Teacher's Pet - 01/30/07 08:01 AM
A first grade teacher explains to her class that sheis a Chicago Bears fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they areBears fans too. Not really knowing what a Bears fan was, but wanting tobe liked by their teacher, their hands fly into the air. There is, however, … (6 comments)
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Briefly - 5 things to mull and consider this week - 01/25/07 06:21 PM
I've been doing a little weekly survey of blogs and ideas, looking for creative and "out of the box" ideas and philosophies that can challenge me to grow:
Cold Calling Philosophy V. Real Estate is not a numbers Game - I think rookies have to cold call, even though a long term business plan … (4 comments)
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Top 25 Marketing Blogs - 01/25/07 08:44 AM
Found this at Viral Garden - They are at week 40 now.Not sure how they rank, but a similar list of real estate blogs would be mighty handy. Anyone have one? I'll post comments on each site, if I have time, over at Synergy Thoughts.The Viral Garden's Top 25 Marketing Blogs … (1 comments)
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All about Portage Indiana from Wikipedia - 01/22/07 09:41 PM
Portage, Indiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (used by permission)
Portage (IPA: [ˈpɔɹ.tɪdʒ]) is a city in Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 36,789 at the 2005 census. It is the largest city in Porter County, Indiana, and third largest in Northwest Indiana behind Hammond and Gary.
Geography
Portage is located at … (10 comments)
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All About Valparaiso Indiana from Wikipedia - 01/22/07 09:35 PM
Valparaiso, Indiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Valparaiso (IPA: [ˌvɑl.pə.ˈɹeɪ.zoʊ]) is a city in Porter County, Indiana, USA, and is part of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. It is the county seat of Porter CountyGR6. The city's nickname is Valpo.
History
Established in 1836 as the county seat of Portersville, it was renamed to Valparaiso … (1 comments)
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Colts v Bears in Super Bowl! - 01/22/07 07:52 AM
I got a dream come true last nite, we live in Northwest Indiana perched basically halfway in-between Indianapolis and Chicago. For the last 20 years I could cheer for both teams every Sunday.But I always wanted this Super Bowl.Now what? Oh man, a crazy two weeks will not ensue. Who to … (7 comments)
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Valparaiso Home Builder - Porter County - Northwest Indiana - 01/20/07 06:08 PM
Synergy Homes spends an inordinate amount of time looking for homesites and lots and new developments for our new home buyers here in Northwest Indiana, predominantly Porter County. I thought for once I would post a list of those sites ... most are featured on our website http://www.synergyhomes.com/ with the map … (3 comments)
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Sad saga in Northwest Indiana - Bigger Questions - 01/20/07 02:50 PM
Here's how the story goes:
"With her attorney at her side, Mary Ann Winslow, 50, spoke to The Times on Friday about how sending fliers to her north-side neighbors resulted in her being fired by McColly Real Estate from a job she loved" exerpted from www.nwi.com (by the way Northwest Indiana's best … (13 comments)
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Is your real estate blog going to be federally "registered" - 01/19/07 08:04 AM
I just got caught up on a provision in a Senate Bill that would have required any political blogger with more than 500 visitors a day to be registered with the FEC. This would have opened up lots of possible problems, like would you be allowed to make advertising dollars on … (6 comments)
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Delta Airlines - 01/18/07 03:35 PM
A reprint from MY OTHER BLOG (Synergy Thoughts)
I was able to post a mini-rant by way of email the other day, but tonite I have a bit of time to finish that thought.On New Years Eve, my wife and kids and I went to South Bend Regional Airport. We were pretty … (0 comments)
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Action Plan - Active Rain Ideas - 01/15/07 08:35 AM
Last Monday I skimmed through AR and picked up five ideas to implement or brainstorm. I thought it might be a good idea to keep that rolling again today. This kinda functions like my own little Carnival of Ideas for the day or week.
Off with their Heads - I think I'll … (6 comments)
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Northwest Indiana - New Homes Starting to get Hot - 01/14/07 03:16 PM
This is totally a post about our local area. I'm not much of a statistician, so I'll leave the Days on Market and Number of Pends and Average Listing Price type numbers to your favorite REALTOR, and there are some great ones right here on http://www.activerain.com/ for Porter County.
