups don’t feel that Caucasian purchasers should be granted the same pass. (I am not yet convinced that anyone should get a pass on foreclosure) All people, regardless of race, posses the same intellectual ability as a group. I don’t concur with the premise that one people group was more susceptible to being mislead than another.

The article went on to say:

The groups said African American and Hispanic borrowers received a disproportionate share of sub-prime mortgages – those made to people with lower credit scores or high debt burdens.

The groups threatened to file housing discrimination lawsuits against lenders, real estate brokers and others whom they said pushed lo-income families into the sub-prime loans.

I am curious as to where personal responsibility fell into this. I have worked with many minority clients over the years and have never thought them to be more naive or posses less intellectual capacity than Caucasians. For that matter why shouldn’t all the buyers have some level of culpability in their decision to move forward with these loans? There were substantial federal and state disclosures required for these transaction and superfluous resources to research such transactions. All of us, since childhood, have been taught to ask questions and never sign anything we didn’t understand.

Yes, I concur that agents and lenders are the guides for these consumers and should ALWAYS present a true picture of the transaction and potential risks involved. It’s simply hard for my to understand why, if the NAACP has actual proof of their claims that lenders and agents purposefully damaged these buyers; or treated them differently than those from another people group why they don’t pursue the lawsuits now? I for one, would like to see lenders or agents who woefully mistreated another because of their race, disciplined for such actions.

Another GREAT FREE tool for Agents

Sun, 18 May 2008 18:54:26 -0500

One of my favorite tools for real estate marketing has been SnagIT. This software has a lot of functionality, but not everyone needed all the functions and it cost $40. I knew it was only a matter of time before a related product would come out as an open source product.

The Jing Project is a great new product that I’ve just installed and I am playing with. You can download it here: http://jingproject.com/ . Jing does both image capturing, but also screen capture movies.

One of the many uses I’ve found to be useful is to open favorite GIS or mapping software (check terms of usage) and do a search on your new listing. Once you’ve found your preferred zoom range, you can open the Jing software, choose the area you want to save as a picture file, you can click once or twice and get a great aerial .JPG image. This would be a great image to add to your MLS entries!

A few "helps" if you're listing a Short Sale

Sat, 10 May 2008 12:52:14 -0500

Like most real estate instructors, I am spending more and more time teaching on Short Sales and Foreclosures. I firmly believe that starting off on the right foot, covering your bases and establishing expectations with the Seller is the key to getting these difficult transactions done.

Part of the Listing Agent’s job, should they accept the responsibility of the Short Sale listing will be to work with the lender. Negotiations and Asset Managers typically will not discuss the Sellers information without a release from the Seller. Also, they are going to request from the Seller a lot of information. Jennifer and I have put together a packet, from our experiences with Short Sales, that we use to help with this process. We’ve found them very useful.

Whereas, I am not an attorney, nor your broker; I am adding links to our forms below so that you can see the model that we use and hopefully make your life a bit easier. You should confirm with your broker before using any forms with your clients.

Short Sale: Seller Packet

Short Sale: Permission to Negotiate

Short Sale: Permission to Obtain Payoff

Also, sellers who are in trouble should be going to www.995HOPE.com or calling 1–888–995–HOPE. This is a resource setup by the government to help folks in trouble with their housing situation. Even if they are listed this resource may help buy you time to sell the home.

She is my gift...

Sat, 10 May 2008 12:45:14 -0500

Proverbs 31:28-29 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

Fifteen years ago she said "I Do", five years later she delivered our first prodigy. Within a 5 year span she repeated that miracle two more times, for the three most amazing daughters anyone could ever ask for (and maintained an incredible figure ;) ). Every day, since the first time that she held our first child in her arms, I have seen her pour herself into our daughters and exemplify everything I could ever hope to find in a mother for my daughters.

As a homeschooling mother, Jennifer has taken on a task that few desire and even fewer can master. She has poured herself into training and raising Godly children, who have responded and continue to grow. We have the happiest and most social children I could have ever imagined. They love their mother and each one longs to be just like her.

Although the effort she puts into her calling, as a mother is significant, she has doesn't neglected our relationship. Jennifer is the most responsive and generous lover that I could ever desire. She has tolerated things that no other might, and worked with me to develop our relationship to an amazing level. We've followed our belief that God has put us together and that out relationship is a gift.

On this Mother's day weekend, I want to express how incredibly grateful I am that I have been granted the gift of my marriage and this amazing woman. I couldn't imagine the epic journey of life, with any other partner. I am excited and anxious to see how we continue to grow and how increasingly graceful and beautiful she will become as we grow together. She's by best friend, playmate, conscious and adviser.

A Stroke of Genius!

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:32:14 -0500

The Epitome of Real Estate 2.0

Frank LLosa, the Principal Broker of Frankly Realty in Northern Virginia is a new friend that I have met through contacts in the social media arena. I’ve had the opportunity to read his blog for some time and for the most part, have agreed with much of what he has to say.

Recently I got a peek at his latest project that, in my opinion, makes him the most forward thinking and genius Realtor that I’ve encountered in awhile.

Frank has put together an etiology of thought based on the consumer’s overwhelming desire for transparency in the real estate transaction. He has developed a website program that has also met a need of buyer agents, to get information they need to recommend inclusion or exclusion to their buyer. With SOOO many homes for sale in that market, buyers are always worried that they are missing a great opportunity or deal. Many have been frustrated with many listing agent’s lack of information in the listing – primarily for additional photos.

This system is a Wiki, it’s the first (as far as we know) MLS WIKI ! This is a FREE service for buyers and their agents. It fills in the blanks that are left by the Seller and their listing agents.

A Wiki is simply a website application that allows various users to add or alter information on the webpage. It allows anyone to contribute to the information on the webpage, for the good of all other readers. I well known example of this is Wikipedia.com.

Frank has this to say:

The World's First Wiki MLS. No, we can not CHANGE the listing itself (or the price!) as presented by the listing agent. What we do is ADD comments and photos to the listing and as a community flag and remove inappropriate comments. Every buyer agent with an ounce of techie-ness should be taking Buyer Agent Photo Albums. What is that? Well, the listing agent takes photos for their sellers to put the house in one light, but the buyer agent takes photos for their clients in a more realistic light. Including shots of how far it might be from a highway, or showing bathroom water damage or a roach infested place (scroll to bottom of those listing to see the comments).

