It's been a kabillion  years since I've blogged on Active Rain. I must confess, I have become addicted to TWITTER! I'm quite a wordy person and the 140 Characters Twitter allows has trained me to become more pithy. It also has shortened my attention span for reading more than 140 Characters. Also has dumbed me down for sending messages (even emails) that look like:

 

"Hey U! Whacha got goin on? Catch u L8R! :) "

 

On Twitter I am @SandiHockeyMom because I am more interested in hooking up w other hockey peeps than to read and follow endless mortgage or real estate "experts" self promoting and not engaging. Sorry, but only occasionally I am intrigued enough to follow and continue to follow someone who is a self proclaimed expert. I do enjoy some who I already followed here on Active Rain, who alert me on Twitter they have a new blog posted.

 

Anyone else finding TWITTER to be awesome, or annoying? I love it! I will figure it out someday how it may relate to real estate, but for now, it's my guilty PLEASURE!!!

 

Tweet me!! http://twitter.com/SandiHockeyMom

 

 

Bill Duncan is an Active Rain Inspector that has the best blogs. And he never hesitates to answer any questions either, even though there is no chance I would probably be flying him from Virginia to Iowa to do an inspection.

 

I've always wondered what it was like to be the one to hold the entire transaction in ones hands and to be complete, but not icky picky. And the inspector gets a bad rap sometimes when I just hold them in very high reguard (granted, none has burned me yet).

Bill's blogs are like a gift if you have a chance to read some. They are entertaining, educational, and also we might learn a few things on what THE INSPECTOR goes through, too! SUBSCRIBE SO YOU DON'T MISS A THING!

ROCK ON MY REALTOR FAMILY! Have a GREAT 08 IN REAL ESTATE!!!

I am 44 yrs old. And I have a MYSPACE!

Social Networking isn't just for the kiddies!

We already know this, of course, since I am posting this in ACTIVE RAIN!

What you may or may not know is MYSPACE and FACEBOOK are excellent way to communicate with friends, clients and colleagues.

There is a familiarity with seeing someone's photo, and name and then seeing them face to face. It's not like regular advertising where your face is in print ad. They get to know you on a personal level.

You share as much or as little with the public. I am a little TOO transparent and possibly share TOO much. However, if I lose business by being honest with the type of person I am (sometimes a bit wild...my friends and I love to work hard and PLAY HARD) then I probably am NOT the personality that they'd enjoy working with anyway (and vice versa! ha) Your true personality comes out anyway, I believe!

The BAD PRESS MYSPACE and FACEBOOK gets is deserved, also. BUT don't count it out as a source of marketing.
Most people NOT on MYSPACE and FACEBOOK have a very negative opinion, but there are millions of people who "GET IT" that it's a wonderful source of communication.

My friends and I can communicate with each other on our own time and feelings aren't hurt when we can't sit on the phone catching up all the time. WE EACH HAVE A MYSPACE or FACEBOOK and we can share photo's, information and generally KEEP UP BETTER THAN IN THE PAST! And IRONICALLY, many of my "MYSPACE" or "FACEBOOK" friends that didn't know each other before, have become friends through knowing me! AND WHO COULDN'T USE MORE FRIENDS!

It might sound silly, but GET A MYSPACE and/or FACEBOOK and give it a try~! AND THEN SEND ME A FRIEND REQUEST!! ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SANDIs MYSPACE

SANDIs FACEBOOK

*OH, and it's a great way to communicate with your own children, too! My son's are my top friends!!!!

North Iowa Outlaws Blood Drive October 27, 2007

GIVE BLOOD PLAY HOCKEY 2007

MASON CITY - Not everyone can score a winning goal as hockey player, but thanks to the North Iowa Outlaws and their booster club, The Posse, everyone can be a part of the team by giving blood!

Those who came to give blood at the 4H Building at the North Iowa Fairgrounds registered for 4 tickets to any Outlaw game thanks to the Outlaws and the Posse. The two teamed with the American Red Cross to recruit blood donors for the blood drive "Give Blood Play Hockey!"

The GOAL for the blood drive was 25 people and we surpassed our GOAL and had 37 wonderful, life giving donors!

