Wellington Homes and More...

Working Together, Best Of All Worlds!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:42:32 -0500

Real estate couples working together

Working Together, Best of All Worlds!

Nestor was working on his laptop in our home office at his desk on our expired program. I was just finishing up writing a blog on Active Rain in our office when 'Sweet Thing' by Rufus and Chaka Khan started playing on my computer from our favorite on line music listening source, Pandora.com. As the music began to play, Nestor stood up and walked over to me and held out his hand. I extended my hand and stood up to dance with him to this song as our bare feet felt the softness of our hand stressed wood floor. Enjoy listening to Chaka Khan and Rufus singing 'Sweet Thing', the link will take you to YouTube. Embedding was disabled by request.

As he held me close I was thinking about how blessed I am to have my husband be my partner and that we love each other. Is everything always bliss, of course not! But those moments we share when we can stop the world and hold each other for a moment are blissful treasures.

I am fortunate to be a couple partnership. Someone I know understands the emotional ups and downs of the real estate business and someone who can fill in for me and I for him in a moments notice. There are times when we just know who should answer the phone. There are moments when each of us can step into the shoes of the other when stress mounds or moods sway. Balancing each other out is a benefit that goes without saying.

We each have our strengths and in a partnership we can allow those strengths to shine.

Connecting with the sellers is a huge benefit to being in a couple business relationship. When one of us is talking to a seller in person, whichever one of us the seller begins to connect with will be the one that takes point and the other will drop back. This is also a move that we use in negotiations too. Whichever one of us is being able to communicate better the objectives will be the one that takes the lead in negotiating. On the phone we also apply this. When this one buyer called who wanted to buy a home for 1 million dollars plus in the Aero Club here in Wellington Florida I was the one who answered the phone. I could tell within the first 3 minutes of our conversation that I was not going to click with this man. I knew that Nestor would be the better match. So when we looked up the information for this buyer Nestor was the one who called him back and connected with the buyer in a way that I was not able to. We closed a sale with this buyer 4 weeks later for 1.3 million dollars.

Having a partner in your Real Estate business has proven to help your bottom line. But being in love with your partner is the best boost you can get to your income production.

Nestor and I met in a CIPS real estate course.
You can read our story of how we met in Romancing Realtors Part 1 and Romancing Realtors Part 2.

Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtor ®, Business and Life Coach, Speaker and Author. Reach Katerina at: 561-753-0135

Disclaimer:The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Wellington Homes Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Wellington Homes Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). Wellington Homes Blog does not express the views of International Properties and Investments, Inc or those of the broker.

Copyright © 2008 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.. *Working Together, Best of all Worlds* Contact Katerina Gasset for Customized Business and Personal Coaching.

Short Sale Agents List Short Sales In Port St Lucie Florida

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:49:11 -0500

Short Sale Agents List Short Sales in Port St Lucie Florida

Short Sales - Love Them or Hate Them- They Are Here To Stay For A While

Short Sales have become a huge part of our business these days and we project that this trend will continue for the next 3 to 5 years. Agents who learn how to move with markets will be able to carve out quite a nice niche servicing short sales like we have.

One of the biggest complaints we hear from agents is that short sales take too long to close. The average closing time we have is 45 to 60 days for short sales from the point of receiving an offer from a buyers' agent to the closing. When I first started in real estate Jimmy Carter was President and inflation was out of control, the interest rates hovered at 17% to 19%! There were no fax machines, no email, no personal computers, no cell phones, no Internet! So the deals would take anywhere from 60 to 90 days to close with conventional and VA loans took a whopping 120 days to close! FHA loans took 90 days to close. Everything had to be hand delivered or mailed through the post office. Heck, we did not even have Federal Express or UPS! We had telegrams for important stuff and Western Union! It was normal to expect closings to take a long time.

Now, here in Florida in the middle 1990's, it still took 45 to 60 days to do a conventional loan. Cash was really king because cash deals could close quickly. If you were around selling real estate in those days you will remember that there was nothing abnormal about having closings in these longer time frames.

Fast forward to the early 2000's with our real estate booming and the speedy closings, many agents got spoiled when the lenders said they could close loans in 30 days or less. Agents just getting into the business during these times did not have any other point of reference.

Now even conventional loans are taking longer to process and close as underwriters are really checking much more on the applications that come through to their desks. We waited for 3 months for a closing that was NOT a short sale and the lender gives the buyer a denial letter! So that is a deal that did not close and it was not even a short sale. It happens. That is life, that is business.

But if you still don't want to take short sale listings and don't want to learn how to service them then refer your short sales listings to us and we will pay you a referral fee upon the successful closing of the short sale. Become a hero or heroine in your sellers' eyes by referring them to expert short sale agents!

