Hurricaine Katrina - 2 years ago today... - 08/31/07 12:16 AM
Two years ago today I was in the hospital waiting to deliver my youngest child and watched the horror of Katrina unfold during my day long stay.  Living in South Dakota, we are so far removed from the danger hurricaines bring that this tragic event and its aftermath definitely opened our eyes to the dangerous effects Mother Nature can create for that part of the country.
I'm sure every state in the nation felt the effects in one way or another.  In South Dakota, here are some of the events that we experienced:
State government officials were informed that hundreds of people who had … (0 comments)

St. Thomas More Cavalier Football Schedule - 08/30/07 12:21 AM
The 2007 "Road to the Dome" schedule for the St. Thomas More High School football team is as follows: (BOLD=HOME GAME)
Aug 24 - Hot Springs - 7:00pm
Aug 31 - Lead Deadwood (Home game played at SDSM&T campus) - 7:00pm
Sept. 7 - Douglas (Box Elder) - 6:00pm
Sept. 14 - Chamberlain - 7:00pm CST
Sept. 21 - Winner - 6:00pm
Sept. 28 - Custer (HOMECOMING!) - 5:00pm
Oct. 4 - Bennett County at Martin - 7:00pm
Oct 12 - OPEN - TBA
Oct. 18 - Belle Fourche - 6:00pm
Oct. 23 - First Round @ TBA
Oct. 29 - Quarterfinals @ TBA
Nov 3- Semi Finals - TBA
Nov. 8 - Final … (0 comments)

Should everyone be treated equal? - 08/29/07 11:01 PM
There is a new trend in Rapid City, South Dakota which I'm sure has been going on in big cities for years -- marketing to the elite, high dollar clients.  Obviously the benefits of reaching this market are higher commissions and most likely more demanding clients but I still find this marketing pill a little difficult to swallow.
If you can excuse my momentary jump to my soapbox I will explain my thoughts:
In my opinion, specilization in only one class of clients not only puts that agent at higher risk of violating equal housing opportunity regulations but also creates a tiny bit bigger wedge … (24 comments)

I'm in print - Thanks Ralph! - 08/24/07 06:53 PM
Today I had a surprise visit from the UPS truck - which around my house is somewhat reminiscent of the Wells Fargo Wagon in The Music Man..."It could be curtains, or dishes, or a double boiler!  Or is could be - yes it could be, somethin' special - JUST FOR ME!"
I was happy and excited to have received my copy of the new book by fellow Active Rainer, Ralph Roberts, Foreclosure Investing for DUMMIES!
Ralph had contacted me awhile back to be his South Dakota contact person to be listed in his upcoming publication!  I graciously accepted as I also have a fairly … (3 comments)

More HMTL tags to enhance your blogs! - 08/22/07 12:03 PM
OK - here's a few ways to enhance your blogs by adding HTML tags.
For fonts you can change the size, color, and font by typing the following tags around the text you want enhanced:
<font size="3">Everything between the beginning and end tags will be in font size 3.</font>
Note:  Font size 1 is the smallest and 7 is the largest but most people use size 3.
<font color="blue">This stuff between these tags will be blue.</font>
Note:  You can also use the number of the font by typing:  <font color="#rrggbb">
<center>This command will center your text on the page</center>
<strike>This isn't used too often but will appear as a line … (2 comments)

Enhancing text color on blogs - 08/22/07 10:49 AM
If you want to play around a little with HTML tags on your blogs you can add color, change font size (use sparingly) and other fun things as well, then here is my first tip on how to add COLOR! First of all - type your text in the "HTML" (Hyper Text Mark-Up Language) tab instead of the "WYSIWYG" (What You See Is What You Get) area.
Now - let's try some COLOR. To make changes to the font you have to type "< font color="green" >" before the text you want green and "< /font >" after you are done … (9 comments)

I need a new filing system! - 08/22/07 08:51 AM
The time has come that I have more files than I have filing cabinet space.  Yes - that is a good problem to have but I used to be quite organized and file them all alphabetically.  I now realize what a nightmare that will be in another few years when my list of clients grows even more.
I'm thinking about breaking them up in the year the transaction took place or maybe alphabetically by property address but am desperately seeking input as to what seems to work the best.  Ideally I'd like to keep my current files all together - at least until they … (5 comments)

Rapid City Public School System Holidays for 2007/2008 - 08/20/07 11:41 PM
Here's a handy list of the upcoming days off for the public school system in Rapid City, South Dakota for the 2007-2008 school year!  Mark your calendars!
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL = Sept. 4
Native American Day = Oct. 8 (NO SCHOOL)
Professional Development Day = Oct. 9 (NO SCHOOL)
Conference Compensation Recess  = Nov. 21 (NO SCHOOL IN THE AFTERNOON!)
Thanksgiving Recess = Nov. 22nd and 23rd  (NO SCHOOL)
Professional Development Day = Nov. 26th (NO SCHOOL)
Conference Compensation Recess = Dec. 22 (NO SCHOOL IN THE AFTERNOON)
Winter Recess = Dec. 24th-Jan. 1, 2008 (NO SCHOOL)
SCHOOL RESUMES = Jan. 2, 2008
Martin Luther King Day Recess = Jan. … (0 comments)

2306 Walnut Drive - AMAZING VALUE! - 08/20/07 10:25 AM
   
You'll fall in love with this immaculate 4 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 car garage home located in southeast Rapid City (close to Robbinsdale Elementary).  Gorgeous professionally refinished wood flooring in the living room and 3 bedrooms and the 4th bedroom/family room area has brand new top of the line carpeting.  New forced -air furnace and beautiful new upper-end maple cabinets from Merillat.
This home is listed for $118,000.00 but an appraisal done in July of 2007 valued the home at $119,000.  Homes of this quality in this price range are becoming very difficult to find so if you are an investor or a … (0 comments)

