Bob's Blog

Open House Saturday, July 25th 4-6 p.m.

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:39:36 -0500

Bob Haywood | McGraw Realtors | 918-272-7272

8830 North 143rd East Ave, Owasso, OK

Beautiful home in Owasso, OK! Kitchen features granite countertops & stainless appliances. Bonus room upstairs. Office can be 4th bedroom. Ful

4BR/2BA Single Family House

offered at $187,000

Year Built	2004
Sq Footage	2,136
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2 full, 0 partial
Floors	2
Parking	2 Car garage
Lot Size	8,040 sqft
HOA/Maint	$260 per month

DESCRIPTION

Don't miss this beautiful one owner home located in Owasso, OK. It features granite countertops and stainless appliances in the kitchen, a split bedroom plan and a bonus room upstairs. The office can be used as a 4th bedroom. Neighborhood amenities include a pool, park, small lake and sidewalks. Close to shopping and schools, this home is beautiful!

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
Walk-in closet	Tile floor	Living room
Bonus/Rec room	Office/Den	Breakfast nook
Dishwasher	Stove/Oven	Microwave
Granite countertop	Stainless steel appliances	Laundry area - inside
Yard

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Garage parking	Swimming pool(s)	Lake
Playground

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES

OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY JULY 25, 4-6 P.M.

One owner

Full brick

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Bob Haywood

McGraw Realtors

918-272-7272

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jul 25, 2008, 4:02am PDT

"Old School" Real Estate Methods

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:57:26 -0500

I pride myself on being on the cutting edge of marketing in the world of real estate. I use the web powerfully and effectively. I'm on Active Rain. I network. I do a variety of other related things that I don't often see other more experienced agents do.

One thing I don't do is to make up a flyer and snail mail it to other real estate offices around town. To me that is so "yesterday." Instead, give me my Craigslist Postlets flyer and let's go reach the world! Take a look at this flyer that came in the mail to our office.

When I first saw the flyer I thought, "What in the world??? Are you kidding me??? I would NEVER do something like that!"

Then I looked at WHO sent out the flyer. She's a big dog agent in our town who sells more than I do. She has been in real estate a long time and is respected among the other agents in town. She's a big producer and a very nice person. In short, she's someone I want to be someday!

So now I look at her flyer with a lot more respect. It's still not something I would do, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that she gets the job done. She gets the word out. She publicizes and sells a lot of real estate. Her methods might not be my new, modern methods but you know what? She got my attention!

I think this is a good reminder that there are a ton of methods one can use in this business in order to be effective. And it's a good reminder to me to stay grounded. How dare I think I'm any better than anyone else, just because they might not be as internet savvy as I am.

In this business, you can get your hind end out sold no matter how good you think you are and no matter how many new methods you use!

So, its hats off to a long time agent in our area who is a great person and a great real estate professional, "old school style"

The Weird Weird World of Real Estate

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:05 -0500

If you don't work in the world of real estate, you may enjoy getting a peak "behind the scenes" at a career that is...well let's just say...interesting!

My last two weeks...

Contacted by a new builder in town to meet with him to possibly work together and list his four houses that are under construction. Yeah! Very good!

Meet with builder and financial partner. Oops financial partner is possibly a risky relationship. Be careful here. Tough negotiations. Not everything lands in my favor. Will the deal go through? Maybe. Do I take the deal? Maybe. But what about the risky financial partner. That could be a very difficult relationship. Do I walk away from 4 $300k listings? Man, that hurts. What to do? What to do? 4th of July brings a little relief, but not much.

Meet with builder, finance guy and my partner. Did I say partner? Yep. Lady in the office who is a producer wants to team up. Yeah! Very good! Uh oh, wait a minute. She doesn't like Mr. Finance man and he doesn't like her. Bad development.

Meanwhile my part time assistant wants to get her license and...be on my team. Uh...I think I have a team...maybe. Don't know. Don't know!

Time passes. A million client phone calls happen. Got a difficult closing trying to come together. Clients need lots of help. I use over 4000 minutes this month already on my cell phone. Whew!

Builder calls again. Time to meet again. Go to lunch. New development. Now financial risky guy and builder have brought in a big dog from another company to be on their listing team. They've got her, another lady and they want me. That means moving the license to another company. But wait, I have this team thing forming up and my assistant is now getting her license and I LIKE where I'm at and...my mom has cancer and a really big scan and meeting with the doctor coming up next week that my sister and i are going too and it would mean walking out on really good friends who have been extremely supportive and my broker...

Clients are calling. The difficult closing is off then back on then off then back on. AARRRGGGGHHHH. Overload.

