tx: Essential expense
- 10/02/12 09:15 AM
If you look carefully at the expenses of your business , you may find that printer ink is the most expensive commodity you use. Think gasoline is expensive add up a gallon of printer ink!Ink is one thing that you absolutely cannot do without. Flyers, contracts, disclosures all have to be printed. There is no business without our paper trails. Of course the paperless revolution is trying to change all that.... But all of are not there yet!Recently we bought a low cost printer cartridge at our favorite office supply place.When we installed it my printer clogged and wasted a lot … (15 comments)
Watching sunlight play on bodies of water has always provided me with delight.
Yesterday as I trundled down the hall, I observed this light sculpture coming from the guest room window.
The pattern changed constantly as wind blew the foliage outside. There was almost a ripple effect as the light continued to play.
Granted, I am easily amused and find beauty in strange places. It is something I was encouraged to do as I was growing up in a less than beautiful place.
It is now a very real part of who I am … (1 comments)
Growing up in a swamp city (my term of affection for Houston), the fact that we have had little rain in recent years feels weird.
This year has been better than the last few but things are still dryer than they should be.
Since large portions of all the landscapes in the area are tropical , many look discouraged, or tired.
Rain is disruptive for traffic and causes damage in low lying areas. Mosquitos breed and spread disease when they are not kept in check.
Rain is also essential. It provides drinking water … (4 comments)
tx: Free Flight
- 10/01/12 08:12 AM
Last week we had a stove stolen out of one of our listings.The house is new on the market and is vacant.One agent had showed the house complete with appointment.Feedback was that the people did not like the floor plan. That is why they make black shoes and brown shoes. No problem!The problem is that when we read the lock box after the theft was discovered, there was no entry for that agent.... So how did he get in to show? Don't you just love puzzles?!We decided that since there was no forced entry, someone left either a window or door … (2 comments)
tx: The worst lease house
- 09/30/12 11:38 AM
Another stroll through the canyons of my mind brought forth the memory of an outstandingly awful lease experience.The house was a great old country cottage on acreage. It leased quickly to a tenant who paid well for the first few months and then...We went through the eviction process and the tenant came to the office to illustrate her incredibly nasty vocabulary skills.When she had actually vacated the house we had a toxic waste dump to deal with.She had animals all over in the house and there was animal soil everywhere.Cleaning the place up took days. We had an agent working with … (2 comments)
tx: Free Belly Rubs
- 09/30/12 11:27 AM
If you are traveling along Louetta in Northwest Houston, there is a belly rub opportunity available.Not something we see every day but the idea is certainly appealing. It may also prove to be clever marketing. The sign is outside a fancy Veterinary Clinic.What more friendly method to welcome visitors! It is fairly certain that all the canine visitors will approve. It might be a bit dicey to welcome cats with a belly rub. And Ralph was kind of interested to check and see he could get a rub!! LOL... Down boy!It has been our experience that cats are inclined to greet … (2 comments)
tx: Gertie the Goat
- 09/30/12 09:03 AM
While searching through my brain for possible blog ideas, a memory surfaced.In the early 1980s I helped my parents move from their suburban home to the country.It had been their dream to have a couple of acres close to a small town. They wanted to retire and raise sheep or goats, and have a large garden. An additional plus as far as the dream went was to have a pond that they could stock.We found it right on the edge of Tomball Texas. It was an old farm house with a true country kitchen, two bedrooms, a wood stove, a big … (3 comments)
tx: Attention to Detail
- 09/29/12 03:53 AM
One of the life skills that helps to define who I am was learned from an early job.When I was 14 my job was working for my father. He kept books for several restaurants and my contribution was doing the daily menus for each of those.We had a fancy printing machine which worked with stencils. When Daddy picked up the books daily he also picked up the menus from the chefs. He picked them up early in the day so that when I got home from school I could type up the stencils and run the daily menu inserts.One unforgettable day, … (13 comments)
tx: Highest and Best
- 09/28/12 08:47 AM
Getting offers is always a good thing!We got one yesterday on a two week old listing .The owners had bought the house as an investment about ten years ago. It has leased well but they are trying to cash in some of their portfolio to retire.In preparing the house for sale they have invested an additional $7,000. The price was established by serious market study and a tangible BPO. Due to the soft market, we did not factor in the latest repairs or enhancements.The offer was for cash and was to close in a short time right after the buyers inspections … (5 comments)
tx: For the Birds
- 09/27/12 12:30 PM
A humming bird hummed by this morning. He was after the blooms on a moss rose hanging basket. Last spring we had a similar visitor . Right after we saw the first hummer we went into hyper drive. The feeders were located , food was mixed and the feeders were installed where the birds could easily find them. We watched for weeks until it was clear that no further birds were coming .We have become accustomed to enjoying a wide variety of birds in this yard. It obviously is in a migratory path of many sizes and species.The fall season has … (5 comments)
tx: Porched!!