We just got another one of our short sale listings approved and after I called the buyers' agent to tell her that her buyers are the ones who got the deal, she wrote this email to us. This is the best compliment that we as agents can receive- that other agents want to do business with us! This is a great selling tool because we tell our sellers that we network with agents and that agents like to show our listings. That is huge! We keep the buyers' agents updated through out the process.

Hi Katerina,

I am so pleased on how well this is working and at the end of next week I hope to find more of your listings to show as it is a pleasure to work with someone that knows the ropes with Short Sales.

Thanks!

Helen

Thank you Helen, for your wonderful email. We appreciate it very much. We sent Helen a list of our new short sales that we just listed in her area.

If you have a short sale question please ask it on our 'What is your burning short sale question?' web page, to make sure it gets answered in our Short Sales Success E-book.

Contact Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtors®, International Properties and Investments, Inc. Licensed Realtors® in Florida at 561-753-0135 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, Lake Worth, Hypoluxo Island, Lantana, West Palm Beach and the rest of Palm Beach County Florida and Port St Lucie Florida. We are accepting referrals.

Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

To view all the Wellington Florida Luxury Homes For Sale Click here and then click on Search For Homes We know Palm Beach County and St Lucie Country; we will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your Wellington Home or Land ; call us today.

Disclaimer:The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Wellington Homes Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Wellington Homes Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). Wellington Homes Blog does not express the views of International Properties and Investments, Inc or those of the broker.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Palm Beach County Florida and Port St Lucie Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 561-753-0135 to find out more about Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Short Sales.

Wellington Florida Tax Update * Response To Lower Taxes By Our New Mayor*

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:37:36 -0500

The Village of Wellington had a meeting last month about raising our taxes. We all emailed the mayor and all the counsel members that we do not want our taxes raised here in Wellington Florida.

The whole idea of our property taxes to be lowered that was placed on this past January's ballot was to not raise our taxes. This measure was overwhelmingly passed by the voters. The message was loud and clear, we want lower property taxes. So the State of Florida had to comply with the voters and lower our property taxes. In November we will have another chance to vote to lower our property taxes even more by eliminating the school tax from our property tax bills.

The Realtor® Association of The Palm Beaches is very active in getting the word out about when the meetings are and encourages all the Realtors® to get out and get our voices heard on the Village and county levels. At the last County meeting, the Realtors® were overwhelmingly outspoken about not raising taxes on the county level.
Read my post here to find out about the power of unity when you get together to get our voices heard.

But this is not the end of the fight. Government and politicians love to spend money that they did not earn. Whenever they want more money their first suggestion is always to raise taxes. They will keep trying to sneak this in on us. Make sure you are aware of meeting going on around the county where the commissioners may try to raise our taxes.

Realtors®showed up in person and via emails to voice our concern and to not raise taxes in the Village of Wellington. The mayor and the counsel members of the Village of Wellington received thousands of emails to not raise taxes.

What part of us voting to lower our property taxes do they not understand? The property taxes were lowered on the state level and now the Village wants to raise our taxes.

This is the response that our mayor had to the Realtor® Association:

Realtors^®,

Thank you for all of your emails. You should know that the Wellington Village Council is scheduled to adopt TRIM rates at the July 8, 2008 Village Council meeting. It is Staff’s recommendation that an ad valorem millage rate of 2.34 mills and a non-ad valorem assessment of $146 for drainage be adopted. It must be noted and understood that while the proposed ad valorem and non ad valorem tax rates will remain the same as last year, these rates will result in a $1.6 million decrease in revenue to the Village due to the decline in property values. The only proposed increase in Wellington fees is the assessment for solid waste and recycling services, and that increase is a reflection of the contractual increase from Waste Management.

I would like to reiterate that the Village of Wellington is preparing to adopt a balanced budget with no proposed tax increases for Fiscal Year 2008/09 which will result in a significant decrease in revenue. That being said, Village staff is committed to finding and implementing innovative and cost-saving measures in order to continue to maintain the current levels of service to our residents.

I hope that I have clarified the issue for you. I would be happy to attend a meeting in your office to address any issues or concerns or to answer any questions you might have. Please contact Kathy Tatgenhorst at 791-4097, at the Village of Wellington, and she will arrange a time for me to come out and visit your office.

Sincerely,

Darell Bowen

Mayor

Stay tuned for more information on our tax bill that will be on our ballots this November. This will make a huge difference in our property tax bill. I will explain more about what it entails in a post in the near future.

