My RealTy Planet

Twitter, you tube, the world

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:11:10 -0600

I've decided to finally sign up for twitter and you tube. I will Tweet multiple times every day and I will start working on videos for you tube. A minimum of two videos a month. Video 1. A Bio, 2. CMA what is it?, 3. TBA I will try to make the CMA video generic so others can use it as needed. Thanks to my motivation: ijustine.

Follow me! It could be a wild ride.

Humane Society Fundraiser

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:04:02 -0600

Scott County Humane Society Fundraiser

March 21st 9am-2pm at Mel Foster Co.

2215 E. Kimberly Rd. Davenport, Iowa 52807

My RealTeam would like to invite everyone to a fundraiser for the Scott County Humane Society. We will have snacks, a movie, crafts for kids, and items to purchase. We need a lot of help and hope you will stop by. If you can't attend we will have a link on our website: http://www.quadcitiesmyrealteam.com to our other site where you can purchase animal prints, posters, cards, or framed artwork. This link will be available by March 1st and won't be easy to miss. If available please stop by.

Thank You for your support.

Please Help Meowt!

Prairie Heights

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:48:54 -0600

Prairie Heights Subdivision

Location: Davenport, Iowa, North of 53rd St. West of Eastern Avenue.

located on 220 acres - 70 acres was purchased by High Development Corp. from Cedar Rapids

Amenities: 3 Baseball Diamonds, A new to be built Eastern Avenue Branch Library, Dog park, 20 acres set aside for a possible school site, 13 acres off of 53rd for possible commercial, possible Davenport Promise (see Davenport Promise Blog to be written on 2-6-09 - voting takes place as of March 3, 2009 and rumors are it would be covered.

Price: Roughly starting in the 180's - currently being developed all new construction

Zoned: Traditional neighborhood development district - aka new urbanism

Distinctions: Architectural designs must be submitted and approved by the planning and zoning comittee, Everyhouse has to be within one qurter mile from an open space: park, playground, green space,etc., Homes are built closer to the streets within fifteen feet - typical is not within 30 feet, 24-27 feet streets compared to thirty one feet in typical neighborhoods, sidewalks are 5 feet wide compared to 4 feet in atypical neighborhood, Parkland spread across entire subdivision, Library nearby to open in 2010.

Pririe Heights will be ideal for some and seem strange to others for more information call: 563-271-2482 or check for more blogs as the subdivision comes along.

Advertising and Marketing

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:00:25 -0600

Advertising - If marketing strategies are ineffective, marketing goals are not met and the business plan is not met. We become nothing.

Trifolds, Bifolds, Flyers, Magazines, Active Rain, Linkedn, Facebook, Myspace, Digg, Open Houses, Signs, Name Riders, Television, Newspaper, Web site, and........

But what is the most affective advertising:

FSBO Drip Campaigns?

Expired Listings?

Geographical Farms?

What about cost vs value?

Television?

Radio?

Newspaper? I'm not a big fan but thats me.

Has anyone tried a survey about what your respective area listens to, watches, reads, etc.: I plan on starting this today I will call everyone in my farm area, not on the do not call:

For survey information
To tell them about the Neighborhood garage sale and
to ask what they would like to see in my upcoming newsletters

I will follow up next week with results. Same Bat Time Same Bat Channel

Let me know what has been most effective for you, where did you get the most bang for your bucks. Let me know.

If you tried something that failed miserably let me know that too.

If you have an idea post it I'm up for trying weird ideas.

Listing Photo? What do you think?

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:05:57 -0600

What if the house is perfect for a rustic person - Clint Eastwood?

What if the house is perfect for a party animal - ? Animal? You know the muppets drummer...duh!

What about a single guy?

and that doesn't include Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, or so many others. What about Chicogans using Oprah, or Vegas using Cris Angel? What do you think would this capture your attention or do you hide your eyes and say, "OH My, That's to much" Just curious.

4008 W. 30TH St.

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:12:52 -0600

Beautiful 2 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom Ranch Condo located in the Crystal Creek Subdivision. This well cared for home has a large master bath with a 8x7 walk-in closet. The living room has a built in desk and bookshelves, and wonderful fireplace.

