real estate investments: Listing 1 for the Local Folks in Northern Nevada! - 01/28/08 10:19 AM
     Hi Northern Nevada Neighbors,
     I just decided why not try this.  It hit me -- why not reach out with some great opportunities for local folks who visit Active Rain via Localism.  Here's a choice condo property located on one of the very cool summertime areas for walking and running (including exercise stations), and getting in some great local socializing.
Property Location2855 Idlewild DriveReno, Nevada  89509Listing ID: 132 
     You can see it AND MUCH MORE here!
… (0 comments)

real estate investments: Foreclosure Bus Tours? Has Anyone Seen This? - 01/25/08 09:20 AM
     I just stumbled upon this story.  If you deal with foreclosures at all -- or are thinking about it -- this is an interesting news story link.  It's "newsy" but of interest, as Good Morning America's Financial Contributor, Mellody Hobson discusses the current real estate market.  Mellody is the President of Ariel Capital Management in Chicago. 
     In contrast to a few of the comments on foreclosure properties sold "as is," in my foreclosure business, the properties I sell are first repaired and brought "up-to-speed" for the potential buyers.  And they are great buys!
… (13 comments)

real estate investments: What Emerged from the Snow was a Go-Kart, Barbecue, Bicycles...-- These Ladies Mean Business -- Episode 12! - 01/24/08 04:25 PM
     Give me a break, or give me a sledge hammer to break down the trash!
     How can it be?  A recent REO I was assigned was only four years old, but upon entry it appeared like a mine field that had exploded.  It was a nice neighborhood (okay, I was biased), but how could they have so destroyed this house.  The carpets were "stained" a different color, kind of like polka dot carpeting.  The rooms were full of boxes of garbage.  The inside of the three-care garage looked like a garage sale gone bad -- everything was disgustingly bad, broken, filthy, … (4 comments)

real estate investments: Mega-Brain TEST: What does Your Local Weather Forecast Have to do with Real Estate? - 01/05/08 10:06 AM
I dare you to take a chance on this link!
Now, I ask you, why do you think there are so many foreclosures?
… (6 comments)

real estate investments: On the 11th Day of Christmas -- Eleven Pipers Piping -- The 11 Faithful Apostles -- A Message for Realtors! - 12/28/07 01:12 AM
I have asked my ministerial husband, Dr. John, to write a series on the 12 Days of Christmas in accordance with the Spiritual meaning of this famous song.  He has agreed, and sought and received permission from Dennis Bratcher, Executive Director of the CRI/Voice Institute, to excerpt and quote portions of the Institute's excellent analysis of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I know you'll enjoy this series!
Here's an easy link to Day 10 
There were 11 Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, … (8 comments)

real estate investments: The 12 Days of Christmas...for Christians -- Day 8 - 12/24/07 12:36 AM
I have asked my ministerial husband, Dr. John, to write a series on the 12 Days of Christmas in accordance with the Spiritual meaning of this famous song.  He has agreed, and sought and received permission from Dennis Bratcher, Executive Director of the CRI/Voice Institute, to excerpt and quote portions of the Institute's excellent analysis of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I know you'll enjoy this series!
Here's an easy link to Day 7
On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...eight Maids A-milking.
This is clearly the eight beatitudes.  As Dennis points out: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) … (6 comments)

real estate investments: The 12 Days of Christmas...for Christians -- Day 7 - 12/22/07 11:56 PM
I have asked my ministerial husband, Dr. John, to write a series on the 12 Days of Christmas in accordance with the Spiritual meaning of this famous song.  He has agreed, and sought and received permission from Dennis Bratcher, Executive Director of the CRI/Voice Institute, to excerpt and quote portions of the Institute's excellent analysis of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I know you'll enjoy this series! Here's an easy link to Day 6
On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...seven Swans a Swimming.
Now we're kicking this into gear, as Dennis writes: "The seven gifts of the … (4 comments)