Remember that here in Florida we do not have income tax and we have no sales tax on food. Since we are a very large tourist state we get a lot of tourist revenue in the form of bed tax.

We will also begin to discuss ways in which the Village of Wellington can start to develop into a revenue producing town instead of just depending on its' residents property taxes for everything.

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Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

Short Sale- Intracoastal Living in Mariners Cay- 200 Scotia Dr #305 Hypoluxo Florida 33462

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:41:47 -0500

Short Sale! Mariners Cay-Intracoastal Living- 200 Scotia Drive #305 Hypoluxo Fl 33462

Location: Mariners Cay

Enjoy this wonderful Intracoastal community that everyone dreams of having! The condo sits in a gated community, with nature trails, club house, fitness center, and a fabulous pool. Enjoy your own private beach! Professionally renovated to include gourmet kitchen with granite counter bars and travertine backsplash. Crown molding and detail wood trim throughout, granite counter tops in both baths, wood laminate flooring and carpet in 2 of the bedrooms. This condo is a short sale.

Information

Contact Information

Contact Reply Form

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Pricing

Asking Price: $199,777.00

Flexibility: Negotiable

Additional Pricing Information: Brokers- please read broker remarks on mls.

Homeowner Dues: 398.00

Property Location

200 Scotia Drive #305
Hypoluxo, FL 33462
View Map

Links

Visit Our Website

Features

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

Parking: Garage

Year Built: 2001

Subdivision: Mariners Cay

Located on Floor #: 3

Floors in Bldg: 3

School District: Palm Beach County

Square Footage: 1300

Agent Name: Nestor & Katerina Gasset

Broker: International Properties & Investments, Inc.

MLS #: R2942167

Attributes

Appliances

Range/Oven

Full Refrigerator

Washer/Dryer

Dishwasher

Sink Disposal

Building Amenities

Swimming Pool

Hot Tub

Guest Parking

Exercise Room

Photo Gallery

View as Slideshow View Photo Gallery (7 Photos)

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

VFLYER ID: 1770758

CATS Gymnastics- Wellington Florida's Top Gymnastics School

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:08:15 -0500

CATS Gymnastics- Is Wellington Florida's Top Gymnastics School. How can I say that? How do I know that? Why, because my son who is going to turn 6 this year has been a student there since he was in the Mommy and Me class at 6 months old.

He has grown up at CATS gymnastics which has been in Wellington Florida the longest out of any of the Gymnastics schools here. Many have come and gone but CATS outlives them all.

Nicole the owner of CATS Gymnastics is a mother who knows how to run a great school. She is very successful. Every time I go up to the school the classes are full and everyone looks like they are having fun. The school's motto is to teach through fun and allow the natural process of learning to motivate the students. Once a year they have a performance where all the kids show off what they have learned for the year for their parents.

We had our son's birthday party at CATS Gymnastics last year. That was a lot of fun. Of course the favorite part of the party is the huge Trampoline. They only have birthday parties on the days and times where there are no classes so that your party gets the use of the entire school, which by the way, is huge! Click here to find out more about how fun a birthday party is at CATS Gymnastics.

During the summer and the winter breaks they offer all day Gymnastics camps. Our son loves to go to Gymnastic camp. They even offer extended care for those who need to work or pick their kids up a little later. What a great way to release a ton of energy! When your kids get home, I promise they will be tired with smiles on their faces.

CATS gymnastics places safety above everything else. On the trampoline everyone must sit on the bench and wait for their turn. There is only one at a time on the Trampoline. CATS is more than a Kindergym type place. Nicole actually has all the professional grade apparatus for a gymnastics school and the staff teaches real gymnastics.

Centrally located right on Forest Hill Blvd at the corner of Wellington Trace we get there in just 3 minutes from our home. We can walk there in the cooler months in about 15 minutes.

Check out our Localism Featured post here about CATS Gymnastics school in Wellington Florida.

For more information about CATS Gymnastics come in for a FREE CLASS. Your first class is free. Call the school to find out the class time for your child's age at 561-793-3353. 12773 Forest Hill Blvd. You can check out their schedule online by clicking here for CATS Gymnastics in Wellington Florida.

To view more about CATS Gymnastics Birthday Parties, Click Here.

To learn more about CATS Gymnastics, Click Here.

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Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

Welcome Active Rain Newbie and Our New Wellington Florida Buyers' Agent!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:49:04 -0500

Please welcome a new blogger and Active Rain newbie, Lisa Schlitz. She just wrote her first blog post introducing herself to our community here on the rain. Please go and leave a comment on her blog and make her feel welcome.