4008 W. 30th St. Davenport, Iowa 52804

How the system works and working the system, or ActiveRain point values that I'm aware of

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:18:59 -0600

Wish I would have found this earlier in my ar career. Not that I'm here for points, but who doesn't want points, 100,000 and you get a spider ring or something I guess. Why else would we care?

Via Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray):

As a Marketing & Business Consultant, I love to deconstruct things to see what they are made of (there's that pesky preposition ending again, so I'm adding this parenthetical text). After all, deconstructing the human psyche and trying to determine what makes it tick, what makes it buy, what makes it sell, what makes it choose me over someone else, is simply fun. With apologies to the Beach Boys, "I'll have fun, fun, fun, 'til my Client comes to take me away."

I've only been here at ActiveRain a little less than a month, but for ActiveRain newbies, almost-newbies, and anyone else who is wondering where to get points, here's what I've found so far:

100 points for activating your real estate profile.

100 points for adding your primary phone number. Apparently no points for alternate phone number and no points for fax number.

175 points for short description in your profile. You're limited by the number of characters, so use them all.

100 points for your first feedback or suggestion to ActiveRain.

200 points for including your photo in your profile.

200-600 points for linking to Active Rain. I linked all four of my web sites to Active Rain using their 600-point logo on my home pages for 2,400 points.

400 points maximum for testimonials in your profile. If you have less, get busy. Be wordy. Don't abbreviate. If you have a testimonial from a Client named Viswanathan Anand (for all you chess fans), and you live in Truth-or-Consequences, New Mexico, put that. Don't put "Mr. Anand." If you have a billion testimonials, then you can abbreviate. But re-write or add if you don't have 400 points yet.

400 points maximum for "areas of expertise" in your profile. If you have less, get busy. Be wordy. Don't abbreviate. If you have a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, put that. Don't put "B.S., Texas A&M." If you have a long résumé, then you can abbreviate. But re-write or add if you don't have 400 points yet.

400 points maximum for "about me" in your profile. If you have less, get busy. Don't be afraid to delve way back into your history: "I was born in Kingsville, Texas. My first interest was music, and I was practicing piano, violin, and voice before I was 10."

50 points the first time you view someone else's points summary.

25 points for each blog comment you make, as long as it's either 10 words or 50 characters, apparently.

4-25 points for each comment from someone else in your blog. These are the only points that you don't seem to get awarded immediately. I guess there are Active Rain Blog Trolls (ARBTs) who visit every new blog and then push the magic button that awards points. I've not been able to determine what affects the number of points awarded. I was thinking that it probably had something to do with how many comments you get within the first few minutes, or how many comments you got while your blog post was still on the blog scroller. Nope. I'm currently leaning toward the opinion that you'll get more points if an old-timer has enough interest to comment on your blog, fewer points if lots of newbies common on your blog. I've seen blog posts get no additional points above the initial 200 and then, weeks later, along comes an ARBT and, boom!, 72 extra points. Really weird. I have determined that old blog entries with new comments get updated at midnight on Saturday and midnight on Tuesday.

225 points for a blog entry if you complete Channels. Without Channels, it's 200 points. You can get an automatic 2,250 points by doing 10 blog posts per week. The ActiveRain week starts at midnight on Saturday/Sunday in the Central Time Zone (for you military people, that could be 2400 on Saturday, or 0000 on Sunday). So for me in the Pacific Time Zone, my ActiveRain week starts at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night, and each day starts at 10:00 p.m., as well. You are not limited to 10 blog posts per week. You are only limited to an automatic 225 points for each blog post up to 10 per week. Whomever the Powers That Be are can award you 225 points for any blog post beyond #10 if they deem your blog post worthwhile, and you will always get credit for comments (see above).

200-275 points if your blog post is "featured."

25 points if you re-blog someone else's blog. Haven't yet determined if there's a maximum number here.

25 points if someone else re-blogs your blog. Haven't yet determined if there's a maximum number here.

250 points if someone accepts your invitation to join ActiveRain.

10% of the points that your invitee earns. This is where you can get big-time points if you invite big-time people or Actively play in the Rain. I've noticed a couple of over-300,000 pointers here don't "actively" participate anymore, yet they get 500-1,500 points per day because all the people they invited are still Actively Active.

Bonus points. Awarded as deemed appropriate by the ARBTs.