Winner of the drawing was Amber Walker, billet parent of Bobby Moe #7 of the Outlaws. The Walker Family graciously donated back the 4 tickets and Stephanie Kappos, Unit Director of the American Red Cross of North Central Iowa pulled Julie Payers name the second time. Julie was a first time donor and we are thrilled for her gift as well.

Another donor was Dawn O'Hern, billet parent to Matt Morin #29 of the Outlaws. Dawn is a regular blood donor and was, by coincidence, the winner at the Outlaw game of the $500 gas card raffle AND the winner of "Guess the Attendance". We firmly believe you do get by GIVING! Congratulations Dawn!!

 "Donating blood only takes about an hour, and yet one single donation can save up to THREE LIVES! Now that's a HATTRICK!" says Sandi Lincoln, Blood Drive Coordinator. "We would like to do it bigger and better every year.  It really takes a special person to give literally out of the goodness of their heart!"

Blood needs are ongoing and for more information go to http://www.givebloodgivelife.org/  Just some of the places our blood will go:

Trauma victims, cancer patients, premature babies and children who suffer from sickle cell disease often need blood products to survive.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE RED CROSS OF NORTH CENTRAL IOWA Click on link.

Many thanks go out to all who helped make this possible. It's such a team effort! We look forward to doing it again NEXT YEAR!

PHOTOS:

 

 

Quotable Quotes

I find myself quoting people, or statistics on a daily basis. It's like I have this chip in my brain that remembers odd, useless facts and sayings, but I can't remember to bring my cellphone when I leave the house.(Happened again today!) I think "Trivial Pursuit" was made with me in mind. I even call myself "Cliff Clavin". (He was the postman on Cheers who spouted useless drivel--see, I even "remember" his name!!!)
HOWEVER, sometimes quotes have reaffirming qualities. I read something inspirational, and it lifts me. It might even be something I have heard before, but have forgotten. It can be from anywhere, too. I think that's why spiritual people read, and re-read the Bible. And many of my favorite "quotes" are drawn from there.
I'd like to share a couple of my favorite quotes, and really hope anyone who reads my little blog, would share some of their favorite quotes. Thanks!

My very favorite quote is from Wayne Gretzky (hockey star...The GreatOne!)
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take".

*I CAN CRY BECAUSE ROSES HAVE THORNS OR REJOICE BECAUSE THORNS HAVE ROSES.

*I WISHED SOMEBODY WOULD DO SOMETHING. THEN I REALIZED I AM SOMEBODY.

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."--Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

UPDATE: From Floyd Wickman's Masters Sales Event in Chicago 2008

 "We are more apt to do what is inspected, than what is expected" ~Floyd Wickman

"LEARN, LET GO, GO ON!" ~Floyd Wickman

"SOME WILL, SOME WON'T, SO WHAT!" Mike Fiddler

"SOME WILL, SOME WON'T, SO WHAT! NEXT!  Mike Fiddle/and Floyd Wickman

 

