Wisby-Smith Fine Art will be presenting an evening with Jane Seymour.  The art on exhibit will be available for purchase.

Ms. Seymour is a multiple Emmy and Golden globe winner, recipient of the Officer of the British Empire and also a successful painter in watercolors and oils.

The event will be on Friday January 28, and Saturday January 29^th from 6-8 p.m.

Wisby-Smith is located in The Crescent Hotel at 500 Crescent Court Suite 146.  RSVP by calling 214 397 0808.

First two games of this weekend playoff are now history.  Once again the two home teams win.

The New Orleans San Francisco game was one of the most exciting games ever, while the New England Denver game was basically over after the first series.

Hope both games today are exciting.

If you know anyone going to a game and carrying a sign with a ‘D’ and another one with a ‘FENCE’ tell them that is old and lame.

Ever been offered unlawful compensation?  In Texas all compensation must be paid by ones sponsoring broker, and never directly to the agent.

The Texas Real Estate License Act prohibits an agent to receive payment for a real estate activity directly from anyone other than their broker.

Let’s say a new home builder gives you a $100 give card to show their appreciation for bringing them a buyer.  If the builder is not licensed then they did nothing wrong.  If you accept the gift card you have violated the license act.  Even accepting a gift directly from a seller or buyer would be a violation.

I wonder how many agents think nothing of accepting these items.

Texas law provides that neither a seller nor broker must disclose death that occur by natural causes, suicide, or accidents unrelated to the condition of the property.  This leaves only 2 other types of deaths: 1. those caused by accident related to the condition of the property (a person is electrocuted because of an exposed wire), 2 murder.

Even though some deaths do not need to be disclosed maybe it is easier just to disclose any death.

First round of the NFL playoffs in the book and all home teams win.  With the exception of New Orleans I think the same thing will be true during the next round.

Tebow mania comes to an end in New England.  Texans will miss the home field advantage, and Baltimore will not give up an interception for a touchdown.  Baltimore gets ahead and Houston cannot play catch up football.  New York’s secondary will be picked apart by Rogers.  Even with the home field San Francisco will not be able to handle Drew Brees.

But then again what do I know.

If a consumer were to see a web site called www.dallasmls.com could they assume the site was for searching the mls in the Dallas area?  Then when the site is launched they are taken to John Smith, Realtor® personal web site (I made up both of these names).

Do you see anything wrong here?

There is a provision in the National MLS rules that an MLS can adopt to preclude MLS Participants from using MLS in their URL.  My local MLS chose not to adopt that provision so it is permissible here.  Some think that is a good thing others think it is misleading to the general public.   

However, the Code of Ethics Article 12 states that REALTORS shall “present a true picture in their advertising, marketing…..” and includes a Standard of Practice  (12-10) that prohibits deceptively driving traffic or misleading consumers.    One case study used to illustrate this involves the use of MLS in the URL where the hearing panel found that the URL that includes the letters MLS will, in many cases, lead reasonable consumers to conclude that the website is an MLS and not a broker website. 

That does not mean a hearing panel would conclude that in all cases, but in this particular case, the letters MLS were not part of the brokerage firm name and the site included a property search that the panel felt a reasonable consumer would mistake the site for an MLS.

So do you think the use of MLS  would be a deceptive?

Since their last Super Bowl win 16 seasons ago, the Cowboys record is 130-126.

Since the Cowboys’ last trip to the Super Bowl, 18

teams have made an appearance in the big game.

Only the following teams have a worse playoff record: Houston, Cleveland, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, and North Carolina. 

In 16 seasons we have two playoff wins, six head coaches, 15 starting QBs and one general manager.

So only one consistency in 16 years.

This will end when Steven Jones primary job is to place flowers on his dead fathers grave.

Angel Hair Pasta with creamy avocado corn

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ cups frees or frozen corn.
• 1 ripe avocado
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tomatillos, parboiled*
• 1 jalapeno chili, seeded, and chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups chicken stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 pound angel-hair pasta, cooked al dente
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preperation:
Into a blender, combine fresh sweet corn, avocado, garlic , lemon juice, tomatillos, jalapeno chili, olive oil and 2 cups chicken stock. Blend completely, adding remaining chicken stock as needed. Season to taste using salt and pepper. When completely blended, pour sauce into a sauté pan and bring to a low simmer, stirring frequently for approximately 5-7 minutes. Pour sauce over cooked pasta, toss sprinkle Parmesan over pasta.

·         I was visiting some good friends who live in The Sudan. My first day there they planned a very big dinner in my honor.

·         There 10 year old daughter wanted to invite a few of her playmates over for dinner and her parents said that would be fine.

·         Knowing how much food was being prepared when these young children arrived I said I hope you are hungry. They had a very puzzled look on their face and one of the little friends said “Why would you hope we are hungry?  This is the Sudan we are always hungry?”