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Yesterday Was Not Just Another ActiveRain Day -

Rain drops - iclipart It's raining, it's pouring...

Who doesn't remember that song from childhood?

The ol' man is snoring...

Well, it was raining ActiveRain for me yesterday, and I'm not talking about the freezing rain that spread a layer of ice on the sidewalks and streets of Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area last night.

Like many of you, there's rarely a day in my life that isn't touched by ActiveRain with a dose of reading, commenting or posting (or, in many cases, all of the above). There were a few bonus ActiveRain things going on for me yesterday, however.

8200 Hortonia Point Drive, Millersville, MD I took my seventh ActiveRain listing yesterday, a beautiful eight-year old home in Millersville, Maryland, priced at $649,900. It is not the market I specifically target, although it is one I serve, and I never would have gotten this listing without ActiveRain. That makes three listings in areas that have rarely, if ever, been touched by a keyword in any of my posts. Yet their likely buyers ARE frequently mentioned - i.e. personnel relocating to the area for employment at one of the defense contractors in the Fort Meade area. These sellers wanted an agent who actively markets to the likely buyer for their homes. Pretty smart of them, if you ask me.

After taking the listing, I rushed home to bake some cookies for an ActiveRain gathering at Patricia Kennedy's house last night. She had invited everyone in the Washington, D.C. area to her house to meet Jonathan Washburn, in town to meet with NAR yesterday, In spite of the freezing rain, I braved my way into the city for a great evening, where six of us sat around her dining room table swapping ActiveRain stories and having a wonderful time. It's unfortunate the weather wasn't better, because a number of expected guests were unable to make it. You can read more about it and see the group photo in Patricia's Oh The Weather Outside was Frightful.

Jonathan Washburn and Craig Barrett In this picture, I caught Jonathan and Craig collaborating on the composition and lighting of Craig's photography, as he attempted some creative photo shots. I hope he posts them online today for us to see how they turned out.

You gotta admit, that was a pretty awesome ActiveRain day, but there's more...

En route to this ActiveRain gathering, I received a text message via the text message widget on my ActiveRain blog. It was from a buyer up to $300,000 in Anne Arundel or Howard County. I hope something comes from this contact but due to the hazardous road conditions, I didn't feel it was safe to call him right back. Gotta love technology, though, because I did reply by text when I reached a red light.

I guess you can see why I said this was not just another ActiveRain day. It was one of the best!

Another HUGE thank you to Patricia for again hosting the "Rainers" at her home, and congratulations to Jonathan for a successful presentation to NAR. It was really great to meet you, Jonathan, and to see everyone else again.

Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy having ActiveRain and so many ActiveRain members in my life?

Posted by Margaret Woda, Maryland Real Estate on 01/28/2009 12:36 PM

Comments (72)

ActiveRain Gathering in the ActiveRain Channel

activerain gathering, patricia kennedy, activerain members

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72 Comments on Yesterday Was Not Just Another ActiveRain Day -

JAN

Wow! What a day - how exciting! I love days there you are so busy you can hardly breath and they are profitable! Looks like you all had fun! I am over this weather!

Exciting and congratulatios.... That kind of rain we all love..... No Rain Rain go away here.....

It was a great party and it's always good to see you! The cookies were fantabulous. I couldn't stay away from the chocolote chip ones! It was a nice gathering and good to get to gether with folks.

It is great that this has becomes such a valuable online community and resource for Real Estate professionals and that it has helped your business. I just recently started and it is such a great place to learn and share knowledge and hopefully it will bring me more business too!

Jo - Me, too! I had a busy day planned today, and I'm hesitant to go out on the road so all my plans changed.

Caron - LOL. You're right.

Ken - Good to see you, too. Interesting news on your transfer and the rise/fall of various franchises around here.

Jessica - Hang on, you're in for a great ride!

Congratulations on your wonderful day in the rain. It's also nice to hear that you are gathering in person with other AR people.

It sounds like you definitely have it all figured out. Great to hear good stories like this.

Margaret! Sounds like an incredible Active Rain day! I appreciate your encouragement and your sharing with us. Keep going!... and... stay warm! From sunny Southern California:)

I love these stories, the real world always prevails, but the ActiveRain world helps make it happen!! :-)

Wow, Margaret. Good for you! Always great to hear positive stories, especially in these dreary months. I agree with you about marketing to likely buyers. I split my marketing plan up to specifically include likely buyers, agents with likely buyers, and people with like homes who may know likely buyers.

Hi Margaret...I am so glad you made it to Pat's gathering. You are braver than I am. The drive in the best of conditions would be almost two hours and I was uncertain about the conditions last night on my country roads.

You make all of us feel great when you share such good news. Yesterday may have been raining/snowing/sleeting/ but it was a super day for you. Congratulations on the listing and the new contact.