Contest points. These can range from 200 points just for entering the contest to 500 points for placing, and 1,000 or 5,000 for winning.

Comment points for commenting in your own blog -- From November 13, 2007, through January 7, 2008, I experimented with this. I don't like making comments just for the sake of making comments, so this didn't initially appeal to me. However, I did discover that you can, indeed, get points for commenting in your own blog. For example, in this blog post of mine, I commented back to everyone who commented. Each time I commented, my score went up 25 points. That was the high end. Most of the time my comments in my own blog got anywhere from ½ point to 5 points. You will notice that the heavyweights who have been around a long time carry on conversations in their blogs, so don't be afraid to do that. It works.

Again, you get rewarded for being wordy in your profile, so do it, but do it properly, as I've explained above with abbreviations and your personal history. If you don't have anything to say, check your own web site for content.

There might be others that I haven't found yet. As I find them, I'll keep you posted.

Scroll down for links to some of my other blog entries.

Inspired by nature? Join the Inspired By Nature Group.

Classical music lover? Join the Classical Music Group.

Want to share a good book? Join the Active Rain Book Club.

Some of Russel Ray's blog entries

How the system works and working the system, or Active Rain point values that I know about

Do you have some commercials for your business? - ActiveRain feature

Free help for Active Rain newbies

10 ways to get a featured post at ActiveRain - ActiveRain feature

How to keep people from reading your Active Rain blog

How do you get people to comment on your blog?

Using Active Rain more effectively by finding Power Partners

Quit putting huge, gigantic, monster pictures in your blog. Now! (Help on resizing them)

Using YouTube videos without slowing down page loading

Don't forget to remember how Active Rain supports you indirectly

How to use the Active Rain system more efficiently

How do you choose a subject for your blog posts?

So why is everyone so afraid??

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:30:15 -0600

AS we enter another new year I ponder as to why everyone is so afraid to buy a home...

We are still the free country that allows you to own your own home, no one will tell you where you have to live.

We are still the free country that has dreams, none bigger then owning your own home.

Mortgage rates are at an all time low...so why is everyone so afraid?

My homes equity will never go away, my home not the cash in it...my home where my family lives, where my pets run back to, where our friends spend the fourth of July at, sunshine, swimming and lots of food before the fireworks! My home were I keep warm during the cold nights. My home where I am blessed to live.

I realize that everyone needs to tighten their belts and be more cautious about spending, but investing in your community, in your home, will do nothing but move everyone forward - the right direction...

So this year, even with all of the changes coming our way, we need to move forward not stand still.

The Village of East Davenport

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:54:30 -0600

Key to Success

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:36:04 -0600

Key To Success

It's Christmas time and time for reflection.

We need to think who helped us be successful or did someone hinder our performance. If you're around someone that is hindering your progress you must decide if leaving that company or person is worth the risk. If that person or people helped make you successful don't forget them.

Don't forget them when your planning next year.

Don't forget to include them in your prayers.

Don't forget to think of them when your shopping.

Yes, that's right shopping.

It's not the amount that's spent, but the appreciation for what they do whether it's a spouse that has supported you or a unbelievable secretarial staff that has done it all for you.

If we are the warriors they are the ones who built the weapons we use, without them we are nothing.

Without out them we LOSE.

The key to success are the ones we surround are selves with.

This is for you. Thank you Tobie, Carol, and Patti.

Quad Cities Breakfast.

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:23:46 -0600

Food Paradise

We've located the ultimate Food Paradises across America. From the perfect pizza to the hottest hot dog, we'll show you the best places to grab a bite.

Catch all-new episodes Wednesday nights at 9 ET.

Breakfast Paradise
Rise and shine for the most important meal of the day. From waffles to omelets to french toast and more, we're serving up the champions of breakfast.

The Quad Cities own Iowa Machine Shed will recieve first on tonights episode (12-17-2008) of Food Paradise on the Travel Channel.

Yet another reason to come to the Quad Cities.

Conversation Starters

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:54:51 -0600

Sometimes we need help.

I need help when it comes to conversation starters so I wear pins or buttons almost all the time. They give people a reason to speak to me.

