Special offer

I'M CALLING MY OWN SHOTS! Plus a Few Others that the AR Gods Missed this Week

By
Mortgage and Lending with Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA

Well, this week there were so many really great posts here in the rain by some of my fave bloggers as well as some other bloggers that I've recently come across. 

There was I Lost A Potential Buyer From Giving The Address From The MLS. He Bought From The Other Agent!!!! By Ken Barker  and Do I Really Have to Use the Seller's Lender? by Ed Gillespie for their gold star features that I was happy to "call the shot" on them.  These were great posts with equaling engaging comment threads - check them out. 

Then there were some other equally great posts that I suggested but that the AR Gods must have missed this week when they were bestowing those little gold stars. 

First there was Ever Feel Like Technology is Passing You By Like an Unstoppable Train? by Mike Jaquish.  Good grief!  I can most certainly relate to this post.  Just when I think I'm not too far behind the curve, something will happen that sets me back several steps.  Suffice it to say, some days, I feel like a bug splattered on the windshield of the future.  

Next was the writing team of Bill & Liz Spear (aka BLiz) with their post Lessons from Gettysburg - What Mattered in 1863 Still Matters Today!.  I loved this post because it was such a phenomenal example of incorporating history with real estate rules.  BLiz does a wonderful job of comparing pivotal Gettysburg events with some of the key elements of a real estate transaction and/or decision.  I love the way that these two write and they have a great blog.  If you have not been following them, I strongly suggest you check them out.  

Then there was a double shot for Stepping out of the spin zone - Part I - What ails the real estate industry? and Stepping out of the spin zone - Part II - One possible solution to what ails us. by Ruthmarie Hicks.  In Part I, Ruthmarie blogs about the loss of customer service in the real estate industry and how it has now become such a self-serving business. 

While all businesses must serve some personal service in order to continue operating, the reputation that Realtors/agents have developed because of the lack of service they offer is what may be preventing many buyers and sellers from realizing the value of services that a Realtor/agent can offer. 

In Part II, Ruthmarie suggests that the problem with so many Realtors/agents (especially the newer ones) is the lack of training and supervision.  Ruthmarie advocates that the resolution for this is to raise the bar to becoming a Realtor/agent. 

While I don't disagree with this possible resolution, I think we need to take it a step further and enforce some of the current rules and regulation we already have in place to continue to weed out the old timers seasoned Realtors/agents who have been allowed to operate outside of the rules, regs and codes for way too long simply because the are "top producers".  Check it out because I would love to see how the community thinks these issues should be addressed. 

Lastly, there was William Feela with his post Are you a pretty Store Front?.  William reminds us of the importance of continuing education, which kind of goes along with Ruthmarie's post (to me at least).  Personally, I think continuing education requirements should be higher and more stringent.  I think we can all agree that completing continuing education course work is pretty basic and lax.  By making it more thorough and stringent, it would hopefully weed out the slackers.

 

As always, I love "calling the shots".  I'm pretty picky and selective about whom I suggest.  I intentionally highlight my fave bloggers and then I look for new bloggers or bloggers that aren't on the feature board every other day.  Anyone can suggest all the popular bloggers but finding the hidden treasures and gems is so much better.  I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I did.

 

Posted by

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Donne Knudsen

Realtor® - CalState Realty Services

DRE#: 01364050 / NMLS#: 249822 

 

805.2069123

 

E-mail   My Blog  

Serving low-medium income individuals and families as well as first time buyers with both their real estate as well as their mortgage needs including down payment assistance

Los Angeles County  --  Ventura County

© 2010 - All Rights Reserved

Comments (20)

Pocono Luxury Homes The Jeff Rickert Team
RE/MAX Property Specialists - Pocono Lake, PA
Poconos Luxury Homes

Thanks for the post.

Good luck in your area.

Happy Holidays.

Dec 26, 2010 07:43 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Again you have found something that sounds really interesting that I would have missed.  Off to read them now.  I just love that you do this every week.  I hope you are really enjoying your holiday.

Dec 26, 2010 07:46 AM
Melissa Juarez
Massachusetts Buyers Broker Agency, LLC - Quincy, MA

Thanks for the post. What a great way to showcase some interesting pieces! Have a great holiday.

Dec 26, 2010 07:47 AM
Brenda Swigert
Keller Williams Associate Partners Realty - West Chester, OH
CRS, e-PRO, SRES
I loved reading your picks! What a neat idea! Happy New Year! Brenda Swigert, Realtor Keller Williams Realty
Dec 26, 2010 07:50 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Donne!

What a pleasant surprise and honor, to make the cut on your "Called Shots>'

Thanks!   (And it was a fun post to write,too.)

Dec 26, 2010 07:50 AM
John Novak
Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate

Spin Zone looks like it will be an interesting read. Bookmarking for later.