Pray for direction. The sky stays silent (as usual). Then a sign happens! The broker from the big dog lady's company calls. "Let's do lunch." Okay, why not. Maybe I can get a good feel for someone else in this picture.

It's a good lunch. He's a nice guy. I tell him flat out I'm not moving over and I'm not doing this deal. I don't turn my back on friends, etc, etc, etc. He's cool about it. He tells me about his company's benefits (which brokers do in this business) and we part as friends with respect. Yeah. Good development.

Meanwhile, back at my own ranch...the new partner has been courted by a home building company. They want her to move to their production company...

I swear, this is the weirdest business on the planet and I absolutely love it!

For the Fun of It

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:43:59 -0500

This information came through in one of those emails that go around from time to time. I have no idea if it is accurate or where the original source is, so I thought I'd post it to see if anyone can verify it. At the very least, it's interesting reading!

The information is taken straight from the email, so if it is copyright violation, please let me know and I'll remove it...

THE YEAR 1908

What a difference a century makes!

Here are some statistics for the Year 1908 :
The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles Of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and the government as 'substandard.
Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from Entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.'

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A

Now I forwarded this from someone else without typing It myself, and sent it to you and others all over Canada & U.S.A Possibly the world, in a matter of seconds!

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years. IT STAGGERS THE MIND!!!!!!!!!!!

A Great Website to Pass Along to Your Clients (and Yourself!)

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:27:41 -0500

www.safemanuals.com

Ever needed that user's manual you had when you bought that new (fill in the blank), but you couldn't find it? It happens to most of us (except perhaps for accountants and other better organized people in the world than I am). Pretty frustrating to need that darn thing and not be able to find it, isn't it? Guess what? This happens to your clients too.

Now you can be the hero for your clients and friends! Just get the word out to them that their lost manual might be available online at www.safemanuals.com. And the best part is that it is FREE! How cool is that! If you have a manual or two on hand, you can upload them to share with the world.

Many thanks to Rick DeLuca for this helpful tidbit of information!

How I Picked up Another Client

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:28:48 -0500

I was hanging out at the office this past Saturday morning getting ready for a listing presentation and doing some quick market research when a young lady knocked on the door. I let her in and welcomed her. She asked if we had a notary available. Let's see...it's Saturday and I'm the only person around. Probably not.

But ALAS...hold the ship! I didn't have a notary in the office, but I KNOW a notary. She happens to be my preferred closer at a local title company. I knew she might be around this Saturday morning so I called her cell phone and sure enough, she was. And she happened to be in her office. Yes, she wouldn't mind helping this young lady out. So I tell the young lady this and give her directions to the office. As we were walking out the door, she began talking about her house and wanting to move down to Tulsa since that is where she and husband work. By the end of the conversation I had an appointment set to go to their house to take a look and to talk to them about listing. YES!

Why did I get this listing appointment? Because I was available first of all. I could have stayed home and done the work I was doing, but I know that no one is around our office on Saturday's, so guess where I head sometimes? And when I'm there, I'm the ONLY person there! I got the appointment secondly because I was able to provide a needed connection. I have built an awesome group of business professionals who I know I can call on when I have a need. I'm telling you, if you don't have this, you are missing out. These people help me in so many ways. And they bring me business - as do I to them! Finally, I got the listing appointment because I didn't try to push too hard. To be successful in this business, you've got to know when to push, when to hold, when to nudge and when to say just the right thing. Sometimes, not saying anything at all or just handing out a card is the best thing you can say or do.

If your office isn't open on Saturdays maybe you should consider hanging out there a bit. It's amazing how much you can get done when the place is quiet. And it's awesome to be the person who meets that client who just needs a little help.

McMansions

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:51:18 -0500

Here in Tulsa we have a battle going on between people with two different points of view. On the one side, you have the home owners in older and sometimes historical neighborhoods in Tulsa. On the other side, you have prospective new home owners who are looking for a place to build.

The problem between these two groups is their view and understanding of redevelopment. The existing home owners don't want the new home owners to come into their neighborhoods because the new home owners are building houses that are too big for the existing neighborhoods. This happens when people look at these older neighborhoods, find a delapidated, uncared for, broken down house and buy the lot. Sometimes they get more than one lot. Then they tear down the old house and build their new bigger house. And the new bigger house is HUGE. These bigger houses have been nicknamed "McMansions" by those who dislike them.

Some people say that the bigger homes don't fit into the neighborhoods. They say that they are too big. And they say that they don't adhere to the architecture.

I think that there are a few things that have to be taken into consideration here...

-The existing home owners want redevelopment in their neighborhoods, but only a certain kind of redevelopment.