The goal is to add information, and not opinions. No "this house stinks" or "this house is great," but instead factual information like "This house backs to Rt 66" or "This house is listed at 44.6% lower than the purchase price in 2006." Information not evident in the listing agent's presentation. I wish everyone was like Loudoun agents Tony and Danilo with their Blogback blogging for feedback where they list the pros and cons of their listings and ask buyer agents to leave comments. How can you find the reviewed homes? When you do a search on FranklyMLS.com, homes with a YELLOW highlighter, those have the comments, see an example search for 1021 Clarendon.

Here is the Photo tutorial:

And if you’d like to know how easy it is with your cell phone:

Is there a risk?

Are there some risk management issues? Maybe, but Frank has told me that he has been exploring various resources to ensure that he has met the possible litigious nature of any new real estate project. Neither Frank, nor I are attorneys (although Frank is getting ready to enter Law School – awesome).

The reality is that much of Social Media and “Web 2.0” has been fairly unchallenged as of yet. We don’t know what is actually governed with the progress we’re making with Wiki and Real Estate marketing, because it’s so innovative that real estate statutes haven’t been created to provide guidelines. We’re still using framework and “spirit of the law” to give us guidelines to practice in.

Age of Advancement

As I’ve said, this is a great platform that Frankly Realty has created, using his own funds and offered without cost to buyers and their agents. This is a glimpse of things and innovative ways to practice real estate, that we’ll see in the future.

You should check it out and see how you can participate in this revolutionary idea!

Useful Links for Realtors

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:29:47 -0500

I’ve been collecting links and free (or mostly free) services for agents, for some time. Below is my current list, but I am intersted in seeing you have any more. (One day I’ll just set this up as a wiki somewhere…)

Date Calculator:

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html

Address and Telephone Number:

http://www.anywho.com/

Survey:

http://www.zoomerang.com

http://www.wufoo.com

http://www.surveymonkey.com

http://www.polldaddy.com

Google Help:

www.Google.pack.com

Instant Communication Tools

http://www.meebo.com/

http://www.Skype.com

Supra

https://www2.suprakim.com

DPOR

http://www.state.va.us/dpor/dpormain.htm

National Do Not Call

https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/

CLUE – Choice Trust

http://www.choicetrust.com

Real Estate Cyber Society

www.recyber.com

eRainmaker

www.erainmaker.com

REALTOR Resources

www.REALTOR.org

Virginia Association of REALTORS®

www.VAREALTOR.com

Fredericksburg Area Association of REALTORS®

http://www.FAARMemebers.com

Open Source Office Applications

www.OpenOffice.org

http://www.docs.google.com

http://www.campfirenow.com/

Collaborative Team Services

http://www.Airset.com

http://www.Ning.com

http://www.basecamphq.com

http://www.goplan.info

Satellite Photos

http://earth.google.com

Bandwidth Test

http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Meta Tag Designer

www.submitshop.com/metatags/metatags.html

Fax to Email System

www.MaxEmail.com

www.efax.com

As Needed Graphic Designers

www.Imprev.com

Zipforms

www.ZipForms.com

Free Demographics

http://www.freedemographics.com/

Hotspot Directory

www.wifinder.com/

School Report Cards

www.theschoolreport.com

Internet Training

www.learnthenet.com/

What Does Your Phone Number Spell

www.phonespell.org

Whacky Uses

www.wackyuses.com/uses.html

CIA Worldfact Books

www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

Tech Equipment Advice

http://www.epinions.com

Credit Score and Information

http://www.myfico.com

http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com

Real Estate Market Information

http://www.restats.com

Real Estate Marketing Firm

http://www.HobbsHerder.com

Real Estate Blogging Systems

http://www.RealBlogging.com

Real Estate Blogging Support

http://www.RealEstateTomato.com

Real Estate Industry News

http://www.Inman.com

http://www.RealtyTimes.com

http://www.RisMedia.com

http://www.BrokerAgentNews.com

E-Mail Business Card

http://www.emailideas.com/

Social Media

http://www.Facebook.com

http://www.MySpace.com

http://www.Twitter.com

http://www.Pownce.com

Free Blog Platform

http://www.Wordpress.com

On-Line Signatures

http://www.docusign.com

Multiple Free Webpage Listing Submission

http://www.postlets.com

http://www.VFlyers.com

Music Stations

http://www.pandora.com

Remodeling Value Report

http://www.costvsvalue.com/southatlantic.html

REO Transaction and Foreclosures

https://www.reotrans.com/index.cfm

SMS Messaging Service

http://smseverywhere.com/send.htm

Free National Home Finding Systems

http://www.terabitz.com/

http://www.Truilia.com

http://www.Zillow.com

Square Feet Conversion

http://www.prudentialcalbestrealty.com/convert_from.htm

Free Voice to E-mail systems

http://www.Jott.com

Broker Price Opinions

https://www.emortgagelogic.com/index.html

E-mail Business card Program

http://www.emailideas.com/

Fredericksburg Area Demographic Information

http://www.fra-yes.org/

Micro-Blogging

http://www.Twitter.com

Free Single Listing Pages

http://www.RealBird.com

Free Photo Manipulation

www.picnik.com

http://picasa.google.com/

Free HTML Editor

http://www.pspad.com/en/

Free Image Software (like Photoshop)

http://www.gimp.org/

Market Research

http://www.realtor.org/research

http://www.housingmarketfacts.com/

Time Zone Converter

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Social Media Sharing Systems

http://www.del.icio.us.com

http://www.sharethis.com

http://www.friendfeed.com

http://www.MyBlogLog.com

Photo Tools and Resources

http://www.Flickr.com

http://www.CreativeCommons.org

http://www.greedigitalphotos.net

http://www.frephoto1.com

http://www.freephotosbank.com

All around useful Open Source tools

http://www.SourceForge.net

Browser Tool Bar Tool

http://www.conduit.com

Free Video, Chat and VOIP Services

http://www.Skype.com

http://www.TokBox.com

Open User Contribution Sources

http://www.pbwiki.com

http://www.writeboard.com

http://www.wetpaint.com

WikiMLS of Northern Virginia

http://www.WikiMLS.com

On-Line Videos

www.YouTube.com

YouTube download tool

http://www.Naevius.com

On-Line Networking and Resume Sites

http://www.Plaxo.com

http://www.linkedin.com

Picture/Voice to Web Post System

http://www.utterz.com

Free iPOD Conversion and Hosting

http://www.Podbean.com

http://www.SourceForge.com/audicity

The Eastern Shore... The way things should be

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:28:27 -0500

I got the fantastic opportunity to travel to the Eastern Shore of Virginia on Wednesday, to teach a GRI class. The four hour car ride to get down there was a bit of a challenge, but once I arrived at a friends house, I was able to get a great nights rest.