Dec 26, 2010 07:53 AM
Rob D. Shepherd
RETIRED - Florence, OR
RETIRED

Giving too much info by Ken Barker should have been a featured post.

Dec 26, 2010 08:14 AM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Some good calls in here.  I think I missed the ones at the beginning & end so more Sunday reading. 

Dec 26, 2010 08:15 AM
Jill Sackler
Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc. 516-575-7500 - Long Beach, NY
LI South Shore Real Estate - Broker Associate

If you're calling the shots, it must be Sunday!

Dec 26, 2010 08:24 AM
Cinnamon Wright
Wilmington Real Estate 4U 910.547.1446 - Wrightsville Beach, NC
Assistant to Tish Lloyd

I really liked Bliz's Gettysburg post as well.  Now I'm off to "meet" some new bloggers -- thanks for the suggestions!  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Dec 26, 2010 08:29 AM
Ken Barker RealtorĀ® GRI, E-Pro Certified
Dilbeck Real Estate - Burbank, CA

Donne - Thanks for calling my shot. That is a whopping two now. It was a heartfelt post even though it sounds like I am whining.

I happen to have read two of the others just had not dropped in comments. I will go back and re-read.

Thanks again. Love these Sunday shots.

Dec 26, 2010 12:51 PM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

Jeff & Heather - I'm glad you liked the post.

Tammy - I'm glad that I can always provide some good reading for you and everyone else.  Hope you're having a good Christmas weekend too.  Hubby and I were couch potatos all day Saturday and today we were supposed to go see the Papa Jack and Mom but they weren't feeling so we went shopping.  Hope you and Abigail had some time together too.  :)

Melissa - I love highlighting my fave bloggers as well as some newbies I come across.  There are so many good bloggers here and it's easy to miss the good ones that get posted.

Brenda - I'm glad you liked it and I hope you enjoy the others too.

Mike - That was a fun post!  I'm sure a lot of us can relate to it on some level or another.

Thx for stopping by folks; I really appreciate it.  Have a good night and a wonderful week.  :)

 

Dec 26, 2010 02:02 PM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

John - Those were really good reads. Definitely good subjects that need to be addressed.

Rob - Ken's post was actually featured. 

Debbie - Its easy to miss some of the good ones.  Hope you enjoy the other ones too.

Jill - This has become a Sunday tradition that I'm really enjoying.

CA - That was a great post by BLiz; so creative the way that it was written.

Ken - You're welcome and I liked your post.  Procuring cause is definitely a good subject and one that I'm always learning more about.

Thx for stopping by folks; I really appreciate it.  Have a good night and a wonderful week.  :)

Dec 26, 2010 02:20 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Donne, We couldn't have asked for a stronger endorsement!  Thanks, much appreciated for that and the work it takes to put this together every week!

Dec 26, 2010 02:31 PM
Christine Smith
Buyers Brokers Only LLC - www.BuyersBrokersOnly.com - Canton, MA
Exclusive Buyer Agent & Attorney, Canton, MA

Donne...ths is a great feature & I'm glad someone pointed it out to me.  Some of those posts you mentioned I have read but some I hadn't seen; always good to find new bloggers to read. Thanks!

Dec 26, 2010 03:18 PM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

BLiz - I loved your post; it was so well written and the analogies were wonderful.  I'm glad that you like my posts and I do enjoy putting them together.

Christine - I'm glad you found your way here and I hope you enjoy the other posts too!  I love highlighting my fave bloggers as well as finding new ones.

Thx for stopping by folks; I really appreciate it.  Have a wonderful week everyone.  :)

Dec 27, 2010 05:19 PM
Dale Baker
Baker Energy Audits and Commercial Properties Inspections - Claremont, NH
New Hampshire Relocation Real Estate Information

Howdy and evening to you Donne

Donne, those sure are some mighty fine blog posts, that you picked to post in your weekly calling my own shots blog post. I've got to for sure go and read Bill & Liz blog post.

Have a good one
Dale in New Hampshire

Dec 28, 2010 02:23 PM
Charita Cadenhead
eXp Realty - Birmingham, AL
Serving Jefferson and Shelby Counties (Alabama)

Hi Donne.  Thanks for calling these shots.  I just read them all.  No doubt that both of Ruthmarie's post willl be feature.  She called us all on the carpet to rethink our positions.

Dec 29, 2010 12:33 AM
Leslie Ebersole
Swanepoel T3 Group - Saint Charles, IL
I help brokers build businesses they love.

Hi Donne: I appreciate the work you put into these lists and I always find a good post I missed. Thanks.

Dec 29, 2010 06:41 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Thanks for sharing your picks, I missed all but one of them.  I am glad I now have the opportunity to check them out!

Dec 29, 2010 08:57 AM