 Earnest money. It's an interesting concept. It's not a deposit, because the money goes to the buyer at the closing. It's not a bribe, because it's totally legal. It's not required...but it is by practice something just expected. And it's not always cash! Which is just about the complete circle. So NOW YOU GET IT? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
Even in discussions with other Realtors, there is not a consensus. When I was taking my classes, we were told it was not a requirement, but it is custom to give earnest money when making an offer. Off the top of my head, I remember being told, it was to SHOW the seller of the buyers seriousness and intent to buy. It was also understood, that if a buyer were to back out of the sale after the offer is accepted, the seller would be able to keep the earnest money. As well as if the seller backed out, the buyer would receive the money back immediately.
It is also confusing to me that if it goes to the buyer anyway at closing, why is it necessary for the "check" to even be cashed. The earnest money (whether cash or check) is put into an trust account, usually with the sellers agent. Those checks are cashed within a certain period of time BY LAW. The money is kept in a Trust Account and those funds cannot co-mingle with the brokers day to day operation. That is against the law. So for something being "not required" there is a lot of law and precedent regarding Earnest Money. So I did a little more research...and I will share that information here...on my blog.
What is it, and what is it all about?
Before any document or agreement can become a legal and binding contract, for both sides, there has to be consideration. (Consideration--something that has legal value) Something must be offered as evidence and proof that an agreement is more than just a person word to buy. Earnest money is that consideration. The more money you put down, the more earnest you are displaying to the seller that you indeed want to buy his/her home.
How much?
The amount of the deposit varies from purchase to purchase, depending on a variety of factors. If a property generates a lot of interest, a buyer may make a larger deposit to convince the seller that their offer is stronger than the others. During "hot" markets, deposits are generally larger than during slow markets.
There are reasons to try and keep the deposit as small as possible, but not so small that the seller doesn't take it seriously. You see, once a buyer and seller agree to terms, the earnest money deposit is usually placed in a "trust" account. At that point it is no longer the buyer's money -- it belongs jointly to the buyer and seller.
Who gets it then if it belongs to both?
Almost all deals close and the earnest money funds are applied to the buyer's down payment and closing costs. As the saying goes, however -- there are exceptions to the rule.
Some sellers think that if the deal falls through, the earnest money deposit is automatically forfeit. Some buyers think that if the deal doesn't close, they automatically get the money back.
Neither one is true.
Even when the failure to close is the buyer's fault, the seller doesn't have a "right" to the deposit as a way to "punish" the buyer. Nor does the buyer automatically get the entire deposit back, even when they are not at fault.
This is why there are no easy answers. One thing that seems to prevail, is both parties need to sign to release the funds. Even with the details spelled out in the offer as to how the earnest money funds should be dispersed if the settlement is not reached, without both signing, the money can be held up indefinitely. It cannot even be released by the Trust Account without all signatures OR until a court order determines who should get the money. It sounds to me like a lot more expense, but more often than not, both buyers and sellers use common sense in determining disbursement of funds. Sometimes it is agreed upon that both sides receive some of the money.
Summing UP!
So, when it comes to earnest money, it really is a sign of intent to buy. That buyer wants the seller to know they are not wasting valuable time. It also shows ability to do what your offer says you can do. If you can't come up with a nice earnest deposit because of lack of funds, can you really afford to be buying a house? And since the money goes toward the buyers costs at close, it will never directly benefit the seller, unless the buyer backs out. On the other hand, an earnest deposit should never be so high that it could cause hardship to the buyer if the seller backs out and refuses to release funds.

These are all scenarios that can happen, and often do not. Most times there is common sense used by all parties and everyone has a meeting of the minds. One big warning, if I may, that if someone were making an offer to buy a "for sale by owner", make sure the earnest money is held by either an attorney or an outside neutral party. Some "for sale by owners" don't understand that the earnest money is not theirs to spend. It's usually just a matter of misunderstanding exactly what the earnest money is.

So, did I answer that? Please add anything that would make this more clear! Thanks!

OH BABY IT RAINED! It's been raining on me ALL WEEK!! But we held our Relay for Life EVENT at our local mall (and it really made the time pass while WINDOW SHOPPING!!!) And the food was WAY better than eating on the area football field!!! My friends and I had a wonderful FIRST year and KNOW it's the beginning of an annual event for us! THERE is nothing more MOVING than to be in the presence of SURVIORS and CAREGIVERS and to see their strength and it humbles me in all my presumed DRAMA. This is my son's second year (he's 5 yrs) and last year I just volunteered to help at the event...not really knowing what it was, but agreed to help my friend who was the co~chair. LAST year, Hunter at 4, stayed up until 4 am walking with the best of them. THIS year was no exception. HE walked and skipped and hopped until the wee hours of the night. YOU SEE, Hunter was only 6 months when his Grandma Judy died of brain cancer. His Grandpa Tom has been fighting another rare cancer for two years also. I RELAY for my husband and my son's. I believe this is a cause where any effort can really make a difference! You can see by the many who are surviving that great strides are being made in treatment. It's so so sad for those who lose that battle, but I hope and pray efforts can even ease that pain. SO HERE ARE A FEW PHOTO'S of last nights Relay event and I hope you enjoy them!!! ***also WE WERE TEAM COSMO (kind of a SEX AND THE CITY theme for Little Black Dress Night,) so the pics of us holding what appears to be COSMO'S is only low cal cranberry juice as this is a nonalcohol event... just in case someone notices Hunter is ALSO holding a glass!!! ha! CLICK ON PHOTO FOR ALL THE PICTURES!!