Kate

Congrats on the listing and buyer. Sounds like Activerain is working.

Aloha,

Keahi

Troy - Now let's hope I can get this home sold!

Kristi - I don't know about that, but I am happy to report good news once in a while

JB - Oh, I'm jealous. It is so cold and overcast here.

Brad - You know that's true, even better than the rest of us.

Jennifer - It amazed me each time this has happened!

Thanks for your comments.

An exciting day indeed. Sounds like you had a great party, even though the weather was a bit nasty.

Margaret - I'm so glad you shared that story. That's one AWESOME day! Down in Texas we experienced an ice storm last night as well. I hope your day today is as productive as yesterday's!

What a great story Margaret. Sounds like you had both fun and success even though the weather was "frightful" which it still is today here in Chester County anyway.

Good old fashioned social networking can sometimes be the break we all need to recharge our batteries.

Take it easy on the ice. Those first few steps out of the house can be the most dangerous. Slip and falls often occur when the soles of your shoes are still warm and they melt the ice and you end up on your tush.

Rebecca, it was a pleasant and laid back evening that we all enjoyed.

Kim, I had a text messay from my daughter in Mansfield that she had weather like ours...

judy, Yes, here too.

Sabrina, you're right. I probably would never have ventured out except that I used to live just blocks from Patricia's house, so I was really comfortable with driving there in the dark and not-so-good weather. And I'd been there before, so I knew Pat had a railing the length of her whole walk. Thanks for your concern.

Your cookies were off the hook! Even with old and limited hardware that photo turned out fantastic, I'll write post about it soon. It was really nice of Jon to give me some pointers.

It was great fun Margaret! I do admit - I just copied your idea of the Text Message Widget. After hearing 1st hand last night - I just HAD to try it out!

Margaret.... congrats! This kind of post is always great for all of us to hear! Glad you made it home okay.

Margaret, its always great to hear of members have a great Active Rain experience, regardless of the weather. I had a weird day. I was at a NAR technology seminar in Mobile, AL and not a singe Active Rain member other than myself. That blew my mind. Oh well. I know where to come for business fellowship:-)

Margaret, first let me say that I always enjoy your blogs, you inspire me so. Secondly, I hope that an AR gathering somewhere near me happens this year so that I can meet some of the people! But of course best is... I came here to learn and hopefully get business. I know it's going to happen because I'm following in your footsteps!!! Thank you!

Hi Margaret,

Good to hear your day was such a success and a safe one to boot. I read other post written by those who couldn't make it because of the road conditions. Glad you made it to and from without incident.

Margaret,

Your articles are always great!... Glad you had a SAFE trip and a VERY productive day!

Kathy Opatka Re/Max OCEAN CITY,MARYLAND

Sounds like you had a lot of fun! You're lucky to have a group in your geographic area who can get together like this.

congratulations on a great listing! We need to have an Active Rain party here in NC I think. Drive careful, glad you answered at a red light.

Well, I made it home safelyy yesterday... let's hope I do the same again today. I'm headed over to that listing to take some photos, and I know the roads will be freezing again by the time I head home.

Sounds like a fun gathering. Congrats on the listing. I've been seeing the Text Me widget alot lately and think I just might give it a shot. Thanks for the post, Margaret.

Thanks for sharing Margaret! It's stories like these that keep us all blogging! (Sometimes our rewards for blogging are few & far between, but it's always motivating to see others' success stories to keep us going.)

Good luck with the listing!

It is so great to hear about your success and in this market the more good news the better.

Fabulous !!

What a wonderful day! Hope Jonathan had a great presentation too. Congratulations on another great listing. We are so fortunate to have a group of guys that thought about designing a website for realtors to blog in. I love Active Rain!

OK, I was so excited, I forgot to log in!!!!!!

Hi Margaret: Sometimes rainy days are the best. Congrats on the new listing, the home looks super nice.

Margaret,

Your clients sound like very smart clients indeed. You move in pretty high Activerain circles.

What fun! Sorry to hear the weather prevented some folks from being able to make it. 7 listings makes your time spent here well worthwhile I'd say.....Wow!!

Margaret, WOW! That's great Margaret:) Talk about a double hitter day! Listing AND buyer. Oh happy day! Cherry on top meeting Jonathan and a great bunch from your area. Sounds like the perfect day to me!

Whew, I made it home without sliding off the road - it was a solid sheet of ice between my car and the house, too, and I managed not to lose my footing.

Thanks to everyone for the congrats and good wishes. It truly was worth the trip last night, and it does sound like Jonathan was pretty pleased with how his presentation went. Patricia is a hoot, as you've probably figured out from her posts, and I could listen to her stories all night. I had a referral to give James, and I enjoyed learning a little more about Craig, his interests and his business. And it was good to see Ken, who I've gotten to know also through serving together on the MRIS Subscriber Advisory Council. We did miss Margaret Woda, Cindy Jones, Brian Block and John MacArthur, who have made it to some earlier get-togethers

Fantastic Margaret!!!! Thanks for sharing! I use my AR blog to reinforce confidence with my new clients ... they always rave about it!