Onancock Virginia is a scenic area, with an old fashioned main street and theater and play house. Everyone I met was friendly and the agents I encounted were eager to interact and share.

I did appreciated that their market has very different challenges than many that I had encountered in other areas. The agents had a higher level of success when it came to successful settlements and interaction with other agents, than most of the markets that I speak to.

It seems that many of the agents got along well, knew each other and had a healthy level of mutual respect for one another. This was refreshing and mixed with the fantastic scenery, I just couldn’t help but enjoy my day.

The Eastern Shore area allowed for a beautiful drive across the costs and over a incredibly long bridge ride.

My only complaint was the $12 toll ONE WAY across the Cheaspeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. To make things worse, you have to get out of your car and go into the police station to pay, if you don’t carry cash. Who carries cash anymore? If you have a $12 toll booth, you should have to take credit cards at the booth!

Aside from that, riding down the traditional streets and inhaling clean air and those amazing smells that only ivy and greenery from the 19^th century can create; it was a great experience.

Thanks to the Association Excutive and President who invited me down to the Association to share and meet their members!

Short Sales: Confidential and Damaging

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:27:10 -0500

Recently I wrote a post on AgentGenius.com regarding Loss Mitigation Officers, and the frustration that Realtors tend to have. This spawned some interesting conversations on the blog, as well as in my classroom. One of the concerns is if the Seller should disclose their status as one pursuing a Short Sale.

I think it’s important to know that in accordance with the Realtor Code of Ethics and many state’s statutes, that a Seller pursuing a Short Sale is confidential financial information. The Listing Agent MUST have the Seller’s permission to disclose such information. My argument is that it is also material to the transaction and the Buyer can be damaged if this isn’t disclosed in the MLS entry.

Short Sales maybe a good opportunity for the buyer, but there are some concerns.

1. Many buyers in our area are being moved for military or executive relocations. Several of these consumers are given limited time to find a home and go through the offer process. If the consumer has a time limit in which to locate a home and close in short period of time, than Short Sales is usually not for them. Very few practitioners and even fewer Sellers are proficient enough in the process to have everything in order for a quick decision by the Lender.

2. Even if the Lender approves a Short Sale, I have heard of instances where the Lender has withdrawn the approval. This could make it impossible for a buyer to buy and have lost market time for the Seller and made the buyer miss another opportunity.

3. A Buyer moving forward on purchasing a Short Sale listings should be more diligent to ensure that all liens are covered. Sellers who are not paying their mortgage loan, may have other things they aren’t paying.

4. This is a concern that I think is easily overcome by a competent agent; but it’s important to remember that in most cases, contracts are ratified when you have a “meeting of the minds.” The “Third Party Approval” of a Lender is a contingency. It typically takes awhile for Lenders to approve such a sale. Buyer agents would be wise to put language in their contracts that ensure the Buyer’s contingencies (such as home inspections) do not begin until approval from the Lender to proceed at the current price. Otherwise they may be liable for settlement services, home inspector fees, etc…

I know that many of you may have other concerns about the Buyer who is purchasing the listing, but this is my short list of concerns.

There is undoubtedly a downside for the Seller to disclose such information and it’s difficult to be venerable to predatory buyers, but they can always say no if it’s a crazy offer. However, the Buyer is not the one who is behind on their payments and should not be penalized. Buyer Agents need to be more diligent to ask, as well. It’s easy to make the argument that this is material to the transaction and even if the Listing Agent is not permitted to disclose, the Buyer Agent should at least inquire.

**The author is not an attorney and these are solely his opinions. All practices should be in consultation with your Broker.**

The Cold Within

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:24:44 -0500

One of my greatest professional passions in Real Estate is Fair Housing. This is truly an issue that hurts all of us. For anyone to be denied housing and a place to raise a family for ANY reason, other than financial ability, is completely unacceptable and we must continue to work on changing that mentality. Below is one of my favorite poem that I can apply to this issue:

The Cold Within

Six Humans trapped by happenstance

In black and bitter cold

Each on possessed a stick of wood,

Or so the story’s told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,

The first woman held hers back

For on the faces ‘round the fire

She noticed one was black

The next man looking ‘cross the way

Saw one not of his church,

And couldn’t bring himself to give

The fire his stick of wood

The third one sat in tattered clothes

He gave his coat a hitch,

Why should his log be put to use

To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought

Of the wealth he had in store,

And how to keep what he had earned

From the lazy, shiftless poor

The black man’s face bespoke revenge

As the fire passed from his sight.

For all he saw in his stick of wood

Was a chance to spite the white

And the last man of this forlorn group

Did naught except for gain

Giving only to those who gave

Was how he played the game

The logs held tight in death’s still hands

Was proof of human sin,

They didn’t die from the cold without,

They died from the cold within.

~Author Unknown

We all lose with unforgiveness, lack of trust, being judgmental and ignorance. There is a better way…

Facebook + Outlook = FBLook

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:22:45 -0500

I Love new gadgets that make my life free.

I stumbled on this gadget by reading Arrow Tips which is a blog dedicated to Microsoft Outlook Support. I found a list of useful addins for Outlook, but I really like this FBLook. The premise is that you can updated and manage your FaceBook account from your Outlook application. Below is screen capture from the FBLook webpage. I've loaded it and it seems to work pretty well.

Writing for No Reason

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:21:13 -0500

I've started three posts and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to finish them. They just became boring, at some point. So I took a deep breath and dug deep and asked "why am I writing." I was writing, because I was simply in the mood. I pulled two other topics that seem interested and decided to Google them to see if someone had written that topic yet. Of course, they had....

In this exercise I decided that I need to develop some important questions and then find my own personal answers. Here are the questions that I've decided to ask before creating a post in the future.

What is my motivation for this post?

I do not write to generate business, I didn't when I was a practicing Realtor. I refuse to write just to increase traffic, I think that starts a bad trend. It seems that the more drama or nefarious intent in a post, the greater the traffic. I'd rather have no one show up and read, than read and be offensive. I love to educate and try to be of help to people, so that's what I try to stick to.

How long do I want to be on the Soap Box?

Shorter is better. Good layout and bullets are better. This is hard for me, as I like to ramble...

I write for fun!

I write about things that interest me, I am pleased when others find it interesting and comment. I don't take offense when other people don't care.

It's all been done before!