-The new home onwers who are building the bigger homes are bringing redevelopment and new life AND probably higher property values back into the neighborhood. Is this good or bad? Would you rather have an abandoned house in your neighborhood or a new, bigger house?

-IF the current property owners are successful in controlling the way people can build in their neighborhood, guess where those people can go? Yep...to the suburbs. ALL the suburbs around Tulsa welcome larger homes, higher property values and new development. And where are the growing school districts these days? Yep...in the burbs (private school enrollement within Tulsa is booming too.)

So the questions that remains is how to bring in redevelopment for older neighborhoods. And if you want that redevelopment, can you restrict people so that they only build the kind of house and size of house that you want? And IF you can get all that done, do you really think people will come and spend all that money to build what YOU want THEM to build?

Needless to say, this is a tough issue for all involved! Maybe 6 billion people on planet earth is starting to get a bit crowded!

Click here to visit the website of a group of people who are against larger redevelopment in mid-town Tulsa.

Click here to see a pic of a McMansion in a mid-town neighborhood.
(Be sure you read the information included about new home construction.)

The Growing Up Chart

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:52:37 -0500

Nobody ever told me, when I went in real estate, that I'd be going into a career that is so tightly tied to the emotional side of life.

If you think I'm wrong, just think back to that client you had who got upset over whatever it was. How about the one that absolutely blew his or her top over the AC return air vent that got put in the wrong place by the builder or something like that? Ever had a client get charged an extra $100 they weren't expecting? Talk about hitting a hot button! I've seen everything from red faces to tears over that one. I thought one deal was going to fall apart when the arrogant banker hit up a lady for a historical opinion fee that the bank wanted. Yes HE made HER pay for HIS bank's desire to see what the historical society thought. Hmmmm.

Occasionally I come across the following scene when out showing houses.

You'll recognize it as the "how tall are you now" lines that a mom and dad drew on the garage wall as their kids were growing up. Whenever I find this chart in a house I always wonder about that family.

- Where are they now?
- Why did they move from this house which they once loved?
- How in the world did this poor house get in this shape!!!
- Did the family stay together? Was there a divorce involved? If so, was it ugly?
- Why didn't they take the piece of wall with them? (It's usually in the garage somewhere)
- What memories were made in this house?
- Is the family better off today than they were when they lived here?

Call me sentimental, but the growing up chart always reminds me that this house was an important part of someone's life at one time. Sure, it might be empty and it might smell bad and the carpet might be old today, but at one time, someone loved this house. So I kind of like to think that my job - (call me weird here) is to honor the lives of those who came before by doing my best to represent the possibilities for the future. For example, could this house be a great rental where another family might measure their kids growing up against a garage wall? Maybe. How about a makeover? Is that a good idea for this house? Perhaps. Does the house have a next life? What might that life look like? Does that next life fit into this client's hopes and dreams for what he or she is pursuing?

When I look at empty houses that way, it helps me to keep perspective. It might not be the greatest house in the world, but it did play a part in the life of some family and it might just could do that again. It always reminds me that this job is really about helping people...not just about opening doors to houses.

It also reminds me to keep in mind that the people you have in your life matter. Remember, you don't get to keep them forever. They eventually outgrow the growing up lines.

Did you hug your kids today?

Why They Don't Build Basements In Oklahoma

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:54:13 -0500

I used to live up North. I understand how valuable and useful basement space is. However, here in Oklahoma, basements are NOT something you want to dig into. Instead of going down, we go UP with bonus rooms and second floors.

Check out these pics from an actual basement here in our area. The home is in foreclosure and the story is that the people just left the basement flooded when they found out they were going to lose the house. I don't know if the story is true or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. From what I understand, this basement has flooded more than once!

Notice the lovely mold spots. They kind of add a certain "ambiance" to the room!

I'll bet there's been some yucky stuff down that hole in the floor!

Yep, that's mold on the wall. You can make your own penicllin!

Do you think this should be disclosed? The answer is YES!

Oklahoma has had flooding problems for years. We are located in the great plains of America. That means our ground is very flat. When it rains the water runs to the lowest point and it doesn't really care if that lowest point is your basement or a creek. Thankfully, Tulsa spent the money and had the vision to put in one of the nation's leading flood control systems citywide. We no longer flood in Tulsa by and large...only in basements!

Cancer and Real Estate

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:48:37 -0500

This is an update on my mom who has cancer. Many of you ask from time to time how she is doing. I often don't respond to the questions because I can't. It's too emotionally taxing somedays.

The current update on my mother is...