real estate investments: The 12 Days of Christmas...for Christians -- Day 6 - 12/22/07 01:08 AM
I have asked my ministerial husband, Dr. John, to write a series on the 12 Days of Christmas in accordance with the Spiritual meaning of this famous song.  He has agreed, and sought and received permission from Dennis Bratcher, Executive Director of the CRI/Voice Institute, to excerpt and quote portions of the Institute's excellent analysis of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I know you'll enjoy this series!
Here's an easy link to Day 5 
On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...six Geese A-Laying.
Just imagine the power and majesty of the creation of time as we know it.  Are … (4 comments)

real estate investments: The 12 Days of Christmas...for Christians -- Day 5 - 12/21/07 12:11 AM
I have asked my ministerial husband, Dr. John, to write a series on the 12 Days of Christmas in accordance with the Spiritual meaning of this famous song.  He has agreed, and sought and received permission from Dennis Bratcher, Executive Director of the CRI/Voice Institute, to excerpt and quote portions of the Institute's excellent analysis of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I know you'll enjoy this series!
Here's an easy link to Day 4
On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...five Gold Rings.
It took five books of the Old Testament to chronicle what Dennis describes as ..."humanity's sinful … (4 comments)

real estate investments: The 12 Days of Christmas...for Christians -- Day 1 - 12/17/07 10:36 AM
I have asked my ministerial husband, Dr. John, to write a series on the 12 Days of Christmas in accordance with the Spiritual meaning of this famous song.  He has agreed, and sought and received permission from Dennis Bratcher, Executive Director of the CRI/Voice Institute, to excerpt and quote portions of the Institute's excellent analysis of The Twelve Days of Christmas.  I know you'll enjoy this series!
On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me -- a partridge in a pear tree.  Imagine, we receive immediate proximity to Jesus when we accept Him as our Lord and Personal Savior.  Imagine … (5 comments)

real estate investments: The Compassionate Character - Retro #19 - 12/15/07 01:12 AM
Again, I've asked him to have more "fun" than clinical skullduggery with each of the characters.  He still can't agree to a firm schedule.  And I felt it only fir that he, too, ought to do some work on this vacation.   So here he goes...again....
Compassionate Character - This Character epitomizes true love and understanding for the matters, hearts, souls, and lives at hand.  Compassionate Characters are found scattered about Active Rain, but in my estimation they are more abundantly present among the members of the Christianity and Real Estate, Spiritual Rain, and Selling Soulfully groups, but not only in these groups.  Generally, you can identify the Character's … (4 comments)

real estate investments: Really Neat House For Sale! - 12/11/07 01:47 PM
On the extra large postcard pinned to the wall in the grocery store there was this colorful message:  For Sale: Rally Neat House!  It continued....
"There are lots of trees -- BIG ONES!  There's a 4-ft. wall in the lower front yard that a family of toads lives in; they have two openings in the wall to go in and go out.  There's a great big back yard with a patio for barbecues, and a lawn for sports.
"The house has three bedrooms: one for mom and dad; one for myself and my younger brother; and one for my little sister.  We have … (8 comments)

real estate investments: What's Your Christmas Anagram? - 12/10/07 03:54 PM
Take a moment to think BIG on the spiritual meaning of CHRISTMAS in your life.  Here's my anagram, what's yours?
C -- ompassion (what a great trait to have in hand)
H -- umility (we cannot get it done without His blessing, or when we're out of His will)
R -- ight to the Kingdom (God gave us this through the birth of His Son, His death, and His resurrection)
"I -- am;" (Jesus is the incarnation of God)
S -- acrifice of the Son (could not have been possible without His human birth)
T -- ruth of the gospel (is the bedrock of the wakeful Christian)
M -- inistry … (6 comments)

real estate investments: Christian Realtors and Christmas: Selling or Buying or Believing? - 12/09/07 12:48 PM
As Realtors, we know any time is a good time when you've got a buyer for one of your listings, or are representing a buyer who wants to buy another's property.  Of course, in Nevada, we can "double-end" deals which brings up another option.
But this blog article is a gift for Christian Realtors...like you!
My husband preached today on at least FIVE TRUTHS God revealed to us through the birth of Jesus.  I just had to share these with you, because it's His time of the year, real estate or not.
I reference the "Christmas Story" as found in Luke 2:1-20.  Here's a quick … (6 comments)