A big issue I run into is the fact that many of my ideas aren't original and have already been done. It's hard to find originality in the Real Estate blogshpere. Everyone seems to suffer the same issues, so writing first about something new seems almost a requriement. Just like a real estate practice, finding your niche (mine is real estate education) is a great place to start. I think that agents who run their own blogs should really concentrate on local and timely information. Educating people is a great way to build a following.

Tie it Up

Hope this short post of my own realizations has helped.... If not, well I enjoyed putting my thoughts to paper :)

Um, did you forget that there is a PERSON involved?

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:59:17 -0500

I've recently been reviewing junk mails about their products to see the sales pitches and how my gut actually responded to them. Time after time I saw a sales pitch that I just didn't relate to. Almost never did I see relevance to the consumer. The undertone of each of these services' market plan was basically how to use a person's needs to make more money. Whatever happened to Zig Ziggler's mantra "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want?"

Many of us get unlimited junk mail everyday. Seems that everyone in the world wants me to see their new listing, pitch their new miracle cure for a bad market and promise me wealth that no other agent can have, if I just buy their stuff. Funny thing is, that these folks are very "smooth" in their e-mails. They always "personalize" it with my first name and then are sure to let me know that they can understand my "frustrations". If they really knew me, they'd know that I no longer actively list and sell, and that the e-mail address they are using, hasn't been used for anything other than junk mail in six years. I have stopped clicking the unsubscribe button, because I think it actually generates more junk mail, so I move it to the junk mail folder.

I am not naive enough to think that this industry is all about being of service, otherwise everyone would do it as a volunteer, but it is a service industry. It's time that practitioners stopped thinking of consumers as stupid. People inherently see through insincerity, and will eventually figure out if they are being used. That's fine if you just want the one "deal" or if you want to "convert a lead"; but it doesn't help generate referral business. Insincerity will also not build repeat clients and will not give you a good reputation.

Here is an excerpt of an e-mail sent to me (several times) by a Drew Adams of www.LearnToShortSale.com:

"The course, Short Sales for Real Estate Professionals, will teach you how to work the deals, what to say and how to insure your success. You will learn how to find these transactions and how to work them. Short sale experts are cleaning up in this market. I like doing well but I also like helping people and this work has been very rewarding, both financially and emotionally."

The bolding and underlining is my own emphasis. Yes, the author of the e-mail actually ends this paragraph with the fact that he "likes helping people." I get that, but look at the many other references in the e-mail. Phrases like "work the deals", "insure your success", "how to work them" and "Short Sales experts are cleaning up in this market" are all (IMHO) sleezy phrases that reinforce the consumer's perception of the industry. The premise of this e-mail is that people's suffering and hardship are great opportunities for agents! That's simply not the case. Short Sales are very difficult for the consumer, there is devastating effects to the client's credit. There is fear of the unknown, the humility of the process and the need to trust a complete stranger to help you with one of the most difficult process's that most people will ever need to endour.

I recently purchased a new car and the salesperson tried to be professional, but having gone through extensive salesperson training I found that he was simply going through his list of "tricks." The clincher was after battling about costs of warranties and me declining options, we were ready to sign and the closer (not salesperson - he was great) gave me the double thumbs up and said "Don't forget us on that survey." Ok, the thumbs up was SOOO indicative of the car salesman persona and the statement about the survey just made me wonder if everything he did was to get a good score on this evaluation, that I am now not inclined to complete.

I don't expect a car sales person to care about me and my family. It's my responsibility to do that as a husband and father. However, I would expect an agent to be concerned about me and my family's needs. I am hiring them to do so, but I also have options. Most areas have a large number of Realtors in their market areas and interviewing folks gives me the change to follow my gut or intuition. Agents using "techniques and closings" are more worried about converting the lead than serving the client. Serving the client goes much, much further...

The Pointed Facts from Lawrence Yun

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:56:40 -0500

Jim Duncan, blogging god in Charlottesville, VA made a point to ask why Lawerence Yun’s recent candor in regards to the real estate market weren’t noticed. I tend to think it’s because people don’t find it interesting to write about someone making intelligent points, they’d rather attack something.

Here is Jim’s POST

Take Your Own Advice!

Thu, 01 May 2008 20:55:29 -0500

I love Real Estate Junkmail. It gives me so much to blog about…

I got this today:

You Will Be the One They Choose!

(edited out company name) is the gift your customers will keep in their wallets...permanently!

May I design one for you...with no obligation?

● Fits any wallet.

● Magnifies 4X.

● Your picture in full color.

● At 0.1 ounce it rides free in any mailing.

● Ideal gift for clients and prospects.

● Costs less than a dollar in quantity.

Want a sample? More examples? Special pricing?

Best regards,

"Plant XXXXXXX.com on Your Farm and Reap a Golden Harvest!"

OK, so if Magnets are such powerful marketing tools, why aren’t you sending me a magent, as opposed to an e-mail? Matter of fact, since this e-mail in not in complaince with the Federal CAN SPAM act, why ARE you sending me this e-mail?

I have found that all of these gimmicks, to include magnetic buisness cards are a large waste of money. Anyone who has ever showed homes for any length of time will tell you that the name of the listing agent is not the same as the fly swatter, calendar or refridgerator magnet branded with the agent.

Why put a picture of yourself on it? NAR’s Profile of Buyer and Sellers of 2007 said that consumers interested in real estate are interested in the listing information 95% of the time and the agent info only 4% of the time.

Who wants some cheep magnet with your picture on it, holding up their kids art work to the fridge. I just don’t get it….

Our Association is cooler than yours!

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:59:59 -0500

It started with a lunch last week with Dr. Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist of NAR and then yesterday VAR sponsored a Bloggercon at the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, in Northern Virginia. At the blogger conference we had Keith Garner, the Director of the Center for Realtor Technology attend, and he brought along Pamela Kabati, VP of Communications for NAR. It was great to see that Keith flew in from Chicago and Pamela came from D.C, to engage their members. I’ve also seen Mark Lesswig the big Technology Cheese from NAR poking about and giving great feedback and comments on various blogs.

This is all VERY encouraging to many, who for awhile, were feeling that NAR wasn’t really engaging it’s members. This is the tip of the iceberg for future connections with members to their Associations. For a long time many members have felt that they had to depend on elected Realtor Leaders (who many didn’t trust, because of the competitive nature of the industry) to contact and work with the National Association. Social Media has given many who didn’t have a voice before; one now. Frankly, I’ve found some the most ingenious ideology in the industry from the blogs that I’ve been reading and thoughts from twitter.