- 09/25/12 12:16 PM
Our son, who is a successful Commercial Broker was explaining to me why I should be out knocking on the doors of area FSBOs.I explained to him that although I did that once upon a time, I stopped it in 1982 when I got "Porched.""Porched ?" he queried... "yes Porched, I repeated.One sprung afternoon I had decided to boost my listing numbers. There was a cute cottage at the end of a road close to our office. It had a For Sale By Owner sign.I parked my car , opened the gate and strolled down the path to the front porch As … (20 comments)
tx: Whatever happened to making an appointment?
- 09/24/12 08:12 AM
What happened to appointments? Imagine my surprise when I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a young couple walking down out driveway toward the back yard gate.I heard him call to her "it is locked!"Wonder what they would have done if it was open?!They headed back toward their car which was parked across our driveway.This is the 5th time since our house has been on the market that folks have tried to just come on in!Two of those were agents! No call , no appointment, these two just showed up! One of them brought her client down the drive to the … (1 comments)
tx: Market indications...
- 09/23/12 01:00 PM
In the past two days we have seen proof that the market here is NOT healthy. The media has indicated that housing problems in Houston have ended and things are returning to wonderful. Really?
A house in our neighborhood had sold a couple of months ago with owner finance. Over the weekend we saw a moving van in the driveway and then came a fsbo sign offering owner finance. Same song second verse? Have they not heard that if you continue to do what you have done, you will get the same results? Only difference is that they used an … (4 comments)
The photo is of the grape vine which has been steadily taking over our covered patio! The cute little tenticals reach out and wind around anything in their path!
We have watched this plant since early spring. It started reaching for the roof and then spread across it and continued to grow.
It is going to take considerable effort to break its stranglehold across the patio cover. It provides us with a daily visual that growing strong is a continuous process. The more feelers we put out, the … (1 comments)
Look at it as buried treasure! The photo is of a rock that has been in our back yard since we bought this house.
It looked like any other rock until while weeding in the area, I happened to turn this over.
As you can see, the inside of ordinary is "extra" ordinary! It may be that you do not feel secure with your present situation. It may be that you do not feel or see the beauty. That does not help you or those around you. Feeling safe has its price! Burying your best will delay … (0 comments)
tx: Foundations are important in buildings and business!
- 09/18/12 06:09 AM
Foundations are incredibly important in everything. Ever since our beginnings in showing homes in the Greater Houston Area, we have seen settlement from mild to moderate to severe. The soil is mostly gumbo and in the areas with old trees, there are a lot of "split level" homes.It is high possible that every foundation in the area , with a slab that is dry, is or will develop cracks. Some are not a big deal but others ARE!This weekend we got to observe the process of foundation repair on a new listing whose cracks were deemed unhealthy.The initial inspection was done … (7 comments)
tx: Communication.....
- 09/16/12 12:47 PM
It has been said that listings are the life blood of our business. That is only part of the equation.
Communication is a more and more vital tool. Without that we can have unlimited listings and no way to let folks know about them!
The photo is of the first cell tower I ever saw. It is near Waller on FM 2920. I first saw it in the early 1980s before cell phones became common.
Little did I know what the future held. Of course that was before most of the modern technology we now enjoy.
These … (9 comments)
tx: About that fee for service....
- 09/16/12 12:35 PM
A few days ago we wrote about one of our latest challenges. That of having a young consumer challenge our fee for service.
In drawing up our offering to his questions, we spent a lot of time crafting a menu that we thought might be useful for others.
So.... we offer the following!
Explanation of the services we perform as a part of our fee for service for selling properties in this area.
In arriving at a price for services we offer, we are attaching a menu of what is available.
As you know the commission … (1 comments)
tx: Faith of our fathers....
- 09/16/12 12:23 PM
Our market area includes several small communities. Each of them has at least one small antique church.
Many demominations are represented, and all of these antiques have a lot of charm. Obviously these were built with great craftsmanship.
Each one is surrounded with beautiful old trees. Each also evoke feelings of love and memories of evenings spent with family and friends.
In a day of mega congregations seeing these 100 year old treasures scattered about the countryside is a reminder of how much our communities and values were built.
So much of our today's have been … (0 comments)
tx: Living Your Beliefs
- 09/16/12 10:21 AM
We have all heard "do as I say do, not as I do!"
Wrong! If it is worth doing , it is worth doing well . No matter what others are doing, you need to have your standards. Most of that is due to the well established fact that the way we perform our tasks is a direct reflection on us and our work ethics.
Do you believe that what you are doing is important? Do you know about the hoes and whys?
If you truly want to find success, exercise your ability and give each chore your … (0 comments)
Author Bio: Ralph and Jeanne are long time Real Estate BROKERS dedicated to helping good folks buy homes and land in Durango Colorado and the Surrounding area.
If you look carefully at the expenses of your business , you may find that printer ink is the most expensive commodity you use. Think gasoline is expensive add up a gallon of printer ink!Ink is one thing that you absolutely cannot do without. Flyers, contracts, disclosures all have to be printed. There is no business without our paper trails. Of course the paperless revolution is trying to change all that.... But all of are not there yet!Recently we bought a low cost printer cartridge at our favorite office supply place.When we installed it my printer clogged and wasted a lot … (15 comments)
;)
;)
;)