We are very proud and honored to announce that Lisa Schlitz has joined Nestor and Katerina's real estate team here at International Properties and Investments, Inc. owned by Nestor and Katerina Gasset. Nestor Gasset is the broker here in Wellington Florida.

Lisa was a licensed agent in Georgia and then moved to Florida in 1998. Lisa and her husband were the owners of Re/Max Prestige and owned 2 offices, one here in Wellington Florida and one on Clematis Street in Downtown West Palm Beach Florida. They had many top agents in Wellington working for them in their office here. During part of this time, Nestor and I were working for another Re/Max office near Lisa's office. Our broker was their competitor.

Lisa is the mother of 3 children. Her youngest is a son who is 12 years old. Her hobby is running and she runs in the Race for the Cure each year.

Lisa brings great people skills with her and graces our team with great attention to detail and a desire to see that smile on a buyer's face when they find their dream home.

We already turned over a list of leads that have been coming in since Doug's passing. Lisa was quick to get right to business and left no stoned unturned in getting the emails and calls out to the buyer leads. I am sure that she is going to be a great asset to our team and our company.

Please join me in welcoming Lisa to Active Rain and to our team!

If you are looking to buy a home in Wellington Florida, the Western Communities, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach or Port St Lucie, please contact Lisa at 561-753-0135 and 561-214-3216.

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Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

How Do You View What You See and Hear?

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:38:32 -0500

Your mind Stress and Actions To Take

How Do You View What You See and Hear?

What do you think about when stress hits you? Do you watch a lot of negative stuff on TV, like the news and shows with negative story lines like murder and such?
What do you do right before you fall asleep and right when you first wake up in the morning? The first 15 minutes that you are awake in the morning and the 15 minutes before you fall asleep at night are the most important minutes of each day and night. This is when your alpha brain waves are at their peak. What that means is this is the closest you get to your subconscious and conscious minds connecting. The messages you place in your mind during those minutes will create your day.

We are being bombarded everywhere with the media telling us so many untruths and dwelling on the economy, gas prices and the housing crisis. There is only so much of this your mind and body can take. These messages cause stress. And when you get stressed you can not create meaningful, workable solutions to whatever situation you are in. Stress causes your thoughts to enter a part of your brain that is responsible for your survival. This is the part of your brain that is all about the very basics; food, shelter and clothing. So when your thoughts live in this part of your brain, it is like getting into a viscous cycle of negativity. It then causes you to have thoughts of worry.

Worry is the misuse of the imagination. Worry is like negative goal setting. It makes your brain react to stress with more worry and then creates your moods. You have over 60,000 thoughts in a day so we know you can't control all of your thoughts. But we can create our moods. When you let worry take over your mood you will not be able to make good and positive decisions about your life and your business. Moods are an accumulation of feelings that are actually stored on physical neural networks.

These moods then create more feelings. So if you are worried you will create feelings of anxiety. Anxiety produces results that are not what you are looking for. Anxiety create an illusion of what really is and thus you begin to make poor choices and begin to react rather than to respond. The anxious feelings create a negative outlook. You being to see things in a way to support your worry.

So how can you break out of this worry and anxiety driven cycle? Begin by taking one small problem you are facing. Really focus on finding a positive solution to that one small problem. DO NOT try to solve all of your problems in one sit down. That is going to cause you even more anxiety and then you will feel overwhelmed and even give up on trying to create positive solutions.

Once you have found a good positive solution to one small problem go for it and apply it. Don't wait, don't hesitate, just do it. Then if it is a mistake you can adjust it. If it is right, then great! You move on to the next problem. We learn from our mistakes so it is perfectly fine to make them.

It is the act of action that propels you out of worry and anxiety. Worry and anxiety create frozen and powerless feelings. While action, no matter how small it may be, creates empowering feelings, confidence, self worth and success. It is more important to focus on your actions than your results. As long as your are in massive action mind frames your desired results will come.

I like to say; you can act your way into feeling but you can not feel your way into action. Don't wait until you FEEL like taking action. Just do it and do it now. Feel the power within. And then follow these tips:

Don't watch the news.
Turn off the TV.
Go out and walk.
Read good healthy books to expand your mind.
Work more on yourself than you do on your business. Then your business will always serve you.
Look for opportunities! There are many opportunities for you right now. Look for them.
Keep your eyes and ears open! Look for open doors.

In great economic times there are millionaires being made and those that choose to remain broke. In bad economic times the same applies; there are people becoming millionaires right now and there are those who still choose to be broke. It is the power of your thoughts that creates your own circumstances. Your money can't keep you where your mind can't hold you.