Although I don’t agree that there is some sort of camarilla running the Association, I do agree that we could do a better job of communicating with the various demographics of our members. The word “transparency” is occurring more and more often in the verbiage of the membership. I think this is a natural response to the consumer demanding more “transparency” from it’s Realtor.

The bottom line is that NAR is listening. Members are getting the opportunity to be heard and the Member-Leadership is not going to have much choice but to continue to engage the membership… on the member’s turf. The Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors is also working on reaching out to engage their members with a blog / forum of it’s own. I am thankful to be part of this movement to bring the practitioner back into the role of governing the Association…their Association.

I’ve heard a few non-progressive Association Executives comment that they don’t think VAR should be sponsoring “some blog” but instead offering support services to the local associations. This is a clue to the mentality of those individuals. They wish to continue to be the man (or woman) behind the curtain and are concerned about the fact that members will actually have a platform to communicate the need for progress and change.

A “blog” in and of itself is not worth anything. However, a communication tool that can be used to engage the members is a very powerful instrument. The liability and risk is nominal compared to the benefits that can be had. The blog is just a sign of an association’s willingness to return to being an organization of the members. If the local associations won’t meet this need, than I fully support the state’s responding to this need. (I can say this, since our local association is moving forward on this project).

The social media venue of Association communication is not the end-all-be-all to engagement. It’s the current tool of today. Tomorrow, it will be something else. The etiology of how we get there is secondary to the fact that engagement and communication is critically important.

In this ever advancing and changing industry, it’s necessary for Realtors and their representatives to keep up with that rapid change. The argument that this is a generational issue, hold little foundation. The consumer is changing and will continue to do so, we have to be able to meld the old with the new and disregard our own heterogeneity tendencies. It has nothing to do with age…it has everything to do with service.

With vision from state level AE’s like Scott Brunner, and Media Directors like Ben Martin, this is all a pre-cursor to NAR and other Associations recreating themselves to go back into the business of member advocacy on a level that the member can appreciate.

(please let me know at matthew [at] theagenttrainer.com if there are grammer and spelling errors)

Have we forsake the FSBO's?

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:51:34 -0500

I was recently noticing that of the many For Sale signs that litter the region, there are still several For Sale By Owner signs. FSBO’s have always been a great source of listings and listings are what keep most agents alive, as they generate more business.

There are many FSBOs that have chosen to sell unrepresented, because of their leveraged amount. They simply owe too much to afford the fees necessary to enlist professional assistance. However, there are more than a fair share of Unrepresented Sellers that simply haven’t gotten the memo that it’s a tough market. One report says that about 80% of Unrepresented Sellers will list with a Realtor before selling their home.

While the income for agents are plummeting due to the current market, many are ignoring the inexpensive avenue of marketing to the Unrepresented Seller. Actually the Unrepresented Seller is simply advertising you to! We know the numbers and statistics that say Sellers make more money when selling with a representative. But the Seller hasn’t been educated. Yes, there are some whose pride get’s in the way of hiring you, but most simply want to sell the home and keep all the money that they can.

A recent report from NAR via ALQ shows that the number of Unrepresented Sellers has been steadily declining since 1997. The homes most likely to be successfully sold by an Unrepresented Seller are likely to be in a small rural area, most likely a mobile or manufactured home and with an income lower than those who list with an Realtor. So, higher income individuals with higher valued asset are using Realtors to sell their homes. Previous reports have shown that Realtors gain an average of 16 percent more for the home, than when the Seller is selling without assistance.

The Unrepresented Sellers reported that the most difficult tasks were understanding the paperwork, preparing the home for sale and getting the right price.

Even more information is out there that shows the heightened chance of the Listing Agent generating more business off of the number of homes they list. Business generates more business.

I understand that the market is tough, and taking on additional listings is a strain on many agents, but for many there is nothing but time on their hands. Developing a FSBO Listing packet and making contact with an Unrepresented Seller should be a natural part of any marketing plan.

Be aware of the Federal Do Not Call list. More information can be found here: NAR DNC Field Guide

Also a good resources: Working with FSBO

Who are you pointing the finger at?

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:55:48 -0600

I was recently sharing with some Realtors this week information I found in an ALQ publication. The report sated the Campbell Communications released survey that stated that 1 out of 3 loan attempts failed, in the last three months.

The survey went on to say that the most common reasons given were 1.) Credit Score too low to qualify, 2.)insufficient income to qualify and 3.) insufficient down payment. All sound like good reasons to deny to me…

The agents I were sharing with were pretty upset at the failed transactions that they were suffering and commented that the Lenders were not responding out of fear, due to the current market. Well, yeah I would think they should!

It just strikes me as funny that practitioners are quick to try and push the blame on the Lenders for allowing slack practices and the sub-prime fiasco. However, when it affects the agent bottom line they become impatient with the lender.

We simply can’t have both. Yes, it’s a hard market and yes, we need to work with Buyers the best we can. However, we need to start looking that long road to market recovery and work WITH the Lending institutes. We need to understand that whereas the tightening of the underwriting requirements is hard on us know, it’s probably where we should have been all along.

For too long we’ve given high volume loans to those who haven’t deserved them and could not handle them. So, we’re all now in the boat of seeing the unintended consequences of relaxing at the helm of protecting the client from themselves.

Here’s the thing… If the buyer’s loan limits are lowered (in other words they can only get a $200,000 loan in lieu of a $300,000 sub-prime) than the current sellers will be forced to lower the sales prices of their homes to meet the buyers were they are. This entire industry is cyclic and co-dependent on the players in the process. This includes Buyers, Sellers, Realtors, Lenders, settlement attorneys, etc… We all need to work together and to simply blame the Mortgage Industry is not a fair assessment.

Are you putting your listings on Facebook?

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:55:01 -0600

Recently I read a blogger who was upset that they were forced to market their listing in Facebook’s paid area. They really wanted to be able to post them anywhere they desired. Whereas I can see where the agent would like to push their listing information out to their Facebook friends, I’m left to ask if this is useful.<?xml:namespace prefix ="" o ns ="" "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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My intent when I log into Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or any of a 100 other social media applications to hang-out (virtually), share with friends and enjoy myself. I think that most people are like me, in that they don’t want you to plaster everything I do with home for sale listings. Isn’t MLS and your personal webpage the place to post your listings? Listing information should be in places that are non-intrusive and where a consumer would actually go if they were interested in a specific property.