She is about to complete treatment #6 of her hard Rituxin treatments. She's supposed to have 8, but the doctor is only going to do 6 because she isn't strong enough to finish all of them. This, of course, leaves some room for doubt as to whether or not the evil cancer has fully been dealt with.

You may remember that she ran over a neighbor's mailbox. My parents have been without a second car for a while, which solved the driving problem. Now my dad is planning to either buy another car or to have his fixed. What he doesn't know is that we have my mom's car keys. We took them when we went to visit a few weekends ago. I'm waiting on the "mom's keys are lost" phone call. Geez, I can't imagine where she'd lose those darn things at!

The neighbors are NOT suing over the mailbox. Some people still have common sense these days!

Okay so that's the update. Let me make an application to real estate now.

In real estate, I am a problem solver. I help clients figure things out all day long. I cannot solve my mother's issues with cancer and that is maddening. My parents are like your worst nightmare client who will not listen to you. You can drop that client. You can't drop your parents. Instead, you have to realize and accept that this is a situation you have to be involved in, but which you have no say and no ability to help with. This is because my parents are choosing how to deal with the cancer. They are not open to what my sister and I would like to suggest.

Some people say to me, "That's right. It's THEIR issue. THEY get to be the ones who choose what they want to do." I understand that, but on my end of the spectrum I say, "This is my ONLY mother. I'd LIKE to be involved. I'd like to be CONSIDERED. I'd like to get to have some say NOW rather than...well rather than later let's say.

I guess each of us needs to keep a few things in mind.

Enjoy EVERY day.
Make the MOST of each day.
Did you wake up this morning? Celebrate and thank God!
Hug your kids
Tell your kids and your parents that you love them
Heal family rifts
Make that other real estate agent and/or client (who is driving you nuts) smile somehow today
Be bigger than problems (yeah right!)
Choose to make the world better today because you were able to

Okay, that's my update. It's a rant and pretty disorganized. I apologize, but whenever I get too close to this cancer stuff, my life seems to go awry.

So now it's back to real estate where things make sense. JK :-)

Do You Help FSBO Sellers?

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:01:50 -0500

I have a nice couple who I'm working with right now who are going to be my buyers as soon as they sell their home. They're selling their home as a For Sale By Owner because they don't have enough equity in it to list it with a realtor.

Last night I took them to see a great new listing I have (generated from Active Rain by the way - more on that later). After we took the tour, I asked them how the sale of their property was going. "Pretty okay," was their answer.

Hmmm, at this point I have a decision to make. Do I help them by giving them some tips or not? I know many realtors who wouldn't help at all because they didn't list their house with a realtor. I'm more of the philosophy that we're all here to help one another and that what goes around comes around. So I visited with them about making sure the house was on Craigslist which was really funny because they went, "Craigslist? What's that???" So that was a fun conversation. You should have seen them light up when I told them it was FREE! I also talked with them about paying a buyer's agent and making sure it was clearly advertised, etc.

I didn't give them everything I've got in my bag of successful sales tactics, but I thought those two things would be helpful. After all, if they sell their house, they become my buyers...and that's a good thing!

Here in our area I'm seeing more people trying to sell their home as FSBO's this year than last year. Interestingly enough, I'm seeing less people using discount real estate brokerages and more FSBO.com sites. I wouldn't have expected that. I guess it's due to the decreased cost.

Do you help FSBO's? Are you friendly with people who are trying to sell their home by owner? What's your take on this situation?

Good News for Oklahoma Foreclosure Rates

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:32:44 -0500

According to an article in the Sunday Tulsa World, the number of new Oklahoma foreclosures was 30% lower in May than in April. That's great news because anytime you're in a crisis, you start looking for the bottom. When you hit the bottom, you know you're on the way out of that crisis. However, the reality is that we'll have to wait to see if this is the bottom of the crisis or if this is a temporary pause.

picture created by Bob Haywood

Our foreclosure numbers for the month of May were 1,213. That's 30.7% above May 2007, but better than the 58.7% "year over year" increase in April. Note: these stats are taken from the article. There's more good news in the article such as Oklahoma dropping to 29th in the ranking of states with the highest foreclosure rates. We had been ranked 22nd.

Click here to read the entire article.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Oklahoma is a great place to live. The people are nice. The cost of living is low. Gas is around $3.75. You can buy a brand new home for around $150,000 (and up of course). We have seasons and we're close to everything.

Check this out. It's about...

2 hours to drive to Ft. Smith, AR
4 hours to drive to Little Rock
4 hours to drive to Dallas
5 hours to drive to Kansas City
5 hours to drive to Amarillo, TX
6 hours to drive to St. Louis
About a day's drive to Denver

As you can tell from the article in the Tulsa World, our housing market is doing okay. I actually saw something this weekend that I hadn't seen since last summer - more than 1 offer on a property at a time! It was almost a bidding war! Are you kidding me??? UNBELIEVABLE!!!