Relay for Life 2007

AND LAST YEARS PHOTO'S

Relay 4 Life 2006

 

UPDATE: December 5, 2007

It's with great sadness that I must add that my father-in-law, Tom Lincoln, lost his battle with cancer on October 13th, 2007. We were blessed to be with him at the time of his passing, including Hunter, now 6 yrs old. Tom's strength during this hard fought battle inspired the entire community, and the entire community grieved his passing. He was a gift to us all and will be greatly missed. We will continue our fight against cancer with the same passion that Tom served everyone he knew.

We will miss you, Tom!!!

Tribute

One of my core values is to "Live by the "GET BY GIVING" philosophy!" I didn't invent that, but I firmly believe that!!

One of the ways I chose to GIVE BACK is the Relay for Life. I was blessed to help with the event last year, and this year I was inspired to have my own TEAM.

We raised money for the American Cancer Society by having a LITTLE BLACK DRESS NIGHT at our local fav martini bar. We encouraged WOMEN to get out their little black dresses and strappy shoes and come to TOAST for COSMOPOLITANS. Very SEX AND THE CITY. In fact, one of our taglines was GIVING CAN BE SEXy in mason CITY! Money was raised by celebrity bartenders donating their tips. We also had FABULOUS raffle prizes and for our FIRST ANNUAL event, we raised $1200!

My FLOYD WICKMAN Smart Class was the first to donate to my team. Whenever a cellphone rang, a $5 donation was made to the RELAY FOR LIFE. My new buddy, Ted Burton Jacobsen donated money without even a cellphone fine and really got the ball rolling. Just in my class, through their generousity, they gave $206 dollars! That's huge and I am very grateful!

HERE are some photo's of that wonderful event!!! My dream is to make Little Black Dress Night a national event!! Click on the men in the tuxedo's to take you to all the photo's!!

LITTLE BLACK DRESS NIGHT 07

Biggest Turn Off's When House Hunting

When you decide it's time to sell your house, whether upgrading, moving for a job, or whatever the reason, one of the most important things you can do is put yourself in the buyers shoes. It's just not that endearing to a buyer to see how tall Johnnie is by the ink marks on the wall. It's not sentimental value to a buyer to see Sally's hand print in the cement by the garage. What ever you can do to depersonalize your home the better. That goes for family pictures, your son's room decorated like his favorite baseball team, all the way down to the team colors painted on the walls. If you are going to move anyway, DEPERSONALIZE, NEUTRALIZE, and SANITIZE.

DEPERSONALIZE

The definition of depersonalize is:
1. make something impersonal: to take away or omit the qualities from something that make a person feel welcome or important.

In Real Estate, I think it is a gift to a buyer to take away the qualities in a home that make it personal property to the owner, yet a canvas to the new potential owner, to put their own personality into the property. If I take away the things that make the house MINE, it could potentially become THEIRS. If I refuse to take myself out of the house, then I might as well stay there. It's extremely difficult to decide to sell a home, but at that point it goes on the market, it's not your home anymore. Give up the claim to a home, and you will see someone else can see themselves living there. And that is a great gift.

TIPS FOR DEPERSONALIZING

• Take away any family pictures. Replace framed photo's on walls with something neutral, or fill the nail holes and make a more spacious feeling. Don't forget framed photo's on tables, dressers, shelves. Anything that makes the house yours rather than theirs has to go.
• Take down the stuff on the refrigerator. Anything on the refrigerator belongs to the current owners and it's just clutter to someone else. Give your child a big hug for his great papers, and wonderful coloring, but keep it out of sight.
• Every poster must come down. No exceptions. Not even limited edition. DOWN.
• Trophy's, medals, honors, and awards. Even if it's your husbands medical degree. If he doesn't practice from your home, get it down.
• Cleaning out the closet. Get as many things packed as if you are really leaving and store them somewhere. It opens up the space, and it avoids someone being distracted by the silver glitter shirt you can't even believe you bought. Get things off the floor of the closet. It's just not impressive to someone if you showcase your 100 pairs of shoes. It can only make them think the house is overpriced so you can keep up your shopping habits.

