'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the town, Not a buyer was stirring, the market was down.Our sale sign was posted in front with care,In hopes that some buyers soon would be there. The children were curled up reading in bed,And visions of moving danced in dad's head.Now Grandma in her sweater, and pa in his cap,Were asleep near the fire, taking a nap. When out in the yard there arose such a clatter,I leaped from my chair to see what was the matter.Away to the window I flew like a flash,Pulled back the curtains and threw up the … (64 comments)
featured post: Is ActiveRain Your Significant Other?
- 12/17/07 03:19 AM
As I sit across the room from my husband, bonding with my computer keyboard for yet another blog post, my husband seems satisfied to enjoy my company while he reads the paper. Every now and then, he'll read a little blurb to me (Redskins won last night) and I try hard not to show annoyance that he's interrupting my ActiveRain concentration. Part of me feels a little guilty, though. Who is my significant other, anyway? My husband or ActiveRain?!?! Since this is the season for sitting down to write a business plan and make New Year's resolutions, we might want to do a … (93 comments)
Yesterday, I had a reminder of just how important Realtors are to the people we serve.... how much we influence their lives. As my son and his wife proudly showed off the newly decorated nursery in anticipation of their first baby, it occurred to me that I had a role in this moment beyond that of being a mother or grandmother. What if I had not sent them new listings every Sunday last fall, so they could check out homes on their Sunday bike rides? It was a newly listed property, so the home they now live in would not have been advertised. What if … (66 comments)
featured post: Agents not worth the air they breathe? Critics are wrong!
- 08/11/07 09:16 AM
Why is there such a giant disconnect between perception and reality, when it comes to the VALUE of good real estate agents? There is more to selling a home than finding a buyer, and more to buying a home than finding a house. Yet many consumers (and even some real estate licensees) feel that real estate agents are not worth the air they breathe. Just to start the dialogue, let me suggest these as some of the reasons why consumers may not appreciate or respect the VALUE that real estate professionals bring to any transaction:
Becoming a real estate agent is relatively easy and inexpensive (translates to "anyone … (84 comments)
featured post: The School of Hard Knocks in Real Estate
- 08/10/07 02:58 AM
The School of Hard Knocks is probably our best teacher in real estate, as well as life. But it's usually preferable to learn from other people's experiences, whenever we can. Adults teach their children not to touch anything hot, out of love, because they don't want their children to experience the pain of getting burned. And that's what real estate training is all about - sparing rookies from getting burned.
Here are my Top 5 lessons learned from the Real Estate School of Hard Knocks: Agreements with other agents should be in writing. Whether you plan a long-term partnership for farming a community, or just covering for each other on vacation, ALWAYS … (59 comments)
featured post: Legacy of an "old pro" - passing it on to today's real estate rookies
- 07/25/07 12:01 AM
Those "old pros" - I know they get to you sometimes! When I was a real estate rookie, a lifetime ago, I had a love-hate relationship with them. In my mind, most of them were old-fashioned, overweight, arrogant - and clients seemed to fall effortlessly into their laps from nowhere. Yet, over the years I have found myself mentally giving some of those "grande dames" credit for different things I learned from them that still impact my business after four decades as a REALTOR. Now that I'm an old pro myself, I stipulate to the weight and being somewhat old-fashioned; I just hope today's rookies don't find me too arrogant... that they realize … (65 comments)
Real Estate and community information for home buyers and sellers, military transferees, and rookie agents in the greater Crofton area, including Annapolis, Bowie, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Joint Base Andrews, Millersville, Odenton, and the U.S. Naval Academy.
With apologies to Clement Clark Moore for this parody by Margaret Woda, based on his "A Visit from St. Nicholas"
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