I get the opportunity to interact with many agents and consumers, outside of an agency relationship, and all of them are tired of getting e-mails with listing information. The more that I lecture on the topic of technology, the more I hear from agents wanting to know if ubiquitous “Broker Open, Open House and Just Listed” e-mails are considered junk mail under CANN SPAM. My opinion is yes, but I say that only as a consumer who gets much, too much junk mail in my in-box. I didn’t want it, it’s commercial and you need to take me off your list if I request you to do so. I know that there are others who agree. For more information go to www.REALTOR.org and search for “Field Guide on CANN SPAM.”

Why would one wish to further frustrate the consumer by polluting their entertainment with yet more listing information? Also, remember that you’re under a legal and ethical obligation to ensure all marketing pieces are up to date. You can not leave a listing advertisement up, if the property is no longer active. So, for those who like to put new listings on my “Wall”, please remember that you have to let everyone know that it’s also sold. The more marketing you do, the more you increase your liability, so keep your marketing in the most effective and controlled environments possible.

I’ve recently had to go and clean out my blog reader, as I had way too many blogs to read daily and it was effecting my personal hygiene. When I was trying to decides (in some cases what friends) blogs to take off the list, I quickly scanned and deleted anyone who had ever put listing information up as a post. If I am a REALTOR® than I have MLS access and can find the homes my clients want there… I added your blog in my reader for the information and your opinion, not your listings.

For those using Social Media outlets to find and work with clients, my advice is to work on the relationship side of the applications. Become the expert and not the “sales guy or gal”. There are great venues for building interactions with the potential clients of tomorrow, but not if you treat it as a lead generating tool. None of us what to simply be treated as a “lead” Remember why the individual is at this site, or in your sphere of influence, it’s not to become your customer, it’s to enjoy your company. Anything else and you’ll miss the actual capability of the interaction.

I promise you, you’ll have better return on your investment if you consider what the consumer wants.

Tid-bits, snippets and knowledge...

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:53:42 -0600

In my musings, coming from an exhausting yet fun filled Legislative and Education conference in Richmond, I begin dwelling on the barrier that seems to exist with agent retention of information.

As an educator, I hear all sorts of misconceptions and ideology from various levels of learner. From the most experienced Broker to the brand new rookie it seems that everyone has heard something….somewhere. Ben Martin wrote a short post on the Virginia Association of Realtors blog talking about CE / PL classes being full, but non-accredited classes usually getting higher reviews. These two predominate issues got me thinking.

Why do Realtors seem to have such a plethora of bad information and why don’t they show up for more than just the basic, minimal hours? I think there are two reasons – the first is that for too long instructors have not been keeping up with the need of the adult learning and involving them in the process. Secondly, the brokers have taken the class once or twice, extracted what they needed and then relayed it to their agents in initial training. Therefore when the agent arrives to class, they’ve already heard certain parts of it. So…perhaps it’s the fault of the Educators for not developing new and creative content and really listening to what the adult learner wants. I’ll have to address that in some other post, some other time….

Right now, I want to say that the more involved I get with Realtor education, the more I realize that agents are getting a tid-bit from an article that they’ve skimmed, a snippet from a mentor or broker and that these pieces are just that… pieces. They aren’t getting the whole picture, but many agents are putting it together as if it were true knowledge.

Knowledge for the purposes of this post is defined as the ability to retain information about a given topic. This is a different skillet than say, wisdom which would be best defined as the appropriate application of knowledge.

It’s never more evident than when we discuss the Code of Ethics. It seems everyone has an opinion and a little information about each topic. I don’t think anyone is incompetent, they’ve just heard from so many sources that they haven’t been able to put it all together.

I fault our educational system for this. In ethics, we typically find one person to deliver this program, who may be able to read the slides very well and may roughly know that 17 articles. However, they usually don’t have a good grasp on agency, state statue, marketing practices, anti-trust etc…. Most of student inquires and questions reside in these primary areas and the instructors are typically not cross-trained well in those realms, so the learner attains tid-bits and snippets of the overall picture.

Realtors are not inept as many will cynically say, they simply aren’t given comprehensive information in a format that they can easily retain. Now, none of this is to detract from he responsibility I feel that individual Realtor has to go out and seek information on their own. There is a plethora of resources and classes that Realtors can take – beyond the minimum education requirements. Realtors should constantly be studying both marketing techniques as well as risk reduction techniques. As litigious as this industry is, it’s appalling to see how careless we can be regarding our own professional development.

For the Realtor, study hard and work towards obtaining wisdom through application of knowledge. To the associations and schools, be wiser in choosing those who you put forth to teach. Ensure that they are qualified to teach their topics and those that cross over. Instructors should be those who are ever striving to know more and be more proficient. When someone thinks they know it all, they are beyond the point at which they should be teaching others….

Blogging can be a litigious cesspool...

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:52:16 -0600

**This is solely the opinion of the author. I am not an attorney.**

By the very nature of being in real estate, practitioners find themselves in all sorts of litigious situations and many of these potential lawsuits can be avoided by using some basic common sense.

I love the RE.net and social media. I really enjoy reading the insight from others and have come to trust my mico-blogging group friends. However, I’ve found that some sites have been abused by “experts” and “professionals” with just bad information.

It’s difficult to write this post and pick out particular issues found in some REALTOR communities because I have to be careful to not provide legal advice and to be sensitive to the fact that not every state has the same marketing regulations. So, with the advice given on this blog, there are a few things to say. First I am not your Broker and all of your practices should be under the oversight or your Principal or Managing Broker. Second, I am not an attorney, but I am an instructor who gives consultations to attorneys on these matters.

With my own disclosures out of the way, let me mention a few things that I’ve seen routinely occurring by, what I must assume are rookie Web 2.0 Realtor practitioners; that may have the best of intent. Below are a few of my favorite (not) issues that I see over and over again.

Where did you get your law degree? More and more I see “helpful” practitioners with comments on a post giving really bad advice. I recently read a post where the agent was bemoaning the fact that REO sellers weren’t offering commissions. That’s a reasonable complaint; but the responses were horrible. They ranged from telling the blogger to simple not disclose his license status, but also to use his wife’s maiden name, etc… Obviously someone didn't get the memo about Virginia’s disclosure laws or the REALTOR Code of Ethics (henceforth referred to as COE) Article 12 (disclosure of licensure) Article 13 (providing legal advise without a law license) or Article 1 (honesty and fair dealing).

If you’re going to give advice, copy or type the reference and source that backs up your opinion. Let folks understand where that information comes from so that they can draw their own conclusions – be the source of the source.