 

• Another smart idea is if you have favorite sports teams, swallow your pride and take things down. What if someone loved your house, but had a dislike for the team you are proud to display. It's silly, but sports are very emotional and can immediately give a person a good or bad feeling. It's not logical, but I must confess, I have very strong feelings for or against teams. And I am not the only one. People are crazy like that! If you are too fanatical to take down your team stuff, then just realize, you might not ever know if you lost a potential buyer based on that...but if you were too fanatical to take it down, I can guarantee someone else was too fanatical to make an offer based on the stuff being up. OK?
• If it's personal to you, then pack it up. Things your kids made in school, father's and mother's day gifts, ie.. World's Greatest Dad Plaque. It might turn off a childless couple. It might seem silly, but look around your home and put yourself in a strangers shoes. If it says something about you, remember, you can put it up in your next house.

NEUTRALIZE

Some of my favorite homes have brilliant color pallets. Bold colors are a sign of good taste. Burgundy and deep greens are comforting and elegant. However, dark colors have a way of shrinking a room. It also gives someone an immediately good, or immediately bad feeling. Powerful colors produce powerful emotions. You want to appeal to the majority of people, so the best investment is in a neutral color. White, off white, light tan. NEUTRAL means neutral. If you walk into a room with white walls, you notice size, layout, etc. If you walk into a room with a bold color, you notice the color. I once showed a home my clients had seen on the internet, and they referred to the rooms based on the color...the purple room, here is the blue room, there's the red bathroom. They didn't buy the house. They bought the house with the neutral colors. They had a choice between the two in the end, but she went with the neutral because the houses were similar, but she was too busy to repaint the walls for a few months. Most people will repaint, and they take that into consideration, time and money. Paint it for them. Neutralize. What are the odds that their taste will match yours exactly. Are you willing to "bet" on those odds when you might be losing buyers or losing money when they want to offer less than what you are asking for?

Colors also have a potential to "date" a house. I remember growing up and our kitchen was aqua blue. (I am in my 40's) Then the popular colors seemed to be golds, and avocado. I remember in the 80's things were mostly country blue. 90's Hunter greens and burgundy. Then late 90's olive green was making a comeback. Now it's anything from wheat to red! Thank goodness aqua blue as not made a comeback! But most of us can identify with colors and certain memories. It's great when you buy your house, you can add your personal touch and personal style. I have seen homes beautifully decorated and have had buyers comment on the elegance, but then not quite knowing why it just isn't for them. It just doesn't make a person feel like it could be potentially theirs. If it's neutral, it gives the impression of "new". Most new homes that appeal to the most potential buyers are painted with "contractor white". It's boring, but Hip Hip Hooray! for boring, because it doesn't scream out,"NOTICE MY WALLS", but notice the room. The space. The POTENTIAL. What if someone just bought a new furniture set, and the color of the room didn't match. It might seem obvious to just paint it, but painting over an existing color just seems like more work than painting a white wall to match the new furniture. It is no difference, it's just perceived to be more difficult. And once someone's mind has seen that color, it's difficult not to see it even after it has been painted. It's crazy, but again, people are crazy like that. So the best thing to do is invest in a couple of can's of white paint, and let the room speak for itself.