If you're moving to Oklahoma, you're moving to a great state! Contact me to find your great new or existing home.

RealtyTrac Foreclosure Rates for May 2008

	Total	Foreclosure rate	% changes from April 2008	% changes from May 2007
U.S.	261,255	1 foreclosure per 483 households	7.36	48.32
Oklahoma	1,213	1 foreclosure per 1,325 households	-30.41	30.71

No, You Can't Show My House at that time

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:52:27 -0500

"That showing time is too early for us. If you'll come at 12:30, that will work fine. Thank you!"

This was the message I got from a seller in our area tonight on my cell phone. I had called him earlier and had a left a message about showing his home tomorrow morning around 9:30. I know that can be early on a Saturday, but we've got to start early as that's when my buyers are available.

I haven't called this seller back yet (too late tonight), but when I do, there are a few things I'd like to tell him. See if some of these resonate with you.

First, do you really want to sell your house? Because if you do, asking a real estate professional to wait 3 hours later to show your house isn't going to get it sold. Not in today's market. When showing, we are usually on tight schedules. Coming back around to a neighborhood twice is sometimes simply impossible.

The second thing I'd like to ask this guy is, "Do you ever watch the news?" Surely he knows about this little mortgage crisis our country is currently experiencing.

How about this one..."Do you have ANY idea what the interest rates are doing right now?" My mortgage officer friends tell me that they're quoting rates only for that immediate moment in time to people making loan application because things are so unstable right now. Today's rate was closing in on 6.6 and we're probably looking at 7 pretty quickly. Rising mortgage rates mean higher payments. And what exactly is it that we don't have a lot of due to the rising (and may I say ridiculous) gas prices? Yes, that would be extra money for higher payments!

I want to ask him also if he has any idea how many less houses are selling right now as measured against last year. Does he know the stats for our area? Apparently not.

Now, why is any of this important? Why does it matter? Because the answers to these questions are obvious. If you're a breathing human being who lives in America, you know that we're in the midst of a market slow down. If you're a seller, you've got to be super savvy to be successful in selling your home right now. And that means being flexible in the showing of your home. If a Realtor calls you to show your house, get the appointment scheduled and get out of the way! That Realtor might be bringing you the person or couple who falls in love with your home. If you make it hard for us to get into your home, you're really only hurting your odds of success! After all, my buyers have PLENTY of houses to pick from. Not getting into yours just isn't that big of a deal anymore.

For this poor guy, we probably won't be seeing his house tomorrow. Bummer for him!

Beware of Your Shower Curtain!

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:49:17 -0500

"Vinyl shower curtains sold at major retailers across the country emit toxic chemicals that have been linked to serious health problems, according to a report released Thursday by a national environmental organization."

This quote comes from a story in the LA times and is a feature on Google News this morning.

The report indicates that chemicals that the curtains are made from are linked to liver damage and other health realted issues.

As consumers we need to be aware of things like this so we can protect ourselves and our kids.

But let me ask you a question. If you're a Boomer aged kind of person, like I am, did you grow up drinking water out of the garden hose? Rememer how cold and fresh that water was? Remember that unique smell? I don't know about you, but I loved that smell. And I thought drinking out of a water hose was a blast. It was like having your very own water fountain! You could play in the cold water on a hot day, squirt stuff, wash off the driveway, grab a drink, run your slip-n-slide and enjoy hours of fun in the afternoon sun.

Now we have to wonder if drinking out of our beloved hoses as kids might come back to harm us. Hmmm, better check out the effects of water hose drinking on the internet. Check in with my doctor? Maybe, but sometimes I think I know as much as he does these days!

Now I've got to worry about my awesome new plastic shower curtain. For the record (call me weird), I like the smell of those new plastic shower curtains. I am reminded of that wonderful new car smell...uh-oh, shouldn't have said that - I can hear a report about the toxins of new cars coming out soon (or did it already???).

Obviously, I'm writing tongue in cheek here, but this is a very serious issue. Parents need to pay attention to things like this in order to keep the kiddos safe and healthy.

By the way, you may have heard that plastic bottles can be dangerous to your health also. Supposedly they leach dangerous chemicals into the water. Is this true?

For a report on this, click here.

Here is the Snopes.com report on plastic bottles.

To read the rest of the LA Times story, click here.

Summary...some things in life just aren't safe! Bummer.
Summary #2 - check out facts for yourself. The internet is a marketplace of ideas where facts often hide!