There is always ying and yang, good and evil, negative and positive. Seize the day! Make it count and make it yours! Make it a Great Week! Choose to have your best week ever!

Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtor ®, Business and Life Coach, Speaker and Author. Reach Katerina at: 561-753-0135

Disclaimer:The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Wellington Homes Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Wellington Homes Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). Wellington Homes Blog does not express the views of International Properties and Investments, Inc or those of the broker.

Copyright © 2008 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.. *How Do You View What You See and Hear?* Contact Katerina Gasset for Customized Business and Personal Coaching.

Short Sale APPROVED For $84000! For Sale In Port St Lucie Florida, Close NOW!

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:31:07 -0500

This short sale is approved for $84,000, 2946 Bridge St. Port St Lucie Florida Home For Sale. This home can close right away. The lender has approved the short sale and the price has been set at $84,000.

No waiting for long approvals from a short sale lender, the sellers are ready to move on with their lives.

The buyers agent called us to tell us that her buyer's rate had gone up so she could no longer buy the house. The call came in 5 minutes before our approval came in. Now we know what the short sale lender will accept. No waiting, no negotiating, no stalling, no problem!

If you know anyone who wants to buy a cute little starter home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in Port St Lucie at this affordable price of $84,000; contact Nestor and/or Katerina Gasset at 561-753-0135.

I am sure this starter home is not going to last long for this price so don't delay in calling to view this home today.

Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

To view all the Port St Lucie Florida Luxury Homes For Sale Click here and then click on Search For Homes We know Palm Beach County and St Lucie Country; we will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your Port ST Lucie Home or Land ; call us today.

Clip Art For Your Blogs and Websites- A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words!

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:48:37 -0500

Clip Art For Your Blogs and Websites- A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words and has been proven time and time again to be more effective in getting people interested, stay longer and choose to take action when on your blog or your website. Most people are very visual. Stimulate their visual senses with tasteful images or humorous ones.

I use ICLIPART for all the images except for the photos that I take myself. What I like the best is I can go to just this one place and get all the clip art I need for any subject.

There are over 7 million images you can use for business and commercial purposes. Their terms of use specifically state that you can use their images on your business websites and blogs. You can not use it for any illegal purposes.

So here we will share some of the variety of what they have to offer. Go and try out the clip art site out by clicking here. You can even try a few images for free so you can experience how easy it is to download images.

They just added on a new download choice, you can now ( on most of the images) choose the size you want to download. For AR blogs the medium size works just fine. You will also want to choose to download your images as jgp files.

If you are looking for those cool 'object' images, these are very clear photographs against a white background. This is a new addition to ICLIPART. Here are some examples of objects that are perfect for AR blogs. This is just the beginning of what you can use Clipart for. We use it in our homeschool lessons, newsletters and emails.

If you enjoy using the clipart type of images that are cartooney in nature, exaggerated or just funny there are tons of these images. I have posted some below:

Looking for a photo and you don't have one that you took yourself? You are allowed to use the clipart on this site for a more fancy look:

Sometimes I will be looking for a photo or an object through the clip art and come across an image that sparks a topic for a new post to write.

Get ready to add some fun and visual interest to your blogs and websites. Don't forget to add your Alt1 image tags and use keywords for your titles on your images and for your keywords in your tags.

Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtor ®, Business and Life Coach, Speaker and Author. Reach Katerina at: 561-753-0135

Disclaimer:The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Wellington Homes Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Wellington Homes Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). Wellington Homes Blog does not express the views of International Properties and Investments, Inc or those of the broker.

Copyright © 2008 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.. *Clip Art For Your Blogs and Websites- A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words!* Contact Katerina Gasset for Customized Business and Personal Coaching.

Google Is Giving Away Free Website Workouts!

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:43:59 -0500

Google Is Giving Away Free Website Workouts!

If you want to stay on top of Google with your website then you must develop forward thinking.
The Internet changes so fast and almost daily and if you don't keep up you will get left behind.

Optimizing your sites to keep up with your competition is very important. But there is more to it than just optimizing.
Most people spend their time optimizing but neglect the testing.

In marketing there is a rule;

TEST

TEST

TEST

Perry Marshall who is a very successful Adwords Coach and author of successfully using Adwords says that you must always be testing your best against the next tweak.
If you have a winner ad you work on making it better. You test again, throw out the one with the least response, keep the one that is the winner and then do it all over again.
Over and Over again! This is how you get a better ROI.

This is also how you will get better conversion rates on your websites.
You need to test your landing pages.

What is the conversion rate of your landing pages?

What is the length of time a visitor stays on your landing page?

What brought that visitor to your landing page?