Moreover, if you’re going to practice law without a license, don’t be dumb enough to do it and do it wrong!

Sometimes it’s best to shut-up and keep it to yourself! I am amazed at some of the well… junk that comes out of some agent’s comments. One of sensitive spots is Fair Housing. It doesn’t matter my demographic. I feel VERY strongly that no one has the right to tell anyone what they can buy and where they can live if they are financially capable. Recently I was forwarded from a like-minded friend, a post where the agent was stating that she was tired of being afraid of a certain people group, and wish that they would all be forced back to their “native land.” First, let me ask the obvious – how knuckle-headed a comment is that to make in general, none-the-less from a person licensed to representative the best interest of all consumers and principals?!?! Regardless, this is an obvious pre-precursor to a Fair Housing lawsuit. If she were to ever get charged, exactly how long do you think it will take a para-legal doing research to find? Mommy always said, don’t write anything down that you wouldn’t want in the newspaper.

If it isn’t yours, ask permission to play with it. Another common problem is folks who just aren’t as creative as they’d like to be (I can relate) will actually copy posts from another author and display them as their own, this also occurs with pictures. When I create something, it’s mine and I can (and usually will) give permission for others to use it. Otherwise, plagiarism and copyright violations are dirty words. If you steal someone’s materials there are Blogger Posses that will come and make your content-stealing-butts miserable with comments about your cattle-rustling hides!

This is also important to remember when posting other people’s listings or information. Often I’ll see an agent making fun of another’s MLS entry. Remember that there are Sellers behind those listings and the last thing you’ll want to do is have them accusing you and your broker blackballing their ability to sell their home. If the listing isn’t yours, you don’t have permission to repost or marketing it unless empowered to do so by the Seller. Why would you want to help promote a property that you weren’t getting paid to promote, anyway?!?!

The Ninth Commandment: Thou shall not bare false witness! ‘Nuff said…

What have I told you about Sherman?!?! Remember that pesky anti-trust law? I’ve seen a lot of folks, proclaiming themselves “full service” brokers swearing that they just won’t work with those “limited services” guys. They will go out of their way to not show their property. Well, let set aside the obvious harm your poor practices present and linger on the federal lawsuit that could occur when you and your friends, from more than one company collude to boycott another practitioner from selling their listings… Think before you comment and post!

A few of my favorite things…. Code of Ethic and statutory violations run rampant on these sites, but aside from the ubiquitous violations that seem to be here, I have a few pet peeves, as well:

1. Don’t be mean! Just because you don’t agree, you don’t posses the right to “flame” the author or commenter. From great debate and rhetoric comes the truth. Try to find a respectful way to exchange ideas and teach someone if you feel they are incorrect.

2. Don’t, please don’t, really don’t post your new listing every five minutes. None of us read blogs to see your inventory. Most practitioners have MLS and if you’ve done a good job there, than the agent will find and show your property. It just seems that you’re bragging when you do this. You can see my previous post on this issue. I have removed many RSS feeds from folks who had good posts, but they were buried in listing posts.

3. If you’re going to reference a post you’re opposing, don’t be vague. Give the reference so that we can cross on over and visit your nemesis for a bit. Most of us like getting both sides of the story so that we can decide for ourselves where the truth lies. Only people who think they may be wrong hide the opposing arguments.

In conclusion, I’d like to say that Activerain and others like it can be a great way to learn from one another and I don’t think the “rules of engagement” are that difficult. Use some common sense and ask how this post or comment could harm someone. Be kind and as the foundation of almost all religions and the COE states: Do unto others, as you would have them to unto you.

This is not an all inclusive list, but certainly the issues I most commonly see. I am sure commenters will fill in any issues that I may have missed.

Let’s have fun, learn and share!

Vision of Tomorrow's Clients

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:50:57 -0600

As an Educator, I feel that it’s important to look at today’s student, who is quickly becoming tomorrow’s Buyer, Seller, Tenant, Landlord etc… In short – your next client. We know from information such as NAR’s Profile of Buyers and Sellers that the average on-line consumer takes between 9 and 12 months before actually engaging in a real estate transaction.

It’s important for you as a practitioner to know this, so that you can plan and know where to put your marketing investment. The following is a glimpse of today’s college student and where they spend their time. Whereas I don’t fully buy into their premise, you should concentrate on how they are learning. A majority of what we’ll do with the up and coming consumer-group is education. We are quickly loosing the status of “keeper of the information” and are moving into the aggregator that will protect the consumer, by using our knowledge and wisdom to utilize data.

Blog-arceny

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:49:26 -0600

Today a real estate blogger that I respect very much was robbed! I read a post this morning that was well formed and a good read. Later that day it was discovered that another blogger, in that same market area copied the post letter for letter.

I am appalled that another practitioner would feel the need to out and out steal someone's creativity and work and not even attempt to obscure this devious act.

Realtors work far too hard to create a marketing program and outreach to their clients and to have someone infringe on that hard work is ridiculous.

It’s as if this individual reached into the other’s pocket and took not just his money, but his ID.

If you’re going to run a blog, than creative the content yourself. Cattle Rustling someone else’s work is inexcusable. Especially since the original author probably would have allowed a link back to his work.

It’s interesting to me that people complain that we need over 4700 words in the Code of Ethics and that it’s redundant, but it’s obvious that we need more words to address the larceny of another’s creativity and hard work.

It's time for the Baby-Boomers to growup!

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:28:46 -0600

I am tired of it… I am! I am so tired of those who are claiming to be in industry leadership making their smug faces and snide remarks as if they were the cool kids at the clique table in high school and I was a member of the chess club.

It’s almost expected that anytime I mention blogging, twitter, aggregator, video/podcasting or the internet in general the response I get is less than open minded nor open to change. The comments are to the extent that it’s a fad, or that they’ve lead for years without, why start now? They’ve over and over made the comments that it’s just for ‘you young people.’

These self same leaders are missing that very essential focus they need to lead. Leadership is about progressing forward. When the word is said, you think of great generals taking the “hill” or pulling the right people together to create a powerful corporate revival that books will be written about. So, where does this leave the Real Estate industry? It leaves people who are trying to wave away that very thing they are suppose to be embracing. I would love for our industry leaders to be forward thinking, to know what our consumers are looking for and to anticipate what’s next – not turn a blind eye.

I fully understand that change is difficult, but it’s necessary. The premise of leadership is that you must be open minded and should be looking for new ways to take your followers (in this case Realtor Practitioners) to the next level. If you’re not leading forward than you are managing the present – the status quo.