Hi Margaret, Sounds like you are very talented at negotiating snow and ice!

Nice listing you have in Millersville. You may have posted this before but what is the average listing price in your area? I know it is much higher than in San Antonio... which I think is about $150,000 here. And congrats on your buyer text message.

Despite the weather, the party sounds like a lot of fun.

Sounds like a great day indeed. There's nothing quite like hearing "I've been reading your blog and would love to have you come on over and list my house...".

To answer your question, Shirley, the average price range in Crofton would be in the $400's, but this home in Millersville is obviously a higher price range. The other two ActiveRain listings outside of my immediate market were about $700,000 - much higher than Crofton, also.

Thanks for your comments, my friends!

Wow! I would love for the "Rainer's" to get together in my area. I'm going to spend a lot more time developing my profile and blogs.

Margaret, WOW congratulations on all the listings and sounds like a wonderful get-together. Wish I could have been there. This is one of the very best places and we have so many GREAT members.

Can't wait to hear about Jonathan's presentation.

Margaret: Sounds like you were soaked by Active Rain. :) Just be sure to dry up all those $$$ Drops.

Margaret Woda, Maryland Real Estate (Long & Foster REALTORS, Crofton Office)-Congratulations to you Margaret. I wanted to come sooo bad. I e-mailed Pat and told her that I couldn't make it-weather. How many times do you get the opportunity to meet the man responsible for Active Rain and some of the great area bloggers as well. And you baked chocolate cookies too? When is the next Active Rain gatherings? Great post.

Margaret-I'm bummed that I couldn't make it. Received an offer on one of my listings and since I was flying out of town I needed to see if we could work through the details before I took off.

Congratulations to you - may the rain storm continue. All the best.

JAN

Congratulations to you. I hope fellow ActiveRain members will get to know and trust me as well!

Thanks so much for the encouraging post!

Cindy

Margaret what a great read and congrats on a terrific day in real estate for you. Take care and happy blogging!

I took my seventh ActiveRain listing yesterday,

Hi Margaret,

That's really remarkable!

P.S. I'm fascinated by your keyword observations.

Margaret.....Congratulations on anther listing from active rain!!!

Thanks for reading about my ActiveRain day on Tuesday. I'll be posting a flier for the listing later today. 'Gotta love Real Estate Shows - just one more ActiveRain "gift"

Sounds like a great day. I'm still working on my AR and blogging skills and have not had any business from AR yet, but I know it's just a matter of time. I was with Women's Council of REALTORs members yesterday where we discussed Active Rain and the positive things it's doing for us. I think I'd like to try to organize one of those AR gatherings. How do you do that?

Margaret, thanks for the inspiration and gentle reminder that you get out of the rain what you put in. And congrats on your continued success!

I want to be as busy as you! Congratulations. If you ever have a client that is looking to move to Talbot County Md I would love a referral!! Keep up the good work!

I want to know where you get your leads or how from AR. I've been on AR for two years and haven't gotten anything.

Portsmouth NH Real Estate

Margaret - congratulations on another listing from AR and the gathering. I will be looking for a gathering in my area.

Congrats, I love to here success stories like this. It really fires up floks.

Thanks, Terry

This is GREAT!!!!! What are you doing to get those listings. I know you mentioned keywords but what type of keywords did you use to get the listings?

Margaret you are such an inspiration to all of us here in the rain. It certainly doesn't surprise me that you are raining in the business. All I have to do is compare your well thought out, very indepth blogs to see why.

Thanks again for all you do - and here's to the next 70 listings coming your way!

Your Raleigh Realtors!

Great success story... just goes to show that ActiveRain really works. Congratulations, Margaret!

Yeah for you - now I, Gidget, need to get that widget

Margaret-Thanks for the post! It seems you have really set yourself apart and all your hard work on AR is making things happen for you! I have this little saying when I've had a good day and another when I have a bad day:)

"It's good to be Mary today" type of day! I think you had your "It's good to be Margaret today" Type of day!

Best to you in 2009!

Congratulations on your new listing. What a great day, indeed!

Congrats on another well deserved listing! I am sure your get together was awesome too!

Wow...what a whammy of a day for you! A listing and getting together with everyone. Not only that...meeting Jon in a comfortable setting. I like those kinds of meetings. Looking for his update on NAR.

Margaret,

You're a nice person, and nice people attract nice people!!! Thanks, Fran

JAN

Wow...what amazing stories, the world of the Internet just keeps making our planet a bit smaller every day.

Thanks for sharing Margaret.

JAN

We gotta do one of those gatherings closer to Baltimore so I can make it...

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