Beautiful New Construction in Collinsville, OK

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:42:52 -0500

Bob Haywood | McGraw Realtors | 918-272-7272

13068 North 124th East Avenue , Collinsville, OK

Beautiful New Construction - Quality and Affordability!

3BR/2BA Single Family House

offered at $189,900

Year Built	2007
Sq Footage	2,000
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2 full, 0 partial
Floors	1
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	0.295 acres
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

WOW, check out this beautiful new construction located in the quiet Creekside neighborhood just off 126 Street North and Highway 169 (near Collinsville, OK). This quiet new neighborhood is right beside the newest elementary school in Collinsville and is close enough for the children to walk to school. You'll enjoy 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the 3 car garage and all the extras that come with this new home. Quality construction with builders 1 year home warranty.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Fireplace
High/Vaulted ceiling	Walk-in closet	Tile floor
Family room	Dishwasher	Refrigerator
Stove/Oven	Microwave	Granite countertop
Stainless steel appliances	Attic	Laundry area - inside
Yard	Jacuzzi/Whirlpool

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Garage parking

Lake

OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES

Insulated Garage Doors!

Sink in Garage!

Garage door opener included!

Full Gutters!

Split Bedroom Plan!

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ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Bob Haywood

McGraw Realtors

918-272-7272

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jun 11, 2008, 3:37am PDT

Motivating Sellers

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:36:31 -0500

Every now and then, you get a seller who wants to "hold out" for a better offer, even if the difference between the current offer and the imaginary better offer is only a couple of thousand dollars. Here in our area, I find myself often dealing with sellers who are convinced that they can get last summer's selling prices for their home this year. While our home values aren't off as much as some other areas in the country, they are off some. The reality for us right now is that successful sellers are typically negotiating between 5-10K off the price of their home. All in all, that's not too bad since the typical negotiation last summer was 1-5K or so.

Last night I met with a seller who wants to sell pretty badly, but who has been having a difficult time coming to terms with the numbers. So yesterday I did a little bit of research and put together the following report to present with the latest offer.

NAME GOES HERE CMA
June 9, 2008
Report by: Bob Haywood

Analysis One - Search Parameters - Owasso schools, Year Built = 2004-2008

Active Properties	Pending Properties	Expired Properties	Closed Properties
29	7	24	39
$88 psf	$74 psf	$80 psf	List $75 psf Sold $74 psf

Analysis Two - Search Parameters - Owasso schools, Houses on 2-3 acres

Active Properties	Pending Properties	Expired Properties	Closed Properties
26	3	14	14
$99 psf	$85 psf	$136 psf	List $90 psf Sold $87 psf

Analysis Three - Search Parameters - Owasso schools, 1700-1900 sq ft, 2-3 acres

Active Properties	Pending Properties	Expired Properties	Closed Properties
3	2	2	0
$101 psf	$87 psf	$94 psf

Analysis Four - NAME OF SELLER'S NEIGHBORHOOD

Active Properties	Pending Properties	Expired Properties	Closed Properties
1	0	0	0
$102 psf

The last homes sold in NAME OF NEIGHBORHOOD were in 2002 at an average price per square foot of $78. See CMA print out.

**psf = per square foot

I included each CMA print out with the report and found myself referring to those "hard numbers" while discussing each Analysis and the search parameters. And, of course, I left her a copy of everything. This was really the first time that I've done this type of presentation. I was very pleased with how well it went in making the current market conditions and realities hit home with the client.

The seller is going to take some time to consider the offer. Although it isn't as high as she wants, the CMA analysis I did showed her that the offer is higher per square foot than the averages in our area. If she accepts this offer (we already know there is no room for negotiation) she'll be doing well at this point in time. If she doesn't, she'll need to wait until the market recovers to realistically be up where she wanted to be - and that could be up to 2-3 years out.

Feel free to take this format and adjust it or use it in your area. I think you'll find it very helpful!

For those of you who are considering selling your home by owner, be sure you find someway or other to get your hands on market information. The advantage to selling with a Realtor is that we have access to the latest market stats and to the reality of what the marketplace is doing. Houses that sell with Realtors usually bring a higher selling price and a higher rate of successful sales.

How to be Successful

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:18:01 -0500

I was browsing the Sunday Tulsa World this morning when I came across an article by Harvey Mackay. The title is, "Advice from my dad for Father's Day"

Mr. Mackay began his career selling envelopes. He asked his father how he could make twice as much money as his fellow sales reps. His dad's answer was (and still is) all about how to be successful in business no matter what industry you're in. If you're struggling in your business, maybe this will help encourage you and help you to get back on track.