Check out this video interview with Tom Leung who is the Google Website Optimizer programmer.
The interview takes place in Seattle.
I love this SEO stuff and if you like cool stuff you are going to enjoy this.

So how about this! Google is giving away Free Website Workouts!
Tom Leung says that all you have to do is go to Google Website Optimizer and fill out an entry form.
Google is looking for forward thinking companies to help take to the next level.
The criteria is that you have not tested your landing pages before, explain why you want to be chosen for the case study.
If Google chooses you as one of the sites that they will work with, you are in for a real treat!

As always Google Website Optimizer is always free so get started today.

Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtor ®, Business and Life Coach, Speaker and Author. Reach Katerina at: 561-753-0135

Disclaimer:The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Wellington Homes Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Wellington Homes Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). Wellington Homes Blog does not express the views of International Properties and Investments, Inc or those of the broker.

Copyright © 2008 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.. *Google Is Giving Away Free Website Workouts! * Contact Katerina Gasset for Customized Business and Personal Coaching.

Wellington Florida- Where Equestrians and Suburbanites Live and Play

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:29:56 -0500

Wellington Florida is a small home town 'feel' place to raise horses, families and friends. Living in Wellington Florida is like living in Old Florida where mature trees provide the backround and imagry of horse and rider riding off into the sunset come to mind. Below sunsets are children playing and friends walking or biking along the community trails and pathways.

Our Community is the Village of Wellington, our neighborhood is our Village.

Wellington is a bedroom community. Wellington Florida is a planned unit development. It is the developmemt. In short we call it a PUD. That means that everything basically was preplanned and established as to what will be allowed to be built and what not. We became incorpororated in March 1996 as a Village. We are called, the Village of Wellington. We have our own zip code however when you try to order something online or over the phone, most of the time this zip code still pulls up West Palm Beach not as Wellington.

But believe me, we might be a small town of only about 38,216 year round population in the 'Real Wellington' but we are a mighty famous place! We happen to be the Polo Capital of the world inspiring some of the best Polo Teams from around the entire world to compete at top levels. We are also home to the Winter Equestrian Festival drawing crowds of spectators as well as contestants from all over the world.

Attracting famous people to Polo and Equestrian events is commonplace in Wellington Florida. Prince Charles plays polo here. The actor, Tommy Lee Jones (from Men in Black) owns his own Polo team in Texas and spends much of the Equestrian season here in Wellington. Sylvester Stallone plays polo here too.

In fact we are so sought after of a place to live and play that during the boom of real estate builders would use our name, Wellington as part of a name of their new subdivisions they were building even it they were NOT in Wellington! You can drive down in West Palm Beach and Lake Worth and see the name Wellington being used as a marketing tool and you say to yourself, 'but that is not a part of Wellington'. There was also a rush for annexing into Wellington. Builders were swarming to be annexed in so they could use the name of Wellington. Some of these areas are really not a part of our town in a community form of speaking. Also, there are people who live on the border of Wellington and Lake Worth and they will tell you they live in Wellington.

Even real estate agents from as far away as Fort Lauderdale and Miami use the name of 'Wellington' in their marketing even though they are an hour away! We are only 14 miles away from Sunny South Florida beaches.

Wellington was named after C.Oliver Wellington who bought all this land back in the 1960's. Wellington did not start being developed until the late 70's. But most of the homes built here were built in the late 80's and 90's. It used to be all farmland, cow pastures and strawberry fields. For information about the developing of Wellington click here.

The total area of land that Wellington makes up is 28 square miles. This includes huge Equestrian ranches, Polo fields, Equestrian centers, homes, parks and schools. There may be a bit of a discrepency as to the actual size because of some outer areas annexing in so they could use the name Wellington.

Wellington has no downtown. We have no factories or industry. Most people who live here travel to work outside of Wellington. They leave in the morning and come back in the evenings. In the near future we are working to change that infrastructure. During the next 7 years there will some moves and ideas shaping on making Wellington able to produce income from revenue generated other than property taxes.

We get together for neighborhood and community events at our Wellington Recreation center or one of our Wellington village parks. There are summer concerts in the park and 4th of July fireworks. There is a Village of Wellington Easter egg hunt once a year and a holiday parade.

Click here to see our community built Tiger Shark Cove park, one of our most popular parks.

There are 2 high schools in Wellington Florida and 2 middle schools. We have A rated elementary public schools and a few top notch Private schools. We also have a very supportive community home school support groups.

We just had a wonderful new library built and welcomed a large Mall on the outskirts of Wellington's east border. Our community is our Village Of Wellington, our neighborhood is our Village. Stay tuned for many more posts on the highlights of the Village of Wellington Florida.