real estate investments: Get Out Before New Year's Eve -- The Bank Owns Your House! - 11/30/07 02:00 PM
These are very active times for the REO (bank-owned property) business.  Today I had to initiate a "cash for keys" transaction with a woman who had literally lost everything.  Real problems; real tragedies in her life. 
In cash for keys, the bank authorizes the REO Realtor to give the foreclosed upon person a modest sum of money for vacating the residence and leaving it in "broom sweep" condition -- that is, the trash is picked up, the floors are swept and all belongings are removed.
I can't reveal the excruciating details of this woman's life, but her life was changed fast -- from affluence to tragedy, marriage … (8 comments)

real estate investments: Are You "Used" or "Fed" on Active Rain? - 11/26/07 12:27 AM
I'm sure there are lots of us who feel "used" by others at one time or another in our lives.  We have learned it's better to give than receive.  Are these a contradiction?
The truth is that depending on the context, "giving" can be a real high -- spiritually, emotionally, socially, and even economically.  The truth is that giving is independent of receiving, and thus always good in its inception.  The truth is that receiving is enjoyable, but not a necessary part of giving. 
Receiving is accepting something you can see, touch, and handle, and receiving is something you only feel emotionally or spiritually.  In the … (13 comments)

real estate investments: The Joiner Character -- Retro #7 - 11/20/07 12:17 AM
I've received so many comments from folks about a featured post about the Rain Forest Characters and a follow-up post  on additional characters that my husband, Dr. John wrote about some time ago, that I've asked him to begin a series elaborating on each character one at a time -- kind of a social psych-job on all of us. 
I've asked him to have more "fun" than clinical skullduggery with each of the characters.  He's agreed to  eventually cover them all, but I couldn't get him to commit to a firm schedule.  So here he goes with...
The Joiner Character- This character has to … (3 comments)

real estate investments: Your Strike Out Average Reveals Your AR Batting Average! - 11/17/07 02:08 AM
I know this is silly,but have you ever stopped for a moment to review the percentage of your blog posts that have NOT RECEIVED A SINGLE COMMENT?
My Dr. John has been profiling his infamous Active Rain Characters over the past couple of weeks, and the last one had no comments.  I was curious.  I know these profiles are a "little edgy" -- entirely candid, however, but not one comment on the latest?
So, I thought: How many of my posts have no comments?  I reviewed the 80 posts I've written and found that "6" had no comments, most of which occurred in … (15 comments)

real estate investments: Pick Up Your Phone...Now! An Open Rant to Other Realtors... - 11/07/07 01:24 PM
Because you won't return my voice message or e-mails!!!!!   Yaaaahhhhh!!!!!
I know, I'm venting, but why in the world would you be in business, have a voice mail, be licensed, pay Realtor fees, take listings, show properties, have an office, have a showing desk, hand out business cards, walk like a #@@^(*(^% buy advertising, have lock boxes, and represent buyers, sellers, and yourself...AND NOT ANSWER YOUR PHONE, RETURN VOICE MESSAGES, OR YOUR E-MAILS? 
Yaaaaahhhhh!!!!  Show my house and give a quick call with a little feedback -- it's for the clients we serve (you'll have them as well) -- THEY'RE ACHING TO KNOW HOW THEIR HOUSE SHOWED … (11 comments)

real estate investments: Anatomy of a Murder -- Oops, a REO Offer & Acceptance - 10/27/07 07:35 AM
Welcome to the often unconventional world of REO sales.... 
Although there's a lot of talk, bargaining, countering, and jabbering, in the end there are usually only two principal documents: the original offer, and the bank's signed addendum to the original offer that's completed only after all the crosstalk and e-mails, and bank's web postings have been exhausted and the bank settles on what the deal will look like for the bank. 
Archibaldwants to purchase a home that's owned by a bank (an REO), and is priced to move.  Still, Archibald thinks the price could be lower so he asks their "buyer's agent" to … (9 comments)