If you want to manage, then go work for someone as a Managing Broker, not an Industry Leader. There are many recent advantages in the world of technology and aggregator. Services such as Airset, Ning and others are essential to making today’s marketplace function.

So many of the Association staff members and Realtor-Leaders refer to the changes that are occurring in client and consumer advances as “something these new agents are doing”. They will try to dismiss it as a small group of non-conformist “playing” on the internet. I love even more, when they purse their lips and cynically exclaim ‘that only people without lives read those blogs.’

Funny, I think that only people with too much time on their hands, read the newspaper that’s been thrown on their front porch.

Let’s look really quickly at today’s consumer:

In 2006 you can see that 33% (1 out of 3) of on-line users read blogs. In addition 19% of on-line consumers actually join and use social media websites and services such as Facebook. NAR is reporting that 78% of Real Estate Consumers use the internet in their purchase or sell (other sources claim as high as 87%). This was in 2006, and it’s now 2008. I think that we’re still in our infancy and I for one am excited to see where we’re heading in the future.

This is just one small reason way NAR and other industry leaders must start taking a more serious role in incorporating these technologies into their leadership styles and their associations and groups.

No longer are Realtors the keepers of the information. Information is simply too ubiquitous because of the consumer drive to know more. Generation X and Y consumers (2006 NAR Survey of Buyer and Sellers says that 54% of home buyers were under the age of 44) are using these tools and they simply want to go in with a good foundation. Realtors need to be the aggregator and guides on how to use this information for the clients best interest and protection.

The Babyboomers (the parents of the gen X and Y’ers) taught us to trust no one, be more knowledgeable and to use technology because it’s the way of future. Therefore those snide remarks you Boomers are making…. yeah, that’s right – it’s your fault!

By the way…My favorite trainers and authors in the use of technology and on blogs are Babyboomers and whereas I like other, younger authors they don’t always have the wisdom or experience. So, instead of leaders trying to divorce themselves from this new adventure, they should be helping those of us with knowledge develop our wisdom.

Things I can do without....

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:55:56 -0600

I've come to realize that there are a few things that just do not matter and I wish did matter, with as much energy as I put into them. First, the weather predictions - they are rarely right and yet I look every night. Second, the economist's predictions of the housing market - I read everything I can get my hands on they haven't a clue. I think their magic 8-ball is broken. Third is who is going to make it as the 2009 President - it doesn't matter, I'll still have to cut my grass, go to work and teach my kids. Fourth is when the writers strike will be over - my TiVo is missing new shows more than I am. I am wondering however, if the lack of television viewing is going to yield another high influx of babies in 9 months :)

However, there is something that I put time into and I do have some control over. Specifically is my Blog reader. I have added tons of blogs to my reader, only to delete them shortly thereafter. I tend to find one good article and then add the blog to my list hoping to read more from the author in the future.

I am correcting that mentality and reading a little more of their previous posting before adding. I've deleted about 15 from my reader today - why?

1. If you put your listings on your blog - it's not worth my time to read it. I have MLS or I am not in your area. (This is especially if you're in Activerain, which is read mainly by other Realtors).

2. If every post you make is solely intended to put someone down, damage their reputation or just your judgemental superiority being known than I don't have time for you. (How hypocritical is that comment? Putting down someone for putting someone down? I think I've broke my brain....I hope you understand the point).

3. If your entire post is copied from someone else's with one original sentence, I'd really rather just read the creativity of the original poster...

4. If I read your blog and you are violating the Code of Ethics or laws, I am going to get rid of it. Please don't tell me that you want to get a people group out of the county or that using your spouse's name on a contract is a good way of getting around self-dealing disclosures (which it isn't, by the way). Publishing your foolish business practices is nothing more than handing your real estate license to an attorney in the future....

5. If you get all bent out of shape and belittling of your readers because they don't agree with you... you might be deletable.

I love rhetoric and debate, I love learning something new and hearing about opinions that may support or change my mind. I really enjoy communicating with folks - but if you're running a blog be considerate and be as open minded as possible. I can't speak for everyone in this rant, but it will encourage me to come back!

What does your hyphen mean?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:40:54 -0600

I've been reading a book lately and it went into what your life means. Think about a tombstone, I know it's a little morbid right off the top, but keep up with me....

The tombstone usually has the year in which one was born and the year of passing. Between the two numbers, is what is important, really important... the hyphen. The hyphen in the dates refelcts that there was something that occurred between the year of birth and the date of passing. So, what is your hyphen going to represent?

Have you left a legacy? Are you proud of what you are doing in your life? I mean all of it...not just what you've done today or the good job you may do at your place of employment. I don't mean the last mistake that you made and that those around you won't allow you to forget.

I, like many, have made poor decisions and mistakes. I was blessed to have a wonderful wife that has stood by me and helped me to become the person I wanted to be. We've taken great strides in our life and have become a family that I am very proud of. Our belief system has been a strong foundation and has delivered us through many challenges. I try every day to instill in my daughters those qualities that I think will make them a good person. I want them to remember me as a good father and loving husband, in the hopes that they will look for those fundamental traits in their future husbands.

So, here's my challenge for today... Take a look at your life - from someone else's perspective. Are your actions actually enhancing someone else's life, or merely breaking them down? Are you being benevolent toward others? Does your action, words, decisions and behavior reflect the person you want to be? Do the battles that you choose actually make a difference? Are you actually rolling up your sleeves to work toward a common goal, or are you sitting in judgment and trying to destroy another - just because you can?

I've been reading many articles on-line and many blog posts (especially those related to my industry) and I am dishearten to see that a majority of them are simply devised to attack others.... My question is: to what end? What benefit do you and your readership have when you take time to disgrace your company, family, others.... Is it building something? Does it count? Does it matter?

Likewise, I see families in turmoil. I see parents that are attacking their kids or worse neglecting their children. I am not talking about appropriate discipline, I am talking about cursing at, yelling at, embarrassing them to try to get them to "shutup" or simply be non-existent. The sins of the fathers (and mothers) will continue for generations. I know.... For those who are insistent on abusing or neglecting your children, understand that you are doing so to their future children as well. We learn inherently from our parents and family.

I am forever thankful to those who have spoken wisdom into my life over the years. They have done so at times that I didn't even really want to hear it. They were persistant and now I, my children and their children will benefit from the positive affiramations, trust and enhancements they've made in my life.

What will your hyphen represent when your time here, on earth is over?