My client's house got washed away in a flood! - 08/19/07 02:43 PM
Western South Dakota has a wicked thunder storm Friday evening (Aug. 17th) but I had not idea until I read the local paper this morning that some areas had actually experienced flash floods. 
I just sold a manufactured home on a permanent foundation a couple months ago on Ferguson Street in Hermosa and that street was flooded and all the residents were taken to a temporary shelter.  I cannot reach my clients by phone or email so I am very anxious to hear from them.
The previous owners of this house were not required to have flood insurance so at the time … (7 comments)

Palm OS vs. Windows Mobile for cell phones... - 08/18/07 05:27 PM
My cell phone plan is up for renewal which means I can finally get a new phone!!!!  I have had a Palm Treo for 2 years and just recently upgraded to include unlimited text messages and email access.
I recently popped into the local Alltel store to check out the new phones and really like the look of the ones that use Windows Mobile but not sure how much of a transition this will be for me and if I will like it as much as my palm operating system. 
The only problem I really have right now is that Intellisync often … (2 comments)

Back-to-School Marketing Ideas? Anyone? Anyone? - 08/18/07 03:21 PM
I am seeking advice from this vast wealth of resources we have here on ActiveRain so hopefully if we all put our heads together we can come up with some awesome ideas.
Here's what I need....
I am trying to come up with some sort of marketing idea that I can use at my children's schools that will be both helpful and remind the parents who I am and what I do.  I was thinking about those magnetic school calendars and possibly water bottles (no A/C at our school system) but not sure if there are better, more creative ideas out there.
Have you … (2 comments)

How's your driving? - 08/18/07 03:11 PM

My daughter who I have been spending most of the summer helping learn to drive emailed me the above "Zits" comic strip today.  I actually had to laugh out loud when I read it and thought other parents out there may also get a kick out of it. 
This strip does bring up a good point though - the same point I have been trying to get across to my daughter:   ALWAYS make your passengers feel safe.  This is true whether you are with family, friends, and most importantly CLIENTS!  Just because  you know you are "in control" of the vehicle … (0 comments)

"I just got into town - can you show me some houses?" - 08/18/07 09:16 AM
One of the advantages of doing a lot of business on the internet is the spur of the moment client calls.  More often than not, these clients call ahead of time and schedule an appointment to view homes.  However - every now and then I get a call from someone who just popped into town and will only be around for a day or so but would like to look at a bunch of homes while they are here. 
I always try to be as accomodating as possible but this weekend my calendar is literally booked solid with personal obligations.  I … (10 comments)

Schedule for the Central States Fair - 08/17/07 09:33 PM
Tonight was the official start of the Central States Fair!  The grandstand events for this year are listed below so if you get a chance come out and enjoy some of the shows:
Friday, Aug. 17:  Truck Pull (Cancelled due to Severe Thunderstorms)
Saturday, Aug. 18:  Demolition Derby
Sunday, Aug. 19:  Joe Diffie, Collin Raye
Monday, Aug. 20:  Neal McCoy, Taylor Swift
Tuesday, Aug. 21:  Craig Morgan, Bomshel
Wednesday, Aug. 22: Joe Nichols, Trent Tomlinson
Thursday, Aug. 23:  PRCA Range Days Rodeo
Friday, Aug. 24:  PRCA Range Days Rodeo
Saturday, Aug. 25:  PRCA Range Days Rodeo
… (0 comments)

Who's going to watch High School Musical 2?!!! - 08/17/07 09:17 PM
For those of you who have children in elementary, middle, and possibly even high school you probably already have your evening planned out as tonight is the nationwide premier of High School Musical 2!
(picture courtesy of about.com)
If you haven't seen the original High School Musical -I'd say its probably worth renting.  Although it doesn't really compare to Grease, it is a clean cut, wholesome easy to sing-a-long to movie with a very talented cast of young people.
My 5 year old and 9 year old are big fans and can sing along to all the lyrics.  We just returned from a trip … (7 comments)

Tornado/Flash Flood Warnings in the Black Hills - 08/17/07 09:02 PM
I just had an interesting evening volunteering at the Central States Fair.  We had to arrive 2 hours before the evening's event (Truck Pull) but after about 20 eager people had been seated we were all ushered into a sheltered building because of severe weather on the horizon.
The tornado sirens were going off all over town but we had no contact or information to let us know what was going on other than our cell phones (Thank goodness for technology!).  My daughter informed us that we were getting a tremendous hail storm at our house but that they were all fine … (0 comments)

School Starts in One Week! - 08/17/07 05:08 AM

Wow - another summer has already come and gone!  Several of the local schools start back in session in less than one week and the public school systems start right after labor day!
Although I do feel like another summer has snuck past my busy work schedule, I am anxious to experience the cooler fall weather and the social contact that comes with football games, school activities, PTO, etc! 
Our oldest daughter starts her Freshman year so there is added excitement in our home these days.  She also just got her restricted driver's license so my husband and I are learning to … (0 comments)

 

Susan Raposa

Rapid City, SD

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South Dakota Real Estate Company

Office Phone: (605) 342-1810

Cell Phone: (605) 391-5161

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Real Estate advice and tips from Susan Raposa, Owner/Broker of the Rapid City Real Estate Center in Rapid City, South Dakota. Email me with questions about Rapid City and the Black Hills!


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