Birmingham, Michigan Real Estate - Third Quarter 2006 Market Update - 09/30/06 03:55 PM
BirminghamWe're constantly looking at new listings and new sales in the MLS. Homes are selling every day. There is good news in this market. While the days on market have almost doubled since last year, we are seeing higher average sales prices and higher median sales prices. Higher end homes are … (15 comments)
|
Shall We Call it Kristal Kraft Week? (**Updated**) - 09/28/06 11:41 AM
Kristal, I hope I am not stealing your thunder. But, you know we are watching. Today or tomorrow, you'll pass the 70K mark. Only 2 other rainers have achieved such lofty pointage. Also, in the next day or two you will post your 200th post. Maybe others have done that. I … (16 comments)
|
The Very SAD House (Shhhhh.... They're Getting Divorced) - 09/28/06 09:08 AM
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Seller, I am sorry your marriage didn't make it. Really, it makes me quite sad. I felt your loss when I walked through your beautiful house last night, in spite of gracious hostessing by your Realtor. Her broker open was well attended. The shrimp were delicious, … (28 comments)
|
Ruth, Don't Rescue Us - 09/26/06 12:52 PM
Ruth Spencer, a consumer reporter for Detroit's local NBC affiliate put out an awful consumer tip in yesterday's Detroit Free Press. The name of her featured segment is "Ruth to the Rescue." Following is her snippet, and my reply, which I will be sending as a letter to the editor.RUTH TO … (28 comments)
|
Surfin' Safari Leads to Googlebase Questions - 09/25/06 04:43 AM
Certainly others of you out there in the blogosphere will have the answers to my questions.Yesterday I was Googleing something, and I landed on Googlebase. It looks like ActiveRain has managed to send our AR blogs there. Pretty cool, huh?! Thanks, Matt, Caleb and Ben. This certainly is another AR benefit. … (8 comments)
|
Beverly Hills, Michigan: Twilight Open House With A Twist - 09/22/06 05:50 PM
Earlier this year, I organized a twilight open house for our firm’s listings in Beverly Hills, Michigan. The office had 12 listings there at the time. My hope was twofold: to bring in potential buyers, and to attract real estate agents to preview our properties.
We did a couple of … (16 comments)
|
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Seller, Here is What You NEED To Do. - 09/17/06 05:01 PM
As I read the Sunday paper this morning my stomach started to knot up. Felt a little bit like nausea coming on. I have homes to sell in Michigan (for the clients we represent). If you are selling a home in Michigan, you know what I am talking about. I … (24 comments)
|
Keep the good stuff coming! - 09/16/06 10:34 AM
There has been a fair amount of dialogue in the last few days about the importance of growing ActiveRain with ACTIVE participants. It gets harder all the time to keep up with the new voices. This morning I would like to point out a couple of newer voices who have caught … (14 comments)
|
Did the “Delete Debacle” kill the Race for Third? - 09/14/06 10:46 PM
We’ve been reluctant to declare a victor in The Race for Third, but it appears that Sara Lipnitz’ 2000 point lead over Josh Plummer may be insurmountable. Has Plummer given up? Is his profession his Achilles’ heel? ActiveRain, does seem to be dominated by verbose Realtors. Are the lenders naturally short … (23 comments)
|
Question for the Rainers - 09/13/06 06:32 PM
Last night, in the comments of a blog, Kristal Kraft was talking about how most of our posts are directed toward our own industry. With few exceptions, most of the blogs here are written by real estate professionals FOR real estate professionals. The blogs that are written for consumers are in … (65 comments)
|
Death of a blog - 09/12/06 10:06 PM
I've spent the last hour or so deleting about 18 months worth of posts from our Oakland County real estate blog. Its kind of scary to push delete and know my work could be gone for good. Google, msn and yahoo had found me and visited often. The occasional client … (19 comments)
|
The Gas Fueled Broker Open Was A Winner - 09/12/06 04:30 PM
I promised a follow up to my article about the $100 gas card giveaway. I dragged Lipnitz away from her desk early this morning, insisting that we show up to the broker open before 11:00 to ensure that I leave with a gas card in hand. She said I was … (9 comments)
|
Habitat for Humanity took my house away! - 09/10/06 09:57 PM
My childhood home has been gone for almost a year. Soon a spectacular new home will be finished on the site where my parents lived for more than 35 years. We were the only family to ever live in that home.
My mom found a yet-to-be completed spec home in 1969, … (12 comments)
|
What do Your Clients LOVE About YOU? - 09/10/06 04:09 PM
My blogging buddy, Sara Lipnitz, technically competes with me by serving the same geographic market in Birmingham, Michigan. We could be competing for the same clients, but to date, it’s only happened once. We do compete with each other indirectly, by each inspiring the other to be better at what … (17 comments)
|
Pet Peeve - 09/09/06 12:22 PM
I know I am getting older. My eyes might be starting to go a bit. My mom started wearing reading glasses when she was my age, and I am sure it's inevitable for me too.