I can … (1 comments)
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Northwest Indiana Home Builder - Diary of a Mad Home Builder - 01/11/07 11:05 PM
Diary of a Mad Home BuilderOrThe Perils of Do-It-Yourself Home Building
Written by A. William Carson (former Executive Director of the Indiana Builders Association) and published as a public service by the Indiana Builders Association, the following "Diary of a Mad Home Builder" is a dramatized example of how Murphy's Law can … (4 comments)
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Porter County Indiana Home Builders - 01/10/07 03:19 PM
As the President-elect of the Porter County Builders Association I have the opportunity to see a glimpse of what's going on countywide. I got an email late last week asking for my interpretations of the market for new homes here locally. This is a reprint of the response I sent.
I believe … (6 comments)
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A couple things to do today - 01/10/07 07:32 AM
I decided to jump on AR this morning and find a couple things I could do in between my lunch meeting and my 3:00 meeting this afternoon. I figured with 13,000 members I could grab some good ideas to work on during my "creative" time today.
Romance Your Clients .... Sending Email … (3 comments)
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Appearances Really Matter - 01/09/07 06:37 PM
I wrote this for an internal blog for one of our companies earlier this morning, it has been modified a little but I thought the issues still resound.
2006 was not a great home building year, many communities actually saw declines. On the market side, oil went up by 100% and copper went … (5 comments)
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Indiana - Best Ideas for the New Year - 01/08/07 01:38 PM
I did my own little "Carnival" here for my own sake, some of the best stuff I've seen this year so far from our great state of Indiana. Keep em coming.
Brett Mumaw is our newest active blogger here in the state, great post You May Think you Know, But you have … (3 comments)
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More Community Information about Valparaiso Indiana - 01/05/07 07:43 PM
A great site for local businesses is http://www.valparaiso.com/
Valparaiso Parks and Recreation Site
On Valparaiso's City Website they've done a great job of showcasing photos from "then" and "now"
Try the City of Valparaiso History Site all created by city employees.
The Historic Preservation Commission was created by the City Council in 2000 after several … (2 comments)
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Controversial - Does a mobile home really offer homeownership? - 01/04/07 04:01 PM
A very well written post on Affordable Housing Institute asks the question: Does a mobile home really give the owner any homeownership benefit?
I'd love to rip the whole post, but I guess those of you interested will head there and read it.
I'm torn on this issue truthfully. I really, really, really … (1 comments)
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Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate and Community Part One - 01/03/07 10:21 PM
City of Valparaiso Website "History of the City"
The State of Indiana was known as Indian territory because it was a rendezvous point for many Indian Tribes. The first pioneers ventured through this area about 1670. The first settler in the area was a French-Canadian named Joseph Bailley, who in 1822 established … (0 comments)
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The Tofflers Tell it like it will be - 01/03/07 12:10 PM
Many of you probably read avidly, so reading Alvin and Heidi Toffler's new work "Revolutionary Wealth" was a must for you like it was for me.
Some highlights and thought provoking possibilities:
The third wave (in prior books) wealth system is increasingly bsed on serving, thinking, knowing and experiencing ... Sound like Active … (9 comments)
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Redfin Hiring Bloggers - 01/03/07 08:21 AM
Report on Inman News Blog quotes Redfin as hiring bloggers to write on specific neighborhoods.
Here's what I think this means:
An end run around REALTORs who are farming this neighborhoodMicro-market specific should yield good search resultsThey get paid $100-$200 a week and are not in the real estate business, so who … (1 comments)
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Home Building Links - 01/02/07 05:15 PM
I was asked this afternoon for a set of links to the home building companies and sites that I watch regularly.
Here it is:
UBuild it is a company that equips people to build their own homes using some consulting and advice from a professional. Great systems and support. Does this portend a … (1 comments)
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Tom Peters Thought for the Day - 01/02/07 11:19 AM
I'm a huge Tom Peters reader. I like how easily he shakes the very core of our foundational theories and says "break it and start over."
Some January 1st ideas that I'll be incorporating:
Number 35 of Solutions 50: Musical Chairs - Don't let the (TURF) grass grow ... between toes. DO NOT … (1 comments)
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Even at Christmas ... New Homes - 01/02/07 10:45 AM
This article ran in the Northwest Indiana Times last week, meant to post and forgot or got busy.
Synergy Homes is happy to build for some of the best first time buyers and move-up buyers in the whole market. We've really been blessed to meet and build for some great people.
I've been … (0 comments)
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The Year of Surprises - 01/02/07 09:54 AM
My predictions for Porter County, Indiana in 2007:
Due to an abundance of 2005 and 2006 specs still in the market, builder will be vary wary to start specs in the first quarter. This will cause "starts" to continue to be very low. Though, spec sales will actually pick up with the … (0 comments)
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