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Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

To view all the Wellington Florida Luxury Homes For Sale Click here and then click on Search For Homes We know Palm Beach County and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your Wellington Home or Land ; call us today.

Short Sales In Port St Lucie Florida- The Buyer Walks Away!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:47:22 -0500

Short sales in Port St Lucie Florida- Today was a day that went up and went down fast and furious! A day in the life and times of short sale agents!

We have a short sale listed in Port St Lucie Florida. We had been receiving super low ball offers from investors on this house that we knew would not fall within the lender's ratios for acceptance so the seller declined those offers.

Then we had an agent we know bring us a very good offer on this house. It was going to be the best offer we could get. This was with a lender that is known for being quite aggressive with their phone collection tactics. The stress was absolutely getting to our sellers. They were afraid to answer their phone. No matter how many times they told the other side that they were doing a short sale and that they did not have any money to pay even a one month payment, the calls kept coming on a daily basis. I would consider this harassment.

Anyways, the BPO was done and the lender comes to us a few weeks ago turning down the buyer's offer. They told us what they had to net. So the buyer came up in price to meet what she felt she could carry. It was still off the mark but we gave it our best shot anyways. SO today I am on the phone with the lender and we are negotiating all kinds of things on the HUD trying to make this deal happen. Finally she feels comfortable enough to give it to her manager for an approval.

Then we get the dreaded call from the buyer's agent. Her buyer found out that her rate changed and now would need extra cash to buy down the rate which she does not have. The seller is totally broke. They are even struggling to pay their water bill and electric bill due to some hard times that fell upon them. The buyer was backing out of the deal.

Our phone rings and it is the negotiator from the lender who calls us just 5 minutes after the buyers agent calls us. The negotiator says, the deal was approved, what is your fax # so I can fax you the acceptance letter?

Those are the magic words that when we hear them we do a dance, celebrating the approval! There was no dancing this time. What timing!

SO now it is back to the drawing board. The problem is the price of the house has gone down in the market and we can not lower the price because now we know what the lender will accept.

The good news is that we can advertise this listing now at the price that the lender accepted and we can close fast! It is a great value. So for someone who needs to close fast this short sale is ready to close!

Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

Short Sales in Wellington Florida - Why Sign A Soft Note To Close Your Short Sale?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:33:05 -0500

Short Sales In Wellington Florida- Why would you or should you sign a soft note to close on your short sale property?

When you are doing a short sale on your property our first goal is to get you a fully satisfied mortgage pay off reported by your lender. That is the best outcome you can hope for.

But this outcome depends on your personal situation and other parts of the process that are not within your control. The more of a true hardship you have the more apt the lender will approve your short sale without any payment from you.

Also, if you have only one loan on your property you are likely going to get a satisfied paid in full without any other considerations.

Most of the time where we see the lender requesting you as the homeowner, the seller to sign a promissory note for part of your deficiency is when you have more than one mortgage on your property and it depends on what you did with the money that you received from your second mortgage or home equity line.

Your credit is checked when you do a short sale. The lender will look at your credit report and try to determine what is going on based on your purchases and such. Here are a few real life examples of lenders asking the homeowner to sign a promissory note.

But first let me define what a promissory note is and how it fits into your short sale. This is for the state of Florida. Please review your own state laws that govern notes. I am not a lawyer and I am not giving legal advise. My thoughts here are for informational purposes only. I strongly urge you to hire an attorney to review your case.

A promissory note in the lingo of lenders is called a 'soft note'. That means you are signing a piece of paper that simply states that you promise to pay back the amount of money stated on this paper. All the notes we have had done were at zero percent interest. This note is not bound with collatoral by any real estate or your home ( if you have another home you are living in, in Florida).

Most of the time the lender only asks for a small portion of the deficiency to be paid back and the payments are very low. You need to put this in perspective to your situation. The first question you need to ask yourself is what did you do with the money that you borrowed on that second loan or equity line? Did you use it to remodel the home you lived in, to buy another home, a down payment on another home or an investment property or for some new toys?

Examples:

One seller took out a home equity line on his house during the boom of real estate when his house appraised for more than what he bought if for. He took out $80,000. He took $50,000 of that and bought a car with it. The lender saw that he bought the car around the same time he took out the loan. The lender asked him to sign a promissory note in the amount of $22,000 with zero percent interest and payments of $261 per month for 84 months.