I just wanted to say how frustrated I get with those little scrambled authorization codes that I … (14 comments)
|
47 Minutes Lost: Why reading ActiveRain is time better spent than going to the weekly sales meeting - 09/07/06 11:41 AM
I’ve have always attended, and enjoyed attending our weekly sales meetings. It’s a chance to see everyone and find out what is going on. We usually have an impressive list of new homes to tour.
At yesterday's meeting, I was bored. It wasn’t the first time. Sometimes I send … (19 comments)
|
Vacation Photo Fun - 09/07/06 09:22 AM
The kids are back in school now writing essays called, "What I did on my Summer Vacation." And I just saw a beautiful photo of a picture of a Cotswold Cottage on a post.
This picture is of our 3 year old in Petoskey, Michigan. As you can see, she has a … (10 comments)
|
Effective Linking: A little tip on driving driving prospects to your site - 09/06/06 12:24 PM
I am no SEO expert, and there are many people more skilled on this topic here on AR than I. But I do have a small hint to share for those of you who are just learning, like I am.
Yesterday I had an off-list exchange with a talented blogger who is … (10 comments)
|
Thank you delete button! - 09/05/06 05:06 PM
I deleted an old post today. Frankly, I hope most of you never saw it, and none of you remember me for it. It wasn’t really THAT bad, but it wasn’t something that I wanted to influence peoples’ impressions about what kind of person I am.
Jonathan Greene recently called … (9 comments)
|
BREAKING NEWS: Is Plummer About to Concede The Race for Third? - 09/05/06 11:11 AM
Josh Plummer, the Michigan mortgage broker who has been holding off Sara Lipnitz in The Race for Third, posted this just moments ago on our Labor Day Update:
"I might have to quit soon and concede the Race, before I end up like Howard Dean. (Im already crazy enough) Seriously though, I … (14 comments)
|
Labor Day Doesn't Slow Down Lipnitz in The Race for Third - 09/04/06 06:13 PM
Our analysts had predicted that activity would quiet down this weekend in The Race For Third due to the Labor Day holiday. Realtor Lipnitz proved our pundits wrong again. Not one to succumb to banker’s hours, at 6:30 EST Monday she edged ahead of mortgage broker Plummer by almost a 600 … (11 comments)
|
Consolidation: Are you seeing it? - 09/04/06 03:35 PM
In Oakland County, we are seeing some major shifts in the real estate brokerage market. Every few weeks there is news of an office being sold or consolidated into another offices. A Keller Williams office closed in our town recently and a large local franchise shut the doors on one of … (8 comments)
|
The floor time that nobody wanted - 09/04/06 01:40 PM
In our office, like most, I assume, the floor schedule begins at 9 am, when the receptionists arrive for the day. But for the last few years, an enterprising (and top producing) agent has arrived some time after 7 am, taken the phone off of night-line and snagged any early morning … (15 comments)
|
How to Blog your way to success. - 09/04/06 11:01 AM
First, let me say this. I have never met Brian Brady. I have never talked to Brian Brady. I have never done any business with Brian Brady. But I am about to point out something I REALLY like about Brian Brady.
Brian is a mortgage broker. Its fairly obvious that he would … (13 comments)
|
Who's Shirt Will You Chose? Order Today to Support Sara or Josh in The Race for Third - 09/04/06 09:09 AM
We've spent the last few days fielding requests about how to order the Team Lipnitz and Team Plummer apparel to show support for the two ActiveRain bloggers battling it out in The Race for Third in Michigan. So busy, in fact, that we are only today able to open orders to … (18 comments)
|
"Can I blog about that?" - 09/03/06 09:58 PM
I know there are some of you out there besides me who have co-workers or other close professional associates on ActiveRain. I talk to Sara Lipnitz just about every day. In the last few weeks since she joined me here, our conversations frequently revolve around ActiveRain and our blogs. Our minds … (5 comments)
|
Blogging is a Building Block - 09/02/06 08:58 AM
I am having trouble coming up with a short answer to answer The Tomato’s question, “What has blogging done for me?” Though I think he is looking for those sexy stories about how my phone hasn’t stopped ringing or I just listed a new condo building with 27 luxury units, … (12 comments)
|
Protect yourself! - 09/02/06 06:40 AM
With all of the discussion of duplicate content and it's impact on Google, I want to remind everyone how important it is to protect your work.
Copyscape.com does a great job of search the web and find duplications from your web page or blog. If you are using a template site, you … (14 comments)
|
Do the RIGHT thing. It matters to all of us. - 09/01/06 11:30 PM
Our reputations are everything in this business. The industry doesn't have the highest estimation in the eyes of the public. Try as we may with a great code of ethics, Realtors still do make mistakes. We have a responsibility to each other to do the best that we can to prevent … (13 comments)
|
Update on the Race for Third - 09/01/06 10:34 PM
Over the last twenty four hours the point split between Josh Plummer and Sara Lipnitz for the 3rd spot in Michigan has been as narrow as 6 points.
Sources from within the Plummer camp say that this will be an all nighter. Rumors that Lipnitz has hired a ghost writer have … (25 comments)
|
;)
Links;)
Tags (Tag Cloud);)
Archives