SANITIZE

This might seem the most obvious of all, but there are so many homeowners who just don't want to put the elbow grease into selling a house. They might go ahead and put away the personal pictures and things. They might invest in the neutral colors for a room. But they don't realize the importance of truly sanitizing a house. It's just not enough to have the carpets cleaned. If a house has a certain odor, forget about how spacious it is. Forget about the great price and wonderful location. Odor is the number one turnoff for a buyer. And the only way to truly get rid of odor is to sanitize. Like literally, eat off the floor clean. It's another way to depersonalize, too. If you are a smoker (first, quit, but if you can't, get out of the house. It's on the market and it no longer belongs to you. Or don't quit smoking in the house and stay there.) Smoking in the house makes a terrible smell. It's immediately offensive, and a buyer knows they will not be able to get that smell out, and they don't want to own a house where their friends come over and smell that smell. It goes for pets, too. If your puppy was difficult to train, invest in a new carpet. It's not enough to clean it. Rip it up, rip up the pad, sanitize and replace with new. If you aren't willing to do that, I can guarantee the reduction in price the potential buyer will be more than the cost to you to do that. And how many people walk right out of a house that smells like a pet? And how hard will it be to get that potential buyer back by telling them you did finally replace the carpet. Impossible. The nose has a memory. I can remember almost every house I walked into that smelled bad because of a pet, or smoker. Or funky cooking. Or bizarre incense. There are certain fragrances that the majority of people perceive as pleasant. Vanilla, cinnamon, and citrus. These are ok, as long as they are very light. A strong smell, even if pleasant, makes someone wonder what someone is covering up. The best smell is something that you can't buy in a store. And that is the smell of "clean". And everyone knows the only way to get the smell of "clean" is by hard work. And hard work makes someone think (perception again) that the house is well cared for, therefore a great investment. You can't fake "clean". And people know that. If the entire home is not sanitized, then don't bother. Just take the loss. Because if you spend all your time just cleaning the kitchen and you ignore the bathroom, it will be perceived as a negative. You can't even just sanitize the bathroom and kitchen, and then have a dirty garage. It will be perceived as negative. It is a lot of work, but the time and energy you spend on just cleaning and sanitizing will be add up to more money in your pocket when you go to sell. Whatever the potential buyer has to do that you didn't do, will cost you more money than if you do it yourself. I know I would never buy a dirty car or a dirty pair of shoes. Even if you don't think your house is dirty, if it doesn't sparkle and shine, like inside and out, be prepared to take a loss. And if you don't care, then that's ok, too. But what you will gain is far more. If someone sees something dirty or not sparkling, they might wonder how good are the major things, like the roof. You don't want anyone doubting how well you took care of the house. It's just perception, but eliminate all doubts.

In conclusion:

Remember, you want to sell your house, and you want the best price for it. And someone wants to buy your house, and they want to get the best house with the least amount of work for them. That's what you are looking for, because a seller is usually also a buyer. HUMMM>so whatever you are looking for when you are "house hunting" keep that in mind when you see something offensive to you....see if that's happening in your house, too. If it's in your power to change, the benefit will outweigh the cost.

Happy House Hunting!

Communication. What a crazy word.

When I think about this word, I automatically think of communication as having a clear understanding in what two people are talking about. They COMMUNICATE and HAVE A MEETING OF THE MINDS. It's fascinating to me to see with all the dialog that happens in a day, and all the "communication" we receive from media, computers, etc. that very little is truly understood. I can have (what seems to be) a completely understandable conversation with someone, and yet things can go so terribly wrong. Whether I have understood that someone else was going to "get back to me", or I am misinterpreting what someone says; for example, I was told a condo had "casino carpeting". I turned that into "Vegas carpeting". Innocent enough, and maybe the same thing, sort of, but I could have sworn I was repeating verbatim . When I tell my toddler, DON'T HIT YOUR BROTHER! He didn't know I meant "don't bite, don't kick, don't touch your brother!". And we had to go through every one of those! I thought I was being clear. HE thought I was leaving loop holes! It's an ongoing challenge to communicate so that you really listen without interjecting your own agenda. It's almost impossible to not to finish another person's sentence. You want to be so quick to "relate" ie, to understand...that you might not. And we don't want to appear silly by asking too many questions, that we just nod. Good thing we are not tested on everything we should know about our day. MY WHOLE POINT is, since communication is nearly impossible to regulate, interpret or repeat verbatim , we should be very careful how we word or phrase something, especially in repeating another's words. We might not be "correct", and we might not have "understood" what that person was saying. With that said, I purpose giving everyone the "BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT" if we are ever upset or confused about something we may hear that may not be positive. It's been my experience that most of the time, anything bad has been a misunderstanding. Most people do not try to create scandal and stress in their own lives or to say things to deliberately hurt others. Granted, I am sure some do, but most of the times I have experienced misunderstandings, they are worked out if a person hears both sides. If someone is unhappy with someone for some reason, try to put yourself in the other persons shoes. If they had an opportunity to explain, would it be what you thought? By giving the person the benefit of the doubt, you create less stress for yourself, too. I realize there are some people just out to say bad things, or create DRAMA...but a greater percentage of time...IT'S SILLY MIS-COMMUNICATION. Good luck even understanding this! I "goggled" How to Communicate Effectively" and I got an interesting thing from Solbaram.Org (whatever that is) but has some pretty interesting things I am going to check out later. . Am I understood?????HA!