It's a great article and a must read, in my opinion!

Click here to read the article.

This image was created by Bob Haywood

Ever Had Your Sign Covered Up by Someone Else's Sign???

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:33:39 -0500

Most real estate professionals in our area are great people. We cooperate with one another, enjoy each other, compete with each other and strive to do excellent business for our clients.

However, you occasionally run across people who place their signs right in front of yours. Of course, the mowing service people could be to blame too. Who knows? All I know is that sometimes you really have to keep an eye on your signs to make sure they are where you left them and they haven't been covered up by someone else's sign.

I saw these signs yesterday and thought it was funny. Looks like sign wars aren't limited only to Real Estate professionals!!!

A tip for people who want to sell their house without the services of a Real Estate professional. ALWAYS ask BEFORE putting your signs in someone's yard and ALWAYS be aware of active neighborhood associations. They WILL take your signs! (So do garage sale people! After all, they are really good signs!!!)

Oklahoma ranks fifth in U.S. in 2007 growth

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:46:44 -0500

I opened the front page of our local newpaper this morning to find this story. Here's an excerpt.

By LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer
6/6/2008
Last Modified: 6/6/2008 2:47 AM

Oklahoma's real gross domestic product showed one of the highest percentage growths in the country last year, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The state ranked No. 5 on the percentage growth of its real GDP from 2006 to 2007. By comparison, Oklahoma ranked 17th in 2006 and 30th in 2005, according to revised rankings by the bureau.

Now contrast this with the story that popped up on my Google News Homepage this morning.

Jobless rates jumps to 5.5% biggest rise since '86
Associated Press - June 6, 2008 8:43 AM ET

Click here to read the rest of Tulsa World story

Click here to read the Google News AP story

Oklahoma has a low cost of living and good housing prices. If you're moving into our state, you'll be able to purchase a lot of house for the money. Typically, our fuel prices are lower than the national average also.

For a list of Tulsa area information, click here

If you're looking to buy or sell in the Tulsa or Owasso area, be sure to use the Right Realtor!

Would You Call This Person?

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:59:38 -0500

I saw this come over our fax the other day. I briefly read it and thought it was rather silly. Then I took a second look and thought, "Why in the world would anyone respond to a fax like this?

Have a look...

Notice that it is written to "Real Estate Agent Available" What does THAT mean exactly? Shouldn't it be to "Real Estate Agents Available"?

Notice the misspelling? Hmmm. That might send up a red flag! I'm not saying spelling errors are inexcusable, just that they're very checkable and fixable with a good word processor these days! If you were going to send a fax to thousands of real estate offices, which is what I presume these folks did since it came from another state that is far away, wouldn't you have someone check it over first???

Needless to say, I didn't call these folks! Would you???

PERSONAL NOTE - I haven't blogged in a while as I've been "recovering" from my trip to check on my mother who has cancer. The weekend was frustrating as my parents were not very cooperative with our wishes. An example, so that you'll understand...they won't even consent to getting a second opinion because they love their doctor so much. Our position (me and my sister) is that he may be a fine doctor, but we want to be absolutely sure that everything possible is being done. After all, this is our only mother! Thanks for all the words of encouragement from everyone.

Little Rock

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:57:57 -0500

I haven't posted for a while. The last few days have been a mixture of busyness, emotions and preparation for going to Little Rock for the weekend.

Today, my sister and I drove over to my parent's house. The weekend to come and check on my mom and to have some difficult conversations has arrived. I've been dreading this weekend.

On the trip over, my sister and I talked at length in regards to how we would approach certain topics. Taking car keys. Moving to Tulsa. Will they consider Cancer Treatment Center in Tulsa? Maybe we can get them to consent to checking out CTC rather than talking about moving (mom will not move as long as she has "her" doctor).

Upon arriving, we drove by the mailbox, shrubbery, rocks and railroad ties that mom took out with the car. That was creepy. I had seen the destruction in pics, but being there in person and knowing who did the damage brought home the reality that someone could have been seriously hurt had they been standing in the way.

When we pulled into the driveway we honked to announce our arrival. No one came out to greet us, like in past times. So we get out of the car and then the front door opens and there stands my mom. She is pretty - dressed up as always. But she is thin. Much thinner than my last visit. And she looks tired. She smiles because we are here. But her smile is forced. I know it is genuine, but it is a struggle for her. Today she has received two pints of blood and had a possible heart attack during the process. We didn't know of this incident until we were talking this evening. She had the classic signs of heart attack, but they gave her medicine and soon her color returned and the pain subsided. Why she isn't in the hospital tonight is beyond me. I am not happy about this. Neither is my sister.