Even at my office I keep interesting items so inspectors, other REALTORS, lenders, or anyone else that visits has a reason to stop and talk. Everyone remembers the snoopy snow cone maker; it doesn't work worth a darn, but we all remember it. Then there's the claw game everyone wants to play, even the adults. Then there's the popcorn maker it looks neat but it makes really good (lunch) popcorn.

Marketing Ideas!?!

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:31:50 -0600

I'm always curious to see what other people are doing with their marketing. In the past I have held a neighborhood garage sale, while I didn't recieve anything directly from it I did recieve a refferral. Some of it was my fault it was a little unorganized, the area wasn't fully aware of what I was trying to do, I didn't have the best signs and the drizzle that morning destroyed many of them, and because I used company envelopes a lot of people didn't open the envelopes. Needless to say we are ordering signs that has our information as the sponsor, we are sending the letters in plain unmarked envelopes, we are following up the letters with door to door delivery, I've talked to the salvation army about doing a pick up if people want to giveaway the stuff that didn't sale, we will follow up with everyone in letter and thank all the participants in person, and we are having snacks provide by a local lender and bags made with our information and the lenders information. I've done a postcard mailout followed by a mailout with a copy of the postcard wrinkled and a not this is important please don't throw this away again. I recieved a few phone calls on this. It seems that the older people were almost insulted while the younger folks thought it was the best thing they had ever seen Of course I've tried the standard postcards, mailouts, door to door, promotional calendars, memo pads, and pens. These were all good for name recognition, but I haven't recieved any business from them. This year we are sponsoring a minor league baseball game and giving away kids season tickets for all clients, along with giveaways, and promos tied into the team. I like to do three to four things a year that are completely different that no one around here is doing. Got Ideas????

Holiday on the hill

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:38:21 -0600

holiday on the hill. Putnam museum davenport Iowa The kids got a photo with Santa, they got to pick out and paint an ornament, and they got a personalized ornament. They had book signings and of course the IMAX what's not to love about the imax. Big screen movie and in 3d how awesome. The quad cities is a great place to live and I love it here.

blogging from my iPhone

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:06:41 -0600

This blog was written entirely on my iPhone. Technology is amazing you can sit on your couch write a blog and no one knows unless you tell them. From this phone I can measure a room, take nice photos, get a fully ammortized payment schedule, check all ten of my email accounts, check trulia, and so much more. I love technology and this phone. Wow. What kind of phone or laptop or other toy do you have and what's it do let us know.

Real estate scams

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:02:05 -0600

Almost Everyone knows of the Nigerian King Scam but now it is in the real estate market. They send you a check to open an account and the money they need you send them their money and boom their check bounces and your broke.

Another is people that are renting out foreclosed homes.

Anyone out there been scammed or know of any new scams. I've recieved the emails but never replied.

Messy Desk

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:11:03 -0600

How can people find there papers when they can't see there desk? I have organized files, drawers, shelves, and drawers. I know where evrything is because it has a place. How do you find what you need in a hurry if nothing has a place or does it not matter?

If you have a messy desk or office let me know how you find your stuff?

Why are you messy?

Just wondering. So let's here

Feel free to add a picture of your desk's mess.

We're moving offices so I have nothing on mine right now.

Moving

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:29:38 -0600

Mel Foster Co. Kimberly Road office is moving

Old location: 303 West Kimberly Road Davenport Iowa 52806

New location: 2215 East Kimberly Road Davenport Iowa 52807

The new building features a more inviting space, large work areas, better technology, and much, much more. We are all very excited about the move and we will be having an open house in January. I will follow up when I get more information about date and time. anyone that wants to attend is welcome.

Feel free to stop by and see us anytime starting December 1st.

Quad Cities

Quad Cities My RealTeam (Mel Foster Co.) (Keith Allen Allborty ) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:22:41 -0600

The Quad Cities consist of Davenport and Betendorf Iowa, Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline Illinois, and many outlying cities. The Quad Cities is one of the most pleasant places to live, not only is it affordable, but the beauty of the bald eagles flying over the great Mississippi is breathtaking. We have parades, concerts, fairs, baseball, indoor football, and many more activities. We are just hours from, Dubuque, Chicago, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Peoria, St Louis, and many other great cities. Hopefully you will give the Quad Cities a look. I wil be adding Quad Cities Photos to flickr and will add a link as soon as I can. Thanks.