War breaks out in Minnesota, over Active Rain - 09/25/06 04:19 PM
  A true active rain blogging story - Part 1
It was a cold and snowy night . . . Ahhhh, that’s the way Bonnie starts her story blogs. . . It really was a warm and sunny day in June (Yes, we do have them in Minnesota!) as Teresa traveled to a friends’ wedding reception. The phone rang and it was Bonnie, the blogger. Teresa had already read her comments on the e-PRO forum and read her most excellent blog. When she found out Bonnie was a local, Teresa made the first contact. Bonnie responded to Teresa’s voicemail.
Caution about internet weirdoes was thrown … (11 comments)

Fun geography test - 09/24/06 06:16 AM
I know I lifted this graphic from the Active Rain front page but it is perfect for my purposes to day.  This is just for fun.  My mother, a retired teacher, sent me this online quiz yesterday to see if I could pass the third grade.  Well you may find this shocking, but I can not pass the third grade. Follow this link: http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf
Your mission if you choose to except it is to pull up a blank map of the US and put the name of each state in it's proper place.  It might be helpful to look at the Active Rain … (2 comments)

Some Kind words about Trulia - 09/23/06 06:31 AM
Trulia offers real estate agents free maps for their web sites.  The map shows an agents listings in a neat little box and pin points the location.  The insturctions on how to are on the Trulia web site and it is easy to do. http://www.trulia.com/truliamap.  To make this work you must have a web site that feeds your listings to Trulia.
I tried it on one of my web sites.  I went to show it to another agent because I thought it was so cool.  When we looked my listings were gone.  So I deleted the code and figured I would try … (0 comments)

Pictures - 09/21/06 06:28 AM
I met a delightful young woman last night who would like to buy her first home.  Her price range is about 20% below the average price of a home in these parts.  We met at a coffee shop and started looking at houses in our MLS.
Many homes in her price range had few, or no pictures. The less expensive homes attract first time home buyers.  These people are often young, in this case 26.  The twenty somethings are a generation that has embraced technology.  They expect more from home listings on the internet.
The more expensive homes in our market tend to … (7 comments)

The buyers are coming back - 09/19/06 12:21 PM
I am noticing an uptick in showings here in St. paul.  My friends in the mortgage business are busy and the freindly folks in title are telling me that they got a bunch of new orders this week.  The way I see it we have about a six week window of opportunity before the holidays.  If the weather holds. 
The interest rates are working in our favor.  So I plan to sell one home a week so that I can earn enough money to heat the entire house this winter! 
… (0 comments)

I had to invent a new word - 09/18/06 06:25 AM
The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use.  You would not think we need another word but we do. 
Blogfood(c)  is a term that I just invented.  Defined as any source of material or ideas that can be used to generate words for a blog. 
There is a list of 10 places to find blog food on my other blog.  There are more than 10 sources but for some reason on blogs when people write lists they usually have ten items and then call the list the top 10.  I guess it … (5 comments)

Alert -the telemarketers are coming for you! - 09/14/06 10:16 AM
I figured this would get your attention.  I love active rain but because of it I am receiving several calls a week from what I call telemarketers.  They are calling my cell phone telling me that they have leads in my area.  They really don't they are either trying to sell me seo or get me to sign up with one of those online lead generation sites that mislead consumers in too many ways to list.
Stop calling!  If you must tell me about your new product, send me an email, or mail information to my business address.  I don't want to … (2 comments)

I hope this guy has a good REALTOR - 09/14/06 07:16 AM
NAR president's former home won't sell
Is he using a REALTOR or is he a FSBO?Does he have it priced right?Is it staged?Is it listed by an NRT brokerage?I looked on all those web sites that give consumers free unlimted information and can not find his house.  I am thinking about starting a web site that has an extra option where people can search by home owner. :)
… (4 comments)

Will Real Estate Agents Become Extinct? - 09/13/06 06:17 AM
I have read too many articles to site on the demise of the real estate agent..  Apparently we make too much money and since that money is coming from home buyers and sellers there are a lot of people out there who are disturbed by it.   Apparently we are going to be replaced by the internet.  Now that people can look for homes on line and even find out how much their home is worth real estate agents are not needed.  Apparently in the past we were able to protect our industry and exorbitant commissions by hording and not sharing information … (5 comments)

What do you think? - 09/08/06 12:47 PM
Has traffic gone down at open houses?   
This little post created some interesting conversations both on and off line, but was too short to be worthy of points. we should talk to the point gods.                                                                                                                                                                
… (5 comments)

Have you noticed? - 09/07/06 06:08 AM
Business has slowed a bit here in the twin cities.  I know that some REALTORS have already quit.  I am noticing that there are a lot vendors calling me these days trying to sell their marketing materials etc.  My phone rings several times a day and the caller is a sales rep.  It occured to me yesterday that companies that sell to REALTORS must also be going through a down business cycle.
As a REALTOR I am also a small business owner.  I buy everything from office supplies and electronics to hardware and closing gifts.  I buyer services too.  How will the "normalizing" … (2 comments)

Competition is a good thing - 09/06/06 06:34 AM
Bonnie Erickson and I are in a pretty heated competition here is Minnesota.  We both want and have had the coveted number 1 spot for St. Paul and Ramsey County.  I suspect that one day our pictures will be side-by-side as the number 1 and 2 featured agents in Minnesota.  If Bonnie makes it to one of the top 2 spots first I will buy her a drink.
We both started blogging at around the same time and we actually met in person through our blogs. I felt like I had known her forever.  As Bonnie says we are friendly competitors.  I just … (7 comments)

 
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Teresa Boardman

Saint Paul, MN

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Saint Paul Home Realty

Address: 413 Wacouta street #250, St. Paul, MN, 55101

Office Phone: (651) 216-4603

Cell Phone: (651) 216-4603

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