Tonight we ventured into mom driving and doctor's judgments and whether or not the man is getting a good, fair and clear picture of the whole situation. We touched briefly on the topic of living in Tulsa and a few other things. The response to us was no, no, no! Translated this means, "I will drive. I won't move. I want MY doctor." End of discussion.

We're all tired now. It's time for bed. Tomorrow holds much discussion and much difficulty. I dread it.

Meanwhile back on the ranch...

I've picked up a builder to work with. I have a huge task ahead of me. He has two houses we need to sell quickly. He's in the back of a neighborhood that has been very slow to take off. I've hired an assistant at 10 hours a week. I'm working on bringing on a new agent on my team who is bilingual. And I'm working hard to catch up with my clients. I haven't been in touch with them as much as I need to be due to...let's just say the emotions of cancer.

I have several deals going and have probably lost a listing that expired due to it getting dragged 20 days past closing. Bummer. I have a listing that is in negotiation, but the buyer and seller are about $5K apart and neither one is willing to move. Grrr.

The good news is that houses are moving here in Oklahoma. The bad news is that cancer sucks the life out of you. Even if you're not the person in the family who actually has the disease.

More tomorrow. Maybe.

The Perfect Real Estate Storm

Bob Haywood (McGraw Realtors) — Sun, 25 May 2008 08:33:46 -0500

#	Last Name	First Name	Office
1	Smith	A	Inactive Office
2	Smith	A	Inactive Office
3	Smith	A	Inactive Office
4	Smith	A	Inactive Office
5	Smith	B	XYZ Realty
6	Smith	B	Inactive Office
7	Smith	B	XYZ Inc.
8	Smith	B	Inactive Office
9	Smith	B	Inactive Office
10	Smith	B	Inactive Office
11	Smith	B	Inactive Office
12	Smith	B	Inactive Office
13	Smith	C	Inactive Office
14	Smith	C	Inactive Office
15	Smith	C	XYZ Inc.
16	Smith	C	XYZ Title
17	Smith	C	Inactive Office
18	Smith	C	XYZ
19	Smith	C	XYZ
20	Smith	C	XYZ Company
21	Smith	D	Inactive Office
22	Smith	D	XYZ
23	Smith	D	Inactive Office
24	Smith	E	XYZ Inc.
25	Smith	F	XYZ REALTORS

The chart above contains data from the roster of agents here in our area. The data is mixed and matched but represents real numbers. You'll notice of the 25 listed, 15 are inactive. No doubt, people are "jumping ship" so to speak even here in our area where the market is fairly strong.

What happened? A perfect storm hit our profession.

Element #1 - The build up - This was comprised on non-doc, high risk loans and other factors that caused a swell in the number of buyers in the market. Whoo-Hoo - party time was on! Lots of buyers and easy money! Let's go shop!

Element #2 - The crash - I remember this distinctly. It was just about September of 2007. Almost overnight, the easy money went away and foreclosures started rising. You could feel the brakes and hear the screeching of tires. Everybody was just kind of shaking their heads and going, "Where'd everyone go???" The last of the deals finished up through the fall of 07. Then winter hit. Ick. Everybody stayed home. Nobody shopped. No easy money. Lots of foreclosures. The news media screams RECESSION. Then the next element kicked in.

Element #3 - Gas price explosion. EVERY industry feels the pain here. It impacts us now because consumers have little to no extra money to buy houses with. They'd rather take that precious cash and buy silly things like groceries and gasoline. Hmmm! What are people thinking! There's PLENTY of great houses out there to buy.

Element #4 - It's an election year. Election years just mess everyone up. People watch the news coverage and want to talk about candidates and voters and stuff like that. Meanwhile there's lots of great houses for sale and a trickle of buyers who may or may not be able to qualify to buy them.

Element #5 - The rules change in what consumers must do to get home loans, thus making money even harder to get. "Higher credit scores? Bring thousands of dollars to the table? What are you talking about? I'm going to the lake for the weekend and gas on the water is $5 a gallon for my boat. I can't buy a house right now!" Poor lonely houses sitting on the market. Poor lonely real estate professionals with no one to show around. If only the office phone would ring!

Element #6 - I was working real estate part time anyway and wasn't building a good referral based business. Now, when the market is tough, there just isn't any business. It's time to go back to the corporate world or just call it quits. The market will rebound someday and then we can all jump back into the pool again!

My disclaimer...I'm no professional analyst of market conditions, but this seems to make pretty good sense to me. Thankfully, people like Brian Buffini believe that this current market correction will only be about three years long. Sure seems like its going to be a long three years doesn't it!