This seller was excited about this offer by his lender. He realized this was a great deal. Let me explain why. He used $50,000 to buy a new car. He had no payments on his car aside from the mortgage payments since he put the car into his mortgage on his equity line. So here he is getting to walk away from his property that is not worth what he paid for it, he has a new car and is getting a fully satisfied paid in full mortgage reported on his credit report. So now he has to make payments on his car for $261 per month at zero percent interest! Now that is a deal he should jump on and he did.

The next seller took a second mortgage out on their home for $140,000. They used most of that money as a down payment on a new home they were building. The lender asked for a promissory note of $12,000 with payments of $150 at zero percent interest. Now this seller is living in the house he used the money to get, so he is enjoying the benefit and the lender is saying in essence, we want a portion of that money back because you are using the money for benefit. This is only fair, don't you think? That means that he just really bought his house he is living in now for $118,000 less!

The next seller took a second mortgage out to pay his wife's medical bills that were not covered by their health insurance. They are short about $95,000 and the lender wants them to pay back $2,500 on a promissory note. But we told the lender that he does not even have that extra each month to pay. This family will be homeless and therefore there is not another penny due to the ongoing issues of unemployment. The lender finally agreed to not even do any promissory note.

So you see that each situation is different and the outcome is based on many factors. Call Nestor Gasset or Katerina Gasset at 561-753-0135 for more information on selling your home as a short sale in order to avoid foreclosure.

Click here to learn more about selling or buying a short sale in Florida, Palm Beach county, Wellington Florida.

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Click here for testimonials and a variety of articles on Short Sales in general and in Florida.

Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

Mortgage Fraud Comes To Wellington Florida- FBI Is Taking Action

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:58:15 -0500

Mortgage fraud is alive and well in Wellington Florida and the FBI is not holding back on arrest warrants and the grand jury is handing down indictments for those who are committing and have committed mortgage fraud here in Wellington Florida.

In the highest priced upscale luxury new home development in Wellington Florida called Versailles with all it's splender and multi million dollar homes and clubhouse- there was a hot bed of scams to fraud lenders going down. This group of about 400 homes was built by Transeastern homes right before the mortgage meltdown and the bubble bursting right here in South Florida where the explosion was so intense and fast that we turned into ground zero of lost equity and flippers left holding their goods.

Think twice before you commit fraud or being an accomplice to the fraud in obtaining your mortgage for your next home. You may get away with it or you may not. The FBI is seriously coming after people now.

The list is long of indictments that are going down. Three new names were added to a fraud ring that is being broken up by the FBI; a mortgage fraud ring that was buying up homes in Versailles of Wellington Florida. We are a very small community and words spreads fast. Good thing is most of these folks are not residents of Wellington that were committing this fraud.

The head of an insurance agency in Delray Beach was indicted and arrested and is facing two counts of fraud. He was faking that people were working for his insurance agency and filling out Verifications of employment for bogus amounts of income. One of his alleged claims was saying that a part time cashier at our local supermarket was making $350,000 a year with his company! Can you just believe that! Like, a person making that kind of money as an insurance salesman is really going to work at your local food store! Something wrong with that picture.

Then there is the employee of Bank of America who allegidly was signing forms stating that straw buyers on doctor applications had six figures in their bank accounts. She is facing 3 counts of fraud for doing this so far. Let me make it clear these are allegations by the FBI.

I wrote a post last year about a mortgage broker who was arrested and was alleged to commit mortgage fraud. I printed his name in my blog. He called me after he read my blog, yelling and screaming at me that he was going to sue me. The problem I told him with his threat to sue me was that every paper in our county and Broward county had already printed this story about him and that is where I got my information from. He said he was sueing all of them too and that he was sueing the FBI. He said the FBI was dropping their case against him and that I was ruining his name in front of all these agents on Active Rain by telling them of his arrest, which was public record BTW.

Instead of reacting to his threats I decided to respond instead. I told him that if he was innocent we would all love to hear his side of the story. He said that he would be happy to. We set up a time but he never did call me for our interview of his side of the story.

For that reason I am not mentioning the names of the people indicted. Just not worth the aggravation. I do believe in due process and that you are innocent until proven guilty.

So don't go falsifying documents for lenders to get mortgages approved. It is not worth the consequences. And the worst thing is this beautiful community of Versailles has taken a huge hit on values because so many people in these mortgage fraud rings were buying up these homes and then just letting them go into foreclosure. If you are making $35,000 a year you do not qualify for a house that is being sold for $1,300,000! Enough said!

Now is a great time to buy a home in Versailles. To learn more about this upscale resort style group of homes on the edge of Wellington Florida click here. Call Nestor Gasset or Katerina Gasset, at 561-753-0135 Versailles home selling experts to get your property in Versaille sold or to buy one of our gorgeous listings in